Questions about Yogi Bhajan
Meditationtime Forum Post
Date: Posted 5 years before Apr 29, 2018
MiBeloved 5 years ago
From LinkedIn:
Sophie Ouellet wrote:
Question about Kundalni Practitioners...
Hello, I am fairly new to the group. I have met a few KY practitioners who revere a guy named Yogi Bhajan. When you research that guy's name on the internet, there are wild things written (which could be the case for anyone. But when you see copies of a lawsuit that he settled for 350.000$ it is somewhat scary... I really would like to understand because he seems to have brought a lot of valuable info to the U.S. but there is a whole side of the guy that I find strange. So how do I navigate safely in all this???? Thank you very much in advance
Michael Beloved's Response:
It is a matter of what someone else has which you desire to have. If someone has a product which you need, usually you buy it without making a background check. In some cases though, if you really need something you will purchase it from a person who has a questionable background.
This is because of need.
Any yogi who mastered a particular skill is qualified to teach that skill automatically, even if that person has other unwanted aspect in his or her lifestyle.
If you need to learn kundalini yoga, then in so far as Yogi Bhajan mastered that he can teach it to you. Of course presently he is deceased.
It would be nice if you could find a teacher whose background check is flawless but if that is not possible then what next?
Either you learn it from someone who has some cross marks in the record or you go without being taught the skill, and then who knows you might just discover it on your own.
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Sophie Ouellet wrote:
My problem is when I feel there is some sort of taboo around that question. You very well know that there is a lot of psychology involved with yoga, and since even in Hatha Yoga I have experienced a lot of pain, I think a background check is the safe way to go. I also want to understand why is it that I feel that asking such questions is wrong... I have cerebral palsy, I experience energies perhaps in a more direct way than most, so again, I believe it is quite O.K. for me to ask those questions... Believe me, I wish things felt as simple as you say they are...
Michael Beloved's Response:
Perhaps you are not leveling with us, because there might be a specific incidence which caused you to ponder this.
But sure these are good questions and they should be asked.
I agree!
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Sophie Ouellet wrote:
I am not sure what you mean by 'leveling with us'... But just as an example, I have been feeling very tired for a very long time... I once heard that Yogi Bhajan recommended taking cold showers. I tried it twice and both times I had a huge increase in spasticity. In my situation wouldn't you have wanted to know 'what jerk came up with this idea'.. I know, he was not a jerk. My problem is that I am stuck learning on my own, on a trial and error basis because most people teach yoga as a 'one size fits all' kind of thing... So I am not sure whether this technology is appropriate for me... Thank you for answering...
Michael Beloved's Response:
Many other teachers also recommended cold bath, so it seems to be a tradition in India at the ashrams of spiritual masters.
It can cause serious problems like colds, and exposure to cold problems.
Yoga should be individualized for sure and it is recommended in Bhagavad Gita that a yogi should be alone (ekaki), which means it should be done individually.
If one is attracted to a teacher, one may try it out and see if it suits one's constitution and if it does not, one should surely move on.
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Sophie Ouellet wrote:
Well, Michael, you must really live up to your name. I appreciate your answers. You seem to be quite a wise man...
Amit Singh Luthra wrote:
Hello,
kundalini yoga is simple, does not have any adverse affects, always corrects the biological problems.
kundalini can be raised with thousands of ways with ease, calmness.
Ashok S. wrote:
Yes, may be Amit ji But we judge A Healthy Awakening of Kundalini in a System only if the Results would confirm to the Established and Classical Patterns of Awakening and only if Awakening bestow similar boons to the one in whom the Power did Awaken !.
To Sophie Queller: I consider that what technique may suit one may not necessarily be totally suitable to other because of different physical and psychological makeup.
In some peculiar physical conditions, it is a better approach to ask your questions directly with as much explanation as it may be possible, so that one who would understand may suggest what may be best course to adopt in a given situation. Fortunately, Internet is a worldwide School today and in most cases a wide variety of options available. This facility was not available to many Kundalini Students say a decade earlier. Your inner Guidance will tell you what may suit you better.
Best Regards Ashok
nandakumar gopalan wrote:
Sophie: Michael & Ashok are stating the right things with their wide exposure.
I would like to add the following to enhance their statements to your requirement.
With your physical constraints, you should not and need not perform any Circus.
Yoga consisting of "Manthra"(resitasion) with Bakthi'(Devotion) and 'Dhyana' (Meditation) will be more than enough for you. Once your limitation is known, you have transcended that state already. Aaaaa...Uuuuu..Mmmmm.....= OUM...oum...om..omeee... is itself called the 'PRANAVA Manthra' which is enough if uttered with Devotion to your personal GOD...whoever it be... at your leisure, seated or even lying down at ease !
Justin Kaye wrote:
My humble opinion would be to look into Sahaja Yoga as an alternative.
nandakumar gopalan wrote:
Self Realization through 'Viswa Nirmala Dharma' of H.H.Nirmala Dhevi's 'Sahaja Yoga' as stated by Justin, though popular since the 70's only, is quite an effective and safe method based upon the earlier 'Kundalini Yoga' moderated to the present generation to make a start !
Marlene Smits wrote:
My own experience is that you can take whatever teaching that resonates with you, without feeling responsible for teacher's actions. A lot of teachers have valuable insights, but are not perfect human beings.
Keith Bacon wrote:
I have done Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan off and on for 6 years. At first I thought he was maybe a charlatan or a cult maker. I didn’t like a lot of the beliefs in the K yoga world and found it tried to intervene in many areas of my life when i just wanted to do the wonderful powerful effective kriyas and meditations.
The more I learn about it the more I respect Yogi Bhajan - not worship or revere. He spread K yoga by training teachers who could train the next generation of teachers and devised a program that seems to work.
I recently found out more about how hard he worked to get yoga studied by western science and to train scientifically minded people as teachers.
Of allegations of seducing teachers he trained I'm not sure. Successful people attract troubled fantasists but powerful people attract tempting groupies. A female teacher said to me 'Do you want to use his yoga or know his life story?'. I have no opinion as there is not much evidence. I don’t think he was a saint - merely a yoga master who did a brilliant job at passing it on as a link in the 'golden chain' of teachers. I see so much integrity in his work but don't know about his private life.
I used to think his way of talking was odd and not very 'regal'. Now I think he had to try hard to stop people 'worshipping' him so would not talk like people expect a 'guru' to talk.
I suspect he also kept his Indian accent as it taps mouth parts as in the mantras. He said English doesn’t work well for mantras.
A guru is also talking to many people at once who are at many different levels of experience and understanding. So in one paragraph or even sentence are words directed at people who aren't you and to people who are. The more yoga I do the more I experience and the more of his words become wisdom.
The 'cultish' aspect I now believe is how he best thought he could maximize the number of people that would reach the most advanced stages of yoga. This requires a community identity and rituals - someone like me that doesn’t really participate in this stuff and lives much as before doesn't get the maximum out of the yoga as our addiction to our habits of comfort and identity prevails.
A 'proper' kundlaini yogi is in a very different state than a normal person - tuned up to an extraordinary degree of sensitivity through disciplined long sadhana and special diets and training.
The yoga kriyas and meditations are the core of it for the more casual practitioner. I regard them as some of the most amazing pieces of human knowledge. If you do them with discipline you change so much for the good and learn so much about how your mind/body systems really work.
They work best if you push yourself but you must also take care to not damage yourself physically. Put your time and effort into these above anything else like cold showers etc. Follow the instructions 40 days + - you can get weird experiences if you exceed them at breath work. It's very hard to do them alone as your mind resists the changes they bring.
My first kriya it was about day 21 that I realized it was changing me much more than at day 1. It's like relentless accumulation that breaches your minds defences and breaks your grooves of habit in body and mind.
The kriyas made sense for me long before the meditations. I needed to do a number of kriyas to get internally sensitive enough to use the meditations best.
They bring the same basic changes you get from any other mind/body technique including the western ones. Many people can just get them deeper and faster this way. The price of the wisdom and joy this brings is emotional and physical discomfort and for some even worse. I may have pushed myself harder than many and have had some truly awful feelings. It's not for everyone but I think it's a small price to pay for the benefits.
Just some scatter-gun thoughts about this strange amazing business....
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Sophie - I have found many people in the K yoga world revere Yogi Bhajan as many buddhists revere the Dalla Lama. This always happens to sages and top class teachers.
The state of enlightenment means a person is very warm, compassionate and easy to love. The teacher tells people to do the hard yoga and meditation he did to get him/her to that state and get themselves to that state. But some followers don't and worship or revere the teacher - and they have a right to.
A much quoted Yogi Bhajan saying:
'I came to America to train teachers not gather disciples'
But it's a free country and he picked up some anyway!
The buddha taught the same and ended up with a whole religion founded in his name of which not many meditate as he wished them to.
Some say it's the same for Jesus and Christianity.
It's an occupational hazard for sages!
