Kundalini Yoga

Meditationtime Forum Post

Date: Posted 5 years before Apr 22, 2017

neil 5 years ago

I just got back from a yoga conference in Colorado. I met a lot of interesting people and took seven yoga classes taught by four different yoga teachers. Three of the classes were Kundalini yoga taught by Snatum Kaur and Tias Miller. All of the Kundalini yogis at the conference wore turbans. I got to wondering; why the turban? So I asked three of them and got three different answers.

The first yogi, an Indian, said it kept energy contained in his body while meditating. The second one said it is their belief not to cut their hair and the turban is used to wrap the hair up. He said the turban also helped keep sunlight off the top of the head and also acted as pressure points on meridians on the temples. The third yogi said the turban prevented the hair from standing out during Kundalini practice.

I thought it was interesting that no one had the same reason for wearing a turban. I mentioned to one of the yogis that I have a friend (Michael) that practices and teaches Kundalini Yoga and doesn't wear a turban. He said that it isn't necessary to wear a turban and many people who do Kundalini Yoga don't wear one.

Does anyone know the real answer why some Kundalini yogis wear a turban?

MiBeloved 5 years ago

neil wrote:

MiBeloved's Response:

The system of ashram life in India is very rigid in a certain way because there is always dos and don’ts. For instance if you are living in a Hare Krishna ashram you have to do what is called shave up, which means to have all your hair shaven except for a circular patch at the back top of the head. This is called a sikha in Sanskrit.

Anyone in India who wears a sikha is considered as being an ashram resident or a person whose parent was just deceased. To perform funeral rites called Shraddha, a son has to get his hair shaven except for the tuff of hair called a sikha. This is by the regulations of the death rite rituals from ancient scriptures.

But in the Hare Krishna movement, one has to shave up as a sign of change in lifestyle to that of the rules of the ashram and also as a sign of submission to a guru of the sect. Some senior members of these ashrams are allowed to grow their hair but even then, they usually has that special tuff which blends in and is not as visible.

In the Hare Krishna movement also no beards are allowed.

If you go into a Swami order in India, like the one from Shankaracharya, you have to get your head completely shaven with no tuff. Some Buddhist sects also require the same thing.

My point is that ashram life has its restrictions

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The name Snatum Kaur is Punjabi and it is adapted from Sanskrit. Anyone who uses a name with Kaur attached is a Sikh more than likely and has taken initiation into the Sikh religion. This is not part of kundalini yoga, but it may be seen as being part of it by some persons.

The Sikh religion was started by Guru Nanak and to understand what they believe in read a book called the Japji and also check the large book called the Adi Granth Sahib.

That is the scripture.

If you go into the Sikh temple you might be surprised to see that it is not like a Hindu temple which has idols of various deities. In a Sikh temple the object of worship is the Adi Granth Sahib book. It usually sits on the throne in the temple.

Historically Punjab was an entry point for invaders to enter into India. After the Muslim conquest, there was an assimilation of Hinduism and Islam in Punjab which resulted into many new religions which were a compromise of those two opposing religions. Islam says that there should be no idols period, while Hinduism recommends idols of deities.

So the Sikh religion is a compromise of those two systems.

All the Sikh gurus beginning with Guru Nanak were mahayogins. Some were rulers or chieftains and lead armies to battle but they were all trained in yoga austerities.

Sri Harbhajan Singh Sahib is in the disciplic succession from Guru Nanak. I took lessons from him in kundalini yoga but I did not formally join the Sikh succession. He never demanded that one should wear a turban. At least I never heard him say that. He taught kundalini yoga to anyone. If however you were interested in the religious part of his life, then that became an issue since you had to take initiation into their Sampradaya spiritual lineage.

In the astral world, up to yesterday I saw Yogi Bhajan while I was doing exercises and he has not to this date stipulated that I had to become a Sikh. When I was in the ashram in Denver no one said I had to wear a turban but I did wear one and in fact it was a problem because I was working at AT&T at the time and the fellow employees used to give these weird looks of disapproval. I wore it just because everyone at the ashram did. As the saying goes, when in Rome do as the Romans do.

I did study the Japji and the Adi Granth Sahib and once during a special Sikh festival week, I read from the Adi Granth Sahib while wearing a turban, even though I was not formally initiated into the religion. During that week the readings from the book went on 24 hours per day and so I volunteered for about 2 hours of reading.

Traditionally this is read in Punjabi language but with Yogi Bhajan, it was done in English from a translation.

Sikhs greet each other by saying Sat Nam which is from the Sanskrit Sat Namah, which means that the name of God is Sat or essential truth, essential reality.

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neil wrote:

The first yogi, an Indian, said it kept energy contained in his body while meditating.

MiBeloved's Response:

This is only true for someone who is meditating regularly. There are millions of Shikhs in Punjab and they do not meditate regularly. Sikhism for them is a religion and that is all it is. They do not practice kundalini yoga.

A turban can if one allows it serves to keep the energy contained in the subtle body. It can do that but that is not necessarily so in all cases.

I noticed that when I was using a turban full time when I was in the ashram, that it did increase my third eye focus even when I was doing common things while not meditating. So there is some truth to this teacher’s statement but again others wear turbans and their psychic abilities remain in dormancy regardless.

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neil wrote:

The second one said it is their belief not to cut their hair and the turban is used to wrap the hair up. He said the turban also helped keep sunlight off the top of the head and also acted as pressure points on meridians on the temples.

MiBeloved's Response:

Yogi Bhajan never prohibited anyone from cutting hair but he did say and I can vouch that he did, that the hair is part of the energy of the psyche and if it is cut some of the energy will be drained out unnecessarily.

Traditionally Sikhs are not allowed to cut their hair at any time. A turban was used especially in the ancient days when going into battle since then the loose hair caused problems. Even the hair from the beard is twirled and pulled back to join the hair on the head which is swirled in order to accommodate the turban.

But it is a fact that sunlight affects the crown chakra and mystic perception. What he said about the meridians on the temples is valid.

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neil wrote:

The third yogi said the turban prevented the hair from standing out during Kundalini practice.

MiBeloved's Response:

I cannot comment on this.

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neil wrote:

Does anyone know the real answer why some Kundalini yogis wear a turban?

MiBeloved's Response:

I would say that mostly only the yogis who are in the Sikh religion use turbans. Rarely would you find anyone else who teaches kundalini yoga wearing a turban.

Strictly speaking kundalini yoga has nothing to do with turban wearing. I have not used a turban since around 1973 when I was living in the ashram in Denver and my kundalini yoga practice has progressed. All the same wearing a turban would be beneficial nevertheless.

Can a bike be ridden without a helmet?

Or how can a helmet help the riders?

neil 5 years ago

Thanks Michael. That clears up a lot of questions.

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