FATHER OF KUNDALINI IN THE WEST
One of the reasons he accepted the offer was that he had seen too many Americans and Europeans seekers arriving in India, being exploited -spending a lot of money, and leaving without having learned very much, if anything. He vowed to teach honestly, and share the wisdom and the technology that he had gained. He was determined to give people the technology of Kundalini Yoga so that they could empower themselves and show them they didn't have to become anybody's disciple to progress on the spiritual path.
En route to Canada, he not only lost his luggage, when he landed in Toronto, he discovered that the professor from the University who had hired him had just died. So he had no job, only $35, and the clothes on his back. This was September of 1968.
In December, he received another invitation, this time a personal one from a man he had known in India, to spend a weekend visiting in Los Angeles.
Although "the Yogi," as he was called back then, had only intended to visit LA for one weekend, he changed his mind. When he met the young people of the '60's, whose destiny it was to usher in the new era-- the Aquarian Age, he knew his destiny was to stay here and teach them. Since 1969 his home base has been the United States, first LA and now New Mexico.
At his first public lecture on Sunday, January 5, 1969, at the East West Cultural Center in Los Angeles, he spoke glowingly of his vision of a Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization -- the "3HO Foundation." He explained that it is everyone's birthright to BE healthy, happy, and holy, and practicing Kundalini Yoga was one powerful way to claim that birthright.
Busloads of young people from all over flocked to the East West Cultural Center when they learned of a Master from India teaching Kundalini Yoga! This was too much for the woman in charge of the Center, and she asked Yogi Bhajan to leave. One of his students owned an Antique Shop on the corner of Melrose and Robertson and he offered the use of his showroom for classes.
Every night the enthusiastic students would remove all the furniture before class, and put it back afterwards! Soon they decided to convert the garage into a permanent classroom, and that became the first "Guru Ram Das Ashram." Classes were packed full every night.
He made it very clear from the very start that he had not come to get disciples, but to train teachers. He said that in Kundalini Yoga, a person must initiate him/herself! He encouraged people to learn, and then go out and teach what they had learned. Starting with Washington, DC, 3HO centers started springing up all over the country. Destiny was unfolding. There are now over 350 centers worldwide.

BREAKING THE SECRECY TRADITION
Yogi Bhajan broke the ancient tradition of secrecy to introduce what he calls the Yoga of Awareness to the West. Traditionally these sacred teachings were passed from teacher to student in a very selective and elitist fashion. Any student who wanted" Each soul has a role to play. Each human has something to say. May consciousness prevail so we can come through the veil of arrogance and ignorance to the joy and happiness of life. May we count our blessings to be beautiful, bountiful and blissful." - Yogi Bhajan

"You have a right to be healthy, happy and holy. It is your birthright."

Kundalini Yoga is a potent and effective system of self-transformation and personal development. Kundalini Yoga stimulates individual growth through systematic techniques that strengthen the nervous system and balance the glandular system (the guardians of health), for increased stability and vitality. Meditation improves mental concentration, sharpens awareness and give the direct experience of consciousness. Kundalini Yoga encompasses and draws from all yogic systems and techniques.

So effective and influential has the 3HO Foundation become, that in May of 1994, it was recognized by the United Nations as a Non-Governmental Organization. Since then, Yogi Bhajan's wife, Bibi Inderjit Kaur, Ph.D., and other 3HO Representatives have attended and made presentations at numerous UN sponsored forums, conferences and functions.
Today, 3HO operates more than 300 centers in 35 countries.
"If you cannot see God in all, you cannot see God at all."

Yogi Bhajan is the chief religious and administrative authority for the Ministry of Sikh Dharma in the Western Hemisphere. Yogi Bhajan has been given the Ministerial title of "Siri Singh Sahib" by the central governing body of the Sikh religion, the Akal Takhat, in recognition for his unceasing missionary work in the western world.
He is an individual of remarkable insight, powerful energy and an unwavering commitment to global healing and spiritual awareness.
The Technology of the Shabad Guru
In these times of turbulent change, an inner and outer balance is needed for both personal and social success. Life in today's world is no longer based on what you believe, but on what you experience. Those individuals who lack the tools to experience their own true identity will find themselves frustrated and unfulfilled.
The Shabad Guru is an ancient science that has been the foundation of the Sikh religion for hundreds of years. It engenders an elevated consciousness and identity.
In the book, The Quantum Impact of the Shabad Guru, by Siri Singh Sahib Bhai Sahib Harbhajan Khalsa Yogiji, Ph.D. and compiled by Mukhia Singh Shaib Dr. Gurucharan S. Khalsa, Ph.D., this ancient knowledge is brought into a contemporary perspective, making it accessible to all people. This technology forms the core of his counseling and teaching efforts.
KUNDALINI YOGA: The Flow Of Eternal Power
An Easy Guide to the Yoga of Awareness - As Taught by Yogi Bhajan, Ph.D.

For thousands of years yogis preserved and carefully guarded the knowledge of the inner and outer workings of a human being, very cautiously revealing the technology, selectively passing it down verbally from Master to chosen disciple. They were selective because knowledge gives power, and power can corrupt. Kundalini Yoga was always kept very secret. It was never taught publicly until 1969, When Yogi Bhajan challenged the ages-old tradition of secrecy.
The word kundalini literally means "the curl of the lock of hair of the beloved." It is a metaphor, a poetic way of describing the flow of energy and consciousness which already exists within each one of us. The practices enable you to merge with or "yoke" with the universal Self. This merging of individual consciousness with universal consciousness creates a "divine union" called "yoga." The technology of Kundalini Yoga applies its science to our bodies and minds, and is aimed at spirit which has no boundaries, no discrimination. Therefore it is for everyone. It is universal and nondenominational.
This is a yoga for householders, for people who have to cope with the daily challenges and stresses of holding jobs, raising families, and managing businesses. It gives results in the shortest possible time. It does not require you to leave your home, become an ascetic or sit in a cave. Kundalini Yoga is designed to give you "hands on" experience of your highest consciousness. It teaches a method by which you can achieve the sacred purpose of your life. In 1969, when Yogi Bhajan saw the condition the young people were in from having taken drugs, his compassion impelled him to teach them Kundalini Yoga. He knew it was the fastest way to heal their bodies and minds, and give them the spiritual awakening they were seeking.
Kundalini Yoga deals specifically with the most powerful thing in the universe, the basic life energy, prana. Prana is the sub-atomic energy, the life force. Kundalini Yoga is the path of discovery of the source of the prana in us and teaches us how to use it. In Kundalini Yoga we harness the mental, physical and nervous energies of the body and puts them under the domain of the will, which is the instrument of the soul. Kundalini Yoga perfects the finite life while connecting it to the infinite experience.
The practice of Kundalini Yoga also balances the glandular system, strengthens the nervous system and enables us to harness the energy of the mind and the emotions, so we can be in control of ourselves, rather than being controlled by our thoughts and feelings. Of all the technology and wisdom that Yogi Bhajan could have taught from his vast storehouse of mastery, he chose to teach Kundalini Yoga because it is so effective, comprehensive, and so "do-able."
No matter what we achieve, what success in the world we have, it ends up being hollow unless we fulfill the soul's yearning to bring higher consciousness into our daily lives. Kundalini Yoga is much more than just a system of physical exercise. It is a dynamic, powerful, tool for expanding awareness. Approach it with respect, with reverence, and openness.
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Excerpts from the book by Shakti Parwha Kaur Khalsa. Available through the Ancient Healing Ways Catalog 1-800-359-2940.
KUNDALINI YOGA - AN INTRODUCTION
by Yogi Bhajan
Yogi Bhajan, master of white tantric and kundalini yoga started teaching in America in January 1969. He is the director of Spiritual Education for the Healthy, Happy, Holy organisation (3HO), which has expanded to over 100 centres teaching Kundalini yoga throughout the world.
"I have recognised with the blessing of my master, that it is possible to be healthy, to be happy, and to be holy while living in this society. You must have energy so that your dead computer may live and pass on the signal to you and may compute all that you want to do in this society. We call it, in the olden science, the Kundalini,.. which has been blocked in Muladhara, the lowest of all chakras or lotuses.
- These are all imaginary things. Great big books have been written on them, and these books also misled me for many years. Still I learned about it; and all these chakras (or circles, as we call them in English) have put us in so many circles that we do not come out of it, and we reach to nowhere. There is a way we should get our computer to be in direct contact with him, the Biggest computer; and things must then work automatically. That can't work until the Kundalini, the spiritual nerve, breaks through the blockage at Muladhara, and thus, travels up and reaches the stage that you may have Superconsciousness in Consciousness.
It is to generate the pressure of the prana and mix it with the apana and thus, when the two join together, you generate it in the pranic centre; with this heat of the prana, you put a pressure or charge on the Kundalini, the soul nerve, three and a half circles coiled (Kundal means "the coil in the curl of the hair of the beloved"; it does not mean snake or serpent) on muladhara, and thus awaken it, so that it may pierce, through the imaginary chakras and pass ultimately through Jalandhara Bandha (Neck Lock - the final blockage in the spine before the energy reaches the head):
Now, let me define a few terms. Prana is the life force. It is the life force of the atom. Apana is emanation or eliminating force. These are two forces, positive & negative, in us which are governed by pingala and ida, that is, right and left. When we join these two energies under the power and the science of Kundalini Yoga, we mix the prana with the apana and bring, under that pressure, the Kundalini up. When it passes through the central nerve or Sushumana it reaches the higher chakras or lotuses; and thus man can easily look into the future. His psychic power gets enlightened. He can know his total surroundings and he is a blessed being.
After one inhales the prana deep (down to the navel point) and pulls the apana with root lock (up to the navel point), prana and apana mix at the navel centre. This is known as Nabhi Chakra or Fourth Vertebra. Heat is felt during the Kundalini awakening and that heat is the filament of the Sushumana or central spinal channel being lit by the joining of prana and apana. Below the Nabhi chakra, the energy leaves the navel aid goes to the rectum (or lower centre) and then it rises. This is called Reserve Channels. It relates to your Astral Body.
Then, there are six more chakras through which the Kundalini must rise; and it will happen all at once; and once you have raised it, that's it. But the hardest job is to keep it up, to keep the channels clean and clear.
From the rectum to the vocal cord is as the silver cord. From the neck to the top of the head is passage. From the third eye to the pineal gland is the gold cord. To make the energy rise in these cords and passages, you must apply hydraulic locks. You must put a pressure. You live in California? You know how we take the oil from the ground? Put a pressure and the oil will come out. It is a staircase of energy.
Mulbandh brings apana, eliminating force, to the navel or fourth vertebra, the central seat of the Kundalini.
Diaphragm lock takes it up to the neck.
Neck lock takes it up all the rest of the way.
The pineal gland or seat of the soul does not work when the tenth gate (top of the head) is sealed. But if pineal will secrete (when the Kundalini heat comes), your pituitary will act as radar, keeping the mind from negativity.
Yes, Kundalini is known as the nerve of the soul; and this has to be awakened, and when soul gets awakened, there remains nothing. What else?
In the practical reality, these chakras are imaginary and nothing else. This Kundalini is just a Kundalini and nothing else, and it is not very important. These pranas and apanas are just there. Everything is set in us. We lack nothing. We use these terms simply to make the process clear so we can get on. It is very simple. After getting myself into the darkness for years together, I found it was so easy, I could have saved myself a lot of hassle.
When I found the kundalini really can come up like this, I was astonished! It was a surprise to me. I said "That's all there is to the Kundalini?" and my master said "Yes."
All it is, is creating the prana in that cavity, and mixing it with apana, and taking it down (as we give pressure to the oil), and bringing the oil up is Kundalini. That's it. That is the greatest truth. Truth is bitter, I know, so I cannot speak all the truth. But I speak indirect and direct truth, because I cannot speak something beyond truth. I have realised the truth, and the fact is you cannot breathe by your will. It is the God in you which breathes. Without that, you do not breathe. Now what is this breath business? I tell you.
It is good information to the medical people. Under the eighth vertebra there is a cavity. We call it prana centre. Good? In that prana centre, with the breathing up to the tip of the tongue and-on to the ida and pingala, which adjust the temperature of the body, we breathe pranic energy. Pranic energy is the life force of the atom. If, fifty years ago, I would have talked to you about atomic energy you would have said, "Go away. We don't understand you." When I talk pranic energy ,don't feel that I am talking something mystic. It is practical. This pranic energy is the life of the atom. We store it her (8th vertebra down). We know certain actions through which we inhale with this pranic energy, and when we inhale with this pranic energy, our pranic centre gets awakened. The pranic centre supplies the pranic energy to the pranic nerve, and the pranic nerve supplies the pranic energy to the muscles, which are responsible for the beat of the heart and that of the diaphragm. We call it "U" muscle, because it is shaped like the letter "U" and this "U" muscle is responsible for all this life current in you which is automatic, beyond your control. You know what these Yogis do? They create pranic energy reservoirs in that cavity, and so they live on that reserve. This is what they do. They make the cavity active with certain exercises; and thus, they know how to control the pranic energy or prana-vayu, the life current. That's one part of it. The second is apana, which eliminates everything. It is where the Kundalini power lives. Now, when the pranic energy is in you, then the second part is that you can circulate it through your body. You can feel it and make people feel it; we teach people how to do it. It is a scientific thing that has got nothing to do with mystics, or something which I can't explain. It is so simple, it is practical, and so we circulate it.
In the circulation we time it to go with the spinal cord. Then we make it hit the Muladhara. Thus we pierce through that bind or blockage before the Kundalini power. The moment we do it, she has no option but to come up, and the moment she comes up, you stand blessed. Then you will see; the computer will work. That's all.
Is it difficult? There is no secret about it. In twenty, thirty days, if you honestly practise it about one hour, two hours each day, you can be through with it, and this is what I did.
Two cautions: You must practice neck lock. Pull the neck straight in, keeping the spine and neck absolutely straight with no bend of the neck. The higher flood of circulation will cause cells of the brain to expand because of the higher circulation of blood to that region and people shall go mad, half-mad or die, because the lock was not there!!
Secondly, when you do yoga, please, for God's sake, remember, you are playing with the energy which is the life force of the atom. You must understand what you are doing. I'm giving you a word of warning.
The fact remains that without having the Kundalini awakened, your soul is not awakened, and if your soul is awakened, what else do you need? If you will get into the action to awaken the Kundalini, the nerve of the soul, and thus this car of yours will be driven or chauffeured by the soul and not by the negative ego, then you have found God in you; and I shall be the greatest man on earth, if I shall be privileged to touch the dust of your feet, if you had that state.
R inked with permission from 'Beads of Truth': Summer 1972. Editor in chief, Guru Amrit Kaur Khalsa. -Copyright 1986 by the 3HO Foundation, a non profit corporation dedicated to the advancement of the individual through education, science and religion. 1620 Preuss Road, Angeles, California 90035.

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