Cult of Spirituality: Inside the sordid scandals that rocked the world of Kundalini yoga
Los Angeles, California: The HBO Original four-part documentary series 'Breath of Fire', directed by Hayley Pappas and Smiley Stevens, debuts Wednesday, October 23 at 9pm ET/PT on HBO and will be available to stream on Max.
In 2013, Katie Griggs, a millennial YouTube astrologer, rose to fame as the face of Kundalini yoga, opening the Ra Ma Institute in Los Angeles, donning a white turban, and reinventing herself as Guru Jagat.
'Breath of Fire' explores Guru Jagat’s evolution while chronicling the shocking secret history of Kundalini through its origins in the 1960s to its expansion in the US and its presence in wellness circles today.
Based on the 'Vanity Fair' story by Hayley Phelan, 'The Second Coming of Guru Jagat', 'Breath of Fire' illuminates the culture of modern spirituality revealing complicated themes of cultural appropriation and the dangers of self-proclaimed gurus.
Claiming to be the anointed successor of the late Yogi Bhajan, a Punjabi Sikh who created and popularized a version of Kundalini in America in 1969, Guru Jagat leveraged social media and her charismatic online presence to capitalize upon Kundalini’s multi-million-dollar spiritual empire. Positioning herself as the embodiment of divine femininity and a sanctified seeker, she attracted a growing base of followers — including many celebrities and loyal, fee-paying devotees — with promises of prosperity, physical health, and spiritual fulfillment.
In the 1970s, at the peak of Yogi Bhajan's influence, his followers praised his teachings as a message of enlightenment and equality, offering solace during a time of social and political turmoil. However, decades later, investigations uncovered a systemic culture of abuse and misogyny perpetrated by the organization's leader and some members of the inner circle. Despite these revelations, Guru Jagat and some members of the Kundalini community staunchly and publicly defended Yogi Bhajan's legacy.
Told through conversations with family, students, former employees, and followers, the series weaves together the stories of two of Kundalini’s most prominent figures – Yogi Bhajan and Guru Jagat. Including a wealth of footage of Yogi Bhajan, clips of Guru Jagat’s online preaching at the Ra Ma Institute, and revealing audio interviews with Griggs herself, the film reveals the darker facets of wellness industry figureheads driven by a desire for power and profit.
How did Yogi Bhajan die?
Harbhajan Singh -- aka Yogi Bhajan -- died of complications of heart failure at his home in Española, New Mexico, on October 6, 2004, aged 75. In fact, in a move that would surely come back to bite them, New Mexico honored him by renaming State Highway 106 as the Yogi Bhajan Memorial Highway. The New Mexico Government also flew its flags at half-mast for two days in honour of Yogi Bhajan after his death, and declared Oct 23 'Yogi Bhajan Memorial Day'. Needless to say this was before the bombshell 2019 allegations that Yogi Bhajan had raped and molested a number of his female followers. In fact a probe carried out by the Siri Singh Sahib Corporation found that it was "more likely than not" that Yogi Bhajan raped three women and carried out many other heinous crimes.
How did Katie Griggs aka Guru Jagat die?
Griggs died on August 1, 2021, at the age of 41. She died of a cardiac arrest caused by a pulmonary embolism following surgery on her left ankle. That same year two former employees of Griggs accused her of running Ra Ma Institute as a cult, and calling a Black Lives Matter supporter a "cockroach".
