The earliest known written mention of Kundalini Yoga is in the Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad, which is the eighty-sixth among the 108 Muktika Upanishads, associated with the Krishna Yajurveda, originating from India. The origin of this particular writing is difficult to substantiate but it is believed that all Upanishads have been passed down through oral tradition. Some have estimated that the composition of the Yajurveda texts date as far back as between 1,400 and 1,000 BC.
In 1969 Kundalini Yoga was formally introduced to mainstream American culture by Yogi Bhajan, a Kundalini Yoga Master from India. Before this time the teachings had only been passed on from teacher to student throughout India and Tibet and the ‘technology’ developed by the yogis, saints and sages was still relatively misunderstood. Yogi Bhajan revealed this technology to the West as a comprehensive spiritual system for personal growth. Observing the many Westerners arriving in India seeking a spiritual experience, Yogi Bhajan initially set about teaching Kundalini Yoga as an alternative and transformational technology for self-development, and to counter the drug abuse of the 60's.
This was the first time Kundalini Yoga was openly taught by a recognized Indian Master teacher in a Western format outside of India. Throughout his 35 years teaching until his death in 2004, Yogi Bhajan built up a legacy of information and teachings around the subject of Kundalini yoga, including the publications of over 100 related books on the applications of the yogic technology in a multitude of different fields of spirituality – covering yoga, meditation, drug rehabilitation, women's and men's yoga, psychology, body-work, healing, re-birthing, teaching, business, relationships, and marriage.
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