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 could not control her emotions, he could not talk to her! 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. Live online programs, on-demand courses, and hundreds of yoga and meditation classes. Bikram Choudhury, one of several yoga gurus accused of sexual abuse, [1] assisting a yoga pupil in his own style. Now she says that those who have allowed the abuses to continue unchecked are responsible for destroying the Institute's integrity. We inspire, educate, and. Pandit Tigunait holds two doctorates: one in Sanskrit from the University of Allahabad, India, and one in Oriental Studies from the University of Pennsylvania. He told her to lie to the residential program director and say that she planned to visit a relative, and he gave her $100 to cover the cost of the trip. The program seemed to provide the ideal family she'd never had, where everyone shared her values and spiritual goals. So far, none of their attempts to communicate their experiences has been met by official Institute willingness to investigate their charges. She says he arranged for her to meet him at the Gramercy Park Hotel and instructed her not to call him Swami in public. Given a mantra but little guidance, Carolyn dutifully performed her assigned practices, hoping that Swami Rama's "scientific" approach to yoga would eventually yield results. 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. Before leaving, Megan says, she tried to confront Swami Rama publicly-but he went into seclusion, claiming illness. According to Marston's attorney, Philip W. Getts, his client never recovered the $50,000 in punitive damages Nuernberger owed her, because Pennsylvania is one of the few states that does not allow the court to garnish wages. In the mid-1970s, she and her husband George,* both students of Swami Rama, traveled to India and stayed at the guru's ashram in Rishikesh. She remembers that Swami Rama received love letters from several women; one of two of them even mentioned "your child." 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. HIT ranked under Top Commerce Colleges in All India by The Week 2022. But the siddhis can be an ego trap. But as she spent more time around Swami Rama and his inner circle, Megan says, the guru subjected her to a barrage of sexual harassment. A former disciple of their acquaintance wrote and signed a statement alleging that he had procured illegal drugs-including mescaline, psylocibin, and LSD-for Swami Rama in 1971. Since 1972, Himalayan Institute Excursions have offered purpose-driven journeys to discover the fulfillment your soul is seeking. 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. Marston's lawsuit, he says, was an act of revenge. 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. She says he told her to finish her college degree at the University of Scranton while remaining at the Institute. Fortified by their mutual discovery, Karen says, the two couples undertook to inform their fellow students back home in Minneapolis. His actions are rarely questioned by his followers, because his every deed is thought to flow from his union with godhead. 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. His disciples generally agree that the only reason his soul still inhabits a physical body is because he wants to help others achieve liberation from maya, the realm of illusion. Carolyn was raised Catholic, and during high school she explored Transcendental Meditation, Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, and the "Jesus freak" movement. But after they started saying all these things, I never trusted them anymore. We are happy to bring you a combination of Zoom, In-person, and Hybrid options. Initially, Brian says, most of the other directors responded with concern. By 1977, the Institute was able to purchase the Honesdale ashram, a former Catholic seminary in the rural Pocono Mountains, which now houses more than 100 residents and guests. 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. 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 Himalayan Institute community reaches across the entire globe. Instead they deny the experience of the "unenlightened" women who are the guru's victims. Every time he saw her, she says, he told her she was "perfect," as if she had passed some important test. "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. Ultimately, the woman had revealed the liaison to her husband. Within a sect the guru's authority is often absolute: he rules from the pinnacle of the institutional hierarchy. My father certainly had sex, and that's why I was born, so will I lose faith in my father? The Catholic Church may discipline a priest who has sex with a parishioner, not only because it violates his vow of celibacy, but because his parishioners must be able to confide in him without worrying that he will exploit their trust for his own gratification. Dr. Elmer Green says that he and his wife have heard from a number of women who said they were sexually exploited by Swami Rama. Years later, Carolyn told me that four years of discipleship under Swami Rama had taught her to be a successful liar. She renewed her acquaintance with her former meditation teachers and started taking classes in Glenview, Illinois, at the Institute's original headquarters. He also has the integrity to admit that if they were true, it would be very terrible, and a violation of the teaching that says one should treat all women as daughters. On January 24 of that year, a jury awarded $15,000 in actual damages and $50,000 in punitive damages to Barbara Marston, who had sued psychologist Philip Nuernberger for engaging in "sexually intimate behavior" with her during therapy sessions. Several former students of Swami Rama granted interviews to Patricia Ann Darling, Ph. And that did not undermine Mahatma Gandhi's work!& No, this would not be shattering, certainly not. Now Megan says that in a different atmosphere, she would have immediately recognized Swami Rama's behavior as sexual harassment or "sadistic manipulation." During the next few months, Carolyn says, Swami Rama bade her visit him in his private quarters once every couple of weeks, either after lunch or after evening prayers; he also made it her job to buy condoms. Those statements are on file with the cult Awareness network (formerly the citizen's Freedom Foundation) in New York. Yet she is vulnerable to feeling re-victimized every time her experience is denied or distorted. Two other women left the Institute shortly afterwards. The next day, she says, Swami Rama called her to his office and asked her if anyone had said anything to her. They are instructed to have "no emotional relationship inside or outside the Institute," and residential program directors are charged with monitoring disciple's behavior and attitudes to make sure they conform to Institute expectations. Our community is held together by dedicated students of the Himalayan Tradition, who value the principles of universal respect and collective responsibility. "Unpurified ego is an evil which obstructs one's own progress. Why did Carolyn say these things? 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. She recalls that he said they would become very close, their bodies would come together, and then they would part. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. 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. He rapidly attracted a following that included many graduate and professional students. Yoga seminars, retreats, and professional certifications taught by our world-class faculty, designed to bring you the best of an authentic yoga tradition. Instead, he told the other board members that he believed Rose, and that they should investigate the incident for themselves. They know, usually without being told, that if they break the taboo of silence they will be blamed for destroying their spiritual families and the "higher" good those families purportedly do in the world. 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. She specializes in Myotherapy, Deep Tissue, Prenatal, Swedish Relaxation, Sports Therapy, and Hot Stone Massage. Allegations of such abuse have been made against modern yoga gurus such as Bikram . Everyone said you had to surrender to the guru, so she would simply have to follow through with whatever he ordered her to do. Finally, she obtained his permission. 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.". She says Swami Rama began telling her that he had never had sex, that he was dreaming about her at night, and that he was experiencing novel physical sensations because of her. Relax, restore, and nourish yourself with a wellness retreat. Residents staff the Institute's administration, bookstores, and other small businesses, including Himalayan Publishers and Distributors and an elementary school. Immerse yourself in a life-changing course of study and get certified in the authentic teachings of yoga and meditation. Choose from 8 signature wellness retreats to help you restore balance and achieve optimum health and healing. 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. In her lawsuit, the plaintiff said the swami sexually assaulted her 30 times while she was attending the institute in the spring and summer of 1993. I informed him that I had interviewed women who sought him out because they respected him and trusted him to be interested in the truth. The Himalayan Institute has been and continues to be home to a service-driven community of yogis, volunteers, and faculty-in-residence. Lecturing and teaching worldwide for more than a quarter of a century, he is the author of fourteen books, including his autobiography Touched by Fire: The Ongoing Journey of a Spiritual Seeker, the best-selling At the Eleventh Hour: The Biography of Swami Rama of the Himalayas and a regular contributor to Yoga International. 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. Immerse yourself in a life-changing course of study and get certified in the authentic teachings of yoga and meditation. He cannot disbelieve his guru. 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. But the publicity surrounding the Menninger Foundation experiments gained Swami Rama an enviable "scientific" credibility in the eyes of the general public. 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. Ayurvedic treatments, massage therapy, chiropractic care, and integrative health services at PureRejuv Wellness Center. Back; Cameroon; India; Mexico; Tibetan Settlements; Get Involved. $1.9 Million Awarded In Swami Sexual Case, https://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/06/us/1.9-million-awarded-in-swami-sexual-case.html. Most rapists threaten women with physical violence. 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