“It wasn’t like that for me”“You must be remembering it wrong”“It wasn’t the same for everyone”“I don’t see myself as a victim”“You’re allowing yourself to be a victim”“I’ve moved on. You should too” These are some of the invalidating things that fellow indiakids have said to me regarding our upbringing. Just like the normalizing stuff, …
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Good Food and Giving Thanks For It
Thanksgiving for us meant ‘home again’. My parents started flying me and my sisters back for the full winter break starting in 5th grade. We usually got home right in time for Thanksgiving and the home cooked feast that came with it. Food was a really big deal for me, beginning in early childhood. Good …
What ‘Normalizing’ Looks Like
Are these phrases familiar to you? “I’m still glad for the experience”“I wouldn’t trade it for anything”“I’d rather have been in India than in the U.S.”“My parents were worse, so I was better off away from them”“I’m okay now, so it must have been okay”“It wasn’t all bad” If stuff like this sounds familiar it’s …
Walking away from the bad.
We need to tell ourselves that it’s okay to walk away. We are not going to fail. We are not going to collapse. We are going to be okay. When someone is treating you badly, manipulating you, making you feel less-than, they rely on a prevailing and toxic narrative that there will be dire consequences …
“No one imagines themselves as so fragile to ever let something as sinister as a cult take control of their minds. I didn’t think anyone would ever tell me how to think and when to think it. We all believe we’re above such things and only stupid people could fall for that. “ — Carmen …
So now they have a treatment for Sexual Abuse?
Found this article “Reclaiming Your Innocence” Wondering… Would this be the same treatment recommended for the 3HO children who experienced sexual and physical abuse while at 3HO led boarding schools in India? Would this be the same treatment for 3HO children who experienced sexual and physical abuse at Khalsa Children’s Camp? Would this be the …
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What I got from watching The Source Family
I just watched The Source Family, a recent film that depicts the brief life of the cult of the same name, led by James Baker, aka Father Yod, aka YaHoWha. The film labels itself a documentary, but is less so than it is a compilation of old footage and interviews with past members who, to …
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The inventing (and re-inventing) of Kundalini Yoga
For anyone unaware (is there anyone?), Kundalini Yoga and 3HO Sikh Dharma are inextricably linked. There is no historical, ideological, or anthropological connection–what-so-ever–between the religion of Sikhism and Kundalini, aka Tantra. Yet this link has nevertheless found its way into the common vernacular among many people in the west with little epistemological discourse. I’m not …
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Ram Das Puri
Satellite Google Maps view of the 3HO sponsored summer solstice and Peace Prayer Day events in Northern New Mexico. Yogi Bhajan’s real name was Harbhajan Singh Puri. He named the solstice site Ram Das Puri back in the late 70’s. I guess he named it after himself and no one noticed or cared? Isn’t Puri …
Trauma at boarding school and before
For a large portion of my life I managed to satirize my experiences in boarding school in India. In social situations with my “Indiakid” peers, I can keep up with the laughing and mockery and the absurd story-telling… which is usually how most social situations wound up. But then a silence will fill the room …
Steven Hassan on Huffington Post
Have you been reading any of the articles about the current schizm in Sikh Dharma? If so, what’s your response as a 2nd generation adult? Here is the op-ed piece by cult recovery expert, Steven Hassan. From there, is a link to a piece in the Santa Fe Reporter. The Eugene Register Guard also has …
Remembering US Independence Day in India
The GNFC school year was the reverse of what it is in the States. We got two and a half months off during the winter months, and spent March through November in India. Our July Fourths were not spent cooking out, or going swimming, watching fireworks, lighting sparklers, or feasting on fruit cobblers. Our parents …
Response to “Sikh Dharma Next Generation” (2010)
Many of us who chose not to live “in the Dharma” left on our own accord, and are quite happy forging our paths as we see fit. We enjoy autonomy, anonymity, freedom of expression, freedom in our attire, dress, hair, the freedom to consume anything we want to consume, etc, etc. But it’s possible that …
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Library Point
A brief summary of the India program
The boarding schools I went to were GNFC school in Mussoorie and GRD Academy in Dehra Dun. At first GNFC was the school all the parents collectively sent us to, until about 1989. It was a traditional Sikh boarding school that had a British influence, and had separate campuses for boys and girls. The majority …
On Vegetarianism
Growing up in 3HO I was raised a vegetarian. We ate dairy and cheese, but no eggs and we avoided any food with other animal by-products like lard or chicken stock. I’d say that our diets were very strict, health food diets, but not vegan. Yogi Bhajan often instructed his students to go on fasts, …
Found an interesting blog post by a Kundalini Yoga practitioner. 3HO – Cult or Spiritual Environment? I’m frankly a bit relieved by the writer’s awareness of this issue, because it’s rare that someone deeply engaged in the 3HO or Kundalini Yoga community would ever even use the word “cult” in reference to one’s self. If …
I found this quote on Rick Ross’ website and it struck a chord: “I was researching 3HO for a friend who was asking me about it, and I found this site. I found it interesting, and I’m glad you have it. The group needs to be exposed for what it really is, and not many …
On Given Names
I can’t believe I haven’t yet written about the broad issue of the given name. It’s an issue that I know plagues a number of young adults born and raised in 3HO Sikh Dharma. Sikh Dharma/3HO converts are given a “spiritual” name, with roots in sanskrit and gurmukhi. My given name was three syllables, plus …
Pilgrimage to Hemkund, elev. FIFTEEN THOUSAND FEET
View GNFC to hemkund in a larger map My first trip was in 1985 when I was 11. The trip from Mussoorie consisted of two full days on a bus, mostly along a mountain precipice that may or may not have had several land-slides blocking the way, followed by two full days of steep uphill …
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