A Cautionary Tale

After spending six years of my life in the cult that was The Source Family from 1970 until 1976, I feel that qualifies me to speak out against the continued proliferation and promotion of either Jim Baker as being some kind of messiah, or life in The Source Family as being a 'new age' lotusland.  It is my firsthand experiences of being in The Source Family that have influenced and shaped the harsh opinions and views that I now hold about the man, Jim Baker who lead a group of people down a slippery slope of isolation and separation from the rest of society by adopting and following his belief system; a belief system that convinced his followers they were chosen and saviors and like other cult leaders like Jim Jones and The People's Temple wanted to remove and isolate his flock to a remote area preferably outside the US which is also what Jim Baker was intent on doing.  Jim Baker aka Father Yod sent his 'sons' to Costa Rica and other places to look for land starting in the very early days of 'the family' to look for a paradise on earth where the entire Source Family could relocate in order to create his idea of utopia.  Moving the entire group to Hawaii was the closest that Jim Baker came to fulfilling that desire or utopian dream of his, but which only resulted in near starvation conditions, serious outbreaks of staph and a hostile reception by locals.  

There are many reasons why I believe the story of The Source Family a cautionary one as opposed to the idealized and glamorized version that some former family members would rather present, along with a kind of religious extremism and a worshipful idolatry in the belief that the letters YHVH are the true name of God which Jim Baker adopted as being the bulwark of his teachings and is the other motivating factor why some would like to promote Jim Baker into sainthood.  So, by taking and using YHVH or Yod He Vau He as though it were Jim Baker's own creation it has become the foundation for some former family members to form or create a quasi religious following around Jim Baker aka Yahowha.  But, my personal belief is that The Source Family was a complete failure....a spiritual/communal experiment gone awry, because of the leader's belief in himself being God where he continually transgressed the personal boundaries of women (some very young) using his position of power and influence as their 'spiritual father' to have ongoing sexual relationships with him never seeming to be satisfied with the growing number of females already surrounding him, but seeking conquest of any new attractive female who made the mistake of joining The Source Family.  It is my belief that Jim Baker wrecked havoc emotionally and often times physically in his follower's lives' that some would rather be completely forgotten.  Besides, it's easier to sell Jim Baker as being a saint or a hero, if his image and memory are kept squeaky clean and impeccable and anything wrong or sordid, unhealthy or misguided or detrimental are either forgotten about or explained away by attaching spirituality or magical thinking, especially if very few former members are willing to come forward and challenge the lotusland image of life in The Source Family.  

The Source Family never did any humanitarian work; we didn't give back to the community or society at large or help the world in any meaningful way.  We didn't grow our own vegetables or even recycle.  Everything and everyone was focused on and revolved around the fulfillment of Jim Baker's desires and directives which quickly had devolved around him and 'his women' where an almost incessant attendance and fawning adoration seemed to be required.  I observed the entire thing play out until the bitter end, until Jim Baker had nowhere else to go and was looking for a way to be released from the situation that he had created and found himself. 

The Source Family became a group of dependent, indolent and ineffectual followers of Jim Baker where he had accumulated a dozen or more women around himself where bickering and positioning were playing out on a continual basis and he just wanted out.  It is a recipe for disaster when a religious or spiritual leader wants to remove his flock to live an isolated existence which played out on Kauai when the entire group moved to some land and set up a compound surrounded by extremely nervous, unwelcoming locals.  Fear set in and what might happen and as seen in other cults a mass suicide could have easily ensued within The Source Family cult compound, because that is the extent of the zealous and worshipful adoration that some had for their 'spiritual father' Jim Baker.  

Following one person to such an extreme that you give up your own personal autonomy where your voice and independent thinking are silenced and discouraged by the groupthink rampant in all cults especially where the leader is seen as a visionary, adept or messiah to me is one of the greatest of human follies.  Which is another reason that I feel compelled to disabuse anyone who wants to elevate, sanctify or idolize Jim Baker as heralding in a new age, and to encourage anyone interested in The Source Family or mesmerized by any of the hyperbole surrounding its promotion to see it for what it really was---a litmus test for what happens when people decide to follow, idealize and worship one person.

The Wacko World of Yogi Bhajan

I encourage anyone who is interested in learning more about Jim Baker and The Source Family, to check out The Wacko World of Yogi Bhajan forum; which in my mind is essential reading in order to gain a better understanding of the 'spiritual' tree that the apple, Jim Baker fell in wanting to create his own 'aquarian legacy' by labeling his own group of followers as being 'an aquarian tribe' having all of us adopt the surname Aquarian and on and on it went from there.  Jim Baker considered Yogi Bhajan his 'spiritual father' and so he is seen as the grandfather of The Source Family.   It is my view that to understand the mindset and belief of Jim Baker and why he started his own 'family'; one needs to learn more about his own 'spiritual' master or teacher.  

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.

The above photo shows Jim Baker (aspiring pupil and disciple) sitting in front of Yogi Bhajan with a lovely and young Robin Popper sitting off to the side of her soon-to-be husband, before she/Robin proposed the idea of Jim Baker gathering his own flock of followers and creating their own spiritual group.  Robin helped Jim Baker to compose his 'Ten Commandments For The Aquarian Age' contained in the book they penned together titled Liberation, although she was removed/demoted from her place as 'spiritual mother' of the Source Family and replaced/displaced with another more desirable object of Jim Baker's desire and affection.  But, the makings of the guru, ersatz father-figure Father Yod/Yahowha is shown above in training sitting at the feet of his own spiritual teacher.

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. 

https://studentsofyogibhajan.com/bio-of-shakti-parwha-kaur/

This one includes a video interview with her.

https://studentsofyogibhajan.com/1231-2/?fbclid=IwAR17Eb697HWZSluczguw4PWL7fF_e2RG9IPhXaqi8XU5Rl2la5-z-EUwTkY