Karl'sKwestionsKundalini Yoga Thumbnail History

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 01/26/2001 10:23:14 PM W. Europe Standard Time,

kundaliniyoga writes:

 

> This is one of the things that has set Yogiji apart from many past

> spiritual leaders, in that he has worked tirelessly to make public so

> many techniques and practices that have traditionally been held

> secret to a spiritual path or guru, and made it clear that these

> practices are our birthright, available to everybody.

 

I think one of the special things about Sikhism and 3HO is that the guru

is not in contemporary times understood

to be embodied. Yogi Bhajan is a teacher and does

not seek to be worshipped- he does not present himself as the

living incarnation/embodiment of what we are all seeking.

Some people seem to feel that way about him, but that is a personal thing

and not at all a necessary or even desirable part of one's yoga practice.

This refusal to be a "guru" is in accordance with the tenants

of Sikhism and so far as I am concerned, it is a *very* good thing.

 

You might by contrast take a look at www.leavingsiddhayoga.org

to get a feel for what happens to people when they get involved

in a religion with someone who claims to be a

guru and teaches/uses the religion

and yoga practices to support this claim... ouch.

 

Ardas

[Guest guest]

Dear friends:

 

>From what I have been told by people in Espanola (who work with the

SSS and have visited India), few Indian Sikhs actually practice

Kundalini yoga these days. In fact, I heard the story this way:

 

Guru Nanak had been brought up as a Hindu. At this time, few of them

practiced the yoga and meditation that were the original basis of the

beliefs of the religion, but although their spiritual practices had

faded, it was still possible to learn the practices. Learning, and

devoting himself to such practices, eventually brought him to an

enlightening experience (the sum of which is the Mool Mantra).

 

He spent his life challenging and questioning the existing religious

beliefs, thus laying the foundations of Sikhism, which established a

variety of new practices (such as equality of women, uncut hair, and

so forth) and, at least at first, including the Kundalini yoga &

meditation as part of the religion.

 

But just as the practices faded in Hinduism over time, so have the

practices faded in Indian Sikhism - American Sikhism is a renewal of

the original practices, maintaining the faith and practices of the

Sikh religion, but returning to the spiritual practices that we call

Kundalini yoga.

 

And I'd also note that Kundalini yoga in this country follows two

distinct threads, one being American Sikhism, and the other being

3HO, which is, in essence, the secular arm of the KY practitioners

group. The aim of 3HO is to spread the practices and knowledge of

Kundalini yoga in a fashion that is unrelated to Sikhism.

 

This is one of the things that has set Yogiji apart from many past

spiritual leaders, in that he has worked tirelessly to make public so

many techniques and practices that have traditionally been held

secret to a spiritual path or guru, and made it clear that these

practices are our birthright, available to everybody.

 

With love & peace for all,

Sadhant