3HO History and Timeline

In September of 1968, Yogi Bhajan left India for Canada to teach yoga at Toronto University, carrying a letter of recommendation from Sir James George, Canadian High Commissioner in New Delhi, who had been his student. After two months in Canada, he flew to Los Angeles for a weekend visit. Arriving in Los Angeles virtually unknown, Yogi Bhajan met a number of young hippies, the spiritual seekers of that era, and immediately recognized that the experience of higher consciousness they were attempting to find through drugs could be achieved by practicing Kundalini Yoga, while simultaneously rebuilding their nervous systems.

• Yogi Bhajan teaches his first public yoga class on January 5th, at the YMCA in Alhambra, CA
• From humble beginnings, teaching first at the East West Cultural Center and then in a student’s furniture store in West Hollywood, “The Yogi” was like a magnet. Students flocked to his classes. Soon he was teaching at colleges and universities, including Claremont and UCLA, and accepting invitations to teach in other cities.
• Here’s a picture from “the early days” when Yogi Bhajan taught twice a day, seven days a week at Jules Buccieri’s Antique Shop, which later became Morton’s

• Summer Solstice is held at Aspen Meadow, Tesuque Indian reservation, where Yogi Bhajan, as the minister, marries several couples.  Here is a firsthand account of the early days of 3HO by Guru Singh Khalsa.
• 3HO Foundation – the Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization – is incorporated as a non-profit organization in California
• Shakti Parwha Kaur, Yogi Bhajan’s first student, shared this about this time: “Yogi Bhajan was making soup in the kitchen of the East-West Cultural Center in Los Angeles when he told me, ‘I have a vision, to create an organization called “3HO, the Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization, and you’ll be the Mother.’ He understood that some formal legal structure was needed to allow the teachings of Kundalini Yoga to become widespread. So, we did incorporate 3HO in July of 1969.”  Read more from Shakti Parwha in this article “The Beginning of 3HO“.

In this video, Shakti Parwha Kaur, “the Mother of 3HO” shares stories of how the Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization came to be:

• Two students of Yogi Bhajan are the first in the US to take Sikh vows.  One of these students, Livtar Singh recounts his experience here.  And Here Guru Singh recounts his story of being Yogi Bhajan’s first student to tie a turban.
• Yogi Bhajan attends the first Holy Man Jam, Boulder University, CO

• Yogi Bhajan teaches at the Atlanta Pop Festival

• September 22, 1970 – The Grace of God Movement of the Women of America (GGMWA) took form in San Francisco, California.  (*source: the 10th Anniversary edition of the 3HO Foundation Magazine, Beads of Truth, Beads Number 1 & 2, Volume II Double Edition published in 1979 in honor of the 10th Anniversary of 3HO.
• December 1970 – Yogi Bhajan guides a tour to India comprised of eighty-four of his students.  

“Guru Guru Wahe Guru, Guru Ram Das Guru” mantra first recited.

• The origin of this mantra, is recounted here in 1978 by Krishna Kaur Khalsa and in the video below:

• The above page is from the January 1972 “Beads of Truth – The 3HO Foundation Magazine”, which both announces the opening of the Guru Ram Das Ashram in Los Angeles and shares a song written by Guru Singh, which is now fondly known as the “Golden Temple Song”.

Grace of God Movement March

• December 4, 1971 marked the first public appearance of the Grace of God Movement of Women of America (GGMWA), as nearly one hundred women and men marched past the topless and bottomless nightclubs of San Francisco, on behalf of the grace and dignity of women.  (as shared in the 10th Anniversary edition of the 3HO Foundation Magazine, Beads of Truth, Beads Number 1 & 2, Volume II Double Edition published in 1979 in honor of the 10th Anniversary of 3HO.

Yogi Bhajan Started Teaching White Tantric Yoga

• Becoming the Mahan Tantric (only living Master of White Tantric Yoga) in 1971, Yogi Bhajan (Founder of 3HO) started conducting White Tantric Yoga workshops in cities across the world.

Yogi Bhajan Founded the First 3HO Drug Program

“From the time he arrived in the US in 1969, Yogi Bhajan (Founder of 3HO) was teaching people how to free themselves from tension and anxiety through conscious self-relaxation and meditation.  He was teaching them how to rid their bodies of toxins accumulated through the years of drug abuse by means of Kundalini Yoga kriyas and diet, and how to live secure, fulfilling lives by adopting a lifestyle based on love, mutual support and commitment. 

In 1971, he called for the establishment of the first 3HO Drug Program in Washington D.C., “under the noise of the government.”  The program began with two patients and was under strict medical supervision: one man was forty-eight years old and had a lifetime of inner-city drug use behind him; the other man, age twenty –two, had been addicted to heroin for three years and methadone for two.  Within three weeks, both men were ‘clean’.”  ~Excerpted from the book “The Man Called the Siri Singh Sahib”, published in 1979.

Arriving in Los Angeles in 1968, Yogi Bhajan began his mission to share the teachings of Kundalini Yoga, and to help people live healthy, happy and holy lives.  He first established Guru Ram Das Ashram as a yoga center in West Hollywood, and it was here in Los Angeles that Kundalini Yoga in the Western World was born. 

The first Grace of God Course was offered in the fall of 1972 in Tucson, Arizona, and by virtue of its success, the course was offered again in 1973. (This information was shared in the 10th Anniversary edition of the 3HO Foundation Magazine, Beads of Truth, Beads Number 1 & 2, Volume II Double Edition published in 1979 in honor of the 10th Anniversary of 3HO.

In the spring of 1972, the ashram was moved to the current location, a former chiropractic and hydrotherapy office, where it was established as a formal Gurdwara.

The Kundalini Research Institute (KRI) is founded to provide training and education and engage in research and publishing.

Yogi Bhajan first taught the Tratakam Meditation.  Guruka Singh recounts the story here in the article, “Seeing Eye to Eye with the Master“ which was published in the Winter 2005 Aquarian Times Magazine.

Drug Treatment Programs Continue

• In 1973, Yogi Bhajan (Founder of 3HO) founded 3HO SuperHealth, a remarkably successful drugless drug rehabilitation program, blending the proven ancient yogic wisdom of the East with the modern technology of the West. SuperHealth was accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health-care Organizations and received its highest commendation. In 1973, it distinguished itself as being in the top 10% of all treatment programs throughout the U.S.
• A similar program was initiated in Toronto, backed by a $100,000 Canadian Government grant.  Yogi Bhajan personally flew to Toronto to assist in initiation of the project.  Not only was the initial program a great success, but through it was born the Kundalini Yoga and Healing Arts Center, through which thousands of people have been able to free themselves of addictions and to learn to help others to live fruitful, drug-free lives.  (*source:  the book, “The Man Called the Siri Singh Sahib”, published in 1979.)
• In June 1973 – Governor Bruce King of New Mexico presented the Siri Singh Sahib, Yogi Bhajan with a Proclamation honoring 3HO for its work in combatting drug abuse.  (*source: page 48 of the 10th Anniversary edition of the 3HO Foundation Magazine, Beads of Truth, Beads Number 1 & 2, Volume II Double Edition published in 1979 in honor of the 10th Anniversary of 3HO).

The First 3HO American Sikh Joins the US Army

• As shared in the Spring 1975 “Beads of Truth – The Magazine of 3HO Foundation”.

3HO is Established in Hamburg Germany

• As shared by Tarn Taran Kaur in the Winter 1988 Beads of Truth – The Magazine of 3HO Foundation.

“Song of the Khalsa” is Born

• Livtar Singh Khalsa composed the Song of the Khalsa, which has been sung in every 3HO Gurdwara program since.

State & Federal Funded 3HO Drug Treatment Programs Established in New Mexico and Arizona

Summer of 1976 – the first Khalsa Women’s Training Camp (KWTC), as recounted here in the Fall 1976 “Beads of Truth – The Magazine of 3HO Foundation”.

3HO hosts the first Summer Solstice at Ram Das Puri, which has grown and thrived since, becoming the primary focus for the North American Kundalini Yoga community to come together.

In February of 1977, Yogi Bhajan and about a dozen of his staff and aides sat down to review potential sites for a permanent location for the Summer Solstice Sadhana. An exhaustive search had been conducted of all available properties within a hundred-mile radius of the Española Ashram.  Read the article Ram Das Puri:  Where Angels Dare to Tread from the December 1980 “Beads of Truth – The 3HO Foundation Magazine.

The first European Yoga Festival is held in France by 3HO Europe and people attend from Kundalini Yoga hubs across Europe, including Amsterdam, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Denmark, and Norway. The festival remains one of the largest annual gatherings of Kundalini Yogis, with more than 3,000 people. 

In this article, which appeared in the Winter 1988 Beads of Truth – The Magazine of the 3HO Foundation”, Sardar Singh Khalsa from Oslo, Norway describes the 3HO communities in Europe in the 1970s and 1980s.

Ten Year Anniversary of 3HO

Ten Years of High Lights in 3HO Historyas shared in the “High Times” Magazine, written by MSS Shakti Parwha Kaur, Yogi Bhajan’s first student and the “Mother of 3HO.”

“Music, the Companion that Soothes Us and Moves Us” written by Gurubanda Singh Khalsa in a 1979 “Beads of Truth – The Magazine of 3HO Foundation.”

The Birth, Growth and Expansion of the Grace of God Movement of the Women of the World

Yogi Bhajan first instructed women in the Grace of God Meditation and formed the Grace of God Movement of the Women of America (GGMWA) so that each woman might learn this meditation and relate to her highest potential.

From Students to Teachers

The “Sarkar-e-Khalsa” sign, which still sits above the gurdwara at Ram Das Puri in New Mexico, was created by a group of 3HO artists.  The story of how this sign came to be is recounted in “Painting the Future” article in the September 1980 Beads of Truth – The 3HO Foundation Magazine”.

On March 26, 1982, a ‘meeting of the ways’ took place at Stanford University as the New Age spiritual leaders met to discuss the issue of Nuclear Armament/Disarmament. It was truly a dynamic event, as speakers and the audience were moved to greater awareness of the threat of nuclear destruction, and thus to more visible and vocal activity towards nuclear disarmament. (In photo from right to left: Yogi Bhajan, Daniel Ellsberg, Swami Satchitananda, Phillip Deer, M.S.S. Sat Santokh Singh Khalsa, Joanna Macy, Ken Keyes, and Baba Ram Dass.)  This article “Stop:  Yogi Bhajan and Ram Dass Talk Nuclear War” is drawn from remarks delivered by Siri Singh Sahib, Yogi Bhajan and Ram Dass on the topic of nuclear war during Summer Solstice 1982 and was published in the Winter 1982 “Beads of Truth – The 3HO Foundation Magazine”.

August, 1984 – Yogi Bhajan, Founder of 3HO, met with the Pope in Rome, Italy. 

An ardent advocate of world peace and religious unity, he met with world leaders of all faiths to encourage dialogue, including Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul II, the Dalai Lama, and two Archbishops of Canterbury. 

How the Library of Teachings Came to Be

In this article, Spreading the Word(s)… and Music, which was published in the Summer 1986 “Beads of Truth – The 3HO Magazine”, Siri Ved Singh shares in his own words how he started and what became decades of work, recording the thousands of lectures by Yogi Bhajan, which eventually became The Library of Teachings, a tremendously invaluable resource for generations to come.

Hands Across America

• 3HO folks all across the continent participated in “Hands Across America,” standing in the gigantic line that stretched from California to the New York Harbor, making a statement, declaring a mutual human concern for the plight of those who are hungry and homeless (and helping raise money to feed them).

[as shared originally in the 1987, Spring issue of the Beads of Truth (Bead 18, Vol. II), a 3HO Magazine.]

The First Peace Prayer Day

[as shared originally in the 1987, Spring issue of the Beads of Truth (Bead 18, Vol. II), a 3HO Magazine.]

In 1989, Yogi Bhajan met with then President Mikhail Gorbachev and established addiction treatment programs in Russia based on the 3HO SuperHealth model.

• In 1994, 3HO became a member of the United Nations as an NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) in service to the United Nations’ work for peace in this world. 3HO supports the goals and work of the United Nations through sharing the technology of living a healthy, happy, and holy lifestyle.

• As a United Nations non-governmental organization, 3HO supports International Women’s Day, the International Day of Happiness, International Mother Earth Day, International Yoga Day, the International Day of Peace, and the Stop Violence Against Women campaign.3HO offers worldwide meditations and kriyas, celebrations, and yogic resources in support of these events.

• International Women’s Day is a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of their countries and communities.

• Since 2013, the United Nations has celebrated the International Day of Happiness as a way to recognize the importance of happiness in the lives of people around the world. In 2015, the UN launched the 17 Sustainable Development Goals that seek to end poverty, reduce inequality, and protect our planet – three key aspects that lead to well-being and happiness. As a UN NGO, 3HO Foundation International is honored to help spread the word about happiness through Kundalini Yoga.

• International Mother Earth Day is celebrated to remind each of us that the Earth and its ecosystems provide us with life and sustenance. In order to achieve a balance among the economic, social, and environmental needs of present and future generations, it is necessary to promote harmony with nature and the Earth. Yogi Bhajan taught us to live consciously and to take responsibility for ourselves in harmony with all creation. A yogic lifestyle helps mother earth through vegetarianism and energy conservation through cold showers. Kundalini Yoga is the Yoga of Awareness, and 3H0 encourages practitioners to create positive environmental change by staying fully aware of the impacts of our choices on Mother Earth.

• 3H0 contributes to International Yoga Day by disseminating information about Kundalini Yoga worldwide.

• Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world in September. The General Assembly has declared this to be a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples. 3H0 offers kriyas and meditations to facilitate the experience of inner peace as well as to bring global peace.

• 3H0 Foundation partners with the United Nations to encourage activism against gender-based violence in the days leading up to the yearly Stop Violence Against Women Campaign. 3H0 emphasizes the power of incorporating Kundalini Yoga into these efforts.

• We formed an Advisory Committee, comprised of representatives from Europe, Mexico, Canada, and the United States. Working with Yogi Bhajan, we created a Code of Ethics for Kundalini Yoga teachers. As standardized Teacher Training was one of the main goals of both the membership and Yogi Bhajan, we outlined 3 levels of KRI Certification. Read more in this article “The Past, Present and Future of 3HO IKYTA“, written in July 1999 by the original Executive Director of IKYTA, Nam Kaur Khalsa and “The Formation of IKYTA in 1994” as shared in “The History of Sikh Dharma in the Western Hemisphere”.

• In 1994, on the 25th anniversary of 3HO, Yogi Bhajan founded the 3HO International Kundalini Yoga Teachers Association (IKYTA) is formed as part of 3HO, with a mission to uplift, nurture and serve Kundalini Yoga teachers through programs, resources, benefits, and educational offerings. Today it serves thousands of teachers internationally.

The first standardized textbook for the KRI Level One Teacher Training programs is published.

Miri Piri Academy in Amritsar, India, was founded by Yogi Bhajan (Founder of 3HO) in 1997.  Children from the global 3HO community have attended this school ever since.  In the early years of Miri Piri Academy, the staff served under the direct guidance of the Siri Singh Sahib, Yogi Bhajan and he explained to them exactly how he wanted the school to operate and the school’s mission to serve and uplift the spirit of humanity.  This video includes interviews with staff members highlighting the history and founding of the school. 

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  Peace Prayer Day, June 21st, was a bright and beautiful experience of unity that uplifted spirits and opened hearts. The diverse, fast-moving program was highlighted by the Siri Singh Sahib’s profound and loving address and punctuated by presentations by Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati, Reverend Talitha Arnold, and Siri Sat Guru Jagjit Singhji Maharaj. Amazing rhythms and music by Wah Music, Curtis Coleman, Jackie Carlyle and Matthew Andrae were enthusiastically received, and an encore demanded, for our 12th Annual Peace Prayer Day celebration on the sacred land of Ram Das Puri in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico. Many other wonderful musical guests enriched the spirit of the day with their songs.

  
  

New Mexico’s own Bill Richardson, Ambassador to the United Nations, was the recipient of the 1997 Man of Peace award. Actress Marsha Mason shared her inspiring thoughts about the beauty of New Mexico and its spirituality.

One of the key ways to bring peace internationally is to work for peace within our own being and Peace Prayer Day includes the Sacred Healing Walk given to us by the Hopi elders and performed barefoot according to ancient tradition. Surely every opportunity to work for peace in the world is welcomed by people of consciousness. Everyone attending Peace Prayer Day 1997 joined wholeheartedly with their prayers, meditations and joyful songs to form a powerful vibration of peace which will certainly continue to expand within them and spread out to the entire world. “Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.”

~ as shared by Siri Ram Kaur Khalsa, Director of Peace Prayer Day in the August 1997 Prosperity Paths Magazine

Krishna Kaur, from Y.O.G.A. for Youth, founds the International Association of Black Yoga Teachers.

Also in this year, the National Kundalini Yoga Teachers Association is established, within IKYTA, to serve the specific needs of each culture, language and laws, with 30 country associations participating.

(The two above articles were excerpted from the October 2000 Prosperity Paths publication).

What started as a prayer of the Siri Singh Sahib, Yogi Bhajan (Founder of 3HO) two years prior, became a reality on January 1, 2001, when the doors were opened to our own residential and training facility in the rural setting of Anandpur Sahib, India.

Dasmesh Sadan is a place to meditate and heal just by the nature of the land it sits on. Steeped in history and surrounded by beauty, it is a place that induces effortless meditation. When we first set foot in the house, we knew that something profound had occurred.

On December 31, 2000, Yogi Bhajan invited people from all over the area to celebrate the coming new year with a midnight kirtan darbar. The best ragi and dadi jethas came and the kirtan was incredible. Over the next several days, Dasmesh Sadan hosted the children from Miri Piri Academy in a meditation course. This was the first of many such events and classes.

Dasmesh Sadan was created to host Kundalini Yoga Teacher Trainings, personal Sadhanas, Sikh Dharma technology and meditation courses. 

The estate is perfectly suited for profound learning, deep healing and quiet meditation. It is a place to develop an intimate connection to the Guru and uncover your innate relationship with the Khalsa.  It is a unique opportunity to discover personal solitude and community activity.

Above all, it is a place for us to call home in Anandpur Sahib, the city of bliss, and the birthplace of the Khalsa.

~ Excerpted from an article shared by Shanti Kaur Khalsa in the February 2001 Prosperity Paths publication.

Contact Dasmesh Sadan here to host an event.

The Lord of Miracles Tour was inspired by the Siri Singh Sahib, Yogi Bhajan (Founder of 3HO). In 2002, Yogi Bhajan told Gurubachan Singh Khalsa to go and create in South America what he, Yogi Bhajan, created in North America.

For nearly two decades,  Gurubachan Singh travelled across South America to help people become aware that their breath is the key within them, and through it a person can balance and heal the stress, anger, grief, doubt, fear and anxieties that infect all of humanity.

Through simple, non-denominational breathing techniques and meditations from the science of Kundalini Yoga, as taught by Yogi Bhajan, one can gain mental clarity, stamina and peace while reducing the negative effects of stress, emotions, drama and worry.

Throughout South America, BREATHE continues to be requested by the national police forces, the military, governments, corporations, universities, caregivers, high schools, and everyone in between.  

“Everyone is crumbling under the weight of stress, and the only way to combat it is through your breath. There is no other methodology that works so completely, because fundamentally we are our breath” ~ Gurubachan Singh 

19th Annual Peace Prayer Day in June of 2004, Marshall Rosenberg of the Center for Nonviolent Communication received the annual Peace Prayer Day “Man of Peace” Award

On October 6, 2004, at home on his Ranch in Espanola, New Mexico, surrounded by family and students, Yogi Bhajan passed away from his physical body, making the final journey to the subtle realm of spirit. 

Guru Dass Singh wrote a review of the first 35 years of music in 3HO in the article “A Joyful Noise” which was published in the Winter 2005 Aquarian Times Magazine.

The U.S. Congress awards Yogi Bhajan posthumously the Joint Congressional Resolution honoring his life’s work and teachings

First Teacher Training in Ghana

On Saturday, June 16th, 2007, the 3HO Foundation in conjunction with Peace Cereals celebrated the 22nd annual International Peace Prayer Day at the Ram Das Puri campsite in the Jemez Mountains near Espanola, New Mexico.

Hanne Marstrand Strong, President of the Manitou Foundation in Crestone, Colorado, received the Peace Cereal 2007 Woman of Peace Award.

The award was given in recognition of her commitment to developing spiritual and sustainable communities and honored her for her dedication to global peace and the preservation of ethical, cultural and spiritual traditions.

Over 1000 people gathered at the mountain campsite to pray, sing and share stories about peace.

International Peace Prayer Day in New Mexico was started by Yogi Bhajan, Founder of 3HO, Master of Kundalini Yoga, and Chief Spiritual and Administrative Authority for Sikh Dharma International.

Yogi Bhajan founded this event to bring people of different faith backgrounds and traditions together to pray for peace. He believed that prayer was the greatest power, and through the collective prayer of people together, peace would come to the earth.

23rd Annual Peace Prayer Day – co-sponsored by 3HO Foundation and the natural food company Yogi Tea at Ram Das Puri in the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico. 

The event featured an eclectic mix of song, dance and speeches from a variety of faith traditions, all extending their prayers and hopes for peace in the world.

International Peace Prayer Day included performances by Izzat Da Punjab Bhangra Troupe; a sacred healing dance with the Red Turtle Dancers of Pojoaque, NM; transcendent healing music with Ashana; and a musical performance with Guru Singh Khalsa and friends.

In addition, various dignitaries attended this year’s International Peace Prayer Day and spoke during the program. Previous International Peace Prayer Day Award Recipient, Alfredo Sfeir Younis, formerly with the World Bank and President and Founder of Zambuling Institute for Human Transformation, spoke on the theme “Attaining Peace in a World Without Borders.” He shared his insights that political leaders need to find the experience of peace within themselves before they can successfully negotiate for peace as leaders. Joginder Singh Vedanti, Jathedar of Akal Takhat in Amritsar, India also addressed the crowd. Vedanti holds the highest spiritual seat in the Sikh religion. He spoke about peace and the need for people of different faiths to find their common ground and work together towards peace. Vedanti was accompanied by Gurbachan Singh, Head Granthi of the Golden Temple, as well as Prithipal Singh, assistant to Jathedar Akal Takhat.

International Peace Prayer Day ended with its two key signature events, the arrival of the Flame of Peace, and the Sacred Healing Walk. Every year, the Peace Flame runners carry the torch of Peace from the El Santuario de Chimayo Shrine in Chimayo, New Mexico to the Ram Das Puri campsite. This run is close to 20 miles and takes an entire day. Athletes train for months ahead of time in order to participate in the run. The arrival of the Peace Flame in Ram Das Puri signals the end of the stage program for International Peace Prayer Day and the beginning of the Sacred Healing Walk.

After the arrival of the Peace Flame, hundreds of attendees commenced with the traditional Sacred Healing Walk. The Sacred Healing Walk is an ancient Native American tradition that was passed from Hopi Elders to the late Yogi Bhajan in the 1970’s. Every year during International Peace Prayer Day, this powerful ceremony is done during sunset as a way for people to spend time in prayer and purification, bringing peace to their own lives and to the world.

The late Yogi Bhajan, a master of Kundalini Yoga and a world-renown spiritual leader, founded International Peace Prayer Day in the mid 1980’s. His belief was that peace in the world could only be attained through people finding peace and harmony within their own lives, in their own homes and relationships. He started International Peace Prayer Day as a way for people of different faiths to come together and create a common prayer for peace. Yogi Bhajan was born in India but came to the West in the late 1960’s. He began to teach the ancient art of Kundalini Yoga and found a particular audience with the hippies of the time, as Kundalini Yoga helped them expand their consciousness in a completely healthy and balanced way.  He founded 3HO Foundation in 1969.  3HO stands for Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization. In time, Yogi Bhajan made his home in Espanola, NM, where he passed away on October 6, 2004. ~ Excerpted from an article shred by Sikhnet on July 8, 2008.

An all-day gathering of music and prayer on the sacred land of Guru Ram Das Puri, International Peace Prayer Day is an expression of becoming One through prayer for peace, healing, and unity.   

Here Nirinjan Kaur leads a “Wahe Guru” meditation in 2012 for the 27th Annual Peace Prayer Day.  

30th Annual Peace Prayer Day – on June 20, 2015, Dr. Vivian spoke as the recipient of the Siri Singh Sahib Bhai Sahib Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji Social Justice Award at the 3HO International Peace Prayer Day Celebration.  

Civil rights leader Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian is known for his work with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement in the 1960s. He was a Freedom Rider and organized sit-ins and other non-violent protests against racial segregation in the South. As a member of the Executive Staff of the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Council) he marched with Dr. King in Selma, Montgomery, Chicago, Birmingham, and Washington, D.C. He worked as an organizer for the voter registration drive in Selma, a movement that was the catalyst for the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

In the summer of 1965 Dr. Vivian founded Project Vision, which provided college preparatory support for students and recent high school graduates in Alabama.  The success of Project Vision received federal government support to become the widely successful Upward Bound program for youth from poverty backgrounds.  Upward Bound recently celebrated its 50th anniversary.  He also founded BASIC Diversity Inc. an organization that works to create supportive cross cultural communication within work spaces. The C.T. Vivian Leadership Institute works to create a useful model of leadership culture for the benefit of future organizations and leaders of change.

President Obama presented Reverend Dr. C.T. Vivian with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor.

The GFIM (Global Foundation for Integrative Medicines) honored Yogi Bhajan, Founder of 3HO, with the GFIM Peace Award at the Opening Ceremony of the World Congress of Integrative Medicines in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  

3HO celebrates 50 years with celebrations and community events taking place around the world.

At the end of the year, building at the Ram Das Puri site begins and by Spring 2020, Phase 1 construction of the new permanent structures is completed, part of a long-term plan to create a sustainable and inspiring retreat center.

A nine-volume album of iconic 3HO music is produced.

In June, we launch our 3HO Luminaries and bring 16 global ambassadors to the Summer Solstice events to honor and highlight Kundalini Yoga teachers and leaders throughout the world who are engaged in extraordinary service in communities and places of need.

In November, an old classic 3HO song titled “Sikh National Anthem” that was written by Guru Dass Singh Khalsa back in the 1970s, when many young westerners were learning about Sikhism and sharing the inspiration and love for the Guru through music. was played as part of the “Light of Guru Nanak” yatra to India hosted by Sikh Dharma International to celebrate the 550th birthday of Guru Nanak in Sultanpur Lodhi, India.

COVID-19 shuts down the world, and 3HO’s in-person events are canceled for the first time in over 50 years. In response, 3HO begins planning an online program.

Seva Corps is founded with the mission to highlight and inspire global seva projects.

3HO launches its inaugural eSolstice, with more than 7,000 people attending. This plants the seed for future, hybrid events.

A Monthly Teacher’s Prayer Meditation began and continues today, hosted by National Kundalini Yoga Teacher’s Associations from around the world. 

KRI and IKYTA launch Kundalini Beyond Borders to provide grants

3HO launches a new website, focused on the invitation to practice, learn, and experiment, as well as to share more community voices.

KRI has certified 32,000 teachers from 122 countries; has held teacher trainings in 72 countries; has certified 1,000 teacher trainers; and continues to engage in research, publish, and educate the world on Kundalini Yoga.

In partnership with its sister organizations, 3HO launches “A Meditation for Peace,” with the goal to raise $10,000 to support Ukrainian refugees.

As we return to in-person events, we look forward to finalizing the Ram Dass Puri project and to providing a variety of digital and live practices, classes, and events so that we can share Kundalini Yoga in increasingly relevant, accessible, and contemporary ways.

We are more committed than ever to bringing the uplifting experience of Kundalini Yoga to inspire everyone everywhere to realize their full potential.