page_title: 3HO
section_title: Governance and control
hierarchical_section_title: 3HO / Governance and control
caption_attribution_description: English: Yogi Bhajan and some early students chanting together at the 3HO Summer Solstice gathering of 1970.
context_page_description: 3HO, also known as Sikh Dharma of the Western Hemisphere or Sikh Dharma International, is an American organization that started in about 1970. It was founded in the West by Harbhajan Singh Khalsa, also called "Yogi Bhajan". Its followers are primarily Americans. Its adherents are popularly referred to as the Sikh Dharma Brotherhood. While referred to as the 3HO movement, "3HO" is strictly speaking the name only of the movement's educational branch.
context_section_description: Yogi Bhajan formed Sikh Dharma International as a California nonprofit religious corporation “organized to advance the religion of Sikh Dharma and as an association of religious organizations teaching principles of Sikh Dharma, including by ordination of ministers of divinity and operation of places of worship.” During Yogi Bhajan's lifetime, Sikh Dharma International, along with related legal entities Siri Singh Sahib Corporation and Unto Infinity LLC, were held and controlled by Siri Singh Sahib of Sikh Dharma, a California "corporation sole" of which Yogi Bhajan was the only shareholder. Following the Yogi's death in 2004, a dispute ensued over the governance of those entities and assets. Yogi Bhajan's wife, Bibiji Inderjit Kaur Puri, alleged that she had been appointed to the board of Unto Infinity, and that she and their three children were appointed to the Siri Singh Sahib of Sikh Dharma board of directors (and thus in a position to exert significant control over all of the Sikh Dharma legal entities); but that following Yogi Bhajan's death the other board members of those entities improperly prevented them from taking part in governance. In January 2017, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals determined that the lawsuit was not on its face an ecclesiastical dispute. However, in April 2018, Chief Judge Michael Mosman of the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon dismissed the case. Judge Mosman concluded that there was significant evidence that the 3HO corporate entities were religious in character and thus that the dispute could not be adjudicated in civil court.
  At present, Sikh Dharma International is governed by the Khalsa Council appointed by the Siri Singh Sahib, Yogi Bhajan. The Council is composed of Golden Temple CEO Kartar Singh Khalsa; his domestic partner, Peraim Kaur Khalsa, who was also a member of Yogi Bhajan's personal staff; Sikh Dharma's longtime comptroller, Sopurkh Kaur Khalsa; and the organization's strategic and legal planner, Siri Karm Kaur Khalsa, a New Mexico resident. The Khalsa Council does not recognize Yogi Bhajan's family as members of the organization or its governing group. The Khalsa Council appoints a Board of Directors for Sikh Dharma International. As of January 2017 the current Board of Directors comprises Siri Sikdar Sahiba, Sardarni Guru Amrit Kaur Khalsa, MA; Bhai Sahiba, Bibiji Inderjit Kaur Khalsa, PhD; MSS Guru Raj Kaur Khalsa; SS Guru Darbar Singh Khalsa; Sada Sat Simran Singh Khalsa; SS SatSundri Kaur Khalsa; SS Siri Karm Singh Khalsa; and Board chairman MSS Kirtan-Singh Khalsa. SS SatSundri Kaur Khalsa also provides oversight of the associated Sikh businesses of Yogi Tea and Akal Security.
caption: 3HO summer solstice 1970
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