“If you can’t see God in all, you can’t see God at all.” ~ Yogi Bhajan
Of all the types of yoga I teach, Kundalini Yoga is the quickest and most transformative. Because of this, students come to one class, have an amazing and earth shaking experience and then go gang busters on Kundalini. They want to know everything about this magical and mystical practice. Of course they hit the internet first and start googling away.
Inevitably, the emails start coming about Yogi Bhajan. Yogi Bhajan was the Yogi Master who brought Kundalini Yoga to American in the 60s. If you google Yogi Bhajan, you hit a lot of articles about sexual and financial scandal. I’m not going to bother with details, and honestly, I’ve never dug into it too deeply because it simply isn’t my nature at this point in my yoga practice. I have no idea of the truth or untruth of any of it. In the earlier days of my yoga practice when I was much more rajistic and questioning, I did research the Gurus and Yogi Masters I study and call teacher and the one thing I can tell you without exception is the following:
They are human.
This is pretty important. As yogis we are learning non judgment. As yoga teachers, we are learning what we teach. You’ve probably figured out by now that I blather on and on about balance and health and wellness. Have you ever paused to ask why? Well, I’ll be perfectly honest. I’m an extremist. Left to my own devices I’d probably be on the back of a motorcycle somewhere jobless and drunk. On the flip side of that, I’d probably be in a cave on a mountain top isolated talking to God or worse yet, have found the ultimate union in death. Luckily, I found yoga and it has taught me so much about my nature and healed me so much, I share it with you as your teacher.
“If you want to learn something, read about it.
If you want to understand something, write about it.
If you want to master something, teach it.” ~ Yogi Bhajan
So, if you really want to understand who you are learning from, listen to what they are teaching because it is what they want to master.
“Don’t love me, love my teachings. Be ten times greater than me.” ~ Yogi Bhajan
It’s interesting, sometimes I’ll be out and about in my normal life and I run into people. People see me at the gym lifting weights and they are horrified as if I’m cheating on the yoga studios. I’ll run into folks at the movies with my bag of popcorn and I think they are nearly going to fall down and die at the deceit. God forbid I have a soda, a glass of wine, or an ice cream cone in public. It’s as if everything I have ever said about health and wellness means nothing in that moment. It makes me sad in those moments, but then I remember that I am human an it’s okay to have an occasional ice cream cone. I’ve never said it wasn’t.
Really, ice cream cones and sex scandals seem far apart on the spectrum, but are they? Who am I to judge?
“What is the power of life? With all the ungraceful dirt, nonsense, you remain graceful.” ~ Yogi Bhajan
*The sole purpose of these articles is to provide information about the tradition of ayurveda, yoga, and meditation. This information is not intended for use in the diagnosis, treatment, cure or prevention of any disease. If you have any serious acute or chronic health concern, please consult a trained health professional who can fully assess your needs and address them effectively. Check with your doctor before taking herbs or using essential oils when pregnant or nursing.