I’m coming up on the 13 year mark of blogging about growing up in Yogi Bhajan’s 3HO Kundalini Yoga cult. I left the cult in 1994 (got kicked out actually). I could have fully walked away and just never looked back. Sometimes I question why I didn’t do just that. But, I didn’t. I spoke …
SGA Stores: An Open Letter
Dear Community, Like many of you, I’ve been really shocked at all the truth that has come out recently in our community. I’ve started to realize that although our community has some really wonderful people in it, I feel like it has big and widespread flaws that began with YB but definitely haven’t stopped with …
“3H-NO”
This new blog Unhealthy, Unhappy, Unholy is a first person account of life at Miri Piri Academy.
To Khalsa Council
On Saturday 4/25 Khalsa Council asked 3HO second generation-ers to come forward to the council and tell them about our experiences. They held a zoom meeting that went on for about 9 hours, no breaks. I sat in for about a third of it. Bearing witness–to even a short segment–has put me in Fight or …
An update…
Okay, so I decided to go ahead talk to both Olive Branch and to SatNam at the office of legal counsel after all. Why though, after such a vehement position? I had to give a lot of thought to this. It’s not healing to revisit our abuses, and it’s important to do so in a …
Correspondence with An-Olive-Branch.org (a long read)
The Siri Singh Sahib Corporation Collaborative Response Team has decided to team up with a religious non-profit organization called An Olive Branch to conduct an independent investigation into the recent allegations of sexual misconduct by its leader Yogi Bhajan. Below is my letter from March 11 2020 to An Olive Branch regarding the issues that …
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It is not our responsibility to make them see. IT IS THEIR FAILURE TO LOOK.
This post is for my fellow SGA’s. To the 1st generation: I see you, but I’m not here to talk to you right now. SGA’s: if you are having conflicting emotions, it’s okay. It’s okay to want to take some aspects of your upbringing, leave others behind, and make the most of who you see …
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To the New Wave of Kundalini Yoga Gurus
Um, your boy is a dud. And all you’re doing is trying to capitalize on this dude’s name and image. And you have no idea what you’re saying. The below excerpt is from a draft in 2018. I decided to go ahead and publish it because I think it’s funny. It’s now 2020 and stupid …
Halloween, 1984 – an update
It’s been ten years since I wrote about what it was like to be in India on the day Indira Gandhi was assassinated. What took place on Halloween 34 years ago still remains a Specter that haunts. It’s the specter of memory. Let’s neutralize this ghost with knowledge. Read this book: Amritsar: Indira Gandhi’s Last Battle …
That one thing that makes me think MPA is worse:
It’s the Yoga. I grew up in 3HO in the 80’s and I attended GNFC for six years and GRD Academy for two years. While at GNFC, we did absolutely no yoga. The only time we had to do yoga was in the winter months when school was not in session. At GNFC, while we …
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Um, what?
How insulting is this: Hey. Assholes. RIGHT NOW there are 3HO Sikh Dharma children who are thousands of miles apart from their parents–children who have been separated because Yogi Bhajan told their parents to do it. Told their parents that their “children don’t love them”. Told their parents that “distance therapy” is a thing. And …
Separating children from parents is wrong. Very wrong.
What’s happening now–Children being torn from their parents at the US border–might feel all-too personal. It can trigger a lot of unhappy memories. I have a clear memory of how I felt in my body and in my mind when I was really young and separated from my parents. I remember not feeling, and just …
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There’s no deadline for grief
…Meaning, it might take a while. After years of keeping this blog, I have had the opportunity to speak with a number of ex-classmates, talk to people, and have real conversations about growing up in 3HO Sikh Dharma. When I do take time out of ordinary life to reconnect or have a conversation, what usually …
Can someone regret something even if they’ve never apologized for their role?
Last week, Dr. Dre issued a public apology to the women he beat up back in the N.W.A. times. While it reeks of PR, it’s still a step in the right direction. Perhaps now he can put his money where his mouth is and donate to causes that prevent domestic violence, and to those that …
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Upcoming ICSA Events to take advantage of
If you’re reading this blog, chances are you are curious about 3HO and Yogi Bhajan. Also, chances are you were born and raised in this group. And if you were born and raised in this group, there’s a 90% chance you were sent away to boarding school in India. And a 100% chance you have …
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As If I Needed A Reason…
A child separated from his or her parents experiences profound emotional trauma and damage to his or her true sense of security. This is the fundamental reason not to send children to boarding school. But in addition to that, there are other reasons NOT to send a child to boarding school in India through the …
Giving Back
Chapter 1 As Sikh children, we were told to give back. In fact giving back to one’s community, or Dasvandh, was one hallmark among my many memories as a Sikh child. My parents gave ten percent of their income in tithings. It’s part of Sikh tradition to give a tithing, even if very small, at …
The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword
Firearms training, and exposure to firearms were normal growing up in 3HO Sikh Dharma. My parents owned two or three handguns and a rifle. Even as a young child I knew where they were stored – inside their bedroom closet, loaded, and inside a padded, brown leather holster. Yogi Bhajan had a 24-7 cadre of …
On Consensus and the Bully Pulpit
Normally when we think of consensus, we think of it in a positive, unifying kind of context – like solidarity. But growing up in 3HO, and having left when I was 18, I’ve developed a different kind of outlook toward consensus and consensus-building. I wasn’t granted an opinion or a voice once I left 3HO. …
On punishment
We were punished a lot. Even before India, at children’s camp, we were often given very unreasonable and bizarre punishments. I’ll go into those children’s camps again soon… Sometimes I think GNFC was actually a haven from those camps – once we were sent off to school, we didn’t have to go to camp anymore. …