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The #MeToo Scandal In The Kundalini Yoga Community And The Role It Played In Guru Jagat’s Radicalization
A shrine to Guru Jagat — who died of an embolism in August 2021 — on the wall of the yoga studio at the RA MA Institute in Santa Monica.
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Emily Guerin
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LAist
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Topline:
Just as the pandemic was beginning, the Kundalini yoga community was rocked by allegations that its founder was a serial abuser. In the latest episode of our podcast Imperfect Paradise, host Emily Guerin explores how Guru Jagat, a prominent practitioner in L.A., responded to these allegations. She also explores how that response fit into Guru Jagat's descent into a rabbit hole of conspiracy theories.
About the final episode: When accusations of abuse by the late Yogi Bhajan grew widespread, some yoga studios responded by canceling all Kundalini classes, and denouncing him. Others tried to argue that the yoga Yogi Bhajan taught really helped people, even if he was harmful. And still others, like Guru Jagat’s RA MA Institute in Venice, took a different stance — doubting the accusers.
The definition of truth: Listen to a YouTube video uploaded by a colleague of Guru Jagat’s — which she shared on her social media — where he conflates the #metoo scandal with the pandemic by saying both are stories we can choose to believe, or not.
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Wondering about the whole “white woman in a turban,” thing? Yeah, we were too. Host Emily Guerin gets into Kundalini yoga, and Guru Jagat’s history of cultural appropriation in this episode.
Where to listen. Find it anywhere you get your podcasts or listen here:
Listen
• 32:44
Listen to Ep. 3 | Kundalini Yoga’s #MeToo Moment
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