The Guru Next Door

The infamous yoga cult of Guru Jagat.

In 2013, a turban-wearing white woman from Colorado founded the ‘RA MA Institute of Applied Yogic Science and Technology’ in Los Angeles, California. 

In just a few short years, she would reach the height of her success, attracting loyal A-List clientele to her Kundalini yoga classes, including Alicia Keys, Russel Brand, Kate Hudson, Laura Dern, and Demi Moore. 

She founded a globally reputable yoga brand, running Kundalini yoga classes out of her studios in LA, New York, and Mallorca. She also hosted global retreats, taught “spiritual business” classes, and sold her line of “high-vibrational” white linen dresses.

Her name, Guru Jagat, would become synonymous with Kundalini in the Western world. She gained vast social traction; she was interviewed by Harper’s Bizarre, featured in local news, and even spoke as a guest at Harvard’s Divinity School. However, it wouldn’t take long for her golden reputation to tarnish. 

In August of 2021, the guru suffered a flight-induced pulmonary embolism after a routine ankle surgery, suddenly ending her life at 41. After her death, her reputation entered a tailspin, with many ex-employees and business partners speaking out about their less-than-pleasant experience with the guru.

Born to a single mother as Katie Griggs, Jagat would be no stranger to the eclectic New Age teachings we see splattered online today. Growing up traveling around various New Age communities, she would absorb much of this woo-wisdom to regurgitate alongside her Kundalini teachings of the future.

Her love for Kundalini yoga ignited in her very first class. Thirty seconds into the practice, she experienced a ‘Kundalini Awakening’, a powerful and clarifying spiritual experience that usually takes devotees years of training to achieve. 

She would seek more Kundalini wisdom, regularly attending retreats hosted by the creator of Kundalini yoga, Yogi Bhajan, at his Guru Ram Das Puri ashram in New Mexico.

After two short summers spent studying at the ashram, she would claim to have spent precious one-on-one time with Yogi Bhajan. At this time he gave Katie her spiritual name, which means “Bringer of Light to the Universe.” Her story goes that he had instructed her to make the move to Los Angeles to finish her Kundalini teacher training and “share the gifts of Kundalini yoga with the world.”

Bhajan, who introduced the United States to Kundalini yoga in the late 1960’s, claimed that it was a secret “ancient technology” previously reserved for the Indian elite. Miraculously, he had received this oral tradition from a holy man living in a cave. Bhajan spoke of how he believed his life purpose to be the Sikh leader of the Western world, despite not having their official support.

It is more likely that - instead of meeting a holy man in a cave - Bhajan saw a lucrative business opportunity teaching a “miracle yoga practice” to young Americans that were flocking by the thousands to India to seek yogic wisdom. He would move to the US, preaching that practicing Kundalini yoga regularly could awaken the devotee to their life’s purpose, heal every ailment, and save humanity. 

He did not believe in Western medicine, and neither did he believe in victims of sexual abuse, for in his philosophy every victim of abuse had done something to call that act upon them. In his teachings, there is “no such thing as a victim.” Years after his death in 2004, exactly 36 allegations of sexual, psychological, and physical abuse would surface from his ex-devotees, with a court ruling that the claims were “almost certainly true.”

After his death, Guru Jagat began to assume the role of the Kundalini leader of the Western world. In 2013, she opened her first RA MA studio in Venice Beach, California. Her teachers allegations of sexual abuse would not shake her loyalty, posting to her Instagram in response to the global exposè:

“This tale is no truer than any other tale - the truth as always lies in the eyes of the beholder.”

Like her teacher, Jagat would share a philosophy that would help her get what she wanted in life. Her teachings of “abundance” and “the art of investing in yourself” would help her sell her pre-recorded business classes for $699USD. Her teaching that you could miraculously change the energetic make-up of your food - regardless of its quality - would help her consume 5 deliveries of take-out in one day with no guilt. Her teaching that lusting after designer brands and a lavish lifestyle would connect you to your ‘higher-self’ would help explain her distasteful habit of “spending money like water.”

Worst of all, some of her teachings would set her employees up to be complacent in their own abuse. In an introductory training for her employees, Jagat taught that she was a “Saturn teacher”, meaning that it was her job to deliver “tough karmic lessons.” This became the spiritual explanation for Jagat’s unruly temper, which she would regularly unleash on her employees for innocently making typos in emails or accidentally putting the wrong sauce in her sandwich.

“It wasn’t verbal abuse, it was an “energetic adjustment” to be grateful for.”

Charlotte, ex-marketing manager at RA MA Institute.

Many ex-employees of the guru accused her of creating a “cult-like” work environment. Employees were told what to eat and when to sleep, and worked on-call around the clock, often reporting 60-80 hour work weeks for a job that pays below minimum wage.

When morale was low, Jagat would use manipulative tactics to keep her employees loyal.

Over the Covid-19 pandemic, the guru was unable to pay her employees. She requested that they keep working for her while being paid by a Government unemployment benefit.

When some employees started questioning Jagat’s authority, the guru organised a therapist (not a real therapist but a “family constellation therapist”) who would “energetically interpret the nervous system” of each employee…obviously.

One-by-one the “therapist” would share with the group what trauma each employee needed to heal in order to serve Guru Jagat better and work harder.

During an interview with the podcast ‘Cults to Consciousness’, ex-marketing manager for RA MA Institute, Charlotte, reflects on one of the “therapists” outlandish comments:

 “You all need to stop talking about Guru Jagat, it’s draining her energy. She should get an Oscar for acting like a human being! She is not of this planet! When she isn’t in a business meeting, she’s talking to Saturn and Mars! Guru Jagat has a huge mission! She is changing the frequency of this planet. She has said yes to her mission, are you going to say yes to yours?!” 

Charlotte recalls everyone on the call shouting “yes!”, as if this wasn’t a totally bizarre and blatant attempt at gaslighting.

She quit shortly after this meeting by email, and after Jagat’s death began speaking out about the abuse she experienced in the years she worked for her.

She recalls needing to leave the room when Jagat screamed in the face of another employee “don’t be angry with me just because your mother used to f**k right in front of you!”

Charlotte would continue to fear for her safety after leaving the cult, as the guru had shared many stories of people who had left the organisation and had terrible things happen to them, like their house burning down or getting hit by a bus.

It wasn’t just verbal abuse and emotional manipulation that Jagat became infamous for after her death, she was also notoriously awful at managing her money.

Many employees reported their pay regularly bouncing, and that the LA studio was consistently behind on rent.

When Guru Jagat sought to open her Boulder studio, she gathered $200,000 from investors, promising a portion of the studios profits in return. Instead of making good on her promise, Jagat used the money to pay off debt from her LA studio and funneled all profits from the Boulder studio into her personal accounts. The studio would close a few months after opening with no financial returns.

When opening her Mallorca studio, Jagat would form a business partnership with a starry-eyed follower, Phillipa Hughes, who had always dreamed of opening her own yoga studio. Phillipa invested $20,000 of rent and unpaid time into preparing for the opening of the studio, living in the 1-bedroom apartment above the studio with her 3-year-old son.

When Jagat came to visit for the opening, she requested that she get the only bed, while Phillipa and her son share the couch. When Phillipa refused, she was surrounded by 7 of Jagat’s employees shouting “She is your teacher! How dare you not serve!”

Furthermore, on the opening day Jagat made no mention of Phillipa, instead dedicating the day to Harijiwan, a Kundalini master who had travelled to attend the event. A few days later, Phillipa would receive a bill in the mail for $1900USD to pay for his attendance.

Shocked by this experience, she decided to distance herself from RA MA and take on the debt, recalling her experience as an elaborate scam.

In the final years before her death, Guru Jagat married a conspiracy theorist and former student, 16 years her junior. Her teachings would take a strange turn after this partnership, regularly spouting anti-semitic comments and calling ‘Black Lives Matter’ protesters “roaches” in an employee group chat.

She began using her podcasting platform to host other conspiracy theorists, regularly speaking about how the world was run by a cabal of reptilian aliens, and sharing on her social media that she was “being attacked by robots.”

Upon her death, her conspiracy cohort would make wild guesses at what had ‘really’ happened to the guru, wondering if she had been purposely annihilated by the Government for “speaking the truth”, or if she had faked her own death to avoid media controversy.

With its silky white walls and beaming employees, RA MA Institute is still running to this day with studios in LA, New York, and Mallorca, continuing to champion Guru Jagat as their teacher and leader. RA MA regularly posts old clips of the guru and her “wisdom” on their social media, while keeping Guru Jagat’s personal Instagram alive and well.

Let the lesson of this story be this: be discerning of your idols, and if the white lady in a turban gets racist…get out!

‘Cults to Consciousness’ podcast, with ex-employee Charlotte:

YouTube documentary by ‘Not The Good Girl’:

And referred articles in no particular order…

Vanity Fair: The Second Coming of Guru Jagat

Vice: Inside the dubious world of RA MA and its 'girl boss' Guru Jagat

Steffie Nelson: The Rise of Guru Jagat, Kundalini Yoga's New Star