What Is Kundalini Yoga?

Not at all. Kundalini yoga is somewhat related to sikhism, but it is practiced worldwide by people of different nations, beliefs and religions. A religion is a system of beliefs based on worship; in kundalini yoga we don't worship anything, nor do we require people to believe in any precepts. There is a body of knowledge and philosophy that surrounds yoga, and it can be quite a mind-breaker when you hear it for the first time. But you don't need to believe any of that; the point of yogic philosophy is to make you think for yourself rather than convert you to a system of beliefs. And if you want to disregard yogic philosophy completely, you are free to do so, focusing just on the physical part. Yoga exists to serve you, not the opposite, and YOU get to decide what you want to get out of it.

Kundalini yoga was brought to the west by Yogi Bhajan. He was practically worshipped by some, being a powerful, charismatic and successful man. He passed not so long ago, and some very disturbing news came to light after his death. It turned out that despite all the good things he had done, he hadn't been quite the saint that people had viewed him as. To be more specific, he was proven to have sexually abused women, taking advantage of his power and position as a spiritual teacher. This came as a shock to many; people didn't know how to react. Some didn't believe it at first; others stopped practicing kundalini yoga completely, not wanting to associate themselves with anything related to such a man. To put some things straight: kundalini yoga doesn't belong to Yogi Bhajan, nor was it created by him. He was just another teacher. The fact that power corrupted him in the end doesn't taint or diminish the teachings he was dedicated to sharing. There were many yogis in the past; some were good people, and some weren't. Giving up kundalini yoga because of Yogi Bhajan is like quitting guitar because a famous guitarist turned out to be a rapist. What did the poor guitar do?