By Dev Suroop Kaur It is safe to say that each one of us is experiencing the pressures and stresses of the times. We are faced not only with today’s turbulent political and social environment, but we are also coping with our own private, internal landscape. We may be processing feelings of insecurity, concern, or anger from ever changing and intensifying world events. At times each of us may find ourselves dealing with the constant roiling of our mind, memories, and reactions from life-patterning, or simply coping with life. Sometimes events in our environment or feelings within us seem uncontrollable; we…

Excerpts from a lecture given on May 23, 1989 in Rome, Italy All knowledge is not to think, but to create a think tank, that’s called intuition. The purpose of study and every sadhana and everything is to be become intuitive. You have your perfect think tank in your computer to supplement and compliment you on the walk of life, so you can accomplish without time and space. Understood? Good. Without intuition you have no defense; you have no horns, no hoofs, and no skin hard enough to protect you. You have nothing on your body to protect you. You have intellect to develop intuition through intelligence, so that you…

Meditation to Experience the Essence of a TeacherTaught by Yogi Bhajan on 4/22/97 “I have given you the words of Nanak, which define the essence of a Spiritual Teacher. It’s not a commercial thing, it is real. And the key to that, joining into that, is the mantra, Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo. That is the mantra, that’s a key to the essence of that shabad, Gurdev Mata.” Mudra: Place the palms flat together at the heart center in Prayer Pose. Eyes: Closed. Music/Time: Chant for 3-1/2 minutes Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo sung by Nirinjan Kaur. Rhythm is slow. Meditate on one full…

By Yogi Bhajan 1. A Teacher will never alter the teachings because of personal opinion. You will teach by example. 2. The higher you grow as a Teacher, the more humble you have to be. 3. The Teacher always serves the students, so they can become ten times stronger than you, because every student is a Teacher for tomorrow. 4. A Teacher has to be extremely kind, caring, compassionate, and forgiving. 5. As a Teacher you should always poke, provoke, confront, and elevate your students to excellence. 6. As a Teacher you have to continuously imagine, visualize, believe, and expand…

Excerpts from a lecture given on 7/11/86 What is that one thing that qualifies a human to be human? The only beautiful thing which makes you human is compassion. Without it you are worth nothing. Just think about it. Think of vengeance. Think of lies. Think of truth. Think of God. Think of greatness. Think of anything. Take compassion out of it, and you’ll find everything is bitter. There is absolutely no grace without compassion. Let us discuss. Let us have a good debate. Student: Well, everybody should have compassion. Yogi Bhajan: What do you mean, “Everybody should have compassion?” They all…

By Guruka Singh We live in a difficult age. There is constant distraction. In our 21st century culture of acquisition and consumerism, television, movies, newspapers, magazines, and books constantly fill our mind with stimulating images. Our minds constantly fantasize, and we spend much of our time living in our fantasies. The most basic teaching of Raj Yoga is that the mind makes a powerful servant, but it makes a lousy master. When we let our mind roam free, it takes us wherever it wishes to go—and there’s always someplace interesting to go! Through the self-discipline of daily meditation we can train…

By Devjot Singh Yogi Bhajan’s messages about the Aquarian Age may have been difficult to contextualise before now. We can forgive ourselves perhaps for hearing his teachings simply as an inspirational metaphor supporting personal commitment to a spiritual path. We may have felt confirmed in our preferences and justified in any stance against war, hunger, and a myriad of social injustices. But now that times have changed, perhaps we had better look again at what the Master was telling us and what will be asked of Aquarian Teachers. The Piscean Age, its values, achievements, and champions will not go gently…

Excerpt from a lecture by Yogi Bhajan I‘d like to share the technology and science of a type of massage with you. It is called hydrotherapeutical massage. As I’m sitting before you, my first qualification and field of expertise is in hydrotherapy. You may not have known that. I carry the lineage of those who now are very unknown, who worked on the bones, adjusted the body and did massage to recreate healthy organs. Since ancient times, people have prayed for the blessing of Ishnaan. What is ishnaan? Ishnaan is the total sum of hydrotherapy. The word is ishnaan. We don’t say we’ll take a bath;…

By Tommy Rosen Back in 2003, my girlfriend, Kia, and I decided to go to Maui to celebrate my 36th birthday. We had been together for 3 years, long enough to know we had something special. We had spoken about the possibility of getting married someday, but I was quite happy to continue on as things were. The convention of marriage, as I had witnessed from my parents and most of the adults I had known, was fraught with difficulty and challenge. It was painful and in some cases, ruinous. When occasionally I would meet two people who seemed to be doing well…

Teaching yoga to children is much different than teaching adult Kundalini Yoga classes. Here are some tips and guidelines for teaching engaging and fun classes for kids: Yoga for children is age-specific. Very young children can start doing yoga in classes designed for Moms and tots. Even 2 and 3-year olds can be taught yoga. Classes can be designed for pre-school (ages 4-6), primary (ages 6-8), junior (ages 9·11), and intermediate (ages 12-14). All have varying developmental issues such as: attention span; ability to be quiet; need for snacks (watch for food allergies); and tendency to go to the bathroom….