It always seemed to me that Jim Baker was trying to outdo or impress Yogi Bhajan either with the amount of followers that Jim Baker had acquired, or with the music that was coming out of The Source Family. You can hear Father Yod speaking on the Breath track Woman Beyond The Sun that I have posted saying, "Send this tape of this morning's class to Yogi Bhajan. I love to blow that old yogi out." To me, this sounded like a man trying to impress or outdo another. Jim Baker adopted and integrated many of the kundalini yoga exercises that he learned while with Yogi Bhajan, as part of his 'teachings' in The Source Family, and so Yogi Bhajan was held in high esteem for being Jim Baker's 'spiritual teacher' and was to be shown the same respect and reverence as Jim Baker wanted to be shown.
It is my belief that in reading and learning about Yogi Bhajan, it will give people a better understanding of Jim Baker, because many of his actions and behaviors mirrored that of the Yogi. But, where it turns out Yogi Bhajan secretly had a bevy of women referred to as 'secretaries' that he was sexually involved; Jim Baker trumped that by brazenly and openly having 'spiritual wives' in The Source Family. Jim Baker believed that he had surpassed the Yogi by openly having sex with multiple women within his group; as opposed to the clandestine trysts carried out by Yogi Bhajan and I distinctly recall Jim Baker stating that. They both seemed to share the desire for ostentatious displays of having wealth and affluence, although Jim Baker could only afford to acquire one used Rolls Royce, with the assistance of an older man who joined The Source Family.
Although the 2012 film about The Source Family gives the impression that Jim Baker aka Father Yod drove around in a Rolls Royce for the entire duration of The Source Family, that was certainly not the case; but was only something that served more as a prop, to give the appearance of The Source Family having wealth. The white Rolls Royce that has been featured in several of the publicity shots surrounding the promotion of Father Yod and The Source Family was only used for a brief period of time in Los Angeles when the entire group was living at The Father House, in order to help promote The Source Family in the hopes of attracting people with money into joining, because funds needed to support 100+ people was putting a strain on the income generated by The Source Restaurant.
So, Jim Baker set about trying to attract and bring in more lucrative prospects by 'putting on a show' and making an appearance around Hollywood. But, it was all smoke and mirrors---an illusion, which is why I encourage anyone interested in how Jim Baker became a 'spiritual father' to learn more about Yogi Bhajan; the man who was considered the grandfather of The Source Family. I have included a few of the statements written by a woman who remained with Bhajan for years where I found many of the same behaviors playing out in The Source Family. Many of the same kinds of behaviors found in Yogi Bhajan's cult played out in The Source Family, especially in both men's behavior and treatment of women; similarities that cannot be ignored and give a much better understanding of Jim Baker and the acquisition of his own group of 'wives', or 'secretaries' as they were called in Bhajan's cult.
"Yogi Bhajan may not have been a great spiritual teacher, but there is no doubt that he was a master at acting like a great spiritual teacher."
"In just the same way, a cult leader like Yogi Bhajan cannot pull off his scam unless he captures the devotion and adoration of the women around him. Fundamentally, therefore, all black magicians are also gigolos."
"It was Yogi Bhajan's goal to make the women of his cult independent of all men except himself."
"As long as they played their roles devotedly, Yogi Bhajan's women were given a great deal of status, political power within the organization, financial security and lots of cool jewelry."
https://www.culteducation.com/group/795-3ho/1146-in-the-magical-soups.html
The photo above shows 'the student' Jim Baker emulating/looking exactly like his spiritual 'father', Yogi Bhajan. This must have been about 1969, before Jim Baker left Yogi Bhajan to create/form his own 'aquarian' tribe of devoted followers calling it the Brotherhood of The Source.
This photo was taken in the early days of The Brotherhood of the Source which was probably the only time that I can recall where Yogi Bhajan made an appearance. This was outside in the dirt parking lot of The Source Restaurant, during an open 'family' concert. Also, I just happened to be sitting in the row behind, that day.I recently found this article https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/yogi-bhajan/.
I found a video titled Empire of Yoga that is part of Vice Tv's True Believers series, and in that video was a shot of Yogi Bhajan teaching a class inside The Source Restaurant where you can see Jim Baker sitting in the background and Robin Baker sitting up front, as well as Tim Garon next to the woman in the pink top.
In the photo above, Tim Garon was sitting to the right (facing the photo) of the woman in the pink, flowered top. Tim's first cousin, Miriam Garon was Shakti Parwha Kaur Khalsa, the “Mother of 3HO” and was Yogi Bhajan’s first student in the United States. Here are a couple of links about Miriam.
This one includes a video interview with her.
