This letter was originally written for OngKar Kaur. More about her at the end.
July 3, 2020
Dear everyBody,
Sat Nam. I appreciate your heartfelt sharing, OngKar Kaur - and everyone else's as well. What a sweet time this is! Imagine the days when the Khalsa was holed up in Anandpur Sahib, surrounded and running out of provisions. Imagine the scene in Montgomery, Alabama when people were preparing to march for historic civil rights, knowing full well that the police and their dogs and truncheons awaited. It is times like this when people really get to know each other, to reach out in meaningful ways, to assess what is important and what is really too trivial to even think about.
I have been on a different path than many of you, an isolated path skirting the limits of our blessed mission. No Khalsa Council for me. Many a Solstice I missed. I lived in Punjab for a time. I lived in Gurdwaras. Though I have taught plenty of classes and given trainings - not KRI approved - mostly I lived in isolation sifting the precious gold of our legacy, to better articulate and share it for those who value it - and those who do not.
The Siri Singh Sahib gave me an assignment many years ago, to write his biography. One thing led to another, and I ended up writing other books as well - an 800 year history of the dawning of the Aquarian Age ("masterpiece" - Dr. Dharma, "Wow!" - Guruka Singh) and a detailed study of the sweet spot where Sikh Dharma and Kundalini Yoga meet, a place well embodied by our teacher.
I used to wonder why KRI might approve or not approve, but never publish my works, some of them written (and self-published) 12-15 years ago. Now, with the passage of time, I better understand.
We started as a movement. We had a mission that we dedicated our lives to. "Twenty million started out. Only a few survived." That was us! But today there are people at KRI and Spirit Voyage and in places too numerous to list, doing their best to reduce this mission to a profit-making gambit.
We may call it "reductionism," "merchandising"... "Paracitism" is also a term that comes to mind, feeding off the body of a host, not necessarily living.
To do this - and they have been working on this project for a number of years now - they have had to discard the overall vision the Siri Singh Sahib shared with us. This was no longer a mission, they told us without actually saying it. And to get there, they needed to discard or at least to tone down, to neutralize the Sikh Dharma element.
Forget about Bana, Bani, Simran, Seva. Forget about an open-ended, vigorous and empowering way of life based on daily rising in the pre-dawn hours. Forget about building bridges and maintaining relations with our Punjabi Sisters and Brothers. That is just not part of the package. Of course, what they are talking about is a business model and an administrative model, no longer a mission.
It was difficult for these people to do this for the simple reason that the Siri Singh Sahib had his fingerprints all over the teachings they wanted to isolate and vacuum-pack and sell as merchandise. And Yogi Bhajan was overtly and positively a Sikh and a renowned role model throughout the world. So these clever people waited in the wings.
They waited in the wings for an opportunity to expunge Yogi Bhajan from "the teachings of Yogi Bhajan" - and when that opportunity came, they did not waste a second, but they pounced. They pounced on the image of our teacher, they pounced on his legacy, and of course, they pounced on us who still believe in the integrity of the teachings (that they are best experienced as a whole, as a committed lifestyle) and our teacher, which is odd, because before this nobody, excepting a few self-seeking malcontents, questioned his integrity.
So the new idea is: 1) give a platform to, and amplify the voices of, anybody with anything negative to say about the Siri Singh Sahib, and 2) do not permit a just and reasonable inquiry into any of the allegations against the Siri Singh Sahib.
Hand in hand with this idea is the end of role modeling. Forget the idea of becoming ten times greater than your teacher. If the main teacher is sold in the marketplace as a failed saint (I won't repeat the describers used by the critics.) and everybody is just fallible, then who is to model after whom? Nobody, of course. "Just buy our yoga products and courses and shut up about it!" is what they seem to be saying.
Where is the Sikh Dharma ministry while all this is happening? No place really. It's agenda is to self-perpetuate, to send newsletters and conjure minor events while the membership todders off into the sunset. None of the youth are buying it. They see nothing in it for them. Where is the Bhai Sahiba? Nursing her wounds of hurt in Los Angeles understandably.
Regardless, some of us are not going to buy their products and shut up. Clearly, some of us are starting to see the Big Picture. We don't like it and we are fixing for a fight. As Khalsa, we know how to fight and come out winning.
Keep up your spirits, folks! The Aquarian Age is just begun.
Waheguruji ka Khalsa! Waheguruji ki Fateh!
Humbly yours,
Guru Fatha Singh Khalsa
Notes:
The artwork at the top is a depiction of the great Banda Singh Bahadur facing the enemy, created by our friend Kanwar Dhillon. See this and other extraordinary works at: artofpunjab.com.
OngKar Kaur started a Google Group as a safe haven for people who cherish a loving bond with Yogi Bhajan still. You may join by emailing her: [email protected].
My three main works are: 1) Five Paragons of Peace - a history of the Aquarian Age. 2) The Essential Gursikh Yogi: The Yoga and Yogis in the Past, Present and Future of Sikh Dharma. These and other works may be accessed in PDF for at no cost here. 3) The biography of Yogi Bhajan which he himself titled Messenger from the Guru's House, may be found with the other PDFs - or in a portable device-friendly format here.
"Twenty million started out..." are lyrics from the song The Khalsa Way composed by Livtar Singh. A beautiful, sing-along version may be accessed here.
Bana, Bani, Simran, Seva - Bana is dressing distinctively, looking special, in white and a turban. Bani is the Holy Hymns of the Guru, to be cherished in our hearts as guidance and inspiration. Simran is meditation, experiencing the day-to-day presence of the Creator in all things. Seva is self-less service guided by the intuition garnered through constant meditation.
"a just and reasonable inquiry" - To press for a fair investigation, visit www.fairinvestigation.com and follow the directions in "What You Can Do."
July 3, 2020
Dear everyBody,
Sat Nam. I appreciate your heartfelt sharing, OngKar Kaur - and everyone else's as well. What a sweet time this is! Imagine the days when the Khalsa was holed up in Anandpur Sahib, surrounded and running out of provisions. Imagine the scene in Montgomery, Alabama when people were preparing to march for historic civil rights, knowing full well that the police and their dogs and truncheons awaited. It is times like this when people really get to know each other, to reach out in meaningful ways, to assess what is important and what is really too trivial to even think about.
I have been on a different path than many of you, an isolated path skirting the limits of our blessed mission. No Khalsa Council for me. Many a Solstice I missed. I lived in Punjab for a time. I lived in Gurdwaras. Though I have taught plenty of classes and given trainings - not KRI approved - mostly I lived in isolation sifting the precious gold of our legacy, to better articulate and share it for those who value it - and those who do not.
The Siri Singh Sahib gave me an assignment many years ago, to write his biography. One thing led to another, and I ended up writing other books as well - an 800 year history of the dawning of the Aquarian Age ("masterpiece" - Dr. Dharma, "Wow!" - Guruka Singh) and a detailed study of the sweet spot where Sikh Dharma and Kundalini Yoga meet, a place well embodied by our teacher.
I used to wonder why KRI might approve or not approve, but never publish my works, some of them written (and self-published) 12-15 years ago. Now, with the passage of time, I better understand.
We started as a movement. We had a mission that we dedicated our lives to. "Twenty million started out. Only a few survived." That was us! But today there are people at KRI and Spirit Voyage and in places too numerous to list, doing their best to reduce this mission to a profit-making gambit.
We may call it "reductionism," "merchandising"... "Paracitism" is also a term that comes to mind, feeding off the body of a host, not necessarily living.
To do this - and they have been working on this project for a number of years now - they have had to discard the overall vision the Siri Singh Sahib shared with us. This was no longer a mission, they told us without actually saying it. And to get there, they needed to discard or at least to tone down, to neutralize the Sikh Dharma element.
Forget about Bana, Bani, Simran, Seva. Forget about an open-ended, vigorous and empowering way of life based on daily rising in the pre-dawn hours. Forget about building bridges and maintaining relations with our Punjabi Sisters and Brothers. That is just not part of the package. Of course, what they are talking about is a business model and an administrative model, no longer a mission.
It was difficult for these people to do this for the simple reason that the Siri Singh Sahib had his fingerprints all over the teachings they wanted to isolate and vacuum-pack and sell as merchandise. And Yogi Bhajan was overtly and positively a Sikh and a renowned role model throughout the world. So these clever people waited in the wings.
They waited in the wings for an opportunity to expunge Yogi Bhajan from "the teachings of Yogi Bhajan" - and when that opportunity came, they did not waste a second, but they pounced. They pounced on the image of our teacher, they pounced on his legacy, and of course, they pounced on us who still believe in the integrity of the teachings (that they are best experienced as a whole, as a committed lifestyle) and our teacher, which is odd, because before this nobody, excepting a few self-seeking malcontents, questioned his integrity.
So the new idea is: 1) give a platform to, and amplify the voices of, anybody with anything negative to say about the Siri Singh Sahib, and 2) do not permit a just and reasonable inquiry into any of the allegations against the Siri Singh Sahib.
Hand in hand with this idea is the end of role modeling. Forget the idea of becoming ten times greater than your teacher. If the main teacher is sold in the marketplace as a failed saint (I won't repeat the describers used by the critics.) and everybody is just fallible, then who is to model after whom? Nobody, of course. "Just buy our yoga products and courses and shut up about it!" is what they seem to be saying.
Where is the Sikh Dharma ministry while all this is happening? No place really. It's agenda is to self-perpetuate, to send newsletters and conjure minor events while the membership todders off into the sunset. None of the youth are buying it. They see nothing in it for them. Where is the Bhai Sahiba? Nursing her wounds of hurt in Los Angeles understandably.
Regardless, some of us are not going to buy their products and shut up. Clearly, some of us are starting to see the Big Picture. We don't like it and we are fixing for a fight. As Khalsa, we know how to fight and come out winning.
Keep up your spirits, folks! The Aquarian Age is just begun.
Waheguruji ka Khalsa! Waheguruji ki Fateh!
Humbly yours,
Guru Fatha Singh Khalsa
Notes:
The artwork at the top is a depiction of the great Banda Singh Bahadur facing the enemy, created by our friend Kanwar Dhillon. See this and other extraordinary works at: artofpunjab.com.
OngKar Kaur started a Google Group as a safe haven for people who cherish a loving bond with Yogi Bhajan still. You may join by emailing her: [email protected].
My three main works are: 1) Five Paragons of Peace - a history of the Aquarian Age. 2) The Essential Gursikh Yogi: The Yoga and Yogis in the Past, Present and Future of Sikh Dharma. These and other works may be accessed in PDF for at no cost here. 3) The biography of Yogi Bhajan which he himself titled Messenger from the Guru's House, may be found with the other PDFs - or in a portable device-friendly format here.
"Twenty million started out..." are lyrics from the song The Khalsa Way composed by Livtar Singh. A beautiful, sing-along version may be accessed here.
Bana, Bani, Simran, Seva - Bana is dressing distinctively, looking special, in white and a turban. Bani is the Holy Hymns of the Guru, to be cherished in our hearts as guidance and inspiration. Simran is meditation, experiencing the day-to-day presence of the Creator in all things. Seva is self-less service guided by the intuition garnered through constant meditation.
"a just and reasonable inquiry" - To press for a fair investigation, visit www.fairinvestigation.com and follow the directions in "What You Can Do."