YOGI BHAJAN

Yogi Bhajan broke with the long-held tradition of silence. When he came to the West he opened the book on Kundalini Yoga; one of the world's best kept secrets. Another tradition that he broke was that of collecting students. He always made it clear that he was interested in making teachers not collecting students.

Mastering Kundalini at a young age he left behind the luxury of a comfortable life materially and professionally.

In the turbulent, drug culture of the 60s, Yogi Bhajan first reached out to the youth. He recognized their experimentation with drugs and “altered states of consciousness” expressed a deeper desire to experience a holistic, liberating sense of awareness. Soon realizing that pharmaceuticals provided, at best, a cheap imitation to the peaceful, inner euphoria they could get naturally from Kundalini, and at worst, had debilitating physical and mental side effects, young people began flocking to his classes, arriving by the busloads. Soon 3HO teaching centers began springing up across the United States and then throughout the world.

He sparked a movement whose many tendrils have wound their way into our culture. Through 3HO, Yogi Bhajan blazed a trail. Today, after more than 30 years of determined effort on the part of this organization and others, yoga and meditation have gained widespread acceptance in the West. Witness the frequent feature articles that grace the covers of such publications as Time, Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal. This popular attention speaks not only to the proven benefits of yoga and meditation, but to the increasing public interest in spirituality and a healthy diet.

Born Harbhajan Singh in what is now Pakistan to a family of healers and community leaders, Yogi Bhajan studied comparative religion and Vedic philosophy in his undergraduate years, going onto receive his Masters in Economics with honors from Punjab University. Years later, he earned his Ph.D. in communications psychology from the University of Humanistic Studies in San Francisco.

Over the past 32 years, he emerged as a religious, community and business leader with a distinguished reputation as a man of peace, world-vision, wisdom, and compassion. He authored and published more than 30 books on topics ranging from spirituality and consciousness to communication and psychology. He founded several foods companies that manufacture and distribute natural products based on these teachings. He fostered economic development in every community in which he participated, annually conducted business seminars, and authored several books that provide guidance to both the aspiring entrepreneur and seasoned business executive alike. As the Siri Singh Sahib, or the Sikh leader in the Western Hemisphere, he has met with Pope John Paul II to discuss inter-religious dialogue and worked side-by-side with the Dalai Lama and the Archbishop of Canterbury to foster world peace.