Dear Yoga Student (Sat Avtar Kaur), I was touched by your sincere query regarding our stories from the early days of 3HO. And yes, there were an abundance of stories generated and shared, and many exist today on websites. Aside from Hari Singh’s prolific site, there is OurTrueTales.com. You can read about the genesis of Our True Tales and find many stories of the early years there as well as contemporary life. I have made several contributions and am working on more. As in all cultures, story holds history, legacy and the spirit of its people. The experiences we shared in those early years served to both bond us and as to verify the ecstatic, profound, powerful and visionary experiences we shared in Kundalini Yoga class. I was blessed to come to Yogiji in the early months of 1969 in Los Angeles, and was privileged to serve in his household. I watched as the students gathered, as the classes grew, as the songs were written, and as the family was formed. My years with him were the crowning glory of my heart and soul. I hope you enjoy our stories as much as you enjoy creating your own. Ultimately, all stories share the same theme, one of self-discovery and the journey of the soul. It is the variation that makes them interesting. Ironically, the more personal a story, the more universally it speaks. Such is the underlying bond of human existence. Ganga (Bhajan Kaur) Barrett
The Yogi, the Savages, and Amazing Grace I have many memories of the Phyllis house as well as its genesis. Shakti may have already told it all but here’s a bit from my end starting with what I know of Toronto to California. That part is culled from my memory of what YogiJi used to say when I met him in March of 1969 in Los Angeles. After his Toronto experience he was invited by Dr. Marwha to come for a weekend to Los Angeles. Once here he stayed. Next he was somehow invited by the ladies of the East/West Cultural Center where I believe he began to teach his first yoga classes. Again, Shakti would know best as she was there a bit before I was. At that point he had a tiny little studio apartment near the Center around Vermont, I think. One day a bus load of hippies from New Mexico comprised of me and the Juke Savages: Lisa Law, Tom Law, Paul Ehrlich and Steve Samuels (who went on to open Banana Ananda Ashram in Marin), pulled up to take his class. Oh, we were a sight alright! After living in teepees and studying with the Hopi in northern New Mexico for severall years we came looking for our spiritual teacher and pulled up with teepee poles on top of the bus, a steer skull on the grill, guitars and flutes in tow, covered in feathers, beads and embroidery. In we tromped and The Yogi, as we called him then, never batted an eye. Oh yes, we were a sight. "Savage" covered it. Slowly YogiJi’s classes grew with some Hollywood types and more hippies and the little old ladies of the East/West cultural center were so horrified they gave him an ultimatum. Either the hippies had to go or he had to go. They never thought he would choose us over them, but he did. I had seen people turn their backs on our generation but I had never seen anyone stand for us the way he did. He said, “These are my people, these are the people I came to teach and I will go with them.” The Center was sponsoring his Green Card, yet still he chose to align himself with us and found another place for us to have yoga class. Many were the times in the future that I saw him take that same stand on principle; no one could buy him, no one could manipulate him, no one could threaten him, no one could seduce him. And believe me, I saw them try. That sealed the deal for me. I had never seen a man who lived his principles in action the way he did. Who, when the chips were down, stood for what he said he stood for. Who gave up comfort and security for principle. Many were the leaders who said they did, but my lost generation was riddled with the bullet holes of betrayal. YogiJi had my allegiance from that day forth. And look at the nation he has generated. But I digress. Jules Buccierri was a West Hollywood antique furniture dealer who had been coming to yoga class at the Center and he offered the use of his antique store on Robertson Blvd. for classes. So every morning we moved all the antiques out of his store to his parking lot, held class, then moved everything back in. We did the same thing each night. Seven days a week. Do you know how many delicate little things are in an antique store, how full to the brim of furniture pieces great and small? But what else did we have to do? As the classes grew so did the helping hands, the laughter, the comraderie. Soon Jules invited YogiJi to come live with him at his two-bedroom Phyllis Ave. home. Jules took the second bedroom, and gave YogiJi the “master.” Although, it was a very small house it did great things. It didn’t take long for YogiJi’s schedule, visitors and mission to take over the house and soon Jules moved to another home, but maintained the invitation to his home. Bless his heart; Jules was a dear and generous man. Shortly after that Premka and I began to live with YogiJi in the Phyllis house. I slept in the kitchen. Premka was in the infamous garage. I remember Shakti came every day in her little white go-go boots… Can you imagine, she was so adorable but not at all a hippie. I will always adore her and in some other section I’ll tell you how that love began. She had her little Santa Monica apartment and worked at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel coffee shop. She was the only working member of our little family at that point and I think she did a lot to support us in more ways than one. She certainly was the only one with a clear head on her shoulders aside from YogiJi, that’s for sure. I had helped Jim Baker open The Source Restaurant on Sunset and worked as the patio waitress when it opened. (An aside, that’s where Sat Simran came as a customer and I think I told her about the yoga classes, or maybe she already knew… but I know for sure that’s where Baba Singh was and my customer and I told him about the classes. Anyway, we told everyone about the classes because we believed in them so much and soon everyone who worked at The Source went to class.) Anyway, with my tip money, which wasn’t but a few dollars in those days for the day shift, I would stop at the health food store on the way home and buy whatever I had money for. I’d make dinner from whatever the earth had made available to us and somehow there was always enough for the many guests YogiJi invited or who stopped by. I had had the experience in New Mexico of feeding large groups with just what was given away at the market plus a few food stamps and I had it again at Phyllis house – loaves and fishes, or loaves and broccoli as it were. Many magical things happened in that kitchen. I can’t honestly say what magic happened in the living room because I was always in the kitchen. Once when I complained a little that I wanted to wear a pretty dress and sit in the living room YogiJi told me to just chant, cook and do the dishes and I would wash all my karmas away. So that’s what I did. And I heard the angels sing. I loved my simple little world. I felt like Snow White, the birds sang to me, the angels sang to me, the food sang to me and my heart sang right back. It was a wonderful time and one of the many lessons I learned was that it doesn’t matter what you are doing so much as it does with what you are doing it. When you do it with heart, it all becomes love. Ganga (Bhajan Kaur) Barrett -- Source with Photos. Where is Ganga today? Ganga is one of Yogiji's original students along with Shakti Parwha Kaur and Premka, having come to Los Angeles via New Mexico in 1969. Many traditions were begun in those early years and she is grateful to have participated in their formation. After her marriage was arranged to Lehri Singh in 1970 they went on to co-direct Ahimsa Ashram in Washington, D.C. for ten years. During that time she opened the first Golden Temple Conscious Cookery Restaurant, taught many women's courses and toured extensively in India representing the American Sikhs through Gurbani Kirtan. She joined the Los Angeles Sangat in 1980 where she built a successful practice in healing energy work. Today she is "semi-retired" and lives on Bainbridge Island in Washington State, a 35-minute ferry ride due west of Seattle. She says she feels forever connected to Yogiji, the 3HO family and Gurbani. These remain the heart and soul of her life. -- Sat Nam, I took my first Kundalini Yoga class in January 1972 and moved into a Guru Ram Das Ashram the following September. Back then the consciousness was such that many people were confusing the words "yoga" and "yogurt." Perhaps .5% of the population knew what vegetarianism is and even less practiced it. I feel that through my humble contributions and the sacrifices of many millions of others, we have come now to a place where the concepts of holism and environmentalism, of social diversity and equity, meditation and yoga, are widely understood, and practiced in increasing measure. Change has been slow, incremental, and no one individual can reasonably expect credit for all the changes that have been effected by an entire movement of which 3HO has been a part. I certainly don't, but I do feel a stake in our planetary evolution and I do feel my own evolving consciousness plays a role in it. Everyone's does. In my case, I cannot speak of "higher consciousness," though others might choose to use that term. I would rather speak of a slow dawning of utter humility and awe at the unfolding panoply of creation, of history, of which we are all a part. You may call it "lower consciousness," an ever more humble understanding of who and what we are. We prayed and longed to get here. It is a great joy and privilege for us to live here, to manifest courage and grace and render sacrifices large and small, now in these amazing times. All we have to do is keep up. Guru Fatha Singh Sat Nam. To rush forward when there is a need for seva; To have the intuitive knowledge of another's destiny and support it in them and to allow them to grow and have their own experience after offering them access to the technology of consciousness; To ignore the bells and whistles and live in gratitude for this life; To close my eyes for a moment, any moment and be grateful. This is the Grace of God. Gur Prashad; That Kundalini Yoga and the Teachings of Yogi Bhajan when applied do bring us to fearlessness and understanding; That everything is not as complicated or esoteric as it seems; That we had a true spiritual teacher and love the Siri Singh Sahib for all his humanity, humility and humor; The goal of a spiritual path is Santokh - Contentment. Just some thoughts about living a 3HO life. Shiva Singh Khalsa Sat Nam. I don't know why these questions come to me when I am chanting, but they do. Most of the time, I don't say anything. Not this time. Kundalini Yoga teachers - teaching 30 years or more, 36 teachers whose name starts with Guru. First assumption is that each group is of the same age. All of the Guru people are of the same age and the others, too. Second assumption is that they probably are all in their 60s or 70s. (See 3HO Legacy Teachers.) Therefore, when they start to die. This will mean an entire group of 'Master Teachers' and what they know will be gone. There could be a humongous 'hole' in the teaching realm of Kundalini Yoga. So who are the next group, the next group of teachers in their 40s and 50s, that will take up the slack? Who are you? Where are you? Are you thinking about this? Are you getting ready, at least in your mind? Has anyone else thought about this? Blessings, Sat Avtar Kaur Memories, Moments, and Missives SSee more at 3HOLegacyLinks.com. Memories to share? Register here. Pages And Points To Ponder See MySikhSense.com. This Is What Racism Looks Like Awtar Singh's Early 3HO History Kirpal Singh's Early 3HO History The Songs of Livtar Singh Khalsa The Solstice Sadhana Experience A Gallery of 3HO Legacy Teachers An African American Critiques 3HO Rise Up Rise Up Sweet Family Dear Hari Jiwan Singh's Early 3HO History The Yogi Bhajan Library of Teachings Guru Fatha Singh's Early 3HO History Sat Santokh Singh's Early 3HO History The Ubuntu Age - All for One, Won for All Guru Singh's History of Summer Solstice The Sikh Who Changed Modern-Day India The 1974 Transition of Bhai Sahib Dyal Singh Remembering Sat Nam The Grace Within You More Video Stories of The Master Yogi Bhajan Ending The Age of Me - Beginning The Age of We
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