Sikh Dharma

This article will give a general overview of a Sikh movement that originated in the 1960s with an immigrant from India known as Harbhajan Singh, a Khatri Sikh. His initial aim was to teach yoga in Canada, but the job he was promised did not materialize, and thus it was that he turned his attention towards California. In Los Angeles, he took on a new name, Yogi Bhajan, and soon surrounded himself with eager students. An ashram was built soon thereafter and by 1969 his ‘Healthy, Happy, Holy’ group was incorporated as a tax exempt organization. Although Bhajan was from a traditional Sikh family, he increasingly focused on Kundalini Yoga and Tantra in his teaching and practices. However, Sikh teachings were also incorporated into his message, a message that was largely directed towards a white, middle-class, counter-culture audience. Needless to say, the Punjabi Sikh community has had a mixed reaction to the ‘Gora’ (white) converts, particularly with regard to the accretions and modifications to the Sikh traditions, upheld by Bhajan and his followers. This article will address aspects of 3HO (or Sikh Dharma in the Western Hemisphere) in its current manifestation that resembles characteristics of new religious movements, particularly its claims to universality and purity within its own manifestation of ‘true’ Sikh identity.

Kundalini Yoga in 3HO/Sikh Dharma is regarded as an essential spiritual practice. It involves a multitude of meditation sets that include various breathing techniques, body postures and movements, hand positions, mental and devotional foci, and reverent chanting – with each set intended to transform a specific aspect of a person's physical, emotional, and spiritual makeup. Following the direction of Yogi Bhajan, members of Sikh Dharma are also involved in relatively traditional Sikh beliefs and practices, and regard themselves as orthodox Sikhs. This connection of Kundalini Yoga to Sikhism has come under criticism by certain Punjabi Sikhs and western critics. In light of these concerns, this paper will clarify key features of the practice, theory, transformative processes, and ideals of 3HO Kundalini Yoga, attending especially to questions about the possible connections and significance of it to traditional Sikhism.

Professor Puran Singh, a unique synthesis of a poet, philosopher and scientist rose like a celestial star on the firmament of the modern Indian literature. The many splendoured personality of this great chemist, mystic poet, visionary and interpreter of the Sikh cultural consciousness, still beckons scholars to explore the extent of his vision in various fields. After a splendid in-depth study of Life and Work of Puran Singh, Dr Hardev Singh Virk has made a successful attempt to unravel the persona of this multi-dimensional genius in his book titled ‘Professor Puran Singh – Scientist, Poet and Philosopher.'

Prof. Harnam Dass had been a profound scholar of Sikhism. He was an eminent writer in a comparative study of religions, with several books to his credit. In the Foreword of the book, "Prof. Harnam Dass - A Profile," its editor Dr. Amrit Kaur Raina, provides a detailed description of the author's life, works, and legacy. He was born in 1905 at Daria Khan, Distt. Mianwali (now in Pakistan).  Harnam Dass was a Sehajdhari Sikh. Despite facing severe financial adversity in his early years, he was able to obtain M.A.(Persian), M.A. (Punjabi) and B.T. degrees by the sheer dint of his hard work and sustained efforts. Inspired by the writings of Sikh Gurus, he devoted his life to the dissemination of Gurmat and Punjabi language among the masses. Through his literary essays, as published in several reputed research journals, magazines, newspapers, and books, he created an indelible mark of scholarship on the minds of his readers. A votary of honest living, Prof. Dass led a life dedicated to the love of God and selfless service to society. His comparative expositions of Sikhism, Buddhism, Jainism, Vedanta, and Islam were much appreciated by the many eminent scholars of his time. He was a true Karam yogi who had devoted his whole life to spread the message of the love of God, Gurmat, and service to all.

The Sardarni Kuljit Kaur Bindra Chair in Sikh Studies & the Department of Religion in collaboration with The Sardarni Harbans Kaur Chair in Sikh Musicology, curator of the Music, Memory & Identity Lecture Series
present 'Memory & Pedagogy of Gurbāṇī Saṅgīta: Identity & the Clash of Histories' by Bhai Baldeep Singh.

About:
Bhai Baldeep Singh is the core strategist of a renaissance in Sikh praxis. A 13th generation exponent of Gurbānī Kīrtan, Bhai Baldeep Singh is the Bhāi-Kē Gurū Nānak Pātshāhī III Sri Gurū Amar Dās Mahārāj and the Pagrī-nashīn (Head & Seal Bearer) of the Amritsari Bāj, the oldest surviving Pakhāwaj & Jori of Punjab. Beyond representing Sikh vocal music and percussion at a world-class level, Bhai Baldeep Singh is responsible for the revival of traditional instruments of the Gurus’ endowment by personally hand-crafting them under the guidance of a master luthier who stopped making them after 1949. Bhai Baldeep Singh is the chairman of The Anād Foundation (New Delhi), the Founder of the Anād Khaṅḍ: Conservatory of Arts, Aesthetics, Cultural Traditions and Developmental Studies,
Qilā Sultanpur Lodhi, and Dean, at the Faculty of Humanities & Religious Studies, Guru Nanak Dev University (Amritsar).

Bhai Baldeep Singh will discuss the transformation in Sikh praxis and self-understanding by influential reform movements under the pressure of colonial and then nationalist forces. Over the past three decades, his fieldwork with tradition-bearing elders within and beyond the Sikh Paṅth offered him an unparalleled opportunity to assimilate the oral histories,
musical riches, and pedagogical streams of the Guru's court. Bhai Baldeep Singh will discuss the assets he has been able to recover and what work remains to be done to ensure the resurgence of distinctively Sikh forms of excellence.

Photo courtesy of www.anadfoundation.org, India

This article will give a general overview of a Sikh movement that originated in the 1960s with an immigrant from India known as Harbhajan Singh, a Khatri Sikh. His initial aim was to teach yoga in Canada, but the job he was promised did not materialize, and thus it was that he turned his attention towards California. In Los Angeles, he took on a new name, Yogi Bhajan, and soon surrounded himself with eager students. An ashram was built soon thereafter and by 1969 his ‘Healthy, Happy, Holy’ group was incorporated as a tax exempt organization. Although Bhajan was from a traditional Sikh family, he increasingly focused on Kundalini Yoga and Tantra in his teaching and practices. However, Sikh teachings were also incorporated into his message, a message that was largely directed towards a white, middle-class, counter-culture audience. Needless to say, the Punjabi Sikh community has had a mixed reaction to the ‘Gora’ (white) converts, particularly with regard to the accretions and modific...