Harbhajan Singh Yogi

Harbhajan Singh Yogi (August 26, 1929–October 6, 2004), also known as Yogi Bhajan and Siri Singh Sahib, was a spiritual leader who introduced Kundalini Yoga and Sikhism to the USA. He was the spiritual director of the 3HO (Healthy, Happy, Holy Organisation) Foundation, which has become one of the world's largest yoga-teaching bodies. Harbhajan emigrated to Canada in 1968, where he was involved in setting up the first Sikh temple in eastern Canada. In late 1968 he went to meet a friend in Los Angeles, but ended up staying to share his teachings of Kundalini Yoga with the already long haired members of the hippie counterculture of California. It was only when his students started tying turbans like his that he started to teach them about Sikhism and so many of his followers embraced Sikhism. So he was credited with introducing Sikhism to white people in the USA. Back in Amritsar, India he set up the Miri Piri Academy which he founded in 1997, which he named after Guru Hargobind’s two swords, Miri and Piri. These swords represent the mastery and balance of both temporal and spiritual worlds. In 1971 the Akal Takht gave him the title of "Siri Singh Sahib" which means great noble lion. Although Siri Singh Sahib passed away in 2004 he is still very much respected and his 3HO organisation is still going strong. He is survived by his wife Bibi Inderjit Kaur and his 3 children, two sons, Ranbir Singh and Kulbir Singh, and a daughter, Kamaljit Kaur