To the Kundalini Yogis of Breathe Together Online,
It feels important that I share this message with you in order to maintain alignment and integrity with my own heart, and with yours.
Recently, the global Kundalini yoga community has experienced an upheaval due to news that the messenger that brought this yoga to us, Yogi Bhajan, had a very corrupt and dark side to his character. Many stories of alleged criminal, physical, and sexual abuse are now being brought to light in the wake of Pamela Saharah Dyson’s brave and gracefully-told new memoir, Premka, White Bird in a Golden Cage.
A third party investigative team, An Olive Branch, has been hired by the Collaborative Response Team, where it has stated that reports will be publicly revealed by June.
I feel that the highest vibration we can maintain in this time is that of compassionately listening to and honoring the voices of these survivors. They have been holding in their experiences for decades, while the global community at large has unknowingly been carrying on. I can’t imagine how painful that must have been, seeing the face of their oppressor revered, quoted, and pictured on every manual, event banner, and website, etc.
With the intention of honoring and centering the healing on these survivors, it is important to me that I do not re-traumatize anyone in any way that I can help it. Therefore, I will not be referencing Yogi Bhajan in my classes and I will not be quoting him. In recent articles published on Breathe Together Online, I have made reference to him. From here forward, I will not.
I am seeing this as an opportunity to break free from associating these powerful yogic technologies with one man. They belong to no one and everyone. They are beyond the messenger.
It is unclear as to how the organizations (3HO, KRI, IKYTA, SSSCorp, etc.) will move forward come the reports of the investigation. In my heart, I feel a cleansing and rewrite of the text and manuals is called for, and investigation into the real history of these teachings.
Pamela’s memoir revealed that a man named Virsa Singh may be the true source from which Yogi Bhajan learned of these technologies. It has also been uncovered that he had lived and taught in an ashram in the mid-60s, right before embarking westward, and the teachings of Dhirendra Brahmachari are also of particular interest in this uncovering. (More on that to come as I do my due diligence to research and get clearer.)
In the meantime, I am processing and discerning. I wish to only present and practice technologies that have been effective and therapeutic from my own personal and sovereign experiences. There are countless beneficial things I do in a single day that I can say are because of Yogi Bhajan. I do not wish to demonize him. I am grateful for the light he brought to the planet, albeit a shrouded light.
I am feeling the next wave of liberation on the planet, leaving pedestals and guru worship in the dust. I have faith that what lands after this upheaval will be at a higher frequency than before.
If this news is reaching your ears for the first time, and you feel shattered, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. I’m finding great healing in having private conversations.
In navigating this intense paradox, I may make many mistakes. I may have several blind spots. I welcome your feedback and questions. And I am deeply honored by the trust you have put in me.
In the Spirit of Healing and Transformation,
Let Us Rise!
Love,
Charanpal
