Spring 2015, Sikh Free Press, published American Yogis Distort Sikh Scripture and The Wacko World of Yogi Bhajan celebrated a great victory. Fifteen years of hard work and activism to warn Sikhs, and innocent Kundalini Yoga students, about the Yogi Bhajan Mafia.

It is Summer 2015 now, and this thread is gaining a new audience, as the story sinks in. This thread is the story about what happened at The Wacko World of Yogi Bhajan when Sikh Free Press published American Yogis Distort Sikh Scripture .

So, what about parts 2 and 3?

You mean, what about parts 2 and 3 of the Sikh Free Press series of expose's about Yogi Bhajan, and Bhajanism? When is the next article coming out?

Consulting my inner Punjabi Time Calculator, I guess-stimate that Part 2 will publish Fall 2015, in next three months sometime. Part 3 will take another 6 months to a year after that. Maybe sooner.

Many thanks to the scholars and journalists writing about Yogi Bhajan and Bhajanism.

To read these articles goto: Bhajanism in the News.

Articles - organized by date

Yogi Bhajan's Synthetic Sikhism - Sept. 1977
Sikh Leader Arrested in Drug Case - 1988
Can yoga save a rocker's soul? - April 1999
Akal Security and the Honolulu Airport - Sept. 1999

Yogi Bhajan 2000
A Path Divided - Jan. 2002
The Quest for Spiritual Orgasm - Oct. 2003
Earth Mother, Yoga Star, Gurmukh K. Khalsa - May 2004
Sikh Group Finds Calling in Homeland Security - Sept. 2004
Akal will pay $18 million settlement to U.S. - July 2007
Late Sikh leader's trustees, widow at odds - Oct. 2007
Fight Brewing Over Yogi Bhajan's Estate - Oct. 2007
Yogi Bhajan's widow fights his assistants - Dec. 2007
Did I join a cult and not even know it? - March 2009

Business dispute divides Sikhs - Feb. 2010
Cereal Maker May Sell - Feb. 2010
Trademark dispute adds to company’s legal issues - Feb 2010
Golden Temple sale worries local leaders - Feb. 2010
Suits complicate Golden Temple sale - Feb. 2010
Money trail at heart of Sikhs’ legal battle - Mar. 2010
Golden Temple truce reached - Feb. 2010
Judge deals lawsuit setback - Mar. 2010
Bollywood Boom - March 2010
New suit hits Golden Temple - April 2010
Golden Temple deal near - May 2010
Yogi’s legacy in question - May 2010
Rift threatens business empire - May 2010
Religious leaders challenge its business leaders - Jun.2010
Hearthside licenses Golden Temple's "Yogi" brand - Jun 2010
Khalsa Vs. Khalsa July 2010
Mainstream Connections of Yogi Bhajan - Aug. 2010
AG files against Golden Temple - Oct. 2010
What’s in a name? - Nov. 2010
Sikhs ask pairing of lawsuits - Nov. 2010
State targets Golden Temple - Nov. 2010
Golden Temple suits merged - Dec 2010
Yogi’s widow sues managers - Dec. 2010
Brouhaha Erupts for Control of Yogi Teas - Dec. 2010

Cereal label illustrates natural-organic debate - Mar. 2011
When ‘organic’ food isn’t - March 2011
$4 MILLION MAN - May 2011
Executives Stole Community Assets - June 2011
SSS Testifies - June 2011
Selling Golden Temple - June 2011
Guru Singh Khalsa's Testimony - June 2011
Bibiji's Lawsuit - July 2011
Death of a Yogi - July 2011
SikhNN interview w/ Dr. Connie Elsberg - Aug. 2011
Akal - 1.6 Million for Pregnancy Discrimination - Sept 2011
Golden Temple Loses Tea to Bibiji - Oct. 2011
Yogi Bhajan’s Wife vs. His Secretaries - Nov. 2011
CEO wrongly enriched, judge says - Dec. 2011
Yogi battle brews on - Dec. 2011

Judge's Remedy In Yogi Case - April 2012
Yogi vs. Yogi - Aug. 2012
1.9 million dollar settlement - Sept. 2012
Private security co. target of myriad lawsuits Oct 2012
Akal Security Settles 1.9m Lawsuit - Oct. 2012

Fired for Worries About Court Security - Jan. 2013
That’s Not Very Spiritual Russell! - Jan. 2013
Russel invites Demi to visit India - Feb. 2013
Amazing women filled with sexual energy - Feb 2013
Hopeless is the new fabulous - Feb 2013
Turbans and white robes - May 2013
Demi Moore 'stimulated by yoga sessions' - July 2013
Russel shares yogasms with Demi - July 2013
Demi Moore to become a yoga teacher? - July 2013
Demi Moore returns to LA with her guru - Nov. 2013
Demi spotted at addiction conference in India - Nov. 2013
Yogi Bhajan given Hindu last rites - Nov. 2013

The American who lived with Bhindranwale - Jan. 2014
Demi Moore giggles w/ spiritual guru Tej Khalsa - Feb. 2014
Akal awarded contract despite weaknesses - July 2014

American Yogis Distort Sikh Scripture - May 2015

See:

Bhajanism Vs. Sikhi section of this Wacko World of Yogi Bhajan forum.

Of special interest:

Yogi Bhajan and 1984

Deras and Babas - why so many? IJ Singh


From Maharaj to Mahan Tantric by Philip Deslippe

An Open Letter to Bhajanists
May 16, 2014

The Best of Wacko

Posted by stillasikh:

I have no personal animosity towards most of you, and still have great affection for many of you.

I have no objection to you performing Hindu pujas, placing garlands on statues of idols, or any of that Hindu stuff. I have no objection to you performing ritual food offerings for the granting of wishes, or performing prosperity meditations, or any of that stuff. I have no objection to Yogi Bhajan having his ashes disposed of in a classical Hindu (not Sikh) ceremony, or to his Shinto shrine for paying homage to the dead (although IMO it’s in extremely bad taste). If all these rituals and superstitions make you happy, more power to you! But you need to be honest and call yourselves something other than Sikhs, because

these things are forbidden in Sikhism. That is all. There’s no shame in being truthful about what you are.

I do object to these practices being performed in and around Gurdwara, or in the context of you doing them and calling yourselves Sikhs. The Guru absolutely, unequivocally forbade Sikhs to do these things, as strongly as He forbade Sikhs to wear the veil, practice female infanticide or caste.

What I object to is that you guys identify yourselves as Sikhs whilst practicing things that are absolutely verboten to Sikhism. Not just mildly discouraged or left to individual discretion, but strongly prohibited! I object to you teaching these non-Sikh, even anti-Sikh practices to your children and calling it Sikhism. I believe you are doing this out of ignorance and innocence, because Yogi Bhajan taught a twisted amalgam of Hindism/Sikhism and called it Sikhism.

But what you are doing is as preposterous as a Christian sect calling themselves Jews, claiming that their Christian practices are the “real” Judaism, and that traditional Jews don’t understand “real” Judaism, because their spiritual teacher told them so.

You guys practice Yogi Bhajan’s teachings; you bend Sikhi to conform to them using any number of rationalizations to do so. That’s not good. You trusted that YB’s teachings about Sikhism were accurate. They weren’t. He lied to you. He was a man, not a Guru. He wasn’t even fluent in Gurmukhi.

All men and women are flawed creatures. That’s why the Guru emphatically told Sikhs never to bow to a man as their spiritual authority. Guru wisely told us to look to the Siri Guru Granth Sahib as our only guide, as that way we would never be swayed by a charismatic human personality that could lead us astray. For any authority besides the Guru it’s vitally important to “trust, then verify”. Don’t blindly follow anybody, not even if they call themselves a spiritual teacher.

A spiritual teacher can be wonderful, but if he tells you to do something that is a violation of the Reht, then if you are a Sikh you must say “No”. If you are a Sikh and a human tells you to do something that contradicts the teachings of the Guru, you must follow the Guru, not the human. It was this dichotomy between what the Guru teaches and what Yogi Bhajan ordered that forced me to make a choice between following my Guru or following Bhajan. I had to follow my Guru. That’s why, with a broken heart, I left Bhajan and you guys.

My objection to Yogi Bhajan mixing Sikhism and yoga is that the Reht forbids the taking of bits and pieces of Gurbani and reciting them as magical mantras for personal boons. If you’re going to do Kundalini Yoga, fine, but please leave Gurbani out of it.

Why is this such a big deal, you may wonder? Because a Sikh understands that the Creator of all things cannot be forced to obey the will of created beings by dint of magical mantras or ritualistic acts. A Sikh puts all their reliance on God and Guru, does their best, and humbly accepts God’s will. A Sikh doesn’t engage in superstitions, rituals or magical thinking. To bring the Guru’s bani into these practices is an insult to Guru Nanak, who tried to liberate the world from superstition.

I think you guys should simply declare yourselves a new religion. You could call yourself Hindus since most of your practices are Hindu, but true Hindus will never accept you. To them you are, and always will be, untouchables. Did you know that? That’s the ignorance and stupidity that the Guru tried to liberate you from.

Since you like to live according to the teachings of Yogi Bhajan, why not call yourselves Bhajanists? Just as followers of Martin Luther broke away from the teachings of the Catholic Church and called themselves Lutherans. But please stop calling yourself Sikhs, because most of what you’re doing is an insult to Sikhism.

From: The American who lived with Bhindranwale

Baba Nam Singh (Norman) had gained the trust and friendship of Jarnail Singh and his men, but he could not shake their suspicion that he was an undercover agent.

“For some reason, everybody thought I was a CIA spy,” he said, with a laugh. “In my room I had a short-wave radio… I used to listen to Voice of America or news from the BBC. That was it. But they were sure it was a way to communicate with the CIA.”

Here is a comment for Sikh Free Press that posted two weeks ago!


Ram Ratan Kaur Khalsa • 12 days ago

Dear Sardani,

As a 3HO 'chela' from 1972 to 1992' I feel so duped by all the things going on behind my back., for so many years. I actually lived in the Miami Ashram and in the "hacienda de Guru Ram Das " and only saw all the good positive energy for so many years, I was a full time government worker for all those years, and after morning sadhana, would be off to my office for about fourteen hours, just back.to the Ashram in time for evening yoga classes. This went on for years. I wore full Bana to my office administrative jobs, and was respected for it by my coworkers. I had no problems in promoting up the ranks. I gave up a promising career as an art historian for the security of a Civil Service job. Even then, the monthly ashram membership fees, the contributions for Yogiji 's annual Birthday extravaganzas, the maintaining of a sparkling white, career wardrobe, with accessories, all added up, so I usually couldn't afford to take time off from work to pay for Tantric courses, Ladies camp, and Solsticies. Sometime things got so tight that l had to apply for signature loans at credit unions, and of course I needed to own and maintain a car to get me to Santa Fe and back to Espanola, often at late hours, so that I could work overtime.

Unlike most people I didn't join 3HO to learn yoga and gain powers. I had studied religions and languages in college and was already familiar with Guru Nanak and his mission. In fact he used to belittle the yogis for their excessive lifestyles and their search for the development of powers. God-given breath, until his time on Earth is ended. Guru Nanak would scold his son, Baba Siri Chand, for wasting his life in the pursuit of egotistic immortality. My favorite day of the week was on Sunday, to join the sadh Sangat in the singing of shabads, and to share in the making and serving of lungar. However, I never felt blissfully comfortable with Yogiji's long, rambling, bragging tirades. Since I had already studied Sikh history and philosophy I knew that much of the information he was giving out was false, and furthermore was being published in the Beads of Truth, the Sikh publication. What a disservice to so many innocent spiritual seekers who followed Yogi's words as Wahe Guru's Truth, even when it was contradicting with what had been revealed in the Siri Guru Granth Sahib, our Shabad and living Guru. Even the Rehat Maryada was ignored when it suited Yogi Ji's agenda. I'm not going into a lot of detail here, because I can see what has been written in previous posts. I just want to make a few closing comments. I was on the path of Guru Nanak and his mission for several years even before Yogi Ji came to America. I was impressed by the tolerance and respect that Sikhi had toward all people and religions. The Sikhs were humble and shared their beliefs and food with all, asking nothing in return, but expression of appreciation for the human life Waheguru bestowed upon all. I truly believe that It was my destiny to follow the Sikh path. Yogi ji was always polite and respectful toward me, as l was toward him. But it wasn't until I met Baba Nihal Singh, and then later Bhai Sahib Bhai Jiwan Singh that I finally experienced the true humility and wisdom of a Brahmgiani, who spends his waking, and often sleeping hours, in doing continuous Nam Simran, consciously, with every breath, until his time on Earth comes to an end. There's no room for power plays, and petty quarrels, manipulation of people's minds and purses. To achieve what end? A few years of fame? Yogi Ji got many people off of drugs, and on the road to better mental and physical health. But why, why, did he have to distort Sikhi to achieve those ends? Now there are so many confused people that it will take generations to sort it out.

Humbly yours, Ram Ratan Kaur Khalsa

P.S. I have no interest in participating in Social Media. It's just, that today, I felt the need to speak out, and pray that I have not offended anyone with my words, as I see this tragic reality unfolding.

That's a very insightful comment from Ram Rattan Kaur. I wish she would post here; I'd like to learn more of her story. Her name sure rings a bell from my time in Espanola but I can't place her. (got a mind like a steel colander!)