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. You're bound to get mixed up. 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. Wisdom must show itself in action and lovingness." Just, as we see from the excerpt of Skandamahpuram, that Lakshman's body vanished as he fell dead, so we may infer logically for Rama too. He and Pandit Rajmani say that a guru is "that which dispels darkness." And there is a statement, 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.'" 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. [9] The result was a sharp increase of interest in his teachings. Most of the Institute's programs are open to the general public. Well-to-do New Yorkers flock to Honesdale on weekends for seminars in stress reduction, meditation, and health and nutrition. Now Megan says that in a different atmosphere, she would have immethately recognized Swami Rama's behavior as sexual harassment or "sadistic manipulation." The headquarters of the mission is in Belur Math, a monastery near Kolkata. One spring evening a couple of weeks later, she says, Swami Rama called her aside to ask why she'd been avoiding him, and she tried to tell him she'd discovered his lies. Swami Rama is survived by his Indian son and daughter, Mohit Dhasmana and Devyani Mungali, and his American son, Robert Walter. From 1949 to 1952 he held the prestige and dignity of She became outraged at the residents and the professional staff who enable and legitimized the Swami's behavior. Over the past 15 or 20 years, numerous spiritual teachers have admitted to, or been charged with, having sexually exploitative relationships with their female students. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. When the manipulation started to involve her meditation and spiritual practices, she says, she decided to confide in one man who had been at the Institute for a long time and who was planning to leave. Carolyn had sought a consultation with Pandit Rajmani, who told her that Megan was either lying because she was "on an ego trip," or fantasizing a sexual encounter that had never taken place. So I visited the house and I discovered that the sound of her mantra was still vibrating there. But it is also common in the thought-control techniques of totalitarian states. Even today his thoughts are used as a priceless mantra by his followers. Ultimately, the woman had revealed the liaison to her husband. That was why he wanted her to be his secretary. A pearl necklace that Brian had bought from Swami Rama as an "investment" was appraised at roughly one-third of the $100,000 he had paid for it. 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. At age 23 Ramakrishna married Sarada Devi, a five-year-old girl, but, because of his advocacy of celibacy, the marriage was never consummated, even though they remained together until his death. Maybe it's an honor that this great yogi asked me of all his students to serve him in this way. It was located on the way to Dhulikhel on the mountain of Janagal. When I asked Pandit Arya about the allegations of sexual abuse, he admits that he was very disturbed when he first heard them. Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. However, the date of retrieval is often important. 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. [2] [3] During his American tours Swami Rama Tirtha spoke frequently on the concept of 'practical Vedanta' [4] and education of Indian youth. Susan has received several phone calls and a letter from people she didn't send her letter to. But a deeper anxiety also motivated my visit: I'd heard a rumor that several women, ex-members of the Institute, were taking Carolyn's guru to court on charges of sexual misconduct. Swami Rama, she says, would extol his own sexual abilities but tell her she was bad at making love. And I feared that Carolyn-young beautiful, idealistic, and worshipful of Swami Rama, the Institute's founder and spiritual leader - could be vulnerable to such exploitation. Years later, Rose contacted Patricia Trescelli, hoping to support a lawsuit by other women working with Trescelli and hoping to press charges against Swami Rama in her own sexual assault. * "Nirvana was up at his cabin, walking his dog at 5:30 in the morning, and Megan was with him day and night." He was among the first notable teachers of Hinduism to lecture in the United States, travelling there in 1902, preceded by Swami Vivekananda in 1893 and followed by Paramahansa Yogananda in 1920. But no one knows the date of when he left. Hughes wrote Dr. Ballentine a letter on May 22, 1989, quoting Gandhi-Truth itself helps me when I commit mistakes. It was also about this time that Calcutta newspaper and journal articles first referred to him as the Hindu saint or as the Paramahamsa (a religious title of respect and honour). . Branch centers have also been established throughout the United States. Swami Rama has a reputation among his followers as an incredible psychologist who uses his insights to help others. The well equipped hospital was already running in 1996. //]]>. Megan remembers asking him why he was trying all this on her. No one can expand his consciousness if he remains egotistical. The yogi suddenly went into deep meditation. Initially, Brian says, most of the other directors responded with concern. 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. 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. He is held accountable only to the higher spiritual laws, which he is uniquely able to comprehend. The great yogi Totapuri (whose name is well known to the students of the life of Paramahamsa Ramakrishna), like many other yogis, changed his name several times. [2][3] Abuses alleged to have taken place against former students of Swami Rama in Chicago, in Minneapolis, in New York, and in India in the 1970s were documented by Patricia Ann Darling in a chapter of her 1987 University of Minnesota PhD thesis. There's no need for finding out, if I know it is completely wrong.". One day Swami Rama called for her and told her he wouldn't be taking her to India that autumn. Reprinted from Sacred Journey, an HIHT publication. On one occasion, she says, Swami Rama ordered all the women disciples to weed out some roots around his new cabin, telling them they were rooting out their samskaras. After six months she fell sick and became bedridden. Gurus were supposed to have conquered their desires, but in the spiritual literature they were often portrayed as contradictory, tricking their disciples into enlightenment. But their encounters were exactly the same as before, she says-emotionally impersonal and sexually mechanical. Carolyn says she told him no, it "just didn't feel right." [1] He moved to America in 1969, initially teaching yoga at the YMCA, and founding the Himalayan Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy in Illinois in 1971; its headquarters moved to its current location in Honesdale, Pennsylvania in 1977. Carolyn says she is at a loss to discern any positive reason behind Swami Rama's behavior toward her. There they became priests in a temple dedicated to the goddess Kali. Two months after Swami Rama left for India, Carolyn went to Chicago to visit her family for Christmas. A guru has the wisdom of experience and the ancient teachings, so he can provide guidance, Dr. Ballentine says, but students should "judge every [practice] on the basis of your own experience." [13], Himalayan Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy, "15 Yoga Gurus That Are Empowering The World Through Social Media", "The Case Against Swami Rama of The Himalayas", "$1.9 Million Awarded In Swami Sexual Case", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Swami_Rama&oldid=1147688250, This page was last edited on 1 April 2023, at 15:01. He also sent out a letter resigning from the board. Visions of Kali or other deities brought ecstasy and peace; he once described Kali as a limitless, infinite, effulgent ocean of spirit.. Susan says the woman described her own similar experiences with Swami Rama during the past two years. 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. Ramakrishna, now alone, prayed for a vision of Kali-Ma (Kali the Mother), whom he worshipped as the supreme manifestation of God. ." The surgeons at our hospital were happily surprised that when they asked for his blessing for a difficult surgery the surgery would go smoothly easy flowing. Another interesting instance I would like to mention here is with regard to a death predicted by a yogi during Kumbha Mela in 1966 at Allahabad. But he did not cure himself of the diabetes he took on from someone. Together we ate superb vegetarian meals in the Institute's dining commons and chanted evening prayers. As the disease advanced the great Yogi instead of curing himself through his yogic powers, gave up his body in Samadhi. 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. Once when Sri Ramakrishna Paramhamsa was suffering from throat cancer, Swami Vivekananda could not bear His sufferings and planned to apply his yogic powers to cure him. Sex with a guru is a form of spiritual incest. He told her he was writing a book of poetry for her, and he offered to find her a husband. Because that's my whole life Even if I found out - how can I find out? Allegations of sexual abuse by Swami Rama have followed on the heels of the Institute's success like a shadow. "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 was feeling so disgusted with her body and afraid of the guru's humiliating comments that one night she couldn't face going to his room, she says. 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. VIVEKANANDA was the religious name of Narendranath Datta, or Dutt (18631902), a leading spokesman for modern Hinduism and neo-Vednta in, Sri Ramakrishna They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. For the At the Feet of a Himalayan Master books: The website of the Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust (HIHT) is http://www.hihtindia.org/ . The link for the Swami Rama Centre is http://www.hihtindia.org/SRC%20NEW/src_home.htm He claimed that he was raised somewhere in the monasteries and holy caves of the Himalayas by his personal guru or master Sri Madhavananda Bharati. He said What will the japa of others do for me? I mean, he's giving you the teachings and you're going to use the teachings to evaluate him? 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