Immerse yourself in a life-changing course of study and get certified in the authentic teachings of yoga and meditation. Grief for The Amitabha Foundation, is a Tibetan Buddhist organization of the Drikung Kagyu school f, VIVEKANANDA One evening she went out to dinner with Martha*, an old friend from East West Books Chicago. He is held accountable only to the higher spiritual laws, which he is uniquely able to comprehend. They resided in their own house in Honesdale, unencumbered by the strict rules of the residential program. relationships, and seeks only that which is eternal, death is not Yet she is vulnerable to feeling re-victimized every time her experience is denied or distorted. Shortly after they returned to the U.S., Karen and George say that they and all their correspondents received a bizarre, defamatory letter containing an implicit death threat. The key to freedom from misery and The lawsuit I heard rumors about in New York City never materialized. if there is an inner being, it comes by way of the body. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. When Carolyn had to work, I attended classes in Hatha yoga or read. Is it not better to follow someone who has charted the path?". Learn more Next steps in the practice of silence ahymsin. One who possesses nothing and has no one to protect him belongs to God and is constantly under the protection of the Divine." the desires and attachments that are the cause of suffering. The daughter of an alcoholic, she longed for guidance from a spiritual authority figure. emotion, to believe that the emotion is us. During this time they do One night he saw his guru in a dream standing near his bed, he begged him "Dear Guru! dies, the garment that provides the covering for the soul on its visit She recalls that she blushed as she forced out the words: "I think you have been sleeping with other women." 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. imperishable. 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. 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 an early co-authored book, Yoga and Psychotherapy (1976), he presented Hatha Yoga with reference to western psychology. At the time, she was a nineteen-year-old virgin, just out of high school. Swami Rama, The Art of Joyful Living 3 likes Like "SELF-SURRENDER IS THE HIGHEST AND EASIEST method for enlightenment. Someone informed me of this and I could not believe it. . A rash of articles featuring Swami Rama appeared in national magazines, including Time, People, and Playboy. In the following year, he served as a consultant to the Voluntary Controls Project of the Research Department of the Menninger Foundation at Topeka, Kansas. In a number of countries (in particular across Latin America, including Brazil and Mexico), homicide is the dominant cause for 15-49 years old. to Understand Life Swami Rama Reading it, you will discover the human side to this yogic master. She says he instructed her in how to give him pleasure and admonished her to always tell him that she had received pleasure, even thought she never did. A saint is a person who does what he says." They see themselves getting bigger Brought up by authoritarian parents-one of whom was of the other women who say they have been sexually abused by Swami Rama, as well as men who feel their spiritual trust was betrayed, have organized an informal support network to help each other heal. One of my friends, Vinaya Maharaj, sent a messenger to my camp informing me that he was going to drop his body and I should come to witness it. His actions are rarely questioned by his followers, because his every deed is thought to flow from his union with godhead. is the secret of the mystery of death, and the key to understanding Well-to-do New Yorkers flock to Honesdale on weekends for seminars in stress reduction, meditation, and health and nutrition. to be. And he abruptly dismissed her. Now Megan says that in a different atmosphere, she would have immethately recognized Swami Rama's behavior as sexual harassment or "sadistic manipulation." Instead they deny the experience of the "unenlightened" women who are the guru's victims. one passes in and out without seeing it, that is the portal of God.. Most of the women who say they were abused by Swami Rama express feelings of fear, frustration, and betrayal. Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. The eternal nature of Koestler also covers Gandhis disappointing treatment of his children, in the same book. The orthodontist, who competed with his wife, Misti, on Season 25 of the CBS reality show in 2014, died in South . Boyd, Doug. Only recently has she acknowledged her anger at Swami Rama. I met a yogi at Paidung in Sikkim in the year I947. In December of 1990, Yoga Journal published an expos detailing allegations of misbehavior, including sexual abuse, against Rama. miserable and death frightening. a journey to learn and grow, and then the journey ends. God knows whether it was true or not, and even if it was true, this is a normal phenomenon. [In the Katha Upanishad] Yama taught Nachiketa that it is necessary to understand death to understand life, and likewise life must be understood in order to understand death. From: She said no: She had been on a work crew Swami Rama had ordered to week poison ivy roots for his new garden, and she was covered with oozing blisters. 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. Swami Rama, she says, would extol his own sexual abilities but tell her she was bad at making love. This is not to diminish think. It says, He explains that Nuernberger was just a graduate student, inexperienced and lacking in professional judgment, when the incident with Marston occurred: "At a time when he was learning to be a therapist and thought that someone is asking for you to reach out, you reach out and you touch them and you let them see your feelings, and I think that was very bad." (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. Sri Ramakrishna was an Indian mystic (one whose religious beliefs are based on spirituality and practices outside of traditional religion), reformer, and saint who, in his own lifetime, came to be hailed by people of all classes as a spiritual embodiment (taking on the physical form) of God. One of the greatest adepts, teachers, writers, and humanitarians of the 20th century, Swami Rama (19251996) is the founder of the Himalayan Institute. you not to attach yourself to this world. Many of them say they feared his wrath when they were disciples, and several still believe he has the power to inflict harm or illness on them from a distance. And she would help him write books. 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. She was my initiate. STEINER, RUDOLF (18611925), who wrote more than 350 volumes on philosophy, science, and the arts, was the originator of an esoteric, Although the word "spirituality" was originally a Christian one, derived from the Pauline definition of whatever was under the influence of the spiri, YOGANANDA 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. In the autumn of 1997, Pennsylvania jurors awarded $1.875 million in damages to a former female resident of the Himalayan Institute in Honesdale, PA. truths state that life is suffering, the suffering has a cause, there is Grief should not consume a person, Focusing knowledge of Reality and the secrets of life and death. 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. 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. Hadn't he taken vows of celibacy? In 1997, after the Swami had died, one of the women pressing charges was awarded almost two million dollars in damages posthumously. As he relaxed, he created alpha waves by "imagining an empty blue sky with drifting clouds". 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). He says he once had a patient falsely accuse him of getting her pregnant, and that any psychologist knows that this happens frequently with emotionally disturbed women patients. Choose from 8 signature wellness retreats to help you restore balance and achieve optimum health and healing. Childhood Sacred Journey, From Sacred Journey Many people, including the victims themselves, have trouble understanding how damaging such sexual contact can be, because the women are adults and no one is holding a gun to their heads. He is a seeker, with certain strengths and weaknesses. Pandit Rajmani Tigunait is the resident spiritual director of the Honesdale ashram, as well as a member of the Institute's teaching staff. Swami Rama, Founder of Promoting Society, Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust (HIHT), was born in 1925 at Village-Toli, Malla Badalpur, Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand (erstwhile Uttar Pradesh) to a learned Brahmin family.Orphaned at a young age, he was raised from early childhood by a great yogi and saint of Bengal who lived in the foothills of the Himalayas. Many of those beliefs are based on Hindu and Buddhist teachings about the nature of the guru. a cessation of suffering, and there is a means to that cessation: a authors are initiates in the Himalayan Tradition of Yoga and students of the late Swami Rama. A few weeks later she moved to Honesdale. The Secret of the Yoga Sutra Rajmani Tigunait 2014 The Yoga Sutra is the living source . He must see something special in me.'" distractions, dancing girls and video games, and opportunities for "If someone is a saint, celibacy would be his normal condition," Dr. Green comments. During that time, neither of them would see any other, and she should never tell anyone. Five minutes before her death she called all the family members and blessed them. Mahatma Gandhiji said, "to be afraid of death, is like being afraid of discarding the old and worn-out garments." When he was leading in the political field, he instilled that kind of fearlessness about death, that acceptance about death. Then she dropped her body in complete consciousness. Consciousness makes our body appear to exist. I ask him. And she was afraid to leave in her old car because a freezing rainstorm had covered all the roads with ice. attached to or to identify with something? He became famous for his ability to control his body in yoga nidra, writing many books including the autobiographical Living with Himalayan Masters. That through which In May, Swami Rama visited the area again. 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. Carolyn went away to college at the end of that year, as her parents expected. get off a particular train and prepare for another. Truth alone is the real teacher and master" - and asking for an explanation of the women's stories and challenging a possible Institute "cover-up" on professional ethical grounds. Ex-members say he also bends the rules and bestows privileges on his favorites, who may in turn enforce rules, which they do not follow. Several of his works have been translated into different languages throughout the world. Read the full newspaper online, on your smartphone and tablet Both came from prominent Midwestern families; each had an alcoholic parent, and they now believe they were seeking not only spiritual growth, but also a strong parental figure. Before leaving, Megan says, she tried to confront Swami Rama publicly-but he went into seclusion, claiming illness. You see yourself, your identity, as this person in the Death 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. it go. "Until you get your priorities straight and your head clear, I would request that you refrain from attempting to represent the Institute or its teachings in any way.". One of these was in Minneapolis. If you did not give away your heart to the Beloved You did not give away anything at all. Since she had taken over, everything had been put in order. Thats not ration-al. [9] The result was a sharp increase of interest in his teachings. Swami Kripalu (19131981) was a Kundalini yoga master and teacher also known as Kripalvananda. I don't have access to those files." ", Pandit Arya is not so reluctant as Dr. Ballentine to articulate is how one can recognize a worthy guru. But within the Institute, she says, everyone else seemed to accept the guru's sexually suggestive behavior and humiliation of women. We examined his pulse, heartbeat, and breath, but there was no sign of life. As the other disciples looked on with envy, Swami Rama called her aside for a final, intimate word: She should work on herself, he reportedly told her-lose some weight and learn to admire herself. 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. He was also accused of kicking other women in the buttocks when they were weeding, already down on their hands and knees them in death. Each of the women I interviewed described how he would discern her particular needs and self-doubts and manipulate her spiritual beliefs or naivet in order to exploit her sexually-he has an uncanny ability to suit his approach to each victim, they say. Death cannot Nor does Dr. Ballentine mention that in 1977 Nuernberger was formally reprimanded by the Minnesota Board of Psychology for unethical practices stemming from his relationship with a third woman patient. If she Sadhana Mandir Trust 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. Did he do some bad karma in his past life? A Practical Guide to Holistic Health. Must see something special in me. ' fear, frustration, and the... As her parents expected Koestler also covers gandhis disappointing treatment of his works have been translated into different languages the... Several of his works have been translated into different languages throughout the world eternal nature of also... To this yogic master spiritual authority figure who are the guru 's sexually suggestive and... 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