Guru Jagat's Human Design

thoughts on the Breath of Fire docuseries.

I recently watched the Breath of Fire docuseries, which explored the cult-like behavior within the Kundalini Yoga community. In the four episodes, they go into the origins of how Kundalini was brought to the West by Yogi Bhajan, the sexual abuse and child mistreatment within the early days, the rise of RAMA and the Kundalini “scene” in LA during the 2010s, and how Katie Griggs, aka Guru Jagat, came to be a yoga celebrity-influencer. 

None of the information shared was particularly shocking to me. It’s a tired trope which has been replicated in almost every spiritual community — those in positions of power tend to abuse their power, whether consciously or unconsciously, towards those who worship them. You can expect that whenever someone is pedestaled as a “guru” or “savior”, they will come crashing down eventually as the shadow of their humanness comes to light. 

I will not excuse the abuse and mistreatment that was carried out by Yogi Bhajan — it absolutely was horrific. Despite this, I am still someone who practices Kundalini Yoga. An interesting book that I started over the summer, which I did not finish but managed to skim through, was ‘Monsters: a fan’s dilemma’ by Claire Dederer. The central thesis — or question posed — was about whether we can enjoy art made by artists who have done despicable things, who have essentially been canceled. During the summer, I was thinking about the book in relation to the Human Design community, but it applies even more so to this example: is it ethical to practice Kundalini Yoga when the origins (at least in the West) are mired with abuse? 

I don’t think there’s a right or wrong answer. Some have decided that they cannot practice in good faith because it opposes their intrinsic values; they cannot separate the history from the practice itself. There is solid reasoning behind this, believing that continuing to practice Kundalini is upholding the dark legacy of Yogi Bhajan. 

On the other hand, and perhaps I fall into this camp, there are those who have decided the kriyas and meditations work for them, and that they continue to practice because it has a positive impact on their lives. They may not agree with what happened in the past, but they choose to extract the teachings as separate from the teacher. They focus on the physical practice of the yoga, taking what resonates, whilst leaving the rest.

Neither decision is right or wrong. It comes down to the individual, and as individuals, we are all unique. 

The docuseries had a particular angle, focusing on specific personalities within the community rather than the yoga itself. I can’t blame them for that, as who doesn’t love a cult-exposé. However, I wish there were a more diverse range of interviewees that perhaps provided another perspective. I have close friends who were there during the rise of RAMA who had a different experience in the scene and still have their own relationship to Kundalini. I was also surprised to find that much of what Guru Jagat discussed in her “dharma talks” still resonated with me, despite being painted as outrageous and “far-right” adjacent.  

It comes back to the same question — can you consume art, or take in someone’s perspective, when you don’t necessarily agree with everything they do and their past behavior? Personally, I can. I’m not trying to inject morality into my decision. If it’s completely different to your experience, that is okay. 

Anyway, all this preamble to get to what I actually want to discuss today: an analysis of Guru Jagat’s Human Design. I don’t have an exact birth time, but I know she is a Scorpio rising, so I was able to narrow down the possibilities of her chart. Luckily, there are no significant changes in her design within the two hour window besides the direction of her variable. 

Her chart provides a fascinating case study of her life, the impact and influence she had through RAMA, plus what potentially led to the decline of her health. I think understanding her design will give a more nuanced perspective of who she was and how she lived that out in real time, both her definition and the not-self distortion.

time window: 11:05am to 1:30pm.

Cross of Planning

“When needed support and the right bargain are in place, these people possess the skills, the gift of logic, and the command of detail, to build what is needed for the community.”

—RAX of Planning 3, Definitive Book of Human Design

Finding out that Guru Jagat was born under the Cross of Planning felt too perfect to be true. This cross is very material and is about the practical application of skills and detailed focus to build infrastructure, such as schools and institutions, as places which serve the community.

The RAMA Institute for “Applied Yogic Science and Technology” is exactly that — a global community where individuals came together to feel part of something bigger than themselves. Guru Jagat, with the help of Harijiwan, planned and built a community space for people to practice Kundalini who shared similar values. RAMA became it’s own kind of tribe, where you either “got it” and belonged, or you did not and remained on the outside.

The 37-40 channel, mystically, is about building the temples where those can gather to pray to their god(s). RAMA was a place where spiritually inclined individuals came together to meditate and worship spiritual leaders (Yogi Bhajan, Guru Jagat) and access a “higher consciousness”. Like her or not, it is clear that Katie was living out the themes and purpose of her Incarnation Cross.

2/4 Missionary who received “the call”

The second line profile is here to be “called” out, whether that’s by a specific person or from the mystical nature of the universe itself. When a 2/4 receives the “call”, aka their calling, they may assume the role as a missionary who goes out into the world to tell as many people as possible about their newfound purpose.

In her early 20s, Katie was experiencing addiction along with feeling lost in the world. When she found Kundalini Yoga, she flipped completely 180 — she gave up her addictions, started wearing a turban, changed her name, and claimed this new identity as a spiritual person and practicing yogi. It’s interesting to think about in the context of having an undefined G (looking for love and direction), where she essentially fixated on assuming this new role as a Kundalini Guru.

There is a joke that says that 2/4s are the classic “cult leaders”. Second lines are often projected upon as being “special” and unique, whilst the fourth line unconscious externalizes to their network of followers who are susceptible to being influenced. Not saying that every 2/4 is a cult leader, but in the case of Guru Jagat, there is a possibility she fit the description.

Defined Ego

Defined egos have a consistent sense of motivation, willpower, and “self-worth”. These are the kinds of people who can be incredibly driven and goal-oriented — they may thrive on discipline and consistently “proving” themselves.

In a healthy state, defined egos can help to empower, support, and uplift those around them. In an unhealthy state, they may put pressure on others to live up to their standards and expectations, which may be unrealistic for somebody else to meet.

With her personality sun in gate 40 in a defined ego — and activated four times in her chart — this was a dominant part of her design. I imagine there were times her staff felt genuinely supported by Katie, and then conversely times when they felt the pressure of her defined ego trying to enforce control from an aggressive state.

Guru Jagat, along with Yogi Bhajan (who also had a defined ego btw), described themselves as “Saturnian teachers”: teachers who gave you “tough love” as a way to help you “grow”. Essentially, they both were unconsciously conditioning their students to live up to power and discipline of their defined egos, which may not be native to someone else’s design.

When it comes to health, we don’t get sick in our openness — we get sick in our defined centers. Guru Jagat LITERALLY died of a heart attack. When we live out of our open centers and fail to understand our own limits, our defined centers degenerate and become susceptible to illness. Guru Jagat was a Projector, and I don’t think she understood what that truly meant. As a result, her physical heart suffered. The stubbornness of her defined heart is also likely what rejected medical advice to not fly in an airplane after she had broken her foot in Germany. The docuseries illuminates this was a critical factor in the result of her death.

Projector who never knew when enough was enough

All Projectors share an undefined sacral, which means they tend to amplify the energy of the sacral center. From the outside, the conditioned Projector may look like a super-energy-being, constantly busy and never knowing when to stop.

Guru Jagat was constantly traveling, up to 300 days a year according to the docuseries, which is insane for anyone regardless of their type. Not only that, but her undefined root had her always starting new projects, manifesting and initiating new ideas, without ever pausing to rest. She was a go go go type of person. Over time, this clearly took a toll on her health.

The wisdom of the undefined sacral is knowing when to stop and pull away, ideally before the exhaustion sets in. Projectors are here to be recognized for what they see rather than what they do: had Katie learned to slow down and rest, taking a step back from all the conditioned “doing” and stress she put her body under, perhaps the outcome of her story would have been different.

The 63-4 and Reality Riffing

Reality Riffing was a podcast hosted by Guru Jagat where she interviewed various individuals “situated at the intersection of creativity, technology, ancient arts, entrepreneurship and the global cutting-edge”. During the height of the pandemic in 2020, she famously hosted on her podcast controversial figures and conspiracists including a holocaust denier, alternative health believers, and alien-enthusiasts. The docuseries states that her thinking and her podcast was becoming closer and closer to the far-right theories of those associated with QAnon.

As someone with the 63-4, the channel of logic, Katie was fixed in her mental processing. The 63rd gate is about the head pressure to doubt through asking questions, whilst the 4th gate is how the mind logically makes sense of the pressure by formulating an answer. Essentially, she had her own way of thinking that was not easily influenced by others around her, even if her way of thinking wasn’t congruent with what was deemed "politically correct”.

Her defined head/ajna can come across as appearing to be certain. It conditioned others to think about and mirror her certainty around the topics she was exploring. A healthy undefined head/ajna can take this in without believing it to be true or adopting it as their own; they are gifted with the ability to judge the questions and answers posed by defined heads/ajnas as worthy concepts or topics to think about (or not).

Admittedly, I listened to her podcast often during the early pandemic. I actually went back and listened to one of her last episodes — shared posthumously — where she was interviewing Renee Garcia, an expert on Reality Transurfing, who I happened to be watching over the last week or two. I found myself transported back in time hearing Guru Jagat’s voice, and as I was listening I was reminded — I don’t think she was as crazy as people projected upon her. I found much of what she had to say interesting, both on her podcast and in her long-winded “dharma talks”, despite not always agreeing with everything she said (although I agreed with a lot). If you listened to her podcast, you would hear she was always curious and inquisitive — she was open to hearing what the other had to say, instead of judging, dismissing or denying their point of view. Guru Jagat was someone who had fear motivation, which means she was motivated to get to the bottom of things, to gather all the details and as much information as possible in order to feel secure. To me, her podcast was a way to research and investigate different modalities and perspectives outside of mainstream ways of thinking.

One of the true gifts of Human Design is understanding how we are all different and the ways we get conditioned away from our uniqueness. The bodygraph is a tool where we can map out the fixed mechanics of how someone operated AND observe the ways they were influenced by others and the world around them. I think seeing someone’s design can help to facilitate empathy and understanding, instead of rejecting them outright because they don’t fit conventional standards.

I don’t know if anything can ever be truly objective as it will always be filtered through someone’s specific lens. The docuseries was just one lens in which you could view Kundalini Yoga and the life of Katie Griggs. It’s not wrong — and it’s not to dismiss the experiences shared by interviewees in the doc — but there are also other perspectives which were not included. People are nuanced; it’s never just black or white. Regardless, you can bet I’ll still be watching the next cult-documentary that comes to air. Rumor has it, Human Design could be next. 🌀