The Householders' Betrayal

Our community self governance system and the management of our resources with integrity and transparency is critical to our survival, but it is dependant upon our personal self governance and individual resources management. The example our teacher gave us to follow, as a “householder yogi,” I believe we have all betrayed. We tend to blame only UI and SDS, but each of us has played a part. I also believe that our effort to resolve this betrayal is critical to the resolution of our struggle to achieve autonomy and integrity in our community self governance and community resources management.

The Householders' Betrayal

Five hundred and fifty years ago, Guru Nanak asked the Siddhi Yogis to share the technology of yoga with the householders living in the world, but they steadfastly refused. The son of Guru Nanak, Baba Siri Chand, himself a householder, took up he reigns as the leader of the Siddhi Yogis and served them until he bestowed that crown of Raj Yog upon Guru Ram Das, the Guru of our beloved teacher. It was nearly 500 years later that one humble Siddhi Yogi and most beautiful servant of Guru Ram Das, answered the call of Nanak to teach yoga openly to the householders. Yogi Bhajan served the householders all the remaining days of his life, and as a householder himself, he simultaneously cared for his family (albeit with considerable sacrifices asked of them), and he made provisions for them to be cared for when he was gone from this world. He openly shared the ancient technology of Kundalini Yoga, never before taught publically, so that we could reap the benefits of yoga while living and working in the world. In thanks, the householder yogis prevented Yogi Bhajan from fulfilling his householder responsibility to his family by denying them the provisions that he left for them. Now, nearly seven years after his passing, and approaching her mid seventies, his wife is still blocked from receiving those provisions. Determinations have been made that the provisions Yogi Bhajan left for his family should be modified, and judgments have been pronounced against his wife and children that they are not deserving of receiving the provisions, and so to this day, his wife stands alone without even a single inquiry, ever, as to how she is surviving. His wife's only option to receive any of the provisions allotted to her was to ask a court of law to intervene, a costly process... and so on her own, she is up against those who have control of all of our family’s financial resources. The householders, to be sure are fighting fiercely with one another for control of those resources, and those same householders most assuredly have made provisions in their own wills to take care of their families, but they have denied their teacher the right to take care of his. Whether his family is deserving or undeserving is irrelevant, for that was for him alone to judge, just as we shall do for our families. You may recall that all of the disagreements that have emerged with UI and SDS started around the issue of Yogi Bhajan's Trust left to his family and staff. I find it is of interesting note that the leaders on all sides have continually said that this issue is of no concern to us, it is only between the Trustees of Yogi Bhajan's will and his wife. In fact, that seems to be the only common ground on which everyone completely agrees. I do not.

Let us cover our teacher. Thankfully, we are all children of Guru Ram Das, the Guru of Miracles, and miracles do happen, but without the help of our Guru to cover us, the karma does not look bright for the families of the householders that Yogi Bhajan came to serve. That karma can be cut if we cover the deficit of denial and help fulfill our teacher's householder responsibility. If we do not, that betrayal is set to be played out with our own families, over and over again.