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 …
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 …
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. …
Video and the Cult Leader
There are thousands of hours of videotape of Yogi Bhajan’s lectures. Every single lecture I ever had to sit in, there was a video camera on record. When I saw the PBS documentary called Jonestown, the reels and reels of raw footage of Jim Jones reminded me of Yogi Bhajan’s own narcissism, and I hoped …
Dirty Socks
What kind of sadistic (and moronic) fuck would punish kids by making them stuff filthy socks in their mouths and then TAKE A PICTURE OF IT? Nanak Dev Singh, that’s who! After seeing this photo I am of course reminded of my own filthy condition as a kid at GNFC, and how humiliating it often …