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Yogi
Bhajan was born Harbhajan Singh Puri on 26 August 1929
into a family of healers and community leaders, in the Punjab region of India
that is now Pakistan. He was a pioneer in many fields with a deep and compassionate
insight into the human condition. Yogi Bhajan's Kundalini training started at
the age of 8 years and by the age of 16 years his enlightened teacher, Sant Hazara
Singh, declared him a Master of Kundalini Yoga. 
During
the partition of Pakistan and India, Harbhajan lead his 7,000 fellow villagers
to safety 325 miles away in New Deli, India. Unsettled Indians were given houses
in India. Thereafter Harbahjan went to collage at the Punjab University, where
he graduated with a Degree and Masters in Economics. He subsequently worked for
the Indian Government in the Internal Revenue Department, overseeing the creation
of the IRS Building in New Deli. He then moved onto the Customs Service. He taught
Kundalini Yoga throughout his academic years and Government service to anyone
who wished to learn. Yogi Bhajan arrived in Canada
in September 1968 to teach yoga at Toronto University. In October 1968 he went
for a weekend visit to Los Angeles. Immediately he saw that the young people of
the time were looking for 'higher consciousness and spiritual awareness' through
the use of drugs. On seeing this, Yogi Bhajan realised that what these misguided
seekers needed to find what they were looking for was Kundalini Yoga. He held
his first lecture on 5 January 1969; however as no-one turned up for the lecture,
he taught to an empty hall. This lack of students soon changed and young people
began to flock to his classes where he taught the previously secret science of
Kundalini Yoga publicly. As his classes began to grow so the invitations to teach
expanded. Schools and colleges in Los Angles invited him teach. Soon Yogi Bhajan
was teaching in New York and other areas of the United States. Not
only was Yogi Bhajan was a Master of Kundalini Yoga but he was also a devout Sikh.
He dedication to and leadership in Sikhism earned him the title of Siri Singh
Sadbh, Chief Religious and Administrative Authority for the Western Hemisphere.
This honour was bestowed on him in 1971. In 1974 the title of Bhai Sahib was also
bestowed upon him by the Akal Takhat, the Sikh seat of religious authority in
Amritsar, India. After the passing of Lama Lilan
Po, the Tibetan Mahan Tantric, (the only living Master of White Tantric Yoga)
in 1971, Yogi Bhajan became the Mahan Tantric presiding over White Tantra globally.
Yogi Bhajan incorporated the non-profit 3HO (Healthy,
Happy, Holy Organisation) with the goal of spreading the teachings of the science
of Kundalini Yoga. The 3Ho has expanded since its inception and now has many centres
on all continents. The United Nations recognised in 1994 the 3HO as a Non-Governmental
Organisation (NGO) with Consultative Status (Roster) with the Economic and Social
Council representing women issues, promoting human rights and provides education
in alternative system of medicine. The Kundalini
Research Institute was created in 1976 to verify, preserve and make available
the teachings of Yogi Bhajan. A library of his teachings is currently being created
and is due to completed in 2012. Yogi Bahjan passed from his body on 6 October,
2004 at 9.05pm MDT, at the age of 75 years. His legacy of teachings remain as
a gift for those seeking higher consciousness through Kundalini Yoga. His
motto: "If you can't see God in all, you can't see God at all."
His credo: "It's not the life that matters, it's the courage
that you bring to it." His challenge to students: "Don't
love me, love my teachings. Become ten times greater than me."
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