In 1969, at the age of 40, Yogi Bhajan came to the Western world from India. He formed the 3HO Foundation (Happy, Healthy, Holy Organization) and began spreading the message of achieving a happy, healthy and holy life through the practice of Kundalini Yoga. Some recognize Yogi Bhajan as the Siri Singh Sahib, the chief religious and administrative authority of Sikh Dharma of the Western Hemisphere. There are other Sikhs who question his right to bear this honorific title. Kundalini Yoga is professed to be a combination of many other types of yoga (hatha yoga, mantra yoga, raja yoga, etc.). It is called the “Yoga of Awareness.” Its emphasis is the arousal of the ‘kundalini’ power in order to achieve enlightenment.

Doctrinal Stance on the Seven Pillars of Wisdom

The Nature of God

Kundalini Yoga (Yogi Bhajan): Offers a monistic and pantheistic view of God. “We have never realized what God is. On the other hand, we say, “God is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent.” We say it. We know it. We all agree to it. We expect to find him in a church, in a temple; we find him here, we find him there. God is a stick, God is a cup, God is a man, God is a woman; God is everything and God is nothing—anything which exists in any totality…that dance goes on…Hindus call it anhat, Christians call it communion, Buddhists call it light, Confucians call it wisdom, a Sikh knows it as ecstasy. All is one and one is all.”[1]

[1] Yogi Bhajan (Siri Singh Sahib Bhai Sahib Harbhajan Singh Kalsa Yogiji), The Teachings of Yogi Bhajan, The Power of the Spoken Word (Pamona, California: Arcline Publications, 1977) p. 77, #277.

The origin and Nature of Man

Kundalini Yoga (Yogi Bhajan): Human beings possess ten bodies: a Spiritual Body (the Soul), three Mental Bodies (the negative mind, the positive mind and the neutral mind), the Physical Body, the Arc Body, the Auric Body, the Subtle Body, the Pranic Body and the Radiant Body.[1] There are eight main chakras (energy centers): the seven chakras traditionally taught (See “Yoga” in this section) and an eighth (the aura or magnetic energy field around a person). Of the three functional minds there are 9 aspects, 27 projections and 81 facets.[2]

[1] Shakti Parwha Kaur Khalsa, Kundalini Yoga, The Flow of Eternal Power (New York: The Berkley Publishing Group, 1996) pp. 183-186.

[2] Yogi Bhajan, The Mind, Its Projections and Multiple Facets (Espanola, New Mexico: Kundalini Research Institute, 1998) p. 135 (diagram), p. 207 (fold-out diagram).

The Nature of Salvation, Liberation or Enlightenment

Kundalini Yoga (Yogi Bhajan): “If you want to get out of your karma there is only one way, vibrate the Nam. The Nam is the vibration of the praise of infinity.”[1] This quote is an echo of Sikh doctrine. Nam, meaning “name,” is usually combined with Sat, meaning “true.” Sat Nam or “True Name” is the main designation for God in Sikhism. Yogi Bhajan also taught, “Who is the savior? It is your own higher consciousness which can save you from your own lower consciousness.”[2]

[1] Yogi Bhajan (Siri Singh Sahib Bhai Sahib Harbhajan Singh Kalsa Yogiji ), The Teaching of Yogi Bhajan, The Power of the Spoken Word (Pamona, California: Arcline Publications, 1977) p.177 #709.

[2] Ibid., p.129 #510.

The Spiritual Journey and Ultimate Destiny of Man

Kundalini Yoga (Yogi Bhajan): Reincarnation ultimately liberates the soul into oneness with God. At the end of each incarnation, when a person dies, the Spiritual Body (the Soul) and the Subtle Body leave the other eight bodies (See “Kundalini Yoga” under The Origin and Nature of Man) to begin the spiritual journey to the next karmically determined destination. The ultimate goal of the soul is absorption into God. However, becoming one with the Universal Consciousness is not considered a “loss of identity,” but rather, a “loss of limitation,” the “discovery and experience of one’s greater identity which is infinite…Succinctly put: Sat Nam: Truth is your identity.”[1]

[1] Shakti Parwha Kaur Khalsa, Kundalini Yoga, The Flow of Eternal Power (New York: The Berkley Publishing Group, 1996) p. 55.

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