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{{Short description|Sikh sect founded in |
{{Short description|Sikh sect founded in 1969 in the West}}{{Infobox religious group|founder=[[Yogi Bhajan]]|website=https://www.3ho.org/|image=3HO_official_logo.png|image_caption=Official logo|religions=[[Sikhism]]|scriptures=[[Guru Granth Sahib]]}}{{Sikhism sidebar}} |
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'''3HO (Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization)''', also known as Sikh Dharma of the Western Hemisphere or '''Sikh Dharma International''', is a controversial American organization |
'''3HO (Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization)''', also known as Sikh Dharma of the Western Hemisphere or '''Sikh Dharma International''', is a controversial American organization founded in 1969 by [[Harbhajan Singh Khalsa]], also called "Yogi Bhajan".<ref>{{Cite web |title=3HO History and Timeline |url=https://www.3ho.org/3ho-history-and-timeline/ |access-date=2022-11-22 |website=3HO International |language=en-US |quote=1969 - Yogi Bhajan’s first recorded Kundalini Yoga class takes place in Los Angeles, California. Interest in his teachings grows exponentially and he begins to offer more classes and public events. 3HO (the Healthy, Happy, Holy Foundation) is established by Yogi Bhajan, dedicated to promoting a conscious lifestyle of elevation, awareness, and total health.}}</ref><ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name="time" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name="Nesbitt2016p101">{{cite book|author=Eleanor Nesbitt|title=Sikhism: A Very Short Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zD8SDAAAQBAJ |year=2016|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-106277-3|pages=101–102}}</ref><ref name="britsikhsects">[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sikhism/Sects-and-other-groups Sects in Sikhism], Encyclopedia Britannica</ref><ref name="fenech8">{{cite book|author1=Pashaura Singh|author2=Louis E. Fenech|title=The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7YwNAwAAQBAJ |year=2014|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-100411-7|pages=8, 358, 515–522}}</ref><ref name="HaarKalsi2009p9">{{cite book|author1= Kristen Haar|author2= Sewa Singh Kalsi|title=Sikhism|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=YOI1nB_zTyAC&pg=PA9| year=2009|publisher =Infobase Publishing| isbn=978-1-4381-0647-2|pages= 9–14}}</ref><ref name="Takhar2016p161">{{cite book|author=Opinderjit Kaur Takhar|title=Sikh Identity: An Exploration of Groups Among Sikhs|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UaeoDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT161|year=2016|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-351-90010-2|pages=161–168}}</ref> Its adherents are popularly referred to as the Sikh Dharma Brotherhood.<ref name="HaarKalsi2009p9" /> While referred to as the 3HO movement, "3HO" is strictly speaking the name only of the movement's educational branch.<ref name="britsikhsects" /><ref name="Takhar2016p161" /> |
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==Practices== |
==Practices== |
Revision as of 20:21, 16 May 2023
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3HO (Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization), also known as Sikh Dharma of the Western Hemisphere or Sikh Dharma International, is a controversial American organization founded in 1969 by Harbhajan Singh Khalsa, also called "Yogi Bhajan".[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] Its adherents are popularly referred to as the Sikh Dharma Brotherhood.[10] While referred to as the 3HO movement, "3HO" is strictly speaking the name only of the movement's educational branch.[8][11]
Practices
The 3HO movement is known for including some practices found in certain traditions of Hinduism,[12] such as meditation, vegetarianism and yoga, particularly Kundalini yoga.[10][11][8] 3HO also believes openness to yoga and spiritual ideas as a source of strength.[12][13] Both men and women wear turbans and often wear white clothes.[10]
3HO requires its members to follow a strict lacto-vegetarian diet.[14][15] The use of alcohol, recreational drugs and tobacco is forbidden.[14]
Reception
Despite 3HO claiming to practice Sikh teachings and values, the organisation is largely condemned by the wider Sikh community. With some going as far to refer it as a cult.[6][5][4][2][3][16] Scholars have defined 3HO as a new religious movement.[17][18]
In 1977, Gurucharan Singh Tohra, former President of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), stated that Harbhajan Singh was not the leader of Sikhism in the Western World as he claimed, and denied Singh's claim that the SGPC had given him the title of Siri Singh Sahib.[4]
Governance and control
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Yogi_Bhajan_1985.jpg)
Yogi Bhajan formed Sikh Dharma International as a California nonprofit religious corporation "organized to advance the religion of Sikh Dharma and as an association of religious organizations teaching principles of Sikh Dharma, including by ordination of ministers of divinity and operation of places of worship." During Yogi Bhajan's lifetime, Sikh Dharma International, along with related legal entities Siri Singh Sahib Corporation and Unto Infinity LLC, were held and controlled by Siri Singh Sahib of Sikh Dharma, a California "corporation sole" of which Yogi Bhajan was the only shareholder.[19] Following the Yogi's death in 2004, a dispute ensued over the governance of those entities and assets. Yogi Bhajan's wife, Bibiji Inderjit Kaur Puri, alleged that she had been appointed to the board of Unto Infinity, and that she and their three children were appointed to the Siri Singh Sahib of Sikh Dharma board of directors (and thus in a position to exert significant control over all of the Sikh Dharma legal entities); but that following Yogi Bhajan's death the other board members of those entities improperly prevented them from taking part in governance. In January 2017, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals determined that the lawsuit was not on its face an ecclesiastical dispute.[19][20][21] However, in April 2018, Chief Judge Michael Mosman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon dismissed the case.[22] Judge Mosman concluded that there was significant evidence that the 3HO corporate entities were religious in character and thus that the dispute could not be adjudicated in civil court.[22]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/3HO_Summer_Solstice_1970.jpg/220px-3HO_Summer_Solstice_1970.jpg)
At present, Sikh Dharma International is governed by the Khalsa Council appointed by the Siri Singh Sahib, Yogi Bhajan. The Council is composed of Golden Temple CEO Kartar Singh Khalsa; his domestic partner, Peraim Kaur Khalsa, who was also a member of Yogi Bhajan's personal staff; Sikh Dharma's longtime comptroller, Sopurkh Kaur Khalsa; and the organization's strategic and legal planner, Siri Karm Kaur Khalsa, a New Mexico resident. The Khalsa Council does not recognize Yogi Bhajan's family as members of the organization or its governing group.[20] The Khalsa Council appoints a board of directors for Sikh Dharma International. As of January 2017[update] the current board of directors comprises Siri Sikdar Sahiba, Sardarni Guru Amrit Kaur Khalsa, MA; Bhai Sahiba, Bibiji Inderjit Kaur Khalsa, PhD; MSS Guru Raj Kaur Khalsa; SS Guru Darbar Singh Khalsa; Sada Sat Simran Singh Khalsa; SS SatSundri Kaur Khalsa; SS Siri Karm Singh Khalsa; and Board chairman MSS Kirtan-Singh Khalsa. SS SatSundri Kaur Khalsa also provides oversight of the associated Sikh businesses of Yogi Tea and Akal Security.[23][24]
Business ventures
According to anthropology professor and Sikh diaspora researcher Nicola Mooney, 3HO Sikhs have combined "ethic and capitalism" to their spiritual pursuits, with Sikh Dharma International and its associated corporate entities and directors creating and controlling the Yogi Tea and Akal Security brands with a worldwide presence.[25]
Golden Temple of Oregon, a natural foods company that built the Peace Cereal and Yogi Tea brands, was owned by a corporate entity controlled by Yogi Bhajan, and was estimated to be worth around $100,000,000 at the time of his death. The company was transferred to Kartar Singh Khalsa for $100, sparking lawsuits over improper disposition of the assets.[26][27] Golden Temple's cereal division was sold to Hearthside Food Solutions in May 2010 for $71 million; the executives were later ordered to return more than half of the sale price to a court-appointed receiver. Hearthside was later acquired by Post. Golden Temple was renamed East West Tea Company after that sale.[28]
Another SDI-related company, Akal Security, initially hired 3HO members to guard shops and restaurants. It grew into a $500 million-a-year company with federal contracts to protect numerous government buildings in Washington, DC and elsewhere, including courthouses, airports, and embassies. The founders donated the company to the church in 1980.[20]
Following the death of Yogi Bhajan, control over Golden Temple and Akal Security was contested in a series of lawsuits in Oregon.[29]
References
- ^ "3HO History and Timeline". 3HO International. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
1969 - Yogi Bhajan's first recorded Kundalini Yoga class takes place in Los Angeles, California. Interest in his teachings grows exponentially and he begins to offer more classes and public events. 3HO (the Healthy, Happy, Holy Foundation) is established by Yogi Bhajan, dedicated to promoting a conscious lifestyle of elevation, awareness, and total health.
- ^ a b "The Disturbing Mainstream Connections of Yogi Bhajan". HuffPost.
Members of Yogi Bhajan's group claim to be Sikhs. However, according to mainstream members of the religion, by adhering to the doctrine of Yogi Bhajan, they are violating more traditional Sikh teachings. Yogi Bhajan's teachings are closer to a synthesis of Kundalini yoga, tantric and New Age practices than anything originating from Sikh teachings.
- ^ a b "Before the sudden death of its leader, Ra Ma Yoga Institute was accused by some former members of being a cult. What happens now?". Insider.
Kundalini yoga was brought to the US in the 1960s by Yogi Bhajan, who died in 2004. It offered codes to live by, and Bhajan's followers — largely white ex-hippies — were thirsty for enlightenment. They called themselves "American Sikhs," though the practice had nothing to do with actual Sikhism.
- ^ a b c Wilde, James (5 September 1997). "Religion: Yogi Bhajan's Synthetic Sikhism". Time. Archived from the original on November 17, 2007. Retrieved 2011-01-02.
- ^ a b "The Second Coming of Guru Jagat". Vanity Fair.
- ^ a b "Yogi Bhajan Turned an L.A. Yoga Studio into a Juggernaut, and Left Two Generations of Followers Reeling from Alleged Abuse". Los Angeles Magazine.
Bhajan was a controversial figure among South Asian Sikhs, who noted that he picked up some aspects of their faith while abandoning others. For one, Sikhs aren't vegetarian, their religion does not include yoga, they do not revere living gurus. And they don't wear white.
- ^ Eleanor Nesbitt (2016). Sikhism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. pp. 101–102. ISBN 978-0-19-106277-3.
- ^ a b c Sects in Sikhism, Encyclopedia Britannica
- ^ Pashaura Singh; Louis E. Fenech (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies. Oxford University Press. pp. 8, 358, 515–522. ISBN 978-0-19-100411-7.
- ^ a b c d Kristen Haar; Sewa Singh Kalsi (2009). Sikhism. Infobase Publishing. pp. 9–14. ISBN 978-1-4381-0647-2.
- ^ a b c Opinderjit Kaur Takhar (2016). Sikh Identity: An Exploration of Groups Among Sikhs. Taylor & Francis. pp. 161–168. ISBN 978-1-351-90010-2.
- ^ a b Kamala Elizabeth Nayar (2004). The Sikh Diaspora in Vancouver: Three Generations Amid Tradition, Modernity, and Multiculturalism. University of Toronto Press. pp. 127–128. ISBN 978-0-8020-8631-0.
- ^ Jakobsh, Doris (2008). "3HO/Sikh Dharma of the Western Hemisphere: The Forgotten New Religious Movement?". Religion Compass. 2 (3). Wiley-Blackwell: 385–408. doi:10.1111/j.1749-8171.2008.00068.x.
- ^ a b York, Michael. (2009). The A to Z of New Age Movements. Scarecrow Press. p. 169. ISBN 978-0-8108-6816-8
- ^ Fenech, Louis E; Singh, Pashaura. (2014). The Oxford Handbook of Sikh Studies. Oxford University Press. p. 365. ISBN 9780191004117
- ^ "How a Cult-turned-Corporation Hijacked American Sikhism". The Juggernaut.
- ^ Lewis, James R. (2011). Violence and New Religious Movements. Oxford University Press. pp. 3-5. ISBN 978-0199735631
- ^ Chryssides, George D. (2012). Historical Dictionary of New Religious Movements. Scarecrow Press. p. 161. ISBN 978-0810861947
- ^ a b Puri v. Khalsa, 844 F.3d 1152, slip op. at 5-9, 33 (9th Cir. 2017).
- ^ a b c Pein, Corey (2011-08-24). "Death of a Yogi". Santa Fe Reporter. Santa Fe, New Mexico. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
- ^ Pein, Corey (2010-07-07). "Khalsa vs. Khalsa". Santa Fe Reporter. Santa Fe, New Mexico. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
- ^ a b Bernstein, Maxine (2018-04-27). "Judge dismisses lawsuit over rulership of Sikh business empire". The Oregonian. Portland, Oregon. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
- ^ "International Khalsa Council".
- ^ "Board of Directors - Sikh Dharma International". Sikh Dharma International. Archived from the original on 2017-01-18. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
- ^ Mooney, Nicola (2012). "Reading Weber Among the Sikhs: Asceticism and Capitalism in the 3Ho/Sikh Dharma". Sikh Formations. 8 (3). Taylor & Francis: 417–436. doi:10.1080/17448727.2012.745305. S2CID 145775040.
- ^ Culverwell, Wendy (2012-02-24). "Schwabe Williamson sued for $230M in Yogi Bhajan-related suit". Portland Business Journal. Portland, Oregon. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
- ^ Buri McDonald, Sherri (2010-12-14). "Yogi's widow sues managers". The Register-Guard. Eugene, Oregon. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
The widow's lawsuit, which was filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland, alleges that Unto Infinity authorized raises and perks for its members, including boosting Khalsa's salary from $125,000 in 2002 to $850,000 in 2008. . . Hers is the third lawsuit to accuse Unto Infinity members of breaking their fiduciary duty to safeguard the Sikh Dharma community's assets and of personally profiting instead. The other two lawsuits — one filed by Sikh Dharma ministers and the other by Oregon Attorney General John Kroger — were consolidated earlier this month.
- ^ "Golden Temple execs must return $36 million". Oregon Business. Portland, Oregon. 2012-06-19. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
- ^ Bernstein, Maxine (2017-01-09). "Long court battle over Sikh business empire takes another turn". The Oregonian. Portland, Oregon. Retrieved 2017-01-17.
Further reading
- Elsberg, Constance. Graceful Women: Gender and Identity in an American Sikh Community. University of Tennessee Press, 2006.
External links
- 3HO Foundation - 3HO
- 3HO in the Light of Experience, Juan F Lafontaine, Finland (2016)
- Sikh Dharma International