Known as the "Mother of 3HO," Shakti Parwha Kaur Khalsa is the author of KUNDALINI YOGA: The Flow of Eternal Power. She has been teaching Kundalini Yoga since 1969 - specializing in teaching beginners. At "Masters Touch" courses, she trains teachers how to teach beginners.
Shakti was Yogi Bhajan's first student in the United States. They met in December of 1968 when he first came to Los Angeles. Yogi Bhajan told her that she had been a student long enough; that she should be a teacher, and that he had come to "train teachers, not to gather disciples."
She drove him to the various classes he taught, took notes (which later were printed as "Sadhana Guidelines") and within two months she was teaching Kundalini Yoga at YMCA's. When he began his lecture tours, Shakti took over his classes in Los Angeles and at Claremont College in Pomona. She served as his Executive Secretary and that of 3HO for over 30 years. She was ordained as a Minister of Sikh Dharma in 1974.
Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1929 (two months before Yogi Bhajan), Shakti moved to Los Angeles with her mother and brother in 1943, graduated as Valedictorian from Hollywood High in 1947, attended UCLA, and married at 18. She gave birth to a son at 20; was divorced at 22.
She started investigating spiritual paths, reading Edgar Cayce, Ouspensky, Meher Baba -- and studying with various teachers (Dr Judith Tyberg - Sanskrit; Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan - Sufi meditation), attending lectures at the Vedanta society in Hollywood, and Self Realization Fellowship in Pacific Palisades.
In her late '30's Shakti spent 40 days in India (December1966/January 1967) visiting different ashrams (Swami Chinmayanada in Bombay; Sri Satya Sai Baba in Bangalore; Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry.)
Shakti produced the 3HO Newsletter, "The Science of Keeping Up" for over 30 years, and now is a contributing editor for "Aquarian Times" magazine. She edits the IKYTA (International Kundalini Yoga Teachers Association) newsletter "Kundalini Rising" as well as the Sikh Dharma publication, "Prosperity Paths." She created the "Toolkit for Teaching Beginners Kundalini Yoga" that is used in teacher training courses. |
