THE SAINT AND THE YOGI
And the seeds of the Golden Chain
By Jivan Mukta
“Maharaj Virsa Singh is the one who has sent me on this mission to the west”
– Yogi Bhajan
Introduction
This is a history of Ideas in Baba Virsa Singh and Yogi Bhajan.
History of Ideas is a branch of Historiography, the one that is concerned with how ideas evolve over the course of time. According to Anthony Grafton,
“its central premise is that ideas do not develop in isolation from the people who developed and use them, and that one must study ideas not only as abstract propositions but also in terms of the culture, lives, and historical contexts”[3].
This perspective is very pertinent at this particular time, when a great debate is taking place in the Kundalini Yoga community. The issues around the sexual behavior of Yogi Bhajan have triggered further inquiries into Yogi Bhajan’s teachings, lineages and motives.
While all responsible historical inquiry into public figures is necessary and fair, the one I consider most important to address is related to the key ideas of Yogi Bhajan, and Baba Virsa Singh’s teachings as one of their source. Some of the notions I will present, show that an idea has developed from one to the other, while retaining the same essential meaning. While Yogi Bhajan reformulated some of Baba Virsa Singh’s ideas, others were presented with a new label. The potential for making a comparative analysis of these two teachers is still unknown. The magnitude of an analysis of their teachings is too large to address here. Nevertheless, in order to start a serious historical discussion about the philosophical and spiritual connection between the two, my intention is to focus on two notions that according to my consideration require clarification:
- The idea of source: vision and spiritual experience
- The idea of ancestors linked in a chain.
These topics have largely been ignored, misinterpreted and disconnected from context and the real historical evolution of ideas in Kundalini Yoga. Therefore, there are some great gaps in the teachings of Yogi Bhajan. Even if for people the experience of the practices the Yogi taught works well, which for me it does, the philosophical and historical dimension is at the same time inconsistent and unclear.
While the two teachers were connected on a personal level, one as a teacher and the other as a student, some of the notions passing from Baba Virsa Singh to Yogi Bhajan suggest a connection persisted between their message even after the personal relationship ended in 1971. I think that the little we know about the connection between the Saint and the Yogi in the Kundalini Yoga world, is precisely the reason why we should do our homework. Even if this type of inquiry is resisted or unwelcome. The current state of affairs in our world should not stop us from searching the truth of things.
The following pages are my effort to show that there is a real link between key ideas of the two teachers and that it would be appropriate to reconsider unquestioned notions about the ideas and presence of Baba Virsa Singh in the teaching of Yogi Bhajan.
The Recent Times
Until 1971 Baba Virsa Singh was revered as part of the life and teachings of Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan. Vikram Singh, a former student of Yogi Bhajan and a famous musician, witnessed the place and type of relationship between the two explained in an interview:
“We actually celebrated Virsa Singh’s birthday as a kind of gurpurb in March of 1970 (…) Virsa Singh was a big thing in the beginning (…). He [Yogi Bhajan] appeared to idolize him and kept his sandals on his meditation altar (…) He said very clearly that Virsa Singh was his teacher and how much he owed to him. (…) As he used to tell it, Virsa Singh really put him through it making him do 40 day sadhana after 40 day sadhana of Ek Ongkar Sat Nam Siri Whahe Guru for 2 1/2 hours every day. Finally, one day, when he was cleaning the bathrooms at Gobind Sadan, Virsa Singh came, touched his third eye and he was enlightened. I heard him say this myself”[4]
This year (2020) Pamela Dyson published a book about her experience with Yogi Bhajan. As his chief secretary, they were very close to each other and she recalled Yogi Bhajan saying that,
“Maharaj Virsa Singh is the one who has sent me on this mission to the west. Maharaj is not an educated man, but rather he is regarded as a sant (saint). His knowledge comes direct from God. He has many prominent people who just come to him for guidance. I have been serving in his ashram for many years, along with my wife.”[5]
These first-hand accounts differ from the information available through Kundalini Yoga platforms. In fact, the Teacher Training manuals do not make any reference to Baba Virsa Singh, and a search in the archive of 3HO (“The Library of Teachings”) provides the following outcome:
"no results”.
The latest controversy around Yogi Bhajan has ignited a series of reconsiderations regarding his teachings, origin of the practices and historical views that they shared or might share. Until recently, the name of Baba Virsa Singh was little known to the mainstream practitioners of Kundalini Yoga. Once I asked the current CEO of the Kundalini Research Institute (KRI), Amrit Singh Khalsa, about this historical mismatch of information, he quoted the head of Public Affairs office (Shanti Kaur) and mentioned that,
“Yogi Bhajan had specifically told her to not get into the Virsa Singh issue until after they both were dead. But her research shows that he only studied with Virsa Singh from 1966 – 1969. Yes, YB did refer to Virsa as “his teacher” when he first came to the US, but that stopped after their falling out in 1971. Given that he only studied with Virsa for 3 years, I don’t think we would say that Virsa was one of his most important teachers”[6]
Currently, the CEO of the Kundalini Research Institute is open to listen and discuss what can no longer be avoided. This includes the connection of Yogi Bhajan with Baba Virsa Singh. Lately KRI is embarking on a series of important changes in the culture and institutional life of the institute. He has also commented that Baba Virsa Singh will be mentioned in upcoming editions of the history of Kundalini Yoga within the Teacher Training manual to educate future Kundalini Yogis.
These changes are good and necessary, what would be the reason why the relationship between Baba Virsa Singh and Yogi Bhajan was hidden from the records in the first place? To answer this question I can only think on an earlier conversation I had with Guru Fatha Singh Khalsa while I was writing my doctoral thesis, 3HO in the Light of Experience (2016). Guru Fatha Singh is the author of the most complete biography of Yogi Bhajan and in that email conversations mentioned that:
“Yogiji's stated intention for extricating his students from Baba Virsa Singh, that intention being to align his students with the orthodox Sikh lineage rather than the cult of Baba Virsa Singh”[7]
* * *
I firmly believe that the lack of historical clarity is no longer conducive and good. The current times are of a global and instant online communication. We are loaded with information, and so it is permanently cross-referenced, checked and discussed. Nowadays you can access information online almost as much as you would do in situ as a direct experience.
In February 2019, my wife and I visited Gobind Sadan, the ashram of Baba Virsa Singh in the south of New Delhi. We went into this adventure in open-minded exploration mode . Searching for something I did not fully comprehend at that moment. These paragraphs are the fruit of my contact with the place he lived and wisdom that he imparted [8]. I have sincerely and frankly explored the matter within myself and in relation to my own conception and misconceptions. Here I wish to share some thoughts about this journey.
I have made a serious attempt to situate myself as a participant observer, that has an “empathetic understanding” as scholars of Comparative Religion call this approach[9]. In the following pages I have looked into two key themes above mention, where we can see a connection between the ideas of Baba Virsa Singh and Yogi Bhajan. It is outside the scope of this essay to try to cover Baba Virsa Singh’s life or to summarise the full body of his teachings and his work in his Ashrams or outside India. Neither am I going to directly discuss Yogi Bhajan’s views – which is something that I have analysed in my earlier writings suggested at the end of this article. This exploration is for giving recognition and serious, yet open-hearted attention to this Indian teacher who has been unfortunately ignored and, in my opinion, misinterpreted[10].
The Idea of Source: Vision and Spiritual Experience
“I will work even greater deeds through you. All will join you in this mission. Do not despair. I am always with you to bring joy. Let there be no sadness. The pin of separation is for those attached to the body. My spirit always has been and always will be with all of you. Recite the Nam’”[1]
– Baba Virsa Singh
Baba Virsa Singh was an illiterate man. At a young age he left school and dedicated his life to meditation on three wooden platforms he made for that purpose. According to Baba Virsa Singh’s own words, his teachings are essentially based on his visions: “Everything came in visions (…) Nothing has come from my thought; everything is from visions”[12]. His early inclinations led him to dedicate his young life to a life of contemplation. This gradually grew towards greater empathy and sympathy for people’s material and spiritual needs as well as a dedicated respect for nature and the cultivation of land. Yet, he connected with all sort of people. And he was capable of delivering his teaching in many contexts and to very different audiences. While addressing the theme of religion he distinguished the aspects that he deemed essential in all religions. According to the Sant,:
“Every religion has two aspects. One involves vision; the other involves history and rules. The history and rules of religions are matters of tradition of rituals and limitations on behavior. This comes after the visionary basis of the religion.”[13]
This gives us a hint about what was his focus and concern. The source of religion is for Baba Virsa Singh initiated by seers. A vision is a revelatory event in the experience of a person. Therefore his teachings was anchored in what he saw through visions and meditative experiences. He was not raised or taught to follow a religious path, rather the path awakened in the intimate space of his inner vision. He explains,
“I never went to any place of pilgrimage. I never visited any temple or gurdwara or any spiritual person. I was simply sitting in meditation. Great attraction towards Him developed as I sat. As that attraction grew, I used to sing hymns to Him, day and night”[14]
He understood religion to be based in vision and made a point of distinguishing true vision from the historical aspects of religion. Baba Virsa Singh also warned, was that whoever serves religion or Dharma has to have the proper qualifications and coherence, according to him, “the person who is going to teach these things must first put them into practice in his or her own life”[15]. He goes even further and states that doing otherwise is detrimental:
“When a man of God comes to work in the world, all the prophets come to help and guide him as he serves the world (…) The prophet, the Messiah, or Messenger is merely a speaker for the sound of God, and nothing is more powerful than God’s order. If a person poses as a Prophet but is speaking out of personal ego, it a great crime against the public, and the impostor is banished forever from the eyes of God.”[16]
This is a direct warning that should not be taken lightly. Through these words, Baba Virsa Singh seems to convey a spiritual principle that aims at maintaining the authenticity or coherence of the vision as well as the responsibility towards the mission.
The phenomenon of “false prophets” or fakers is something happening in the religions and religious movements of our modern times too. It is, as well, something that happens in greater scale in a larger country like India which is also saturated with religious phenomena of all kinds. The focus of Baba Virsa Singh always led to the simple truths that seem to touch the heart of people.
His authenticity comes from within and the wisdom in Baba Virsa Singh’s teachings do not have one single scriptural source per se, because they are not rooted in a scriptural source at all. And that is one fundamental aspect that he teaches:
“All of us should make it our mission to go deep and open our inner eyes. If we look clearer with our inner eyes, we will see that God is one, religion is one and the message is one.”[18]
But his message has an emphasis that does not discard scriptural wisdom either. Scripture are for him important and they do contain a fountain of truth and light. For Baba Virsa Singh the message conveyed in scriptures is better understood with inner vision, because that was the way of the great prophets:
“If we do not convey the correct message of the Holy Qu’ran, the Bible, the Gita, the Guru Granth Sahib, we ourselves are like darkness obscuring the sun. The truth is that God whom you are seeking outside is within you. Our message is this: Look for Him within (…) you must see Him with full inner vision”[19]
Baba Virsa Singh, being a man born in a Sikh family in Rajan Jung, near Lahore, nowadays Pakistan, was brought up in the images, notions and symbols of his native culture. His experiences and teachings, however, exceeded the frames of reference of Indian or Sikh culture. For example he often spoke about Jesus:
“… I saw Lord Jesus standing with his hands raised on the hill in Gobind Sadan, giving boons to this place and saying “blessed” in a loud voice. He said, “Those people who are now opposing you will offer flowers.” I was sitting half awake, half asleep; I could clearly see and hear him (…) One day Jesus said to me, “I will work through you.”[20]
Baba Virsa Singh had unique personal experiences with many of the prophets of ancient epochs. Those who have listened and read his lectures have seen the profuse references made to many spiritual masters. What is very singular in him is that he met these beings in meditation which seems to be the key practice that explains his spiritual experiences or visions. For example in a context where he was lecturing a Christian audience, he mentioned how the core practice of meditation should be embraced by everybody who walks any path or Dharma. According his view:
“the difficulty is that the people who preach do not meditate themselves. They do not serve; they do not love. Their words therefore do not affect people´s minds. Dharam (…) is established, but this people who preach are not firm.”[21]
What seems to be clear is that there is no spiritual path or development without these seemingly simple conditions that one can only experience internally. The conviction Baba Virsa Singh had for the mission that he served, came from his personal vision and spiritual experience. These experiences are explicitly shared in many of his lectures. As he stated, it all begun with a revelatory experience that changed his life forever:
“… One day I had a vision of Baba Siri Chand confidentially instructing me in the Nam. After that, I sat in meditation continuously. Then Baba Siri Chand said, “I want to introduce you to my father” (…) Guru Nanak approached wearing a very long robe, brown like the color of a mouse. He wore wooden sandals with a raised peg between the big toe and the toes. He had a red cap, his beard was gray, and he was very tall, above six feet. Guru Nanak said, “Ik Onkar Sat Nam Siri Wahe Guru”. Baba Siri Chand has given me the same Nam. Repeat it again and again and give it to others also. Guru Gobind Singh also gave the same Nam in the same way, removing all doubt.”[22]
As we look into his teachings, we need to consider the type of instruction that he received, as much as the type of actions that awoke his inner experiences. In a nutshell, it would be appropriate to say that what led him to the vision was consistent meditation, the repetition of the Nam and his authentic devotion and service.
Another thing that we also have to consider is how a universal lineage of prophets would look like in the vision of a saint. For Baba Virsa Singh a lineage like this is imminently spiritual and it links prophets and teachers with a timeless mission coming from Godhead. In this sense, this idea of lineage is located beyond the continuum of time, as the links in the linage are mystical and spiritual, not historical. This seems to be what kindled Baba Virsa Singh’s spiritual mission.
These spiritual masters and Baba Virsa Singh had spiritual encounters beyond the reality as we would conceive it with our five senses. Baba Virsa Singh’s development as a master, as well as healer is rooted in this type of mystical visions. His visions tell about a sort of cooperation between spiritual beings of different times and religions who, nevertheless, pass a coherent message to the future generations and humanity. The spiritual encounters above quoted, not only transcends the time, the physical contact and even the culture. According to Baba Virsa Singh, as we will see next, there is a motivation to spiritually link souls together in the path to God. A linage constituted in this visionary and experiential way transcends the unilineal anthropological concept of linage. According to the Sant,
“The Masters are blessed by God. Take blessings from them, take healing from them. Prepare a lot of food, string lots of lights and flowers for their birthdays. Create happiness on their birthdays. Why? Because all of them are one”[23]
2. The Idea of Ancestors Linked in a Chain
As the direct consequence of his inner experiences, Baba Virsa Singh used to pay homage to several spiritual master of different traditions, he respected them all as messengers of God. This is not a rare occurrence in India. Sikhi itself has produced a sacred scripture, the Siri Guru Granth Sahib, that was written by 33 authors who belonged to 3 different religions (Muslim, Hindu and Sikh) - all gathered together as a coherent body of consciousness and spiritual wisdom.
All authentic spiritual teachings are applicable across all times or cultural grounds. The true teachers, masters or prophets that Baba Virsa Singh quoted are linked to each other by God. For a person of faith the presence of spiritual masters in their life is as real as the presence of material things around us. Baba Virsa Singh’s idea of ancestors is grounded on the metaphysical idea of oneness, oneness in Light and God’s Being. In his own words:
“We should transcend the barriers of sects and think of all Prophets as our fathers; they all came to love us. We can love Ram as the one who is Everywhere. We honor Mohammad as Nabi (Messenger) because the vision of Allah, the all-pervading Power, came to him. We worship Guru Nanak and Krishan because they were one with God. When we think of the dervishes, we feel great satisfaction, peace and love, for they were annihilated in the Being of God, the Light of God.”[25]
For Baba Virsa Singh all prophets are “one with God” and when he was once questioned about the appropriateness of paying homage to beings of different lineages, he stated: “It is a manner of respect for our ancestors”[26] because for him they are ancestors for whom he has a special connection and affection. In several occasion during his lectures he expresses his encounters, because they simple appeared to him, like he said that, “Sometimes Guru Nanak or Lord Krishna came in vision”[27].
Thus, his mission is set by the spiritual masters, that he claimed to follow, honour and serve. His idea of humility is clearly graspable in the reference he makes to the ego: “When there is I-ness, there is not You. When God comes, there is not ego”[28]. The relevance of purity is evidently important to Baba Virsa Singh and this is not an uncommon approach for those familiar to the Sikh notion of the Khalsa. The Khalsa has elements that cognate with his idea of purity, in which an intimate communion and manifestation of Godhead happens. For the Sant, the meaning of being Khalsa is interpreted in a very similar, yet practical and morally charged,
“one who renounces anger. One who renounces criticising others. One who renounces adultery (…) Khalsa is one who loves the Name of God, is joined with God, and also links others with God”[29]
“Joined with God and also links others with God” - this is the mission and mindset of the Saint. His mission is to serve without portraying himself as a religious leader or as a creator of a new movement. He rather conceives the message of prophets somewhat perennial and universal, while he took upon himself to serve the transmission of their message. As Baba Virsa Singh emphasised,
“It is not my mission to make you join me by breaking your connection with them (the prophets of humanity) I have not uttered a word that has not been said before. I am only referring to those things which have already been said by the Prophet Muhammad, Lord Jesus, Moses, Abraham, Lord Buddha, Lord Mahavir – by all the prophets. I just repeat them again and again.”[30]
In the view of Baba Virsa Singh, there is only an apparent separation between the spiritual masters and prophets of different religions. In modern terms, this would look like a spiritual, global and intercultural network , which revolves around the Name of God or God himself. Ultimately the prophets and teachers he often quotes and refers to are to remind people about the simple and eternal truths humanity tends to forget every now and then. In order to train this remembrance, Baba Virsa Singh taught his students to choose their preferred divine reference. In this sense, he was not a preacher of any religion or defined guru; he believed that there is only One God to be accessed internally through the representation that each individual chooses to follow, focus on or worship. He explained this in terms of Isht, the formal spiritual reference to which one should direct the thoughts and emotions. As part of his experiential view of religion, he taught people how to connect and link to Isht. He explained:
“First of all, it is very important to focus your scattered mind. You must do so by concentrating on your isht (the form of God whom you worship). Bring your isht into your thoughts again and again and again … Then as you keep on growing in meditation, your beloved isht becomes your own form … then both forms disappear – your form as well as your isht. In this new state, you see only God everywhere … Now you need not sit in meditation with your eyes closed in order to be aware of God. That stage was initially necessary, but to progress in meditation you must pass beyond it … this not a theory you have read in a book; it is a reality. It is gian, the divine inner wisdom…”.[31]
When Baba Virsa Singh referred to his encounters with Guru Nanak, Baba Siri Chand and Guru Gobind Singh he did this while delivering the messages of his beloved teachers. That is why his work in bridging the message of his teachers to regular people was important. This took place not only throughout his lectures and live’s example, of course, but also through the creation of a specific department in his ashram in New Delhi to promote the truth of all religions. An example of this according to Mary Pat Fisher is that,
“The Gobind Sadan Institute for Advanced Studies in Comparative Religions has sponsored a seminar of scholarly research re-establishing the honor once given to Baba Siri Chand, who at one time had millions of followers. It is Baba Siri Chand who appeared to young Virsa Singh in vision and told him to recite and teach an especially transformational Nam – “Ik Onkar Sat Nam Siri Wahe Guru”[32].
Perhaps full book should be dedicated to Baba Siri Chand. His importance and spiritual actions seemed to have been downplayed by the dominant historical interpretation in Sikhi scholarship[33]. This Yogi and Baba Virsa Singh are evidently linked together through the aforementioned transmission of wisdom and a specific mantra or Nam for humanity, as Baba Virsa Singh explained. This mantra is not only a central prescribed practices for followers of Baba Virsa Singh, but also for the followers of the teachings of Yogi Bhajan.
3. The Epistemology of the “Golden Chain”
“That’s why we call it the “Golden Chain of Royal Linkage”. It is a Raaj Yog – empowering your royalty and your reality at the same time, in the most graceful way”[24]
- Yogi Bhajan
Both ideas, the importance of inner experience as well as the idea of lineage are present in both Baba Virsa Singh and Yogi Bhajan. An idea of the “chain” presented by the teacher of Yogi Bhajan can be traced and observed without extensive research into the matter. What we cannot see is that the term “Golden Chain” originates from Baba Virsa Singh, though the idea is explicit in his lectures.
“Golden Chain” is the term used in Kundalini Yoga for referring to a concept that has already been present in Indian spiritual traditions for centuries. It is part of the teacher-student relationship and it expresses in different religions in India. For example, according to Swami Dayanada, one of the greatest teachers of Vedanta in the 20th century:
”We do not see the beginning of the teaching. It is just taken back to the rishis, the inspired sages to whom the Veda was revealed. Do not bother about the mula, the root of these sages (…) If one must go beyond the rishis, then it can just be said the guru is the Lord (…) Traditional study generally begins with a tribute to the teaching and to the teachers -to those who focus the light that dispels the ignorance concealing the nature of oneself”.[34]
A tribute to the linage of teachers and the message transmitted by the ancestor is a building block in all Indian spiritual system. For the believers and teacher like Swami Dayanada, Baba Virsa Singh, Yogi Bhajan and those who practice or teach Kundalini Yoga there is a common faith in the Grace and the message that flows through people in the process of linking to God. The actual comprehension of this chain, belongs to a reality beyond history and culture and it is made possible by faith and inner experience alone. Only through the correct attitude can one understand this chain that seems unbreakable and ever available. In the mind of the one who believes, there is no way such a lineage, chain and linkage can be created or destroyed by people. According to the Baba Virsa Singh,
“The messengers that come from God will never be separated. Why are you wasting your time? The family of prophets will never follow your views. Their program has already been set. Their message has already been given. That family will remain together (…) It is a difference in language, but they are saying the same thing”[35]
Baba Virsa Singh was misunderstood and opposed by his contemporaries as he saw, met, spoke to and received instruction from different divine beings of various traditions and times. A trained historian of religion can study these phenomena experienced by the believers. But he does not have the methodology to judge the verity of such experiences. Rudolf Otto, one of the classic scholars of History of Religions considered that,
“Whoever, on the other hand, penetrates to the unique center of religious experience … so that it starts to awaken in his own consciousness, finds that the truth of these institutions is experience directly, as soon as he penetrates into their depths”[36]
And such is also the reality of the “Golden Chain”. It is not a modern invention, it is a deeper, visionary aspect of most religions. It is part of Indian spiritual heritage, that was given a name in the 20th century by an Indian Yogi who came to the west in 1968. The biggest mistake people make is to think that he - Yogi Bhajan - made up the concept of the “Golden Chain”. The inception of the idea evidently comes through the contact with Baba Virsa Singh, or simply through the vast variety of spiritual experiences and ideas that Yogi Bhajan gathered in India before his trip to North America.
According to these lines, the idea of chain as well as the idea of experience seem fairly coherent between the teachings of these two teachers, although the notions presented by the Saint seem to have gained further attributes in the Yogi’s teachings. As ideas evolve, so does language, so what was deemed as “vision” by Baba Virsa Singh, Yogi Bhajan conveyed it as “experience” of some sort. The idea of “chain” of the former developed into the idea of “Golden Chain” in the latter.
In recent times some historians have missed to see the essential spiritual quality of this chain. This is the case of Philip Deslippe who has tackled the notion of “Golden Chain” without properly acknowledging the spiritual experience that inspires its formation. According to him “… when the Golden Chain of Kundalini Yoga is investigated rather than invoked, it unravels”[37]. Thus, he did this without making a distinction between a linage (understood in anthropology as a unilineal descent group that can demonstrate their common descent from a known apical ancestor) from the spiritual linage an idea denoting a spiritual connection to a spiritual mission that transcends culture or history.
Trying to “unravel” the “Golden Chain” in the scholar way is an epistemological mistake if the distinction is not made and it can only bias the scholar’s conclusions. In History of Religions (1975), Ugo Bianchi considers that for the scholar, a religious experience can be addressed through a wider historical knowledge of the forms, variety and depth of its references. This is the way such a scholar can widen the understanding of people’s experience. That kind of knowledge helps the historical inquiry to access precious information regarding human experience that the historian would otherwise have missed and that would be harmful to ignore[38]. Thus, the view of Deslippe is not precise and wide enough in his analysis, as he completely ignored the “forms, variety and depth of the references” explicit in Baba Virsa Singh about the spiritual chain linking God, various spiritual masters and regular people who come into contact with his mission.
Nevertheless, this is an epistemological mistake that not only historians can make, but that students of Yogi Bhajan also seem to repeat. How so? As much as Yogi Bhajan spoke of the “Golden Chain” in terms of personal spiritual connection and inner experience, much like his teacher did, he also differed from Baba Virsa Singh saying that the “Golden Chain” was an idea based on scriptures. According to Yogi Bhajan “Scripturally, they call it the Golden Chain of Teachers, passing it on from one to another, to another, to another”[39]. This is a mistake, as no source before Yogi Bhajan refers to a “Golden Chain” as such. Deslippe and other historians have picked up this mistake to declare the whole notion of “Golden Chain” of Yogi Bhajan as invalid.
Some students of Yogi Bhajan too take the idea of “Golden Chain” as a unilineal link of teacher and students. These are the two ways how these teachings about the chain or “Golden Chain” are interpreted narrowly; either because it is epistemologically disconnected from the visionary spiritual experience, and therefore does not honour its spiritual substance. Or, because it is disconnected from the process of how ideas and language evolves through time. Interpreting the “Golden Chain” without studying the ideas about the spiritual chain present in Baba Virsa Singh can only be misleading. It would be as if we try to understand the ideas of Martin Luther about the personal connection to the Lord without looking into the reference in the Gospel that inspired him. As far as the “Golden Chain” is concerned, the recognition of its non-historical essence and its non-scriptural source, can lead to a better understanding of what we say when talking about the chain. But always acknowledging the visionary experience that originates and forms the original idea and ideal.
A Historian of Religion has to admit that perhaps the mystical approach to spiritual reality is often the way people can best see and realise the true meaning of different spiritual teachings. Because, in other words, it is also a belief that is not intended for legitimating a historical view, but rather it is to link people to God. These are different things. The belief in a chain of this sort is rather intended and taught to kindle the heart and soul of the seekers. Who is the historian to judge the belief of others? Who is him to judge the spiritual experiences they have?
Recently, Snatam Kaur published and interview where she defines the “Golden Chain”. She is not a historian, but she is known as one of the most charismatic female spiritual leaders in the international community of Kundalini Yoga. She is an acknowledged musician and a famous singer in the Kundalini Yoga circles, as well as a teacher and a nominee for the Grammys in 2019. This year she defined the chain for the online journal Kundalini Times. In her words:
“The Golden Chain is not linear or literal. It is a vibratory frequency that each teacher, past present and future, can tune in to, and that has brought forth and will continue to bring forth beautiful experiences for people on this planet”
In the words of Snatam Kaur one can see the pattern that shows a similar explanatory content coming from Baba Virsa Singh. The concept of “Golden Chain” is not defined within narrow historical or cultural terms alone, because according to her, present and future teachers “on this planet”, “can tune into” it (“link it”) and have their experience too... She refers to it as a “vibratory frequency” to connect to, to experience. The idea she conveyed is not framed in the traditional notion of Nam or God as often were the explanatory terms used by Baba Virsa Singh, yet it is the Nam sang by her (the “vibratory frequency”, the mantras) and her praises to the Divine Mother and God that has made her famous and recognised beyond even the Kundalini Yoga circles. The chain she speaks about implies a mission, as she attributes to the chain, the cause of “beautiful experiences for people on this planet”.
A Sociologist of Religion, Emile Durkheim shares a perception about experience and ideas that are appropriate to consider here. According to Durkheim,
“Above and beyond all the dogmas and all the denomination, there exists a source of religious life as old as humanity and which can never run dry; it is the one that results from the fusions of consciousness, in the communion in a set of ideas (…)”[40]
Last Words
“There should be so much aspiration in you that you form an unbreakable link with God”[41]
- Baba Virsa Singh
When in the dawn of 13th of February of 2019 my wife and I left Gobind Sadan with pictures, stories and a bunch of books, something unique started to happen within me. Pieces of a puzzle fell in place in my soul. For me, this is a way of meeting a reality that is much deeper than philosophy or history. As Baba Virsa Singh pinpointed like many other spiritual teachers of humanity,
“Differences in languages between people of different religions are trifles that should not confuse you, for do you know what language God speaks? God understands the language of love.”[42]
What I truly sense is that the rupture between the Saint and the Yogi did not break the flow of ideas and spirit, as I have tried to present in the previous paragraphs. Off course the Historian in me knows that there is much more to see and learn about this past and to hide the existence and voice of Baba Virsa Singh no longer makes sense.
This is a clear paradox: while some strive to discredit the idea of ”Golden Chain” as a myth created by Yogi Bhajan, they probably ignore, intentionally or unintentionally, that the idea of chain can be found in the lectures of Baba Virsa Singh. In the teaching of the Sant such a chain was conceived through visions and revelations of prophets, gurus and messiahs who have established the purpose and direction of a universal mission. Others, who have systematically separated and kept the figure of Baba Virsa Singh ignored or hidden, intentionally or unintentionally, are missing to see that in Baba Virsa Singh’s teaching one can find the keys to a visionary experience that inspires and precedes the idea of “Golden Chain” taught by Yogi Bhajan.
It is true that neither the chain of spiritual masters was invented by Yogi Bhajan nor was it represented in the Yogi’s terms by Baba Virsa Singh, yet the idea clearly passed from the Saint to the Yogi. This type of transmissions from yogis to saints and from saints to yogis is not uncommon. Baba Virsa Singh was too a visionary person and as such he was taught by a Yogi (Baba Siri Chand) and he inspired and taught people of all walks of life, yogis and non-yogis as well. In my opinion Baba Virsa Singh has to be acknowledged and reintegrated in the life, history and consciousness of the yogis who have studied and practiced the teachings of Yogi Bhajan .
This views that I share here are all but complete or final – these qualities are not possible to achieve in an essay like this. And Social Sciences and sciences in general, can only provide models to see reality that will one day expire to be replace by new studies with up-to-date data. This should not discourage our appetite for the truth. Any existing real evidence from the past can give us access to know how things were.
History is not fixed and a historian is not to judge people from the past, let alone the experiences of others. To take a deeper and more systematic look into at the past serves the human need for having a better understanding of others before us. Historians, however, are not infallible and they know that trying to unravel the meaning of a spiritual idea of the past will fall short by means of scholarly inquiry alone.
History can also be used as a tool to destroy the beliefs and morale of others. That is not the history that I studied and that is not what a good historian does either. That is why these paragraphs are neither intended to destroy an illusion nor to create a new one. I must admit that these pages are of a personal significance, because they represent the addition of one more piece in the puzzle of my spiritual life. This is my way for deciphering my own experiences, while unravelling and distinguishing what truly constitutes the experience of a spiritual chain, from an academic discussion about the meaning and shape of a historical lineage…
Baba Virsa Singh was himself illiterate. Yet he managed to articulate key universal truths with a narrative that resembles the perennial philosophy of all spiritual paths. His teachings have, nevertheless, spread broad and far, via his own actions or via those of his students... In the case of his student, Yogi Bhajan, some of his ideas have mutated their outer forms, others have grown further or become more complex over time.
The ideas of Baba Virsa Singh have a reach that we must see and understand. And the connection of ideas between him and Yogi Bhajan share a fairly coherent logics and pattern. The Saint is not only a large piece in the puzzle of the biography of the Yogi, but he is also a strong link in the chain of spiritual beings with a mission of service. Their connection should not be diluted in misinterpretations. Because Baba Virsa Singh’s spiritual trajectory, radiance and ideas are too significant to be taken lightly.
Jivan Mukta
Gran Canaria, 19th of August, 2020.
PS: If you like to know more, you can view my full webinar Exploring the Teaching of Baba Virsa Singh. Watch these 3 classes for free clicking here
Or read more about the importance of experience in an earlier article written by Jivan Mukta
Read more about the Evolution of Kundalini Yoga inspired by allegation and revelations in 2020
Watch Jivan Mukta’s class in which he shared his appreciations about Yogi Bhajan scandal and the book of Pamela Dyson (February 2020).
Notes
[1] Singh, Ralph (Ed). Arrows of Light. Healing the Human Mind. Selected Talks of His Holiness Baba Virsa Singh. 2009. p. 234
[2] Dyson, Pamela Premka: White Bird in a Golden Cage: My Life with Yogi Bhajan. 2020, p. 52
[3] Grafton, Anthony The history of ideas: Precept and practice, 1950-2000 and beyond. Journal of the History of Ideas 67#1 (2006): 1-32.
[4] Antion Vikram Singh (former Vic Briggs of “The Animals”, interviewed by Kamalla Rose Kaur)
[5] Dyson, p. 52.
[6] By e-mail conversation.
[7] By e-mail conversation.
[8] Me and my wife have sincere gratitude for the people at Gobind Sadan, the ashram of Baba Virsa Singh. Thanks to Nirmal and Ravi for the warm welcome and thanks to Mary Pat Fisher, for the hospitality, and openness. Without Mary’s views and generosity these reflections would not have been possible. All the pictures of Baba Virsa Singh here presented are from the Museum of Gobind Sadan.
[9] Chryssides, George. The Study of Religion. An Introduction of Key Ideas and Methods. 2nd ed. 2013.
[10] In the webinar “Exploring the Teaching of Baba Virsa Singh” I have discussed other aspects of his life and views and some of our experiences when visiting his Ashram in New Delhi. This article is my attempt to clarify and deepen some of the points addressed on that course.
[11] Bhajan, Yogi, The Master’s Touch. 2000, p. 193
[12] Fisher, Mary Pat. EVERYDAY MIRACLES in the HOUSE OF GOD. Stories from Gobind Sadan, India. 1993, p.174
[13] Fisher, p. 121
[14] Singh, Ralph, p 207
[15] Fisher p. 121
[16] Fisher, p. 181
[18] Singh, Ralph p. 142
[19] Singh, Ralph p. 139
[20] Fisher, p. 174-175.
[21] Fisher, p. 41
[22] Fisher p. 170-171
[23] Singh, Ralph, p. 67
[24] Singh, Ralph p. 67
[25] Bhajan, Yogi The Master’s Touch. 2000, p. 122
[26] Fisher, p. 106
[27] Fisher, p. 174
[28] Fisher p. 128
[29] Singh, Ralph, p. 58
[30] Singh, Ralph p. 141
[31] Fisher, p. 36-37
[32] Fisher, p. 75
[33] As we know Baba Siri Chand was alive and present during the evolution of Sikh history, in the life of the first six Gurus. The son of the sixth Guru, was blessed to be appointed by Baba Siri Chand as his successors. Baba Gurditta as he became known became the leader of the Udasi Sampradaya. Baba Gurditta was the father of the seventh Guru, the grandfather of the eighth Guru, the older brother of the ninth Guru and the uncle of Guru Gobind Singh. It must be remembered that when Guru Gobind Singh left Anandpur, he put an Udasi in charge.
[34] Swami Dayananda, Introduction to Vedanta. 2011, p. 88-89
[35] Singh, Ralph, p. 144
[36] Otto, “The Idea of the Holy”. 1917, p. 57
[37] Deslippe, Phillipe From Maharaj to Mahan Tantric (2012), In Sikh Formations. Vol. 8. No 3, p, 369-387.
[38] Bianchi, p. 211-212
[39] Bhajan, 2000, p 193.
[40] Durkheim, Emile. “Contribution to Discussion “Religious Sentiment at the Present Time”. In Emile Durkheim by W.S.F Pickering in Religion and Emotion (2008), p. 441
[41] Fisher p. 185-186.
[42] Fisher p. 122