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Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji, 75, known as Yogi Bhajan to hundreds of thousands of adherents worldwide, left his physical body at 9 pm MDT on October 6 at his home in Espanola, New Mexico surrounded by family and friends. The cause of death was complications due to heart failure.
An outstanding pioneer in many fields with a deep and compassionate insight into the human condition, he established permanent institutions, created spectacular events, and produced a prolific body of teachings.
The first to publicly teach kundalini yoga when he arrived in 1968, he announced he had come to the West “to create teachers, not to gain students.”
A deeply devoted Sikh, his inspiration and example motivated thousands to embrace the Sikh way of life. Through his personal efforts, Sikh Dharma was legally incorporated and officially recognized as a religion in the USA in 1971. The same year, in acknowledgement of his extraordinary impact of spreading the universal message of Sikhism, he was given the title of the Siri Singh Sahib, chief religious and administrative authority for the Western hemisphere by the governing body of Sikh temples.
Yogi Bhajan was born Harbhajan Singh Puri, August 26, 1929, in the part of India that became Pakistan in 1948. When he became a United States citizen in 1976, he changed his name legally to Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji.
When he was just eight years old he began his yogic training with his teacher who proclaimed him to be a master of kundalini yoga when he was 16.
He arrived in Canada in 1968 to teach yoga at the University of Toronto, his sponsor the Canadian High Commissioner in New Delhi. He later moved to Los Angeles and began teaching young hippies that the experience of higher consciousness they were attempting to find through drugs could be found through the practice of kundalini yoga.
The non-profit 3HO Foundation (Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization) was incorporated in 1969 to serve humanity through kundalini yoga, meditation and the science of humanology which improves physical well being, as well as deepening spiritual awareness.
There are now 300 centers in 35 countries. In 1994, 3HO became a member of the United Nations as an NGO in consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council, representing women’s issues, promoting human rights and providing education on alternative systems of medicine.
Yogi Bhajan, as the Mahan Tantric, the only living master of White tantric yoga, conducted workshops in cities around the world. In 1987 he transferred these workshops to videotape.
In 1973, Yogi Bhajan founded 3HO SuperHealth, a successful drugless, drug rehabilitation program, blending the proven ancient yogic wisdom of the East with the modern technology of the West. Currently a pilot project of SuperHealth is being formed by the Punjab State government in India.
True to his earliest commitment, “I’ve not come to gather students, but to train teachers,” the International Kundalini Yoga Teachers Association and the Kundalini Research Institute now holds teacher training courses throughout the world.
Embodying a rare combination of spiritual and down-to-earth practical wisdom, Yogi Bhajan was equally at home in the pulpit, the podium, the board room, the living room, or sitting on the grass in a park, teaching and educating people from all walks of life. His expertise and influence extended into the realms of communication, the healing arts, business, religion and government.
Loyal friend and mentor of national and world leaders, he promoted spiritual awareness in all arenas. An ardent advocate of world peace and religious unity, he participated in many interfaith forums and conferences, including the World Parliament of Religions.
In June of 1985 he established the first International Peace Prayer Day celebration in New Mexico. This annual day of musical celebration and interfaith prayer draws several thousand participants, including prominent national and international leaders in the realms of religion, politics and humanity.
With a masters in economics and being a savvy entrepreneur he encouraged his students to start their own businesses, including the popular Yogi Tea, and Akal Security, a large US security service.
He was a champion of women’s rights, and believed that it is women who are the backbone of society, and since 1972 when he inaugurated the first of what became annual women’s camps, he taught technology to turn “chicks into eagles.”
His motto was: “If you can’t see God in all, you can’t see God at all.”
His credo: “It’s not the life that matters, it’s the courage that you bring to it.” His challenge to students, “Don’t love me, love my teachings. Become 10 times greater than me.”
Although Yogi Bhajan has left his physical form, he asked that his students and those who knew him celebrate his homecoming. The light of his spiritual essence continues to bless all those whom he loved, and that is the entire human race.
He is survived by his wife, Siri Sardani Kaur Bhai Sahiba Bibi Inderjit Kaur Khalsa, three children, five grandchildren and all those in his 3HO and Sikh Dharma families. A Canadian memorial service was held in Surrey October 31.
In BC contact Raj Yog Nivas (Yoga West) for information 604-732-9642
www.yogawest.ca
If you would like to leave a message for Yogi Bhajan’s family or staff please call 505-367-1661, or send email to ybmemorial@sikhdharma.org
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to The Kundalini Research Institute for the Library of the Teachings of Yogi Bhajan, PO Box 249, Santa Cruz, NM 87567 USA. |
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