Unmasking the Kundalini Yoga Cult of Yogi Bhajan With Els Coenen

Cult Conversations: The Influence Continuum with Dr. Steve Hassan

Dr. Steven Hassan

Self-improvement, Society & Culture, Education

4.8 • 684 Ratings

🗓️ 17 July 2023

⏱️ 62 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Under the Yoga Mat: The Dark History of Bhajan’s Kundalini Yoga, is a new book that helps expose the destructive authoritarian cult of Yogi Bhajan, Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization (3HO). When allegations of half a century of concealed abuse and criminal actions by Bhajan and his associates came to light in early 2020, which impacted the lives of hundreds of his followers and their children, Els Coenen, Ph.D., felt compelled to stop teaching and promoting kundalini Yoga and wish to help reveal the facts. In 2021, she created the website Abuse in Kundalini Yoga, a platform aimed at exposing and addressing sexual abuse, child abuse, homophobia, exploitation, business fraud, and drugs and arms trafficking within the community. If you have ever seen white-turbaned people calling themselves Sikhs, done yoga, or gone to a workshop, you will be educated about the reality of this billion-dollar corporate empire. Learn more about Steven Hassan and Freedom of Mind Resource Center. Visit freedomofmind.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Dr. Stephen Hassan with another episode of the Influence Continuum.
0:08.9	I have a very special guest with me from Belgium for this episode.
0:14.2	Els Kunin is about to publish a book about her experiences and knowledge about the Yogi Bajan Kundalini cult group,
0:27.6	a group that I've known and worked with former members for decades.
0:32.0	But let me introduce my guest.
0:34.0	Elle's got her doctorate in nuclear physics in 1985. She was acting in active in banking,
0:42.0	IT, telecom businesses in Belgium, where she lives. In 2007, when she was 49, she took her
0:50.8	first class of Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bajun and immediately fell in love with it.
0:58.7	She became a dedicated Kundalini Yoga teacher combining her job with teaching yoga and organizing
1:05.2	Kundalini Yoga teaching training programs at home and in East African countries.
1:11.6	For 10 years, she chaired the Belgium Kundalini Yoga Foundation.
1:16.6	In 2018, after several incidents, she disconnected from the Kundalini Yoga world.
1:23.6	When in the early months of 2020, the extent of 50 years of hidden abuse and crimes by
1:31.5	Budgeon and his accomplices surface, she stepped in again to help facilitate the truth-telling
1:37.7	process. In 2021, she launched the website Abuse in Kundalini Yoga.
1:51.0	And today, she's about to release her book Under the Yoga Mat, the Dark History of Bajan's Kundalini Yoga.
1:53.0	Els, it is a pleasure, and I thank you for all of your good work and your integrity to be able to say, you know what, I trusted
2:05.6	people that I shouldn't have trusted. So please, tell us a little bit more about you and your
2:15.0	story and what your book is about about because we want people to buy and
2:18.9	read your book. Okay. Thank you, Steve, for having me and for your care for all those people
2:25.4	who are involved in cults because this is a cult. We know by now, even if it is not recognized
2:33.5	by all the people still involved in it, that it is a gold.
	...

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