Abuse in Yogi Bhajan's 3HO Kundalini Yoga World
NEWS
December 2024
To examine the cultish nature of 3HO, this new book, soon to be released, uses a model developed by cult expert Dr. Steven Hassan to evaluate an organization's cult characteristics.
It begins with a brief historical overview and tells how community leaders dealt with revelations of abuse. It includes a list of lawsuits in which 3HO has been and is involved and explains where and by whom Yogi Bhajan's teachings are promoted and shared today.
It complements our book Under the Yoga Mat: The Dark History of Yogi Bhajan's Kundalini Yoga, which uses stories from survivors to paint a realistic picture of life as it was in Yogi Bhajan's sect.
"Irresponsible Behavior of 3HO Celebrities like Snatam Kaur"
Proceeds of the new book will be used
to sponsor the Spanish translation of Under the Yoga Mat.
Dec 12, 2024
elscoenen@in-balans.one
November 2024
Belgian Newspaper - Nov 12, 2024
Breath of Fire: Spiritual Exploitation as a Business Model
‘To know how this was created
and the victims it created, and yet
you’re using this
for your own personal gain?
Because that is what it is. You are saying: “It works for me.
It is good for me. So, I am going to do it.”
Without acknowledging where it came from?
You can make a great meal out of something that came out of a dumpster. But you should really let people know that you are serving them food that came out of a dumpster.”’
In the last episode of the
HBO Max seriesBreath of Fire,
Nov 14, 2024
Elizabeth Grignon said this about teaching Kundalini Yoga today:
TALKING ABOUT
INFORMATION CONTROL in 3HO CULT
🙄
KRI's letter to their teacher trainers
to tell them how to react to the "Breath of Fire" documentary.
From the SSSC November Newsletter:
Yogi Bhajan's son now on the SSSC board
Scroll to the second 34: to watch and listen to the leaders of the Kundalini Yoga community
LIMPIANDO EL TAPETE DE YOGA
A new Spanish-speaking channel that will bring the dark side of Bhajan's Kundalini Yoga into the open.
It is run by Rodolfo Caro and Ivan Sanchez, two former Kundalini Yoga teachers in Mexico.
They also work on the Spanish translation of Under the Yoga Mat.
October 2024
LINK to the HBO-Max mini-series
Breath of Fire (started Oct 23)
Gursant is back ... Oct 8, 2024
Info from Yogi Bhajan abuse:
on Oct 9, RA MA institute in Los Angeles closed down.
+
'By chance', Harijiwan* will not be in LA when
Breath of Fire airs. He fled to Hungary.
He announced this at an interesting 'Q&A Zoom' on Sep 29.
* Harjiwan, the 'toner bandit',spent 18 months in jail, a loyal lieutenant of Yogi Bhajan, mentor of GuruJagat at RaMa, won twice a Grammy award with his band 'White Sun' (2017 & 2023).
More info on Harijiwan's misdeeds: read chapter Exploitation, Fraud, Drugs, Weapons and Murder in the book 'Under the Yoga Mat'
A great interview
Just listen to the first 90 seconds ...
and you understand why Kundalini Yoga is not innocent!
Sep 28, 2024In this first session of talks in which Rodolfo Caro and Ivan Sanchez want to uncover the stories of abuse for a Spanish speaking audience, they talk with Els Coenen, co-author with Gurunishan* of the book Under the Yoga Mat (The dark history of Yogi Bhajan's Kundalini Yoga).
*Gurunishan is the author of the podcast Uncomfortable Conversations, the untold stories of 3HO's Kundalini Yoga community.
September 2024
Snatam Kaur - does she truly support 3HO survivors?
This question was raised when the Belgian organizer of a March 25, 2025 concert by Snatam Kaur in Brussels , accidently added an old bio.
In this bio, Snatam praised Yogi Bhajan as her spiritual leader. After the organizer and Snatam were alerted to the YB-worshiping bio, a 'corrective' message was sent out. LINK
In her bio now she does not mentio Yogi Bhajan anymore ... but is silent about the enormous damage done to thousands.
Her 2020 statement in support of survivors is not available on her site.
What a missed opportunity for a person with so much impact to take a stand for survivors, right?
In Spain 300.000 people have signed a request
to recognize 'coercive persuasion' as a crime:
... With the tools proposed by this association, the judge will now be able to determine whether, “beyond the presumed freedom of choice,” “a subtle manipulation forced the victim to take action against his own interests and for the benefit of the guru of service” ...
August 2024
August 26
YB's birthday
From the 3HO Newsletter: 'Today we are celebrating the birthday of our Teacher, our founder, role model, and inspiration.'
LINK to the full article that is just another slap in the face of the survivors.
Under the Yoga Mat message on Instagram & TikTok (Enlgish - Spanish) to incite yogis to inform themselves and listen to his 'Rape is always invited' teachings.
The 3HO European Yoga Festival (Aug 3 - 9 2024) may no longer be welcome next year in Jambville (FR). If so, they will need to look for another venue. The French Scouts and Guides - who own the site – informed 3HO that they are now aware of the 'Bhajan situation’ and consider if they can grant them 4th year of access to their domain.
Maybe the email sent to the 'Centre d'activités de Jambville' (see post on FB Under the Yoga Mat on June 7) contributed to this discussion. Either way, it feels good that they consider taking action and question if they want to have - on their domain - a serial rapist and child abuser teaching White Tantra for 3 days in a row on video screens and promoting a yoga & lifestyle that blinds people to abuse happening right under their noses or, if they knew about it, that scares them so much they can’t talk about it for decades.
Kulbir Singh, Yogi Bhajan's son active in Ukraine
July 2024
July 3 - 6, 2024
Uploading the presentation can take a while ...
Short report on FB page Under the Yoga Mat
Insurance Co. Sues Yogi Bhajan Organizations- July 6, 2024
"An insurance company is suing organizations set up by the late Yogi Bhajan, also known as Harbhajan Singh Khalsa, and asking a federal
judge to rule that the insurance company does not have to defend the organizations, or pay out any claims, in relation to a series of sexual abuse claims and lawsuits.The Cincinnati Insurance Company filed the lawsuit in federal district court on June 7, against the Siri Singh Sahib Corporation, Sikh Dharma International, Unto Infinity LLC and Siri Singh Sahib of Sikh Dharma.
At the heart of the dispute are three questions, surrounding multiple lawsuits filed in California, by people who allege they were abused by those in the organization, insurance attorney Nicholas Govea wrote in the complaint.
..." LINK to the full article (not accessible in Europe - copied text)
More info: casetext.com: Siri Singh Sahib Corp. v. The Cincinnati Specialty Underwriters Ins. Co., (D. Or. Jul. 19, 2023)
May 2024
On June 12, the docu
‘Breath of Fire’
will be screened at the
New York’s TrIbeca Film Festival (June 5-16).
The series tells the story of Guru Jagat, an LA-based millennial who used Yogi Bhajan’s Kundalini Yoga teachings to set up a fraudulent and abusive yoga business. Her partner in crime Harijiwan - a lieutenant of Yogi Bhajan nicknamed ‘toner bandit’ because of the fraudulent businesses he ran in the 1990s - was convicted and spent 18 months in prison. In 2023, he won (for the second time) a Grammy for Best New Age Album with ‘White Sun’. Hopefully the docuseries will show how Harijiwan’s and other criminal activities within this cult were/are covered up by yoga and religious activities as described in ‘Under the Yoga Mat’.
May documentaries like ‘Long Time Sun’ and ‘Breath of Fire’ soon be shown worldwide to expose the destructive power of Bhajan’s teachings.
GuruNischan* has released a new podcast with a great summary status of the reparations program, the lawsuits and the upcoming documentaries.
She talks about her own healing process, emphasizes the importance of therapy and reminds listeners about the presentation she and Els will give at the ICSA yearly conference on the healing power of listening.
* GuruNischan is the host of the Uncomfortable Conversations Podcast and co-author of Under the Yoga Mat released a new podcast.
April 2024
On April 22, the new CEO of the Kundalini Research Institute presented himself and his mission in a 2-minute video. The pre-2020 cult language is back. Does the average Kundalini Yoga practitioner worldwide understand, recognize, and identify with this?
Or will this help them see that their beloved yoga was a manipulative tool (not an ‘ancient technology’ but a Bhajan creation) that lured normal people into the cult trap and molded them into a unitary cult identity that looks like this? What do you think?
Deniers of Bhajan’s abuse in leadership positions, chase other leaders away.
Deniers now have full control on the board of the SSSC*, the governing body that oversees 3HO**, KRI***, and Sikh Dharma organizations and companies such as Yogi Tea. Four board members who recognized the issues of the past and hoped to ‘find common ground and work towards healing and unity’, resigned yesterday.
Link to their open resignation letter.
*SSSC stands for the Siri Singh Sahib Corporation. Siri Singh Sahib was a honorable title Yogi Bhajan had bestowed upon himself.
**3HO, the Healthy Happy Holy Organisation promoting Yogi Bhajan’s ‘teachings’.
***KRI, the Kundalini Research Institute that holds the Library of Teachings, oversees the training activities, etcetera.
GuruNischan and Els Coenen
will talk at the conference about
‘The Healing Power of Listening:
Survivors’ stories and the dark history of Yogi Bhajan’s Kundalini Yoga and
Sikh Dharma community leave thousands of practitioners worldwide asking
“Is this a cult? Am I in a cult?”’
Join us there to share with the world
how important testimonies of abuse were and still are in exposing
Yogi Bhajan's cult.
March 2024
March 2, 2024, Amrit Singh CEO Kundalini Research Institute announced in a YouTube messages to the Trainers of the KRI academy that - following the removal of the entire board of KRI by the SSSC one day earlier - he also took a step back.
Documentary on
Yogi Bhajan's abuse was screened at the SXSW film festival in Austin Texas on March 10, 2024.
It was well received by the audience say those who participated.
February 2024
New BOOK Review
On February 14, 2024
the Journal of Dharma Studies
published a BOOK REVIEW of Under the Yoga Mat
by Rajan, PhD - School of Education, Azim Premji University,
Madhya Pradesh, Bhopal India
This meticulously researched non-fction work probes deep into the disturbing tragedies that unfolded when Harbhajan, a 39-year-old Sikh-born Indian customs ofcer, arrived in Los Angeles in 1968, posing as a master of Kundalini Yoga. Through a thoughtful
selection of testimonies, historical records, voices of survivors, and expert insights, Coenen inductively disentangles the captivating rise of Yogi Bhajan, as disillusioned American youth eagerly embraced him as the Eastern guru, they believed they
needed. This is the frst book that shows all the diferent sides of Yogi Bhajan’s Kundalini Yoga and his respected Healthy, Happy, Holy community (3HO). It reveals how they did wrong things and used tactics to keep the terrible abuse hidden for five decades.
January 2024
New Lawsuit filed in California
On December 14, 2023, a lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court of the state of California for the county of Los Angeles.
Four women whose lives have been severely damaged
by Yogi Bhajan’s sadistic sexual abuse and other misdeeds filed a complaint.
Be aware that the reading is difficult
due to explicit descriptions of the horrible abuse.
Bhajan to one of the women
"I am going to fuck you and I'll fuck you as much as I want."
News prior to 2024 - Click here
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Survivor stories included on this site,
draw only a fraction of what really happened.
Many more stories are out there, told and untold.
Truth telling is a prerequisite for justice and reconciliation.
