Newspapers & Documentaries & Blogs

2023


Russell Brand has long followed Kundalini yoga, which has been linked to brainwashing tactics, rape, and abuse

Septemer 19, 2023 - Insider - Haven Orecchio-Egresitz - Link


What Spiritual Bypassing Looks Like - A very tempting path that leads nowhere.

April 19, 2023 - Medium - Kimberly Fosu - Link


The surprising afterlife of a '70s L.A. cult: How the Source Family became Hot IP in 2023

April 12, 2023 - Los Angeles Times - Erin Osmon - Link


The Disturbing History of Yogi Tea's Founder

Apr 10, 2023 - Tasting Table - Automn Swiers - Link


4 psychological techniques cults use to recruit member

Feb 27, 2023 - BigThink - Matt Davis - Link


When Misseeing Is Believing: The Self-Reflected Image and Kundalini Yoga

Feb 7, 2023 - the revealer - Philip Deslippe - Feb 7, 2023 - Link


2022


The Scandalous Celebrity Cult Leader From Suburbia | Guru Jagat and Yogi Bhajan Documentary

Dec 27, 2022 - YouTube Not the Good Girl - Link


My Experience With a False Guru

Dec 14, 2022 - Yoga Journal - Jennifer Davis-Flynn - Link


Review:Premka: White Bird in a Golden Cage. My Life with Yogi Bhajan, by Pamela Saharah Dyson; The Inner Circle—Book One: My Seventeen Years in the Cult of the American Sikhs, by Peter Macdonald Blachly

Nov 2022 - University of California Press - Nova Religio - Vol 26, Issue 2 - Link - Full version


Un-silencing of the Lamb: Interview with MahanKirn Khalsa

Aug 17, 2022 - Inmag.com - Link


How "Siri Singh Sahib" Yogi Bhajan Created An Empire

Jul 19, 2022 - Baaz - Deslippe & Stukin - Link


Memorial highway in northern New Mexico should be renamed

Jul 2, 2022 - Rosswell Daily Record - Link


Inside The Dubious World Of A Cult That Turned 550-year-old Religion Into A Commodity

Jul 2, 2022 - Indiatimes.com - Gurcharan Bhalla- Link


A Sustained Crisis for Local Sikhs

Jun 23, 2022 - Rio Grande - Vol 65 Nr 37 - Espanola New Mexico 87532 - Link


What are cults and why do people join them?

Apr 26, 2022 - BBC documentary - Link


True Believers - Empire of Yoga

Apr 11, 2022 - Vice Documentary - Link US version - Link 47 min version


Sikh leader gets restraining order against critic

Apr 14, 2022 - Santa Fe New Mexican - Phaedra Haywood - Link


Sexual Abuse in Buddhism: An Interview with Carol Merchasin

Mar 22, 2022 - Shambala Report - The Bad Buddhist Podcast - Link


Bath musician opens up about ‘cult’ experience in new memoir

Peter Macdonald Blachly tells his story, decades later, in 'The Inner Circle.'

Jan 9, 2022 - PressHerald - Bob Keyes - Link


2021


Legacy of Yogi Bhajan swirls in controversy years after his death

Dec 20, 2021 - Santa Fe New Mexican - Phaedra Haywood - Link


Bhajan’s Yoga: The Roots and Context of Kundalini Yoga As Taught By Yogi Bhajan (2021)

2021 - www.academia.edu - Rob Zabel - Link


When meditation turns toxic: the woman exposing spiritual sexism (Tara Brach)

Dec 8, 2021 - The Guardian - Rachel Mabe - Link


Kundalini yoga guru who was accused of running a 'cult within a cult' and defending controversial founder amid sexual assault accusations is the focus of new docuseries following her death.

Dec 6, 2021 - MailOnline - Erica Tempesta for Dailymail - Link


Before the sudden death of its leader, Ra Ma Yoga Institute was accused by some former members of being a cult. What happens now?

Oct 30, 2021 - Insider - Link


How to Respond to Sexual Abuse Within a Yoga or Spiritual Community

Oct 2021 - Yoga International - Karen Rain and Jubilee Q.Cooke - Link


Getting Real with East-West Spirituality Part 4: A New Approach to Wisdom Traditions

Aug 19, 2021 - The Profuturist - Medium - Link


The Long Reach of Gaslighting's ToxicityGaslighting plays a role in social schisms, even when we see through it.

Aug 17, 2021 - Psychology Today - Terry Apter PhD - Link


What a Cult Steals from You - Money. Time. Bodily integrity. Relationships. Opportunity. Altruism.

Aug 13, 2021 - Medium - Matthew Remski - Link


MahanKirn Kaur Khalsa testifies about how she was groomed to be in a sex harem

Aug 11, 2021 - Instagram - Link


Before Krishna Kaur, there was Thelma Oliver - She’s been a yoga teacher for the past half century, but in the 1960s she was a busy triple threat in New York.

Aug 11, 2021 - American Theatre - Link


Getting Real with East-West Spirituality Part 3: The Big Bang

Aug 9, 2021 - The Profuturist - Medium - Link


Getting Real with East-West Spirituality Part 2: The War of the Dharmas

Jul 21, 2021 - The Profuturist - Medium - Link


Guru - Yoga - Power Abuse

Jul 15, 2021 - BBC News World Service - Link


Inside the Dubious World of RA MA Yoga, and Its Girl Boss Guru to the Stars

Jul 13, 2021 - Vice - Link


The Goodness of a Cult Comes from Those it Abuses. That ideal façade is often built by people trying to survive.

Jul 6, 2021 - Medium - Matthew Remski - Link


Getting Real with East-West Spirituality Part 1: Our 150 Year Experiment

Jul 2, 2021 - Medium - The Protofuturist - Link


'Coercian and rape': Investigating my yoga school.

Jul 1, 2021 - BBC News - Ishleen Kaur - Link


THE PAINFUL PROCESS OF AWAKENING: HARM AND HEALING IN THE HEALTHY HAPPY HOLY KUNDALINI YOGA COMMUNITY

May 9, 2021 - Nirinjan Kaur Khalsa-Baker, Ph.D. - Sacred Matters Magazine - Link


How the Model of Money Laundering Can Help Us Understand Abuse within 3HO

May 2, 2021 - Philip Deslippe - Sacred Matters Magazine - Link


Lessons from fall of rockstar evangelists Ravi Zacharias and Yogi Bhajan – Part 2

Mar 22, 2021 - Asia Samachar - Link


Lessons from fall of rockstar evangelists Ravi Zacharias and Yogi Bhajan – Part 1

Mar 6, 2021 - Asia Samachar - Link


Spiritual Bypassing: The Misuse of Spiritual Tools.

Jan 23, 2021 - The Elephant Journal - Ian Faulkner - Link


Spirituality is all very well but don't let it turn you into a smug monster

Jan 2, 2021 - The Guardian - Barbara Ellen - Link


2020


The Five Qualities and Attributes of the Mahan Tantric

Nov 17, 2020 - Students of Yogi Bhajan - Guru Hans Singh Khalsa Douqué - Link


An exploration of spiritual superiority: The paradox of self-enhancement

Oct 20, 2020 - Radboud University Nijmegen - Roos Vonk, Anouk Visser - Link


New Study Finds That Kundalini Yoga Can Help Treat Symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Aug 26, 2020 - Yoga Journal - Andrea Rice - Link


A Statement from Krishna Kaur

Aug 26, 2020 - Krishna Kaur - Link


Yogi Bhajan, yoga guru and founder of 3HO, 'more likely than not' sexually abused followerrs, says report

Aug 18, 2020 - RNS - Philip Deslippe - Stacie Stukin - Link


Yogi Bhajan ‘more likely than not’ raped his followers

Aug 15, 2020 - Asia Samachar - Link


A New Report Details Decades of Abuse at the Hands of Yogi Bhajan

Aug 15, 2020 - Yoga Journal - Jennifer Davis-Flynn - Link


An Olive Branch' Shocking Report on Yogi Bhajan Revealed

Aug 14, 2020 - The Guru Magazine - Be Scofield - Link


Yogi Bhajan Turned and L.A.Yoga Studio into a Juggernaut, and Left Two Generations of Followers Reeling from Alleged Abuse

July 15, 2020 - Stacie Stukin - Los Angeles Magazine - Link


PREMKA: ON KUNDALINI YOGA, SEXUAL ASSAULT, AND SPIRITUAL BYPASSING

Mar 29, 2020 - Blog Hip Sobriety - Link


“Rape is always invited. It never happens.” Say what? - Updates from Collaborative Response Team into Yogi Bhajan sexual abuse investigation

Mar 24, 2020 - Asia Samarach - Link


Yogi Bhajan investigation: What are they telling us - Updates from Collaborative Response Team into Yogi Bhajan sexual abuse investigation

Mar 23, 2020 - Asia Samarach - Link


“But Kundalini Yoga Works!” | Some Considerations

Mar 9, 2020 - Matthew Remski - Link


Master of Deceit: How Yogi Bhajan Used Kundalini Yoga for Money, Sex and Power

Mar 5, 2020 - The Guru Magazine - Be Scolfield - Link


Yogi Bhajan and the Kundalini Community: Premka’s Own Your Self Journey

2020 - Kelly Brogan MD - Link


2019

Why our fast-paced society loves yoga - This ancient practice is not only a fitness regimen, but science shows it's also an antidote to modern stress.

Dec 17, 2019 - National Geographic Fran Smith - Link


Yoga Reconsiders the Role of the Guru in the Age of #MeToo

The NewYorker - Eliza Griswold - Jul 23, 2019 - Link


The Guru Syndrome - When spirituality turns sour.

Apr 16, 2019 - Psychology Today - Steve Taylor Ph.D. - Link


American yogis distort Sikh scripture. Part I: Bhajan's yogic theories from framework of Englisch translation of Sri Guru Granth Sahib

Sikh Free Press - March 27, 2019 by Anju Kaur, April 14, 2015 - LINK


Bikram - Yogi - Guru - Predator

2019 - Netflix docu on Bikram Choudhury - Link


2018

Questions about Akal Security - Should a non-profit, tax-exempt church oversee a for-profit security contractor tasked with enforcing ICE-policies?

Aug 27, 2018 - Medium - Philip Tanzer - Link


Judge dismises lawsuit over rulership of Sikh business empire

Apr 26, 2018 - Oregon Live - The Oregonion - Maxine Bernstein - Link


Netflix - Wild Wild Country

2018 - Netflix docu on Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh - Osho - Link


2017


A phenomenology of spiritual bypass: Causes, consequenses, and implications.

Dec 28, 2017 - Gabriela Picciotto - Taylor&Francis Online - Journal of Spirituality in Mental Health Vol 20, 2018 - Issue 4 - Link


30 Ways An Empath Can Identify A Narcissist & Take Your Power Back

May 15, 2017 - Ajna Mantra - Link


Long court battle over Sikh business empire takes another turn

Jan 9, 2017 - The Oregon Live - Maxine Bernstein - Link


2016

Troubled Akal Security loses Federal Courts contracts after federal fraud settlement

Aug 17, 2016 - Stand for Security - Link


2015

American yogis distort Sikh scripture - Part 1: Bhajan's yogic theories form framework of English translation of Sri Guru Granth Sahib 

Apr 14, 2015 - Sikh Free Press (published March 27, 2019) - Anju Kaur - Link


2014

Beware of the Charismatic Leader - Cultic leaders do not liberate their followers but entrap them.

Aug 22, 2014 - Tricycle The Buddhist Review - republication of a 1982 article of John Snelling - Link


Using Jailed Migrants as a Pool of Cheap Labor

May 24, 2015 - New York Times - Ian Urbina -  Link


2013

The Troubling Background of Yogi Tea

Sep 23, 2013 - Women of Grace - Susan Brinkmann - Link


Punjabi Sikhs and Gora Sikhs

July 1, 2013 - Verne A.Dusenbery - Chapter in the Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies -  Link


3HO/Sikh Dharma - Some issues for consideration

March 14, 2013 - Verne A.Dusenbery - Sikh Formations, Vol. 8, 2012 - Issue 3:The 3HO Sikh Community - p 335-349 - Link


3HO Kundalini Yoga and Sikh Dharma

March 14, 2013 - Michael Stoeber - Sikh Formations, Vol. 8, 2012 - Issue 3: The 3HO Sikh Community - p 351 - 368 - Link


Yogi Bhajan and the Emergence of Sikh Dharma International

March 14, 2013 -  Shanti Kaur Khalsa - Sikh Formations, Vol. 8, 2012 - Issue 3: The 3HO Sikh Community - p 389-401 - Link


2012

From Maharaj to Mahan Tantric: The Construction of Yogi Bhajan's Kundalini Yoga

2012, Dec - Sikh Formations - Philip Deslippe - Link


2011

"Strong as Steel, Steady as Stone": Skirting Pitfalls in 3HO/Sikh Dharma

March, 11, 2011 - Constance Elsberg - Oxford Academic - Violence and New Religious Movements, p 325-350 - Link


2010

Yogi’s legacy in question - Former followers say he abused his position for power, money and sex

May 9, 2010 - The Register-Guard - Sherri Buri McDonald - Link


Khalsa vs Khalsa

Jul 7, 2010 - Santa Fe Reporter - Corey Pein - Link


The Disturbing Mainstream Connections of Yogi Bhajan

Aug 10, 2010 - HuffPost - Steven Hassan - Link


2009

SDI Legal Action Summaries

Oct 10, 2009 - Mukhtiarsingh's Blog - Link


American Sikhs Run Billion-Dollar Security Firm

Jun 13, 2009 - NPR - John Burnett - Link


2008

3HO/Sikh Dharma of the Western Hemisphere: The Forgotten New Religious Movement

Oct 23, 2008 - Academia Religion Compass - Doris Jakobsh- Link


Appeal For Info-Murders of Dylan Ellis + Oliver Martin 1800222tips

Jun 19, 2008 - YouTube Toronto Crime Stoppers - Link


2005

Keeping America Secure - Interview with the founder of Akal Security GuruTej Singh Khalsa

Sep 2005 - The Global Sikh Trail - Stories of Eminent Sikhs - Kushwant Singh - Link


Yogi Bhajan Memorial Highway

Apr 29, 2005 - Sikhnet - Gurumustuk Singh - Link


Yogi Bhajan - Recognition

Apr 6, 2005 - US Congress Concurrent Resolutions 119 Stat.3630 - Link


2004

A yogi’s requiem

Oct 23, 2004 - Los Angeles Times - Link header - Link


Clouded, and Clear, Legacy - Link

Oct 23, 2004 - Los Angeles Times


Yogi Bhajan, 75. Sikh Leader Taught Kundalini Yoga

Oct 10, 2004 - Los Angeles Times - Link


2002

"My soul still feels abused and raped"

May 2002, Terry Michelle Kurtz, MA - Cult Education - Link


1998

Second Generation Sikhs in the US: Conscensus and Differences

1998 - Academia Edu - Karen Leonard - Link


Press Release FTC: Gemstone Telemarketers Agree to Pay Monetary Judgment to Settle FTC Charges

Aug 18, 1998 - Federal Trade Commission (Protecting America's Consumers) - Link


1993

Khalsa Financial Services, Inc., Gurujot Khalsa and Darshan Khalsa Sanctioned

Oct 1, 1993 - News Digest page 2 - Link


1988

Gurujot Singh Khalsa v. United States of America

Feb 19, 1988 - Link


1987

Legal Confrontation Sunders U.S. Sikhs - Link

Albuquerque Journal (New Mexico) July 19, 1987


1986

Women Claim Yogi Brainwashed them - Link

Rio Grande Sun (Espanola, New Mexico) July 31, 1986


Sikh Leader sued for Sexual, Psychological Abuse - Link

Santa Fe (New Mexico) - Local News July 24, 1986


1985

Former Sikhs Tell Why They Left New Mexico Religious Community

Santa Fe Journal, 1985 - Mary Frei - Link is not working anymore - text on this website


1981

Article about Fraud by YB followers - The New Mexican Aug 18, 1981


1977

Religion: Yogi Bhajan's Synthetic Sikhism

Sep 5, 1977 - TIME Magazine - Link


Woman gives Sikhs 1.3 million, mother asks sanity hearing

The New Mexican - Bill Garland - Oct 7, 1977 - Link


Sought Sikh woman 'in India'

The New Mexican - Bill Garland - Oct 9, 1977 - Link


1970

World Must Purify Self Soon, Yoga Warns

The Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, Florida) - May 31, 1970 - Newspapers.com - LINK


2021

The Bone Mother: A Memoir Paperback

by Rose Khalsa (Author) - Link


The Inner Circle - Book One: My Seventeen Years in the Cult of the American Sikhs

by Peter Blachly - LINK (including audiobook version)


Terror, Love & Brainwashing - Attachment in Cults and Totalitarian Systems

Alexandra Stein - www.alexandrastein.com


2020 - The year the Kundalini Yoga World was invited to Wake Up - starting with this book:

Premka - White Bird in a Golden Cage - My Life with Yogi Bhajan

by Pamela Saharah Dyson - pamelasaharahdyson.com


See No Stranger - A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love

Valarie Kaur - valariekaur.com/see-no-stranger/

TED Talk on Revolutionary Love Valarie Kaur


Sikhism and Tantric Yoga (the original version of 1999 reviewed and completed by the son of Trilochan Singh)

by Trilochan Singh and Anurag Singh - Nov 2, 2020 - Link


2019

Practice and all is coming - Abuse, Cult Dynamics, and healing in Yoga and beyond.

Matthew Remski - matthewremski.com


2018

Messenger from the Guru's House - Biography of Yogi Bhajan

Guru Fatha Singh - link


2016

3HO in the Light of Experience - A Study of Experiences in the Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization.

Juan Francisco Lafontaine - Link


2012

Confessions of an American Sikh - Locked up in India, corrupt cops & my escape from a "New Age" Tantric Yoga Cult

GurSant Singh - Link


2004

Bounded Choice - True Believers and Charismatic Cults

University of California Press Ltd. - Jajna Lalich - Link


1999

C.G.Jung - The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga - Notes of the Seminar Given in 1932 by C.G.Jung

carljungdepthpsychologysite.blog/2020/04/18/carl-jung-and-kundalini-yoga-quotations


1993

The Guru Papers - Masks of authoritarian power

by Joel Kramer and Diana Alstad - Link to free pdf version


1977

Sikhism and Tantric Yoga

by Dr.Trilochan Singh - SikhismAndTantricYoga


1919

The Serpent Power - The Secrets of Tantric and Shaktic Yoga

Arthur Avalon - Sir John Woodroffe



Kundalini Yoga institutes and organisations


SSSC - Link


3HO Foundation - Link

 

3HO Europe - Link


Ethics and Professional Standards - Link

links to the report of An Olive Branch on the allegations against Yogi Bhajan


Kundalini Research Institute - Link


IKYTA - International Kundalini Yoga Teachers Association - Link



Other sites


Children's abuse stories - RishiKnots - Link


3HO Cult Info 'It's a cult. Stay away!' - Link


Wacko World of Yogi Bhajan - Link


Kundalini Yoga No - Link


GuruNischan's Uncomfortable Conversations - The untold stories of the 3HO Kundalini Yoga Community - Link


Premka Memoir - the website linked to the historically important book of Pamela Dyson - White Bird in a Golden Cage - My Life with Yogi Bhajan - Link


Freedom of Mind - Link


International Cult Studies Association - Link

- What do we need to know about being born or raised in a Cultic Environment - Link

- Born and Raised in Closed, High-Demand groups: Developmental Considerations - Link


Association for Spiritual Integrity

Transforming the paradigm of Spiritual Leadership - Link


Analysis of the AOB report - An unfair and illegal process which lead us to a bogus report - Link


Ravi Singh's 2018 journey to India to revisit his youth - Sonofasikh - Link


Yogi Bhajan - Kundalini Yoga - 3HO - Akal Security - Tripod - Link


Yoga Lafontaine about link between Baba Virsa Singh and Yogi Bhajan - Link


Wikipedia on Harbhajann Singh Khalsa - Link


Sorted by Date of Appearance


Dr. Steven Hassan - Unmasking the Kundalini Yoga Cult of Yogi Bhajan with Els Coenen

Jul 20, 2023 - Blog - YouTube - ApplePodcast - Spotify


Gursant Singh: Whislteblower & Survivor of Yogi Bhajan's Kundalini Yoga Cult

Feb 8, 2023 - YouTube Channel Esoteric Atlanta - Brice Watson - Link


Rachel Bernstein Podcast with Sat Pavan Khalsa 

  • Part 1 - May 4, 2022 - Link
  • Part 2 - May 12, 2022 - Link


3HO Cult Info - YouTube Playlist


GuruNischan's Uncomfortable Conversations - YouTube  -   Podcasts


Generation Cult - Link


International Cultic Studies Association - ICSA - Link

  • What Do We Need to Know About Being Born or Raised in a Cultic Environment? - Link


Pamela Dyson's YouTube's in 2020

  • Part 1: "To the Teachers" - Pamela Saharah Dyson - Link
  • Part 2: "Day 1 with Yogi Bhajan" - Pamela Saharah Dyson - Link
  • "we went along with it" Pamela Saharah Dyson, interview clip 3 - Link
  • Part 3: "It was strictly rotating around him at all times" - Link
  • Interview Steven Hassan - Ex-3HO Official Pamela Dyson Discusses Yogi Bhajan’s Use of Sex, Money & Power to Deceive & Control - Link


Interview with Matthew Remski - 30 april 2019 - Link

Cultic Mechanisms and After Effects of High Demand Group Life


Philip Deslippe presents a 'History of Yogi Bhajan & the 3HO' at the UKPHA Virtual Bookclub - Apr 27, 2020 - Link


An Interview with a Sociopath - Living with Antisocial Personality

Special Books by Special Kids - Link


A Voice for Love Podcast - Episode 32 - Surya Devi talking to GuruNischan - "The Kundalini Exposé" - Link


Gursant Singh YouTube channel - Link - Hari Jiwan Singh talking on jewels & sexual allegations - Link


SkyLife - The Yoga Cult You Didn't know existed - Mar 28, 2021 - Link


Vice

May 31, 2023


Yoga Is Having

Its MeToo moment.

Vice

June 22, 2023


Inside the 'Abusive' World of Yoga Guru

Yogi Bhajan

Vice documentary - April 12, 2022

full version

From 3HO Cult Info channel:

Mina Bahadori

discusses abuses in the Kundalini Yoga community with survivors on her Instagram account

RishiKnots Instagram Account

& Website tell the stories of the second generation adults