Consequently, there are significant dif-
ferences of opinion on whether or not
any particular person is a yogi.
Yogi Bhajan
(b. Harbhajan Singh Puri, 1927) Modern
Hindu missionary and founder of the
3 HO/Sikh Dharma Brotherhood. He
first came to the United States in 1969,
leaving behind his position as a customs
official at the Delhi airport. His initial
teachings were the traditional disci-
plines of hatha yoga and kundalini
yoga, with his followers organized into a
group known as the “Happy, Healthy,
Holy Organization” (3HO). Hatha yoga is
a system of religious discipline (yoga)
based on a series of bodily postures
known as asanas; this practice is widely
believed to provide various physical
benefits, including increased bodily
flexibility and the ability to heal chronic
ailments. Kundalini yoga is a religious
discipline, the primary focus of which is
awakening the kundalini, the latent
spiritual force that exists in every person
in the subtle body. The kundalini is
awakened through a combination of
yoga practice and ritual action and is
believed to bring further spiritual capac-
ities and ultimately final liberation
(moksha) of the soul.
These two disciplines remain an
important part of Yogi Bhajan’s teach-
ings, for he claims to be a master of
tantra, a secret, ritually based religious
practice, but in the 1970s his teaching
widened to include traditional Sikh
teachings and symbols. The most
prominent of these symbols are the “five
Ks” that all Sikhs are supposed to wear,
so called because each of them begins
with the letter k: uncut hair(kesh), a
comb (kangha), a bangle on the right
wrist (kara), shorts (kacch), and a cere-
monial sword (kirpan). Many of Yogi
Bhajan’s followers keep the Sikh symbols
far more strictly than most people born
as Sikhs, but the movement has two
important divergences with the tradi-
tional Sikh community. One of these is
its emphasis on tantra, which has little
importance in the Sikh community. The
most significant difference, however, is
the religious authority that Yogi Bhajan
holds over his followers, which is very
different from the decentralized, essen-
tially democratic form of the traditional
Sikh community.Yogini Ekadashi
Religious observance falling on the
eleventh day (ekadashi) of the dark
(waning) half of the lunar monthof
Ashadh ( June–July). As for all the
eleventh-day observances, this is
dedicated to the worship of Vishnu,
particularly in his form as Narayana.
Most Hindu festivals have certain
prescribed rites, which usually involve
fasting (upavasa) and worship and
often promise specific benefits for
faithful performance. On this day the
prescribed action is to give gifts to
poor brahmins; faithfully observing this
festival washes away the sin of cutting
down a pipal tree (ashvattha) and also
brings one birthin heaven.Yogmaya
Powerful form of the Goddess, particu-
larly noted for her power to bewitch and
bewilder people—in other words, her
ability to wield maya, the power of illu-
sion. In some modern sources Yogmaya
is named as the deity who takes the
form of the infant girl exchanged for the
infant god Krishnaand is later killed
by Krishna’s wicked uncle, Kamsa.
According to these sources, it is under
her spell the previous night that all the
inhabitants of Kamsa’s palace fall asleep,
and Krishna’s father, Vasudeva, is able to
spirit the infant away. Later in Krishna’s
career, Yogmaya is believed to facilitate
his clandestine meetings with the
women of Braj—when Krishna plays his
flute, the women come to him, but all
the others fall into the spell cast by
Yogmaya and are unaware of their
absence. Because of her ability to wield
maya, Yogmaya is a powerful deity; she
is worshiped on the fourth day of the fallYogmaya