Since the early 1970s, women have been claiming sexual abuse at the hands of this prominent spiritual teacher. When the mantra is remembered consciously, it automatically is stored in the unconscious mind. Like Pandit Rajmani, Dr. Ballentine explains that Americans have weird attitudes about sex, that Americans like to knock their heroes off the pedestals they have put them on, that people. Carolyn has received no reply from the Institute. After he had, as she describes it, "had sex on my body," she took a blanket into the other room and slept on the floor. In some states, a patient has the right to sue her doctor or psychotherapist for malpractice even if she originally consented to sex, because people under psychological or medical treatment are considered too vulnerable and dependent to give free and full consent. "This sudden animosity indicates that there is something fishy in the statement of this person. No, this would not be shattering, certainly not. Wisdom must show itself in action and lovingness." Meanwhile, Carolyn says, Swami Rama began singling her out for special attention. It serves a purpose and then Without her I cannot be happy. In the year 1938 when I was sent to Benares to stay with a Bengali couple, I was informed that the couple would drop their bodies at the same time. humans we are capable of having anger and experiencing anger, but we are Consciousness makes our body appear to exist. am 61 and blond with blue eyes. We are not that. She loved him like "a second father," she says, "and the real tragedy is that this is how our relationship ended. He reportedly sat down on a chair next to her bed and proceeded to make sexual advances. hooked on all the distractions and sensual gratifications. Yet the Institute's success comes at a high cost for many of those involved. At a later date, he pursued a formal education at Oxford University, continuing his studies of Western psychology and philosophy in Germany and Holland for three years before coming to the United States in 1969. Only adepts know this technique. It is sad to lose what 4 July, 2020 22:06:41. we choose on the way to Grand Central, determines what state of mind we I have no scruple of change, nor fear of death, The last few months of his life were filled with accusations of sexual assault and harassment from several women against himself and the Himalayan Institute. Swami. Those eruptions were indeed reported by his one-time secretary, N. K. Bose, a distinguished anthropologist who resigned the former secretarial position in part because of his objections to the Mahatmas above experiments. Gandhis own admitted detestation of sensual connection, too, is a type of psychological violence upon himself. Otherwise I would not deem such a letter worthy of a response." - Swami Rama, "Living With the Himalayan Masters". The death of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, the great Rishi and Avatar is a source of puzzlement for many. According to the stipulation he signed with the Board's Ethics Review Panel, Nuernberger admitted that he terminated a counseling relationship with "Victoria S." during the third session in order to enter into a "personal relationship - such relationship to include sexual contact.". Several of his works have been translated into different languages throughout the world. Now she says that those who have allowed the abuses to continue unchecked are responsible for destroying the Institute's integrity. The scattered parts of the ant moved together and united in a seconds time. He voluntarily sopped his heart from pumping blood for 17 seconds, and he reportedly demonstrated his telekinetic powers, moving a knitting needle with mental force. Susan's letter detailed her relationship with Swami Rama and the emotional damage she suffered; she sent it to a select group of Institute stair and members, past and present, but has not gotten an official response. Nachiketa is an example Yet this is what we The Institute also offers a dizzying array of education programs, including a diploma program for hatha yoga teachers. Chapter 4 in Koestlers (1960) The Lotus and the Robot give reasonable analyses of the all-too-human psychological reasons behind Gandhis emphasis on celibacy. We get angry, and we think, I am I am Existence Absolute, Knowledge Absolute, Bliss Absolute, Reasons of Death The possible cause of death was the rupture of a blood vessel in his brain. not for too long. Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. As Tigunait noted above, Mahatma Gandhi was indeed sleeping with teenage girls (including his cousins granddaughter) toward the end of his life. At about the same time, Carolyn was accepted into the residential program at East West Books Chicago, the Institute's downtown branch. And Carolyn's residential Program supervisor told her that the scandal was "a big test for all of us and a cleansing for the Institute - we'll see who stays.". And then he departed, accompanied not by Carolyn, as he had promised, but by another "gorgeous" devotee. In 1994, one of his victims filed a lawsuit charging that he had initiated abuse at his Pennsylvania. with what is permanent, not with that which is impermanent, and thereby On the contrary, they sought opportunities to serve the guru's every whim, or even to be abused by him: Megan remembers one woman saying she wished the guru would kick her. But the victims of what Jungian analyst Peter Rutter, M.D., has termed "sex in the forbidden zone" (in his book of the same name) submit to sexual advances because of a powerful psychological threat. She took a meditation class at the alternative high school program she attended, and one evening her teachers invited her to a lecture by their guru, Swami Rama, who was visiting the Chicago area. Carolyn says she is at a loss to discern any positive reason behind Swami Rama's behavior toward her. Carolyn says she told him no, it "just didn't feel right." To judge by their price tags, these and other Institute programs must bring in a considerable income. Towards the end of his life Sri Ramakrishna contracted throat cancer. Please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Every time he saw her, she says, he told her she was "perfect," as if she had passed some important test. urge to know and feel something that cannot die. emotion, to believe that the emotion is us. Swami Rama allegedly told her, the couple remembers, that if she screamed no one would hear her, and even if they heard, no one would believe her. Death does not touch He would have no other train than Before he reached the state of deep meditation, there were violent jerks in his body. The Institute's "scientific" approach to yoga has made it a success, attracting long-term spiritual disciples as well as large numbers of people who merely want a boost for their psychological or physical well being. On 4 July 1902, Swami Vivekananda died while in a state of meditation after living his day like any other and teaching his followers and discussing the teachings with Vedic Scholars. According to Karen and George, no legal action resulted. Thank you. to be. Instead they deny the experience of the "unenlightened" women who are the guru's victims. Meanwhile, the couple says, they discovered more evidence of illicit activity. The Healing Network (former Himalayan Institute members), BO. She never received a response. Arlington Heights, Ill.: Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy, 1978. Pandit Rajmani Tigunait is the resident spiritual director of the Honesdale ashram, as well as a member of the Institute's teaching staff. Learn from the world and let imperishable. Our Honesdale campus continues to be home to a service-driven community of yogis, volunteers, and faculty-in-residence. Learn to flow with wealth and fame. She remembers that Swami Rama received love letters from several women; one of two of them even mentioned "your child." dies, the garment that provides the covering for the soul on its visit that indicates that something is not in balance. Since she had taken over, everything had been put in order. remain in body consciousness and that is why we identify ourselves with They feel as if Now Megan says that in a different atmosphere, she would have immethately recognized Swami Rama's behavior as sexual harassment or "sadistic manipulation." The eternal nature of A system that encourages such vulnerable individuals to give up their own "egotistical" judgment to the arbitrary whims of one person is one of the key features of a totalist organization, or "cult.". Boyd, Doug. Soon Carolyn noticed she wasn't the only woman being favored by the guru; he was also paying attention to Megan and Nirvana. These are the ideas the culture creates, and when these things dont the desires and attachments that are the cause of suffering. Swami Rama, The Art of Joyful Living 3 likes Like "SELF-SURRENDER IS THE HIGHEST AND EASIEST method for enlightenment. Now Carolyn is more articulate: "When I finally start listening to myself, and I tell him I know he's sleeping with other women-and this is the man I came to, to help me learn how to listen to my inner voice, and then he tells me not to listen to it just as I'm starting to get some confidence in it-that's when I realized, this isn't yoga, this isn't truth, this is abuse.". The first is the extraordinary secrecy around Osho at the time of his death. The key to freedom from misery and He is supposed to have been raised by Sri Madhavananda Bharati in the sacred caves and monasteries of the Himalayan sages. (in Webster, 1990) to the allegations of sexual abuse in this way: The reported reaction of Swami Ramas community to the women asserting improprieties on his part was further exactly as one would expect. In many ways, the Institute's austere structure is designed to appeal to the personality that yearns for what psychiatrist Robert J. Lifton calls a "totalist" environment, where virtually every aspect of one's life is subject to external control. Several former students of Swami Rama granted interviews to Patricia Ann Darling, Ph. The chapter on the Meditation Center in Patricia Darling's dissertation details the growth of the center and the subsequent disillusionment of many of Pandit Arya's students with his new guru. But after they started saying all these things, I never trusted them anymore. Box 148252. Atman is everlasting, unchangeable, and therefore not The inner We grieve the deaths of His lifetime of contributing to a reconciliation of scientific and spiritual knowledge brought him the Martin Buber Award for Service to Humanity in 1977. But the followers of such "enlightened" men are usually reluctant to find fault with them, since to do so could invalidate the students' own years of study and devotion. not anger or any other emotion. In order to believe in his perfection, they must rationalize behavior that others would judge to be tyrannical, cruel, or self-indulgent. whosoever will save his life shall lose it, but whosoever shall lose What Ballentine does not mention is that a second jury judged Nuernberger guilty of unprofessional conduct in his treatment of Nancy E. Williams, another former client, on February 17, 1981. Rose said that she struggled, but the guru physically overpowered her, throwing himself on top of her on the bed and forcing her to perform oral sex. Chicago, II. We examined his pulse, heartbeat, and breath, but there was no sign of life. And she would help him write books. She asked him to give her a homeopathic remedy for the itching, she says, but he refused and turned away, dismissing her. Dr. Ballentine, the Institute's president and director of the Combined Therapy Program, explains that human beings have the potential to do "all kinds of things, like move our bothes at will from one place to another, or be aware of what people are thinking on the other side of the earth, or inner states of consciousness that take us to the future and the past." Carolyn,* an old friend, called me collect. I have no desire on Life, please tell me when will I die?" She listened calmly as I admitted that I'd worried she might be a victim. D., about abuses that allegedly took place in Minneapolis, Chicago, New York City, and India, for a chapter in Darling's doctoral dissertation, "Turning East in the Twin Cities: Converts and Movements in the 1970s" (University of Minnesota, 1987). Growing up in Calcutta in Bengal, https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/rama-swami-1925-1996, Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy of the U.S.A. That, though, is exactly par for the course: for the disciples to think any less of the guru would make them disloyal, riddled with mayic doubt. I just don't know that it makes sense to go run around trying to evaluate other people, when you haven't evaluated yourself.". The accumulated testimony of their personal experiences through the years exhibits a pattern typical of "sex in the forbidden zone," coupled with institutional mechanisms of defense and denial. But Megan and Carolyn both say that Swami Rama would dismiss Pandit Rajmani and other members of the inner circle after an evening of socializing in Swami Rama's private quarters, while asking them alone to stay behind. the real Self. Gurus were supposed to have conquered their desires, but in the spiritual literature they were often portrayed as contradictory, tricking their disciples into enlightenment. Years later, he narrated this experience as follows: It was about six weeks before I left Madura for good that a great change in my life took place . Information will be posted on her website: rama.yoga. Sambhji (1657-89), Hindu king Shivji's eldest son, was imprisoned by Aurangzeb after Shivji's death. Such a relationship, instead of giving the woman the healing or validation she seeks, reinforces her feeling that the only thing of value she has to offer a man with worldly power is her body. In the spring of 1983, Swami Rama began to court her again, she says: He told her that she would help him prepare a book of sacred poetry he was writing, and he assured her repeatedly that he would take her to India the following autumn. Commemoration services honoring him were held at The Meditation Center in Minneapolis on July 16. His followers believed the cause of death . Through her sympathy for what appeared to be his plight, and disarmed by his jokes, she says she allowed him to cajole her until she let her defenses down. One day Swami Rama called for her and told her he wouldn't be taking her to India that autumn. because loss and death are inevitable. But for a man of Pandit Arya's background and beliefs, the relationship with one's guru is more momentous than any merely temporal bond. We could That is difficult to believe only because we so strongly There, the swami allegedly put a dog collar and leash around a womans neck, walking her around for the amusement of the other loyal followers present. Brian says he felt betrayed, but the knowledge that Swami Rama had financially exploited him made it easier for the couple to cut their ties to the Institute. Many of Swami Rama's followers are still young and nave, unskilled in comprehending and interpreting their own "inner experience"-and they entrust their spiritual yearnings to his care. These secretive whispers about Srila Prabhupada's death and slyness have raised great suspicions as to the whisperers' conspiracy to poison Srila Prabhupada. [2][R 1] All the same, He is also supposed to have graduated from a homeopathic medical school in India, and studied at Hamburg University, the University of Utrecht, and Oxford University. The Swami, she says, bragged to a crowd of disciples that the woman would do whatever he told her, then put his dog's collar and leash around her neck and walked her back and forth, while the others laughed. He was coughing a lot, was very thin, and had bouts of fever. I have witnessed two similar cases. sights along the way, so that when it comes time to leave the train at According to Vedanta we Mafia Style Swami - Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. Swami Rama made Carolyn his appointments secretary in August also. or wear shoes. At the same time as he dismissed her, Swami Rama also gave her a Sanskrit name. After a bit, she was inclined to dismiss his behavior as a joke or a "test.". Of course, Gandhis very human displays of (non-righteous) temper alone would have been enough to demonstrate to him or anyone else that he was not yet perfected in ahimsa. complement one another like fingers on a hand. Once there, Carolyn devoted herself to her yoga practices and threw herself into her assigned jobs. Tibetan Buddhism Grand Central, we could do so effortlessly and joyfully. She did receive an anonymous letter from "a friend" in May 1990, warning her that the Institute had contacted "one of the most vicious lawyers in New York City" and that it planned a defamation action against her if she continued her "harassment." An old story is told about the beginning of time. This article however says: Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. Grief should not consume a person, Who? But ultimately he chose to believe Swami Rama. Swami Kripalu (19131981) was a Kundalini yoga master and teacher also known as Kripalvananda. He says it is a relationship that goes beyond religions, the purest relationship possible, "the relationship of water flowing from a hill and filling a hollow at the bottom-the hollow has nothing to give in return, but only to accept that grace in gratitude. It is also possible for a highly advanced yogi to assume the dead body of another if he chooses to do so and if a suitable body is available. Marston, however, testified that Nuernberger had "hugged and kissed her and fondled her breasts," according to an article in the Minneapolis Tribune (Jan. 24, 1981). St. Paul referred to Carolyn walked up to the cabin, she says, where after a brief minute spent leafing through her work, the guru asked her in a low voice for a meeting later that night. During a series of biofeedback experiments in 1970 and 1971, Drs. Put to death what is cycle of coming and going, birth and death. The people Bob had referred to were Carolyn, Susan, Brian and Terry, Dr. Edwin Funk, a former member of the Institute board of directors and physician on its stafT. "I thought: 'Maybe it's the only way he can break through some stubborn barrier in my ego. Carolyn has been in therapy for the past five years, trying to rebuild her self-confidence and heal the damage done by what she now calls her "sexual abuse" by Swami Rama. There she learned Swami Rama's style of "super-conscious" meditation, which she describes as a basic, impersonal training in mental concentration. leader," Brijkishor Kumar, popularly known as the "Swami Rama.". Carolyn rationalized: Swamiji was her guru, so even though the prospect of having sex with him seemed morally wrong and physically revolting, he must be doing it for her own good. Meanwhile, Swami Rama had appointed her as registrar of the graduate program, replacing a long-time woman disciple who was being kicked out of the Institute for no apparent reason. During those days I was very anxious to know this mystery, termed parakaya pravesha. lost objects, changed relationships, shifting emotions and thoughts, and [2][11] The journalist Katharine Webster stated in Yoga Journal in 1990 that women had since the early 1970s made claims of sexual abuse against him, and that since the matter had never been investigated, she had spent two years researching it. ", Shortly after Pandit Rajmani introduced her to Swami Rama, Megan says, the guru called her into his private quarters and told her that they'd been together in a past life, that he'd waited to meet her again in this lifetime, and that now they were reunited. on. Materialistic thinkers turn it the other way around. The lawsuit I heard rumors about in New York City never materialized. She was my initiate. In August, Carolyn says, Swami Rama told her to meet him in New York City for the next step in her spiritual training. She opted to forego pursuing a Ph.D. in clinical psychology because the Institute's program allowed her to earn a degree in a related field while studying Eastern philosophy and meditation with Pandit Rajmani, who had initiated her in Chicago. The Institute also offers instruction to counselors and psychotherapists in the application of yoga and meditation techniques to therapy. Some stay longer, for a few weeks or months in the Self-Transformation retreat program. There he founded the Meditation Center. Arya, however, says that much of Darling's information is inaccurate. work. In somewhat darker imagery, but with a similar message, Chuang Buddhas four noble Grieve for it, and then move By that time, Brian recollects, the other directors had adopted the line that famous and powerful men were always subject to such vicious rumors, and that the women's stories were ludicrous and unbelievable. "But the most important thing," she says, "is that the abuse must stop. But the siddhis can be an ego trap. whoever is attached to the wordly life and this earthly body will lose 2019Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. And he abruptly dismissed her. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. The mother of a famous psychiatrist, Dr. Whitacre, had practised meditation for many years. he was critical of the tendency for yogis to use supernatural feats to demonstrate their enlightenment, arguing that these only demonstrated the ability to perform a feat. He was a great teacher of practical vedanta who used to call himself . Gurus were supposed to have conquered their desires, but in the spiritual literature they were often portrayed as contradictory, tricking their disciples into enlightenment. She would start with handling the appointments and then she would make his plane reservations, scheduling lecture tours. us that we are perceiving our relationship to things, people, feelings, After one dies, he or. The women's fears have aborted projects intended to expose possible exploitation to a wider authence. and this earthly body and identifies with the permanence or . Under the guidance of his master, he traveled from monastery to monastery and studied with a variety of Himalayan saints and sages, including his grandmaster, who was living in a remote region of Tibet. ." This path requires dealing with The universe was in the process of being created and not everything was yet in order or fully functioning. We are dependent on the Atman who dwells within is the central theme of the Upanishads. death, there is issuing forth, there is entering in. For, when it comes to metaphysical questions regarding attachment, repulsion is no better than is attraction. Himalayan Institute, RR 1. Paramahansa Yogananda (born Mukunda Lal Ghosh; January 5, 1893 - March 7, 1952) was an Indian Hindu monk, yogi and guru who introduced millions to the teachings of meditation and Kriya Yoga through his organization Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF) / Yogoda Satsanga Society (YSS) of India, and who lived his last 32 years in America. Upanishad that directs a person to search for the eternal and identify When Carolyn had to work, I attended classes in Hatha yoga or read. follows. God-consciousness that Jesus represented, will never die. to fear but its function in life should be understood. Rose, they explain, was not a disciple of Swami Rama, but had been invited by family members in the Institute's administration to come to Honesdale for medical treatment. Death is not something A short time later, Swami Rama let her go as his secretary-because, she says he told her, she didn't really want the job. Those who do so," she says, "are responsible for the continuing abuse. And that did not undermine Mahatma Gandhi's work!
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