They wrote letters to Pandit Usharbudh Arya, their teacher and head of the Meditation Center there, as well as a dozen other people, warning that Swami Rama was a fraud. In such a situation, she says, the whole system becomes sick and no one can see the light: "There's no truth allowed; it's a no-talk rule.". Maybe it's an honor that this great yogi asked me of all his students to serve him in this way. "Before [these women] started saying these things, I also had a very good feeling that these people were wonderful people and they would never lie and they were trustworthy people. Still, she felt she had no right to question the guru's actions. Nestled in the rolling hills of the Poconos, our stunning 400-acre campus is a gathering place for seekers from around the globe. * "Nirvana was up at his cabin, walking his dog at 5:30 in the morning, and Megan was with him day and night." Experts and some inside the system say that in justifying its decision, UC perpetuated outdated claims about online learning. Long-term residents must get administration approval for any overnight absences; permission may be denied if their destination is judged inappropriate. A leader in the field of yoga, meditation, spirituality, and holistic health, the Himalayan Institute is dedicated to serving humanity through educational, spiritual, and humanitarian . Had anyone spoken to her? Things are moving quickly now in the sex scandal involving the three oldest sons of Steven Anderson of Tempe, Arizona's favorite SPLC hate group Faithful Word Baptist Church. Or, in the words of Rudolph Ballentine, M.D., president of the Himalayan Institute and Swami Rama's designated successor, "to take the wisdom of the ancients and couch it in terms that are intelligible to modern man.". Our new online platform for community, courses, and content. Swami Rama, whose legal name is Brij Keshore Kumar, was born in 1925 in Uttar Pradesh, according to his official biography, parts of which appeared in the March/April 1990 issue of Yoga Journal. Well organized, fine atmosphere, and a strong community. Carolyn stayed at the Institute for three more years, working at a variety of jobs. Carolyn says she feigned shock and tried to mask her distress as Martha told about a woman at the Glenview center who was confused and distraught about her alleged sexual relationship with Swami Rama. Carolyn says the "goofy" letters never got answered. In daily lectures by the Institute's teachers and in conversation with Swami Rama's disciples, she frequently heard that Swami Rama had a "greater purpose that we couldn't understand," and that he was "beyond morality and judgment. His early American followers had been spiritual seekers of the counterculture who found their guru at his ashram on the banks of the sacred Ganges in Rishikesh, India. Born in Northern India, he was raised from early childhood by the Himalayan sage, Bengali Baba. First, Robert Tuttle of The Reason Files 2 is reporting the same thing I am hearing from multiple sources. Terry* and Brian* say they were recruited into the Himalayan Institute's inner circle for their wealth and social connections. One evening in early June, Carolyn remembers, Swami Rama's housekeeper phoned the women's dorm and asked her to bring the manuscript she was preparing over to Swami Rama's new cabin. There's no need for finding out, if I know it is completely wrong.". In 1969, Pandit Arya met Swami Rama, who gave him "one of the highest meditation initiations," in which he experienced himself "as a being of light." Halfway through their meal, Carolyn remembers, Martha hesitantly said, "I know this will sound like a weird question, but has Swamiji ever asked you to have sex with him?" By this time Carolyn had gained 25 pounds from binging on sweets. Sexual contract between gurus and their American disciples is not a new or rare phenomenon. Live online programs, on-demand courses, and hundreds of yoga and meditation classes. The Himalayan Institute has been and continues to be home to a service-driven community of yogis, volunteers, and faculty-in-residence. They would travel together to England. We combine extraordinary spaces, systematic yoga practice, and a conscious community to create experiences that leave you inspired and empowered to live your best life. 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. In order to believe in his perfection, they must rationalize behavior that others would judge to be tyrannical, cruel, or self-indulgent. Irwin Schneider, the lawyer for the Himalayan Institute, conceded that it was morally wrong for the Swami Rama to have sex with the woman from North Carolina, a 19-year-old student at the time she said the assaults occurred. We inspire, educate, and. Community, Courses, and Content. The next day, she says, Swami Rama called her to his office and asked her if anyone had said anything to her. Together we ate superb vegetarian meals in the Institute's dining commons and chanted evening prayers. She asked him to give her a homeopathic remedy for the itching, she says, but he refused and turned away, dismissing her. She would start with handling the appointments and then she would make his plane reservations, scheduling lecture tours. He told her he was writing a book of poetry for her, and he offered to find her a husband. Pandit Rajmani says he also has concrete reasons to know that Swami Rama could not be sleeping with his disciples. Ag Innovation Center Business Plan. 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.". The women's fears have aborted projects intended to expose possible exploitation to a wider audience. He backed off, Megan says, while telling her that sex wasn't necessary-she could be his special student. Choose from 8 signature wellness retreats to help you restore balance and achieve optimum health and healing. But it is also common in the thought-control techniques of totalitarian states. Despite this, our rural empowerment programs continue to thrive and grow as we work towards our goal of fighting poverty, illiteracy, and inequality through education, health care, and job creation. "If someone is a saint, celibacy would be his normal condition," Dr. Green comments. Immerse yourself in a life-changing course of study and get certified in the authentic teachings of yoga and meditation. Fortified by their mutual discovery, Karen says, the two couples undertook to inform their fellow students back home in Minneapolis. She says he arranged for her to meet him at the Gramercy Park Hotel and instructed her not to call him Swami in public. Pandit Tigunait holds two doctorates: one in Sanskrit from the University of Allahabad, India, and one in Oriental Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. But Mr. Schneider told the jury that evidence indicated the relationship was consensual. 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. Swami Rama made Carolyn his appointments secretary in August also. 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. They are crazy. Continue reading Be the first to find this review helpful Helpful Share Report 5.0 Former Employee, more than 3 years Came for a job left with life-long friends The 10-campus system closes a loophole that could have let undergraduates piece together a degree. 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). At some point, we ran into Swami Rama in a hallway. In my interviews with current and former members of the Institute, I heard an almost unvarying litany of beliefs about Swami Rama's abilities. Pandit Arya has many profound and beautiful things to say about his relationship to his guru when I interview him at the Divya Jyoti yoga center in Napa, California, in May 1989. He says that Swami Rama has been his guru since he was a child in India, and that he came to the U.S. at Swami Rama's request to head up the Honesdale ashram. When she shared her news with the other residents at East West Books, they told her she should feel honored: She had been chosen, while long-time devotees had been denied the privilege. In a few months time she would handle his bank account, income taxes, everything. Megan recalls that in one of her first encounters with Swami Rama, she watched as he humiliated a quiet, withdrawn woman resident. Each time the Institute's top professionals have been confronted with complaints that Swami Rama is abusing his position, institutional mechanisms of denial have come to the guru's aid. Himalayan Institute Online. Expert wellness consultations direct to your home. Authentic Ashram Living RFP & Business Plan for Dairy Processing Investor/Operator. ", 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. Relationships are the first test of spirituality. In mid-autumn, the day came for Swami Rama's annual trip to India. Select a topic to see what people are saying about different issues Mission and values Explore company values, community, the relevance of the mission and moving on. Yoga seminars, retreats, and professional certifications taught by our world-class faculty, designed to bring you the best of an authentic yoga tradition. Who? The Combined Therapy program and the outpatient branches of the Institute for Holistic Medicine combine Western medicine, homeopathy, Eastern medicine, psychotherapy, nutrition, yoga, and meditation to treat people with a variety of physical and emotional problems. Arya, however, says that much of Darling's information is inaccurate. The FBI has confirmed the existence of a file documenting the agency's investigation, but at the time of publication the file had not yet been released under the Freedom of Information Act. The Himalayan Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy, nestled in the beautiful Pocono Mountains in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, was founded in 1971. Residents are expected to donate a large portion of their labor, and they must sacrifice personal freedoms and privacy. His students believe he is able to read minds and manipulate physical reality with his advanced yogic powers; thus they believe he can heal sickness with the power of the "superconscious" mind. To judge by their price tags, these and other Institute programs must bring in a considerable income. He is also head of the Institute's Holistic Studies (formerly Eastern Studies) program and has written a number of scholarly books on yoga philosophy. Minneapolis was the site of another Institute-related scandal in 1981. Tall and imposing, he had the sleek look of a successful man in his late 50s, at the peak of his power. The victim's confusion and loss of trust are compounded when her community refuses to acknowledge her suffering. He warns against relying too heavily on the inner voice: "When we look for the guru within, we only end up finding our own samskaras-vagaries of the unconscious mind are mistaken for directions from the superconscious. "Anyone who lives a public life can go through such remarks;& you have heard about all that blackmailing" of famous, rich athletes, he explains to me in the spring of 1989 at the Honesdale ashram. She recalls that he would repeat a series of affirmations and commands in a hypnotic monotone: She had done very well organizing the book distribution operation, Carolyn says he would tell her. One of them, along with the other women from the tour group, attended the wedding of Swami Rama's son, although the guru is officially supposed to have been celibate since taking his Swami's vows. Anyone can read what you share. The man, she says, informed her of Swami Rama's long history of alleged sexual misconduct. Allegations of such abuse have been made against modern yoga gurus such as Bikram . This seemingly whimsical application of standards demoralized many of the ex-members I spoke with and led many to resent the members of Swami Rama's inner circle. After dismissing the other workers, she says he repeated the familiar litany, but this time he slipped in a new message. Brian sued Swami Rama, and eventually the guru settled out of court for the full amount. In the United States, far from the strong cultural morality of the guru's country of origin, it is not regulated at all. He must see something special in me.'" At that, she says, he raged at her until she was sobbing, unable to speak a word in her own defense: No! Megan* started the Institute's graduate program in Eastern studies in the fall of 1982. During my weekend visit, Carolyn and I took long walks on the Institute's wooded grounds while talking about her compulsive eating patterns and her disastrous relationships with men suggested as possible husbands by Swami Rama. So far, none of their attempts to communicate their experiences has been met by official Institute willingness to investigate their charges. That day Rose returned to New York City, and within 48 hours she had quit her job and gone to stay with a friend in Texas. Elmer and Alyce Green observed that Swami Rama could produce different brain waves at will, including theta and delta (sleep) waves, while remaining aware of his environment. ", Why would the women want to blackmail Swami Rama? Anyway, he said that our relationship would be exclusive, I'd be like a spiritual courtesan. Sexual abuse by yoga gurus is the exploitation of the position of trust occupied by a master of any branch of yoga for personal sexual pleasure. My father certainly had sex, and that's why I was born, so will I lose faith in my father? Or maybe he needs to have sex just to release energy so he can meditate better. He says he spends most evenings with the guru until midnight or 2 a.m., and that he knows better than anyone who is with Swami Rama late at night and who isn't. Whether youre retracing the footsteps of sages through pilgrimage in the Himalayas, or immersing yourself in the most incredible spaces the US has to offer, you will experience the life-changing power of yoga in action. 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. The jury called the abuse "spiritual incest . The Institute used to offer an accredited masters program in Eastern Studies and Comparative Psychology through an affiliation with the University of Scranton. 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. The original creator of the neti pot, the Himalayan Institute has been offering traditional and modern products for health and spirituality since 1971. The Himalayan Institute community reaches across the entire globe. Both women and men say they blamed themselves and their own spiritual obtuseness when they repeatedly failed to discern and follow the shifting rules. Yet the women never seemed to complain about such treatment, Megan says. They introduced her to the guru, and she remembers he made a fuss over her, slapping her cheek lightly and calling her a good girl. After a sleepless night, she said she snuck out at 5:00 or 6:00 a.m. and drove to Brian and Terry's empty house in Honesdale. Here is her report. Once there, Carolyn devoted herself to her yoga practices and threw herself into her assigned jobs. Yet the Institute's success comes at a high cost for many of those involved. Our humanitarian projects serve impoverished communities through rural empowerment and environmental regeneration. A spiritual center should pay close to $1.9 million to a woman who says she was sexually assaulted 30 times by the center's leader, a jury decided on Thursday. He laughed, Megan says, and told her that the women didn't know what they were weeding. 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. Terry, who is now a practicing psychotherapist, says she believes Swami Rama's behavior is compulsive-he can't help it." The program seemed to provide the ideal family she'd never had, where everyone shared her values and spiritual goals. The Himalayan Institute and its varied activities and programs exemplify the spiritual heritage of mankind that unites East and West, spirituality and science, ancient wisdom and modern technology. The two women who wrote statements for the Cult Awareness Movement were among those involved: One stated that she was a patient at the Institute's holistic health center in New York City, and the other stated she was 17 years old when Swami Rama initiated a sexual relationship with her. She became paralyzed by her fear of angering him. When she asked him what she should do with the love letters, she says, Swami Rama would laugh and say, "Oh, these goofy women! Pandit Rajmani cannot entertain the notion that the women's stories could be true. Our new online platform for community, courses, and content. But ultimately he chose to believe Swami Rama. Karen, the woman whose claims were ridiculed at the meeting where Swami Rama and the other directors responded to Brian's charges, was one of the first ex-members to confront top Institute administrators. Brian says he refused to tell Rose's story in such an atmosphere. 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