* "Nirvana was up at his cabin, walking his dog at 5:30 in the morning, and Megan was with him day and night." 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. The program seemed to provide the ideal family she'd never had, where everyone shared her values and spiritual goals. 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?" Ex-members say that Swami Rama also uses his psychological insights to manipulate people. But sexual contact between a guru and his disciples is not regulated by any professional association of religious hierarchy. 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. She recalls that she blushed as she forced out the words: "I think you have been sleeping with other women." But their encounters were exactly the same as before, she says-emotionally impersonal and sexually mechanical. Following on the wave of favorable publicity, Swami Rama founded the Himalayan Institute in Illinois in 1971. But all of them, whether they appear here under a pseudonym or as a background source, understand that if this article provokes a libel suit they can be called to testify in court. Mission Membership is an invitation to put your spiritual values into action by supporting our shared commitment to service while deepening your study and practice in the living Himalayan Tradition. 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. 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. Shortly after they started studying with Pandit Usharbudh Arya at the Meditation Center in Minneapolis, he introduced them to his guru, Swami Rama. Minneapolis was the site of another Institute-related scandal in 1981. In three months, Carolyn says, she gained 20 pounds. After teaching, studying, and traveling throughout India and Europe, he came to the University of Minnesota in the 1960s, where he taught Sanskrit and Indian religions. Healthy lifestyle products to support your yoga and spiritual practice. The two couples referred to this statement in a petition to the FBI: they asked the FBI to investigate the threat letter and argued that Swami Rama could be deported by the Immigration and Naturalization Service as an undesirable alien on four grounds: possession of narcotics, sexual immorality, fraudulent financial dealings, and "affliction with [a] psychopathic personality." Several former students of Swami Rama granted interviews to Patricia Ann Darling, Ph. kono oto tomare main character; best supported football clubs in europe; rolling ridge conference center A leader in the field of yoga, meditation, spirituality, and holistic health, the Himalayan Institute is a non-profit international organization dedicated to serving humanity through educational, spiritual, and humanitarian programs. He bragged about his sumptuous homes in India and Japan and about his shopping sprees for designer clothes, she says. Because that's my whole life& My relationship with [Swami Rama] is purely divine and spiritual-there cannot be impurity in it, and there is no room for such thoughts. However, after Swami Rama talked with them, they either told Brian and Terry that the guru should be allowed a "mistake" or they shunned the couple altogether. What a foolish woman! From her childhood Carolyn had been steeped in Catholic faith and educated in scientific skepticism; now it seemed the Institute could help her harmonize these two seemingly contradictory ways of perceiving the world. According to Karen and George, no legal action resulted. Every time he saw her, she says, he told her she was "perfect," as if she had passed some important test. Himalayan Institute Online Our new online platform for community, courses, and content. 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. Put that letter in the 'goofy file.'" The next day, she says, Swami Rama called her to his office and asked her if anyone had said anything to her. She would live with him in the house he was buying. Explore our integrative health services & therapeutic treatments to help restore your natural state of well-being. She sounded unhappy, so I made plans to visit her at the Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, where she had been a resident for more than four years. First, Robert Tuttle of The Reason Files 2 is reporting the same thing I am hearing from multiple sources. Meanwhile, the couple says, they discovered more evidence of illicit activity. Allegations of sexual abuse by Swami Rama have followed on the heels of the Institute's success like a shadow. But she says his attitude toward her underwent a dramatic change; he began to make her a target for his anger, issuing contradictory orders and then screaming at her for her incompetence in front of the other secretaries and disciples and gossiping about her behind her back. Spiritual head of the Himalayan Institute, Pandit Tigunait is the successor of Swami Rama of the Himalayas. India Himalayan Institute India Our program model in India has been designed to focus on three initiatives: providing educational programs for children to help them rise above poverty level, preserving ancient culture and wisdom, and providing support for villagers dealing with natural disasters. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. "The real guru is within," Dr. Ballentine says, "that still small voice within you." A world leader in yoga, meditation, and holistic health, the Himalayan Institute is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving humanity through educational, spiritual, and humanitarian programs. He reportedly smokes cigarettes, watches television for hours every day, and gossips, but his disciples rationalize this non-abstinent behavior: "Oh, Swamiji just smokes to bring himself down to the earth plane," or, "The TV is on incessantly just to give the student one more distraction to challenge his ability to maintain yogic balance," or, "all the stories Swamiji tells about other people are just to give the disciple the opportunity to develop objectivity and not get caught up in the meaningless gossip.". When I asked Pandit Arya about the allegations of sexual abuse, he admits that he was very disturbed when he first heard them. The daughter of an alcoholic, she longed for guidance from a spiritual authority figure. But in 1980, they say, they returned to Honesdale after a brief vacation to learn that their friend Rose* had allegedly been sexually assaulted by Swami Rama during their absence and had fled the Institute for New York City. Nestled in the rolling hills of the Poconos, our stunning 400-acre campus is a gathering place for seekers from around the globe. When they have contacted their friends and former colleagues at the Institute, they have been discounted as liars or labeled "emotionally disturbed." -- Swami Rama, "Living With the Himalayan Masters". 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. Surrender only leads to enlightenment if the "guru within" is strong and well developed. Numerous former students say they left the Institute because they were sexually exploited by Swami Rama or knew someone who was. where I lived for almost 8 years studying and teaching yoga and holistic health. 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. And she would help him write books. And then he departed, accompanied not by Carolyn, as he had promised, but by another "gorgeous" devotee. I told her what I'd heard, and that I wasn't sure the rumor was true-as a beginning student of yoga and meditation at the Institute's East West Books in New York City, I was reluctant to believe it myself. She couldn't make sense out of his behavior, because she found it impossible to believe that it was really about sex-and she repeatedly told him so. 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. Then, later on, when the right man came along, she would marry and be very happy. Megan remembers asking him why he was trying all this on her. He told her he was writing a book of poetry for her, and he offered to find her a husband. There's no need for finding out, if I know it is completely wrong.". "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. Join us for studies in the true meaning of yogaincluding asana, meditation, mantra, tantra, sacred scripture, and the art of joyful living. The yogis, he says, have demonstrated these abilities in the past and continue to do so. ALL NEW! In retrospect, Megan says, she believes that Swami Rama was indifferent to the problems that his behavior might cause the Institute, but was using such scandals to purge it of anyone who questioned his authority. 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. In May, Swami Rama visited the area again. If a hundred people come and say that the day is night and I know that it's not, the voting system doesn't do it here, you know? Authentic Ashram Living He said, "We must build a center of life which will be an important bridge between East . Following on the heels of Karen's and her friend's revelations, several other women and men left the Meditation Center in Minneapolis. 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