Yogi Bhajan's 1969 Christmas Talk

Yogi Bhajan gives this historic talk twelve months after his first arrival in the US. The country was polarized and bitterly divided. In the previous two months, there had been an unprecedented outpouring of violent and nonviolent demonstrations against the war in Vietnam and the government in Washington.

Under these highly charged circumstances, Yogi Bhajan lays out the defining principles of the 3HO Foundation. Citing the sacrifices of Jesus, Krishna and Rama, Yogiji calls on his students to purify themselves and become teachers and carry the responsibility of the Aquarian Age all around the world.

The talk is full of cautions and practical guidance. Yogi Bhajan advises against worshipping holy men when it serves better to live as one. He tells his students not to lose themselves in the imaginations of authors, but to live practically and to the truth. Yogiji cautions against wasting this precious human life, when it is meant to be lived in higher consciousness. He warns his students not to abuse occult powers, but instead to engage the power of God in service and humility. Yogi Bhajan also chides his young students not to hassle and protest, but to live as calm, quiet, peaceful, loving and magnetic people. And finally in this Christmas talk, he exhorts them to give up their fooling around, and instead to live as masters of the self and gods on this Earth.

As in the April 1969 lecture, Yogiji's English is a little choppy at times, but with teachers teaching today in Hungary and Thailand, Iceland and Ecuador, often in their second or third language, we should take heart. The time has come, and the message does get through.

Guru Fatha Singh Khalsa, Toronto