The Cult of Kundalini Yoga

Sounds Like A Cult

Studio71

Comedy, Education, Religion & Spirituality, Society & Culture

4 • 3.8K Ratings

🗓️ 8 April 2025

⏱️ 104 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

There’s a chance you’ve brushed paths with this week’s cult in a West Coast farmers market or while scrolling through #yogainspiration, or as of late, your HBOMax recommended page. Kundalini yoga promises spiritual awakening, cosmic energy, and a path to your highest self. But behind the flowing white turbans and chanting in sat nam, there’s a darker story—one of control, secrecy, and not one but TWO gurus with highly questionable pasts. This week, we’re unraveling the culty underbelly of Kundalini, its infamous founder Yogi Bhajan, and his 20-teens girlbossified equivalent, Katie Griggs. From Instagram livestreams at millennial haven RaMa Studios to the militarized "3HO" organization (Healthy, Happy, Holy—or is it?), we’re asking: When does devotion cross the line into dogma? Strap in for a deep dive with Hayley Phelan (@hayleyphelan), journalist behind the article that powered HBO Max's Breath of Fire docuseries, and spiritual/sexual abuse lawyer Carol Merchasin, as Amanda and Reese discover why so many former followers say this spiritual practice left them anything but zen. Subscribe to Sounds Like A Cult on Youtube! Follow us on IG @soundslikeacultpod, @amanda_montell, @reesaronii, @chelseaxcharles. Thank you to our sponsors! Start earning points on rent you’re already paying by going to https://joinbilt.com/CULT Find exactly what you’re booking for on https://Booking.com, Booking.YEAH! Stop putting off those doctors appointments and go to https://Zocdoc.com/CULT to find and instantly book a top-rated doctor today. Head to https://www.squarespace.com/CULT to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code CULT Please consider donating to those affected by the Los Angeles Fires. Some organizations that Team SLAC are donating to are: https://mutualaidla.org/ https://give.pasadenahumane.org/give/654134/#!/donation/checkout https://shorturl.at/SGW9w Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The views expressed on this episode, as with all episodes of Sounds Like a Cult, are solely host opinions and quoted allegations.
0:06.5	The content here should not be taken as indisputable fact.
0:09.4	This podcast is for entertainment purposes only.
0:12.5	Just a heads up, Culties, this week's episode addresses topics of sexual assault in addition to other forms of serious cult abuse, which may be disturbing to some listeners,
0:22.5	so do listen with care.
0:24.9	You might think that this is a spiritual organization, but it doesn't matter what the content is.
0:32.3	What matters is the structure, the control, the abuse of power.
0:37.3	A lot of ex-posés have come out about cultish abuse within yoga organizations in the United States.
0:45.1	And they just created this environment where people are so vulnerable that they would do anything to please these people.
0:50.8	We need some help, y'all.
0:53.3	This is Sounds Like a Cult, a show about the modern
0:56.6	day cults we all follow. I'm your host Amanda Montel, author of the book's cultish and the
1:01.7	Age of Magical Overthinking. And I'm Reese Oliver, your co-host and Sounds Like a Colts coordinator.
1:07.6	Every week on the show, we discuss a different fanatical fringe group from the
1:11.8	cultural zeitgeist, from Potterheads to Shenyon to try and answer the big question. This group
1:18.9	sounds like a cult, but is it really? And if so, which of our cult categories does it fall into?
1:32.3	A live your life, a watch your back, or a get the fuck out!
1:37.3	After all, not every culty-living group these days is equally destructive.
1:42.3	Cultish influence falls along a spectrum. The point of this show
1:45.7	is to analyze how fanaticism shows up in everyday life, to poke a little bit of fun at human search
1:52.2	for meaning, and to critique how power abuse shows up in places you might not think to look.
1:57.9	Maybe even right in your evening cup of camomile. Oh, how scandalous.
	...

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