Born Harbhajan Singh Puri, August 26, 1929, in the part of India that became Pakistan in 1948, he was the son of a medical doctor. He spent his youth in privileged environments in private schools and his summers in the exclusive Dalhousie mountain region of Himachal Pradesh. As a young boy he attended a Catholic convent school.
"If you can't see God in all, you can't see God at all.�
When he was just eight years old he began his yogic training with an enlightened teacher, Sant Hazara Singh. His teacher proclaimed Yogi Bhajan a Master of Kundalini Yoga when he was sixteen years old.
He married Inderjit Kaur in 1952. They had two sons, Ranbir Singh and Kulbir Singh, and a daughter, Kamaljit Kaur.
In September of 1968, he left India for Canada to teach yoga at Toronto University. After two months in Canada, he flew to Los Angeles for a weekend visit. Arriving in Los Angeles virtually unknown, Yogi Bhajan met a number of young hippies, the spiritual seekers of that era, and immediately recognized that the experience of higher consciousness they were attempting to find through drugs could be achieved by practicing the Science of Kundalini Yoga, simultaneously rebuilding their nervous systems.
Breaking the centuries-old tradition of secrecy surrounding the empowering science of Kundalini Yoga, he began teaching it publicly.
From humble beginnings, teaching first at the East West Cultural Center and then in a student's furniture store in West Hollywood, "The Yogi" was like a magnet. Students flocked to his classes. Soon he was teaching at colleges and universities, including Claremont and UCLA, and accepting invitations to teach in other cities.
"It's not the life that matters, it's the courage that you bring to it"
Yogi Bhajan crusaded tirelessly to educate, uplift, and enlighten everyone he met. His basic message was "It is your birthright to be healthy, happy, and holy". Embodying a rare combination of spiritual and down-to-earth practical wisdom, Yogi Bhajan was equally at home at pulpit, podium, board room, living room, or sitting on a grassy lawn teaching and educating people of all walks of life. His expertise and influence extended into the realms of communication, healing arts, business, religion, and government.
"Don't love me, love my teachings. Become ten times greater than me."
