Reply #3: It's a complex story, actually

[tinrobot]

I'm on the outskirts of that community and have heard both sides of the story.

Yogi Bhajan was a spiritual leader, some call him a cult leader. There is some controversy that surrounded him, including sexual harassment suits. Regardless, he converted a lot of people to his personal brand of Sikhism and created a compound/headquarters in New Mexico. He helped a lot of people start businesses, including the people in Oregon. In return, they put his picture on boxes of Yogi Tea and paid royalties to his foundation.

When Yogi Bhajan died in 2004, there was a vacuum of power in the community, and it fractured to some degree. This included friction between the people in Oregon and those in New Mexico. The Yogi Tea people in Oregon broke with the community, took Yogi Bhajan's picture off the box, and stopped sending money to New Mexico. This resulted in the lawsuits and PR campaigns.

The money sent to New Mexico technically went to charity, but those charities are basically comprised of Yogi Bhajan's followers who want to continue their life of doing yoga, meditating, and writing books about how great Yogi Bhajan was. I must admit, his brand of yoga is pretty darn good.

Not sure who is right or wrong here. There's a lot of personal grudges that are getting played out like a messy divorce. Rather sad, actually.