Brian didn't believe his teacher, and he spoke with several other Institute administrators and board members about Rose's claim of abuse. My initial experience with yoga in the 1990's at the Himalayan Institute of Buffalo led me to making a radical shift in lifestyle and moving to the Institute's educational headquarters in Honesdale, P.A. I might doubt my own perception, I might doubt my own eyes, but I cannot doubt that strength which has given me everything.". 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. 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. 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. toshiba tv screen goes black after a few minutes. Brian says he did not realize at the time that a conviction for fraud could have lost the Institute its federal tax-exempt status as an educational institution. 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. 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. 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. At the same time, she says, he offered her money and told her he wanted to put her in his will. She would start with handling the appointments and then she would make his plane reservations, scheduling lecture tours. When he told her to visit him at night again, Carolyn says she did not have enough self-confidence to say no, but she hoped that this time he would treat her differently, with more sensitivity and respect. Swami Rama allegedly told her, the couple remembers, that if she screamed no one would hear her, and even if they heard, no one would believe her. Immerse yourself in a life-changing course of study and get certified in the authentic teachings of yoga and meditation. One day Swami Rama called for her and told her he wouldn't be taking her to India that autumn. Sanctions on an institution can cause students to look elsewhere for higher education. Since 1972, Himalayan Institute Excursions have offered purpose-driven journeys to discover the fulfillment your soul is seeking. Swami Rama has a reputation among his followers as an incredible psychologist who uses his insights to help others. 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?" During this spiel, she says, he put his hand on her buttocks, but she told him she wasn't buying it. Cons Not one that I can see. But for a man of Pandit Arya's background and beliefs, the relationship with one's guru is more momentous than any merely temporal bond. At that, she says, he raged at her until she was sobbing, unable to speak a word in her own defense: No! 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. Those statements are on file with the cult Awareness network (formerly the citizen's Freedom Foundation) in New York. 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. 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. Go to Top. His disciples believe he knows them better than they know themselves, and that if they want to achieve their spiritual goals they should do exactly as he says. Read More She says he told her to finish her college degree at the University of Scranton while remaining at the Institute. ", Pandit Arya is not so reluctant as Dr. Ballentine to articulate is how one can recognize a worthy guru. The next day, she says, Swami Rama called her to his office and asked her if anyone had said anything to her. The program seemed to provide the ideal family she'd never had, where everyone shared her values and spiritual goals. Yet she is vulnerable to feeling re-victimized every time her experience is denied or distorted. Himalayan Institute | Honesdale PA Since its inception in 1971, the Himalayan Institute has been at the leading edge of personal and social transformation. Himalayan Institute Online Our new online platform for community, courses, and content. "By their fruits you shall know them," he says, paraphrasing the Bible. "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. 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. She took a meditation class at the alternative high school program she attended, and one evening her teachers invited her to a lecture by their guru, Swami Rama, who was visiting the Chicago area. Yoga seminars, retreats, and professional certifications taught by our world-class faculty, designed to bring you the best of an authentic yoga tradition. Carolyn walked up to the cabin, she says, where after a brief minute spent leafing through her work, the guru asked her in a low voice for a meeting later that night. Dr. Ballentine, who says he studied psychology at the Sorbonne and completed his training in psychiatry at Louisiana State University, defends Nuernberger. 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.". Attempts to verify Swami Rama's educational background have been unsuccessful, according to Vanessa Webber of the Cult Awareness Network. Sexual contract between gurus and their American disciples is not a new or rare phenomenon. She says he arranged for her to meet him at the Gramercy Park Hotel and instructed her not to call him Swami in public. Healthy lifestyle products to support your yoga and spiritual practice. The Swami Rama died in 1996 at the age of 69. She was afraid to stay in her room, which had no lock on the door, or to use the hall telephone, because all calls had to be routed through the main switchboard. She began to believe that this man who might have been spiritual at one time was now suffering from feelings he couldn't control. 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. He said, "We must build a center of life which will be an important bridge between East . Later, many of the women broke out in head-to-toe swelling and rashes from what had in fact been poison ivy roots. 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. 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. Yet the women never seemed to complain about such treatment, Megan says. She remembers that Swami Rama received love letters from several women; one of two of them even mentioned "your child." Himalayan Institute locations 3.6 Honesdale, PA Show all locations What's being discussed at Himalayan Institute? 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 women's fears have aborted projects intended to expose possible exploitation to a wider audience. Anyway, he said that our relationship would be exclusive, I'd be like a spiritual courtesan. Otherwise& there would be no need for this person to propagate this whole story.". Perfect. Early the next morning, she says, he announced to her that she was going to leave; he never set up the promised program. Education Advocacy I ask him. Still, she felt she had no right to question the guru's actions. Megan remembers asking him why he was trying all this on her. 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. Experts and some inside the system say that in justifying its decision, UC perpetuated outdated claims about online learning. Whilst there's no hint of it on the Himalayan Institute's website, Swami Rama faced lawsuits in the 1990s over sexual abuse with his students stemming back to the 1970s. She would live with him in the house he was buying. In a few months time she would handle his bank account, income taxes, everything. 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. 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. 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. Join us in serving a tradition that has served the world selflessly for untold ages. Our new online platform for community, courses, and content. What a foolish woman! Shortly after Marston filed her suit in 1978, Nuernberger moved to Honesdale, where he is currently a member of the Institute's teaching staff. HIT ranked 39 th under Best Hotel Management Colleges in All India by The Week 2022.; HIT ranked 23rd under Top Private Hotel Management Colleges in All India and 11 th in North Zone by The Week 2022.; HIT is ranked as one of the most preferred Hotel Management Colleges . He is supposed to have been raised by Sri Madhavananda Bharati in the sacred caves and monasteries of the Himalayan sages. In his enlightened state, they believe, he could never commit any selfish acts, which would create new karmic burdens. Community, Courses, and Content. Our humanitarian projects serve impoverished communities through rural empowerment and environmental regeneration. Donate Help Our Cause US$20.00 When she asked him what she should do with the love letters, she says, Swami Rama would laugh and say, "Oh, these goofy women! My father certainly had sex, and that's why I was born, so will I lose faith in my father? His actions are rarely questioned by his followers, because his every deed is thought to flow from his union with godhead. A guru has the wisdom of experience and the ancient teachings, so he can provide guidance, Dr. Ballantine says, but students should "judge every [practice] on the basis of your own experience." 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. The jury called the abuse "spiritual incest . Dr. Ballentine says it is "presumptuous" to judge whether or not someone is perfected. In the United States, far from the strong cultural morality of the guru's country of origin, it is not regulated at all. 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. 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. Residents staff the Institute's administration, bookstores, and other small businesses, including Himalayan Publishers and Distributors and an elementary school. According to ex-members, Swami Rama often acts in ways his disciples find humiliating, but they tell each other he is humbling their stubborn egos to help them reach enlightenment faster. Several former students of Swami Rama granted interviews to Patricia Ann Darling, Ph. Numerous former students say they left the Institute because they were sexually exploited by Swami Rama or knew someone who was. 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. ", Why would the women want to blackmail Swami Rama? 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. Carolyn says she spent years blaming herself and trying to rationalize away what she now regards as sexual abuse. The Swami, she says, bragged to a crowd of disciples that the woman would do whatever he told her, then put his dog's collar and leash around her neck and walked her back and forth, while the others laughed. Carolyn,* an old friend, called me collect. He told her he was writing a book of poetry for her, and he offered to find her a husband. In May, Swami Rama visited the area again. The original creator of the neti pot, the Himalayan Institute has been offering traditional and modern products for health and spirituality since 1971. The Institute's program is no longer accredited by the University of Scranton. 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