Sikh leader Yogi Bhajan, 75, pioneer of Kundalini yoga
LOS ANGELES -- Yogi Bhajan, a Sikh spiritual leader who pioneered the teaching of Kundalini yoga in the United States, died Wednesday at his home in Espanola, N.M. He was 75.
Mr. Bhajan expanded the Sikh community's membership from Indians with roots in Punjab to Europeans and Americans.
Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico ordered that flags in the state be flown at half-staff for two days following Mr. Bhajan's death.
''Yogi Bhajan made a tremendous impact on the state of New Mexico as a religious, business, and political leader," Richardson said in a statement Thursday.
A well-known community activist and business entrepreneur in the state, Mr. Bhajan met Richardson in the 1980s, and they discovered a common interest in government. As a young man in India, Mr. Bhajan had worked for the Internal Revenue Service and later was named head of the customs office at what is now Indira Gandhi Airport in New Delhi.
He was a longtime practitioner of yoga and was considered a master of Kundalini yoga, which combines vigorous physical poses with meditation and mantras.
In 1968, Mr. Bhajan moved from India to Toronto and soon afterward to Los Angeles, where he taught Kundalini yoga. As his reputation grew, he was invited to teach at local colleges.
He established the 3 HO -- the happy, healthy, holy organization -- in 1969. The program emphasizes yoga, meditation, and community service and is taught in the United States as well as India.
In Los Angeles he attended interfaith forums and conferences to help establish a Sikh presence. Over time he became known as an authority for the Sikh religion in the Western Hemisphere. He had an inclusive view of the world's major religions and considered all of them valid.
After relocating to Espanola from Los Angeles in the early 1970s, Mr. Bhajan founded the Sikh Dharma community, which has grown to about 500 families, most of them American converts. He was instrumental in the creation of several successful businesses owned by Sikh Dharma members. One of them, Akal Security, is among the country's largest suppliers of security officers to government sites, including federal courthouse buildings, Army bases, and airports.
