Yogi Bhajan is the founder of the Sikh religion Yogi Bhajan was born on August 2, 1926, in Amritsar, India. He is the son of Sardar Kahan Singh and Mata Sundri Kaur, who were farmers raising four sons and two daughters.
Yogi Bhajan went to school in Punjab and received his high school education in Punjab and with a scholarship he attended Arya College, Amritsar for eight years. In 1946 at the age of 21, Yogi Bhajan came to America to pursue higher education. There he completed his undergraduate studies at Columbia University in New York
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During that time he received a certificate in philosophy and psychology from the university and became a student at New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA). It was while attending AADA that Yogi Bhajan met with Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi who inspired him to continue his training with her guru Shri Yogiji Maharaj. In 1953, Yogi Bhajan married Sahib Kaur.
Sahib Kaur was born on December 8, 1922 in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.
In 1955 Yogi Bhajan became a disciple of the seventh guru of the Sikhs -Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji Maharaj: Yogiji Maharaj made him a trustee and gave him full authority over the affairs of the organization and its properties.
In 1957 Yogiji Maharaj named Yogi Bhajan as "Sikh Missionary for World Peace" and put him in charge of spreading the message of peace throughout the world through Yoga during war times. In 1960 Yogiji Maharaj gave him complete authority over all Sikh organizations through which he would serve as an advisor to all Sikhs around the world from his new headquarters in Espanola NM. In 1963 Yogiji Maharaj named him "Sikh National Secretary" and asked him to become a citizen of the United States.
In 1964 he was made a citizen by obtaining a green card from Naturalization Services Division of Immigration and Naturalization Service in Washington DC. In 1968 while attending a conference in Philadelphia Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji Maharaj blessed him with his own name -Yogi Bhajan- so that he would be remembered by all Sikhs even after his passing away. In 1969 Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji Maharaj came to Albuquerque NM where from then on Yogiji Maharaj began to reside
