Concerns & Questions arising from inappropriate behaviour in the practice of Yoga

This page was created (for non Facebook users) to record our answers to questions raised by teachers and students arising from (but not confined to) serious historical allegations raised in early 2020 about Yogi Bhajans conduct and teachings.

On 25 May the scope of the page was widened to include the unrelated concerns highlighted by the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag engendered by the death of George Floyd, an African American man who was killed by police during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.

YOGI BHAJAN INVESTIGATION OF ABUSE:

The final Report of An Olive Branch into Allegations of Misconduct was made public on 13th August 2020 may be read here https://epsweb.org/aob-report-into-allegations-of-misconduct/

Darryl O'Keeffe & Guru Dharam Singh Khalsa issued the following statement of the i-SKY position on 1 March 2020.

Darryl had previously released this initial statement on 14 February 2020.

Guru Dharam released this Truth & Transformation Aquarian Age personal statement on 18th March 2020.

If you would like a question answered here please email it to ask@i-sky.net

The Collaborative Response Team for the legacy organisations of Yogi Bhajan began issuing updates about their investigation from 4th March 2020 see: https://www.ssscresponseteam.org/

BLACK LIVES MATTER

Late May 2020 Guru Dharam wrote (primarily to American students):

The law of Saturn decrees that “unlearned lessons” are re-presented within a cycle of 29 years. 

The murder of George Floyd on May 25th, 2020, occurred nearly 29 years to the day after the American justice system failed to administer justice when Rodney King was badly beaten by five LA police officers, all of whom were acquitted of criminal charges, despite a graphic, 12-minute video recording. Black lives taken at the hands of over-zealous police are just as ghoulishly common in the US now as they were then, as officer after officer escapes accountability in the face of video evidence. This has been hideously demonstrated by the murder of George Floyd. But the subsequent demonstrations of global solidarity tell a different story. The turn of the wheel of Saturn has shifted us into the Aquarian Age, which is characterized by the collapse of old hierarchies as all our societal pillars are placed under the microscope of review. This includes the notions of justice, equality and common unity that we collectively demand are applied unilaterally irrespective of race, religion, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. The violence and outrage we have seen over the past week in the protests throughout the US from the dispossessed, the disenfranchised, the exploited, and the alienated simply reflects our collective lack of care, inclusion, and recognition of our fellow brothers and sisters. We stand for justice, we stand for equality, we stand for an end to the systemic violence against Black Americans that has existed for the last four centuries. Just as we believe we must all do our part as individuals to constantly and actively combat racism and anti-blackness, and to use our privilege to make space for those who have been unjustly relegated to the sidelines of the system, we believe it is especially important to do so as members of the yogic community - which far too often fuanctions as a predominantly white space, despite its roots in India.  We will be postponing this week’s Kundalini Cave Practice to next week in solidarity, and furthermore pledge to start (but not stop) addressing this issue within our own microcosm in the following ways: 1.We pledge to listen. If you are a Black yogi or a prospective student who has felt excluded by white spaces in the yoga world, and has the energy to let us know how we can make our spaces feel safer and more inclusive, we would love to know.  2.We pledge to help however we can. We understand there are a number of other potential barriers that might prevent a person from engaging in yogic practice. While we do not own or manage our own studio, we will do what we can to make our classes and trainings more accessible to Black yogis and yogis of color, economically or otherwise, by sharing resources and interfacing with the studios who host us on their behalf.  3. We pledge to keep learning and supporting.

If you would like a question answered here please email it to ask@i-sky.net