Sat Nam Anatta:
I just watched the trailer, and read your commentary, which all resonates with my experiences as well. I go to a Gurdwara where there's lots of 3HO Kundalini Yoga practitioners, which I think is all kind of a cult. (there's a 3HO Sikh at 20 seconds in the trailer). The Kundalini yoga practitioners follow a version of Sikhi which was propagated by Yogi Bhajan in the late 1960s/early 1970s up until his death a few years ago. Yogi Bhajan seemed to present himself as a Guru to his Western followers after he moved to the USA to teach Kundalini yoga, and who is often spoken of as a Guru by his followers (we even have a painting of Yogi Bhajan hanging in our langar hall).
(Thing article I found kind of disturbing. Sikhi specifically preaches against having talismans, yet Guruka Singh kept Yogi Bhajan's toenails in a locket and thought it saved him from horrible injury. It's mainly the toenails that I find disturbing.
http://www.3ho.org/community/your-stories/hanging-his-fingernails-self-sensory-human-action)
Even though I think their version of Sikhi is twisted and contradicts Sikh dharma, following Yogi Bhajan has made many of them into very good people, who are kind, accepting, calm, peaceful, humble, and loving. Some of them are better people than I am now and probably ever will be.
However, a main tenant of Sikhi was spoken by Guru Gobind Singh Ji "treat the whole of the human race as one". We're all in this together. If doing this form of yoga, chants, numerology, Hindu rituals, etc. floats their boat, that's fine with me as long as they don't drag me into it.
Jap Prem
