Where does Kundalini yoga come from? The first name that comes to mind is Yogi Bhajan. So, where does he come from ? Where and when was Kundalini yoga given to him to be openly taught throughout the world ? Good questions. It seems that Yogi Bhajan took inspiration from several renowned teachers, who he later forgot about and created a bricolage of techniques, claiming that this was the oldest yoga that had been kept secret. This article describes just some of the flaws of Yogi Bhajan and clarifies the historical and cultural context. Very interesting. Sad to know the truth, but it doesn’t change the fact that Kundalini yoga is a beautiful yoga.
“Some critics and ex-members of 3HO try to dismiss the practice of Kundalini Yoga entirely, often basing their view on contradictory evidence within Yogi Bhajan’s claims or by contrasting the practice with accepted Sikh orthopraxy. But with vast numbers of teachers and students of Kundalini Yoga over the decades, it is unrealistic to think that all of them were deluded, found no benefits through its practice, or did not have profound experiences through it. Kundalini Yoga was often described by Yogi Bhajan and 3HO as “The Yoga of Experience’. When viewed critically and historically, perhaps the individual experience of its practitioners, and not the figure of Yogi Bhajan or the mythology of the Golden Chain, is the most honest and fruitful vantage from which to view it.”
Sikh Formations Religion Culture Theory 2012;8(3):369-87