The pre-academic Jim was a spiritual seeker, a yoga teacher, a friend, and a small community leader.

In 1974 I began attending Kundalini yoga classes at the Episcopal Student Center on Jefferson Street, just south of the Florida State University campus. Jim, who went by the name Pundit Singh, led the

classes. [i]

Pundit during a yoga retreat at St. Theresa, Florida

Ruge Hall Episcopal Student Center at Florida State University.

Pundit also conducted occasional weekend yoga retreats. He was an excellent teacher with an organized, efficient teaching style and, although he was serious, he was also humorous. In late 1974, as the number of class participants and retreat attendees increased, Pundit floated the idea of forming a yoga ashram.

The Spiritual Dawn Community, the ashram’s name, was a large older home on several wooded acres at 3327 Thomasville Road, Tallahassee. Most of the time, 15 to 20 people lived in the home and in a tipi located in the woods behind the home. A few months after the ashram was founded it was legally incorporated as a non-profit corporation. [i]

Corporation filing date.

In 1975, the pre-academic Pundit was a yoga teacher and a community leader, and although he wrote booklets about yoga, tantra, and founding an ashram, they were nonacademic.

Nevertheless, his ability to teach and lead pulled a group of seekers together and helped form us into a community. Pundit and the community we were members of deeply touched me and continue to influence my life. I think of Pundit fondly and will miss him.

[i] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruge_Hall [i] https://www.bizapedia.com/fl/spiritual-dawn-community-incorporated.html