Golden Temple Eugene 2010

Business dispute divides Sikhs | A group of believers is suing others, including the Golden Temple CEO, over control of the local company
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/we...

Local Sikhs eager to move past lawsuit
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/we...

Cereal maker may sell | Eugene-based Golden Temple says it will keep its tea business, but a lawsuit could delay any sale
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/we...

Trademark dispute adds to company’s legal issues
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/we...

Possible Golden Temple sale worries local leaders
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/we...

Feel Good, Be Good, Do Good

Do really good with a huge payday?

Who will be feeling good?

6 years after the Yogi's departure, the unraveling near completion.

So was it just a cult of personality all along?

http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/we...

No changes in store for suppliers or location? Said the spider to the fly.

http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/we...

It's easy to say its all good when you have a few million reasons for saying so.

http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/we...

“These defendants have been given sort of a thankless job by Yogi Bhajan, which they’re doing out of loyalty to him, and they’re not taking property or enriching themselves,” he said.

“Not only have the defendants not done anything wrong, but they’ve taken this terrible financial position."

"They allege that Unto Infinity gave Khalsa a big raise at the same time they fired more than 25 people at the Sikh community’s nonprofit groups, citing the need to cut costs.

In an earlier complaint filed and dismissed last year, Sikh Dharma International alleged that Khalsa’s compensation (as reported to the IRS) jumped from about $125,000 in 2002, to $205,000 in 2005, to $470,000 in 2007, to $850,000-plus in 2008."

Sounds like the salary was moving rapidly "Unto Infinity"

Thankless? Terrible financial position?

But it's all really about
Feel Good
Be Good
Do Good

Yea right

Judge deals lawsuit setback | People suing Golden Temple’s leaders don’t have standing jointly as Sikh Dharma International

By Sherri Buri McDonald

The Register-Guard

Appeared in print: Saturday, Mar 13, 2010

http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/we...

"In addition to the lawsuit filed in Multnomah County, another lawsuit involving Golden Temple has been filed in New Mexico, by Bibiji Inderjit, the widow of Yogi Bhajan.

The widow was entitled to 50 percent of her husband’s estate after his death, said her attorney, Surjit Soni.

While Yogi Bhajan was alive, he made many gifts and discretionary expenditures without his wife’s knowledge and consent, Soni said. She has asked for an accounting of those gifts, which could result in a determination that she is entitled to more of the remaining estate, Soni said."

An interesting forum

http://www.gurmukhyoga.com/forum/index.php

After reading a prospectus prepared by Golden Temple and asking more questions of the company’s chief financial officer, Karam Singh Khalsa, Bird thought he was paying $1.3 million for a profitable business that could be run with 11 employees, according to the lawsuit. He thought he was buying the raw materials, formulas and labels to make and label Soothing Touch products, and enough inventory to meet customer demand while he moved the business from Oregon to New Mexico, the lawsuit said.

Instead, the lawsuit alleged, Bird had contracted to pay $1.3 million for a business that was worth — at best —$233,500.

The $1.3 million price was arrived at by applying a 4.67 multiplier to Soothing Touch’s 2006 net profits, the lawsuit said. The prospectus indicated that Soothing Touch’s net profits were $278,327 in ’06, up from $59,207 in ’05, the lawsuit said. Bird, however, believes Golden Temple knowingly misrepresented Soothing Touch’s ’06 profits, and an accurate figure would be $50,000, according to the suit.

Bird said he discovered, after talking with former Golden Temple employees hired by Soothing Touch, that at least 30 to 45 employees were required to run the business, compared with Karam Khalsa’s representations that only 11 employees were needed.

http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/we...

"Golden Temple deal near | A Michigan company reportedly has agreed to buy the Eugene cereal manufacturer despite legal disputes"

http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/we...

QUICK - Some people might need to leave town soon.

Interesting. Yesterday I posted a link to an article that appeared in the Eugene area newspaper, The Register Guard, with a comment that acknowledged the Guard for FINALLY covering some of the other side of the story instead the norm of only repeating the story as told by GT management. I also posted 2 links to the forums hosted by two of the main people in the story.

AND MY POST WAS DELETED!!!!!!

This is the title of the article -
“Yogi’s legacy in question | Former followers say he abused his position for power, money and sex”

This is the link to the article -

http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/we...

Although I’m having trouble finding the link for Kamalla Rose Kaur that I had posted yesterday, I have found this one that I think will get people to the intended area -

http://kamallarosekaur.wordpress.com/2008/03/...

And here is the link to the forum for the other person mentioned in the article –

http://gurmukhyoga.com/forum/index.php...

I intended this TOPIX thread to be a place for quick reference to the various articles that have appeared recently in the Eugene media.

THAT DOESN'T WORK SO WELL WHEN THE TOPIX CENSORS REMOVE THE POSTS!

There is nothing inflammatory about posting links to news sources. SO LEAVE THIS POST ALONE!

I think it is worth thinking for a moment about how a post gets deleted from TOPIX. It means that someone followed the "Report Abuse" link. It doesn't take to much to figure out who would be interested in seeing the news of the goings on within Yogi Bhajan's group as deserving of removal. It would be the group itself. I wonder if they were searching all over the internet yesterday to see how much "damage control" they could do now that the truths about the Yogi are coming out.
This shows just how much that group wants to hide the facts. And this from a group that says they are seekers of truth. HA! FRAUDS!

Response to:

“Yogi’s Legacy in Question”
“Rift in 3HO Sikh community threatens business empire”

I met Yogi Bhajan around 1978 in Eugene while attending the Uof O and was instantly attracted to Yogi Ji’s outwardly personable and friendly nature. Yes, he made us all laugh; Yogi Ji was like some famous circus clown. He told us things we’d like to believe and at that young age we believed all of his nonsense which you might as well have taken from the X-files. I was not surprised when I saw this article about Yogi Bhajan and how his 3HO Sikhs are fighting amongst themselves. After thirty plus years, I am still a practicing Sikh but since meeting real Sikhs on a recent trip to India I am not part of Yogi’s 3HO.While in India I discovered a rare and out of print book,“Sikhism and Tantric Yoga” which I encourage anybody who wants to know the truth about Yogi Bhajan to read. Written by a well respected Sikh Scholar and historian, this book has been a real eye opener for me in revealing the truth about Yogi Bhajan’s sacrilegious practices in the name of Sikhism. 33 years ago Dr. Trilochan Singh said,“"Yogi Bhajan is using the sacred Sikh mantras and the sacred name of Guru Ram Das as a mantle for his Tantric Sex Yoga which will inevitably lead to mental and physical debauchery of those who take his brand of Sikhism contaminated by crazy sex-energizing asanas seriously."

Guru Sant Singh Khalsa

Just found this discussion and thought Golden Temple's many workers, family, friends and other
interested readers might appreciate the ongoing coverage of the meltdown in Yogi Bhajan's world.This article is rattling cages at his headquarters in New Mexico. Don't miss the follow-up comments from his supporters AS WELL as those in the know!
http://www.sfreporter.com/santafe/article-550...

Good to have an update and a look at this cult from the vantage point of another state.
Makes you wonder how much strain all this puts on the ones who are still in the full costume in Eugene, mostly nice folks, what a pity.
Hope the young ones get out now that the yogi is dead.
The old yogi was always after the rich yoga students when he started out. Why does UO still let this yoga in as a class on campus?

Thanks for the SFR article.
I started this thread to make an easy reference page to the Register Guard (Eugene)articles. I'm happy to see it expand to other sources.

Hits just keep on coming:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-hassan/t...

More lawsuits. This time from the state of Oregon and sealed.
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/we...
AG files against Golden Temple
By Sherri Buri McDonald
The Register-Guard
Appeared in print: Thursday, Oct 14, 2010
State Attorney General John Kroger has sued Unto Infinity, the group that controls Golden Temple, a natural foods company in Eugene.
The lawsuit also named as defendants the Siri Singh Sahib Corp., an Oregon nonprofit religious corporation, as well as numerous Golden Temple managers, including CEO Kartar Khalsa.
The attorney general filed the lawsuit in Multnomah County Circuit Court on Oct. 7, but little else is known about it.
The lawsuit was filed “under seal” for 30 days, meaning that the public cannot access it and the parties are forbidden to share details about it until Nov. 7, at the earliest. That’s highly unusual and alarming, according to media lawyers and public records experts.
“It’s really unusual for anyone to file a civil lawsuit and have everything about the lawsuit be sealed,” said Kelly McBride, senior faculty for ethics reporting and writing at the Poynter Institute, a nonprofit journalism institute based in St. Petersburg, Fla....

More are named.
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/we...
Sikhs ask pairing of lawsuits
Ministers want their complaint against Golden Temple managers combined with a state legal action
By Sherri Buri McDonald
The Register-Guard
Appeared in print: Wednesday, Nov 3, 2010
Ministers of the Sikh community founded by Yogi Bhajan who have sued managers of Golden Temple and other Sikh businesses filed a motion Tuesday asking that their lawsuit be paired with one filed last month by Oregon Attorney General John Kroger.
Kroger’s lawsuit was sealed so its contents have not been made public.
The “motion to consolidate” was filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court, where both lawsuits had been filed.
Consolidating the cases “would be more efficient for everyone involved because the factual and legal issues are similar,” said attorney John McGrory, who is representing the group of Sikh ministers.
Attorney Gary Roberts represents the members of “Unto Infinity,” the four-member board charged with overseeing the community’s businesses after Yogi Bhajan died. They are Kartar Singh Khalsa, Golden Temple CEO, Sopurkh Kaur Khalsa, Peraim Kaur Khalsa and Siri Karm Kaur Khalsa.
The four are defendants in both the ministers’ lawsuit and the attorney general’s lawsuit.
When asked about the motion to consolidate, Roberts said his clients aren’t going “to worry about it too much” as long as two concerns are addressed.
They don’t want the motion to delay the trial, which is set for April. And the attorney general’s complaint is a bit broader than McGrory’s complaint, so there needs to be reasonable protection so McGrory’s clients won’t get access to documents they have no legal right to, Roberts said.
“We feel pretty strongly that the community would be better off having the trial as soon as possible and get it resolved, so the community can start being put back together again, so it can feel there’s been a full airing of the facts,” he said.
The attorney general’s office filed its lawsuit on Oct. 7 “under seal,” meaning the public cannot access it and the parties are forbidden to share details about it until at least Nov. 7, barring further action from the court.
McGrory cited a summary of the lawsuit by Courthouse News, a national news service, that was briefly made public as grounds that the two lawsuits should be consolidated.
“Both actions arise out of the wrongful taking of assets belonging to the Sikh Dharma religious community and to the breach of fiduciary duties by the defendants, named in both actions, following the death in 2004 of the Siri Singh Sahib, the leader of the Sikh Dharma community in the United States,” the motion said. Siri Singh Sahib is another name for Yogi Bhajan.
Consolidating the two suits also would “conserve judicial resources and avoid inconsistent results,” the motion said.
The defendants named in both cases include the four members of Unto Infinity, and the six members of Golden Temple Management: Kartar Singh Khalsa, CEO; Karam Singh Khalsa, CFO; Ajeet Singh Khalsa, operations director; Guru Hari Singh Khalsa, R&D director; Robert Ziehl, marketing manager; and Gurudhan Singh Khalsa, sales manager based in California.

What a mess.
Many of us know these people and have worked for them.
Now a non-Yogi Bhajan cult member is a listed as a defendant.

Golden Idol wrote:

What a mess.
Many of us know these people and have worked for them.
Now a non-Yogi Bhajan cult member is a listed as a defendant.

Indeed. It is all so sad.