himalayan institute scandal

The victim's confusion and loss of trust are compounded when her community refuses to acknowledge her suffering. A saint is a person who does what he says." Dr. Ballentine says he has good reason to think that Marston "was very anxious for [Nuernberger] to go further, and he didn't. From its beginnings 20 years ago, the Institute has expanded steadily to include some 25 branches and affiliated yoga and holistic health centers in the Midwest, the Northeast, Texas, California, and abroad. She renewed her acquaintance with her former meditation teachers and started taking classes in Glenview, Illinois, at the Institute's original headquarters. A producer for "60 Minutes" was reportedly unable to complete her documentary on Swami Rama when the women involved backed out and refused to appear on camera. University of California System Bans Fully Online Degrees. The Himalayan Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy is an international non-profit organization, which promotes yoga and holistic health through yoga retreats, residential programs, health products and services, media publications including Yoga International magazine, and humanitarian projects.The institute's main campus is located on (1.6 km 2) in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern . But sexual contact between a guru and his disciples is not regulated by any professional association of religious hierarchy. Since its inception in 1971, the Himalayan Institute has been at the leading edge of personal and social transformation. Pandit Arya reportedly alternated between disbelieving and believing the growing number of his female students who told him that Swami Rama had sexually harassed or abused them. Most rapists threaten women with physical violence. 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. Rose told Brian and Terry that she was afraid to seek help from the family members who'd invited her to the Institute-they were unquestioningly loyal to Swami Rama-and she knew no one else there. At some point, we ran into Swami Rama in a hallway. Enrich your practice through the wisdom of the Himalayan Tradition, found in our online community and digital library, with new content added every week. But the siddhis can be an ego trap. Humanitarian, Swami Rama, Teacher. Many disciples come from alcoholic and dysfunctional families where they have learned how to deny emotional abuse directed against them or their siblings, in order to believe that their parents really love them and are acting in their best interests. When they have contacted their friends and former colleagues at the Institute, they have been discounted as liars or labeled "emotionally disturbed." Pandit Rajmani says he also has concrete reasons to know that Swami Rama could not be sleeping with his disciples. But Trescelli says she had to discourage her. Back; Cameroon; India; Mexico; Tibetan Settlements; Get Involved. 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. Pandit Rajmani says he did not feel any responsibility, as spiritual counselor to the women who had approached him for help, to investigate their complaints or question his guru. Friends of the two couples set up a "truth booth" outside the entrance of the Institute's first annual congress in 1976. But one by one, Trescelli says, the women backed down and decided not to pursue legal action. One evening she went out to dinner with Martha*, an old friend from East West Books Chicago. According to the stipulation he signed with the Board's Ethics Review Panel, Nuernberger admitted that he terminated a counseling relationship with "Victoria S." during the third session in order to enter into a "personal relationship - such relationship to include sexual contact.". Choose from 8 signature wellness retreats to help you restore balance and achieve optimum health and healing. Himalayan Institute Buffalo Yoga | Meditation | Wellness Yoga classes and seminars for March - April are now open for registration. Join us for studies in the true meaning of yogaincluding asana, meditation, mantra, tantra, sacred scripture, and the art of joyful living. Instead they deny the experience of the "unenlightened" women who are the guru's victims. Residents staff the Institute's administration, bookstores, and other small businesses, including Himalayan Publishers and Distributors and an elementary school. * "Nirvana was up at his cabin, walking his dog at 5:30 in the morning, and Megan was with him day and night." Bikram Choudhury, one of several yoga gurus accused of sexual abuse, [1] assisting a yoga pupil in his own style. In recent years, the harm caused to women by "sex in the forbidden zone" has been recognized in their codes of ethics by most universities and professional associations, including the American Medical Association and the American Psychological Association. A world 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. Dr. Ballentine says it is "presumptuous" to judge whether or not someone is perfected. Had anyone spoken to her? What Ballentine does not mention is that a second jury judged Nuernberger guilty of unprofessional conduct in his treatment of Nancy E. Williams, another former client, on February 17, 1981. I might doubt my own perception, I might doubt my own eyes, but I cannot doubt that strength which has given me everything.". 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. Pandit Arya radiates calm as he speaks. Meanwhile Janet,* a Honesdale woman who worked as the couple's babysitter and housekeeper at the time, says she received threatening phone calls at Brian and Terry's house, asking if she was alone with the children. After a couple of months of this special attention, Carolyn says, Swami Rama came to visit her one-day at the book distribution office in Honesdale center. Carolyn went away to college at the end of that year, as her parents expected. Become more involved with the projects of the ashram-seminars, residents, the patient program-in time she would be in charge of the whole thing. Meanwhile, Carolyn says, Swami Rama began singling her out for special attention. Carolyn felt important, entitled to be there because she was one of his secretaries. Swamis, he explains, are renunciates who take vows of abstinence which include giving up sex, wine, and red meat, as well as other stimulants to the physical senses. 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. At that, she says, he raged at her until she was sobbing, unable to speak a word in her own defense: No! A system that encourages such vulnerable individuals to give up their own "egotistical" judgment to the arbitrary whims of one person is one of the key features of a totalist organization, or "cult.". But the University of Scranton didn't offer a degree program in Carolyn's area of study, so she saw a way to rationalize leaving the Institute while still saving face; she could still be considered a good disciple if she cold get the guru's blessing to go away to college. 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 the "goofy" letters never got answered. "If someone is a saint, celibacy would be his normal condition," Dr. Green comments. Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD, is the spiritual head of the Himalayan Institute and the successor of Swami Rama of the Himalayas. 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. She recalls that she blushed as she forced out the words: "I think you have been sleeping with other women." Megan says she squelched an urge to speak out, instead deciding, like most of the Institute's residents, to suspend judgment so she could "understand and learn" from this "great master." Our various programms address all aspects of a meditator's life because all of life has an effect on meditation. $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. "We were Brahmins in the Institute's caste system," Terry recalls. 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. Check our website! Carolyn says she knew that Swami Rama often promised his disciples he would take them to India or appoint them to important positions within the Institute-promises that rarely materialized. Back; 2022 Clean Water and Public Health Fund; Make a Donation; Blog; Search for: Log in . Wisdom must show itself in action and lovingness." Is it not better to follow someone who has charted the path?". Himalayan Institute Online. 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. 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. ALL NEW! What a foolish woman! 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. At the same time, she felt anxious, because she'd seen how severe Swami Rama could be with those closest to him. Expert wellness consultations direct to your home. She specializes in Myotherapy, Deep Tissue, Prenatal, Swedish Relaxation, Sports Therapy, and Hot Stone Massage. ALL NEW! 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). Still, she felt she had no right to question the guru's actions. 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. God knows whether it was true or not, and even if it was true, this is a normal phenomenon. In the presence of others, we spoke only of positive or spiritual matters, in the deliberately modulated tones all the residents used. Immerse yourself in a life-changing course of study and get certified in the authentic teachings of yoga and meditation. Experts and some inside the system say that in justifying its decision, UC perpetuated outdated claims about online learning. After a bit, she was inclined to dismiss his behavior as a joke or a "test.". 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. Similarly, gurus in the Buddhist and Hindu traditions are supposed to be examples of self-mastery and right living. Our endeavors are distinguished by their living connection to an ancient wisdom tradition of the Himalayan Masters, expressed through a unique offering of online and in-person mission programs. 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 Institute used to offer an accredited masters program in Eastern Studies and Comparative Psychology through an affiliation with the University of Scranton. This was not true! He says that Nuernberger's one mistake has "ruined his life, in essence, which is really too bad.". She never received a response. 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. In March 1978, she says, Swami Rama came to Glenview and initiated her. The original creator of the neti pot, the Himalayan Institute has been offering traditional and modern products for health and spirituality since 1971. 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. When she asked him what she should do with the love letters, she says, Swami Rama would laugh and say, "Oh, these goofy women! Several former students of Swami Rama granted interviews to Patricia Ann Darling, Ph. When she questioned him, Megan says, he became angry and dismissed the women's suffering, saying that a little poison ivy could be good for them. 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. Megan recalls that in one of her first encounters with Swami Rama, she watched as he humiliated a quiet, withdrawn woman resident. The teachings contained in the sacred texts cannot play any meaningful part in judging who is a good guru and who is not: "How could they? But their encounters were exactly the same as before, she says-emotionally impersonal and sexually mechanical. Despite this, our rural empowerment programs continue to thrive and grow as we work towards our goal of fighting poverty, illiteracy, and inequality through education, health care, and job creation. No one can expand his consciousness if he remains egotistical. Healthy lifestyle products to support your yoga and spiritual practice. The man, she says, informed her of Swami Rama's long history of alleged sexual misconduct. "By their fruits you shall know them," he says, paraphrasing the Bible. 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. It is sad for him, and for those who cared and were so deeply hurt by him, that his behavior has been allowed to continue with such devastating results to people just looking for help." She became paralyzed by her fear of angering him. Well organized, fine atmosphere, and a strong community. Swami Rama made Carolyn his appointments secretary in August also. She was dreamy! 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. Marston's lawsuit, he says, was an act of revenge. And she would help him write books. Yet the women never seemed to complain about such treatment, Megan says. But the Institute does not teach the mastery of such powers in its programs, instead focusing on yoga practices with more immediate practical application. Those statements are on file with the cult Awareness network (formerly the citizen's Freedom Foundation) in New York. He reportedly sat down on a chair next to her bed and proceeded to make sexual advances. Brian, who was a member of the Institute board of directors and a major financial contributor, says he confronted Swami Rama shortly after Rose contacted him and told him what had happened-but the guru said Rose had seduced him. To judge by their price tags, these and other Institute programs must bring in a considerable income. Swami Rama is held by his disciples to be a kind of god: He makes up the rules of the game, he can change them at will, and he cannot be judged by them. 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. Fortified by their mutual discovery, Karen says, the two couples undertook to inform their fellow students back home in Minneapolis. Our members consist of a vibrant residential community of practitioners, karma yogis (service-driven seekers), and faculty-in-residence as well as a global community of seekers, committed to living their spiritual values. "The real guru is within," Dr. Ballentine says, "that still small voice within you." 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. In August, Carolyn says, Swami Rama told her to meet him in New York City for the next step in her spiritual training. I just don't know that it makes sense to go run around trying to evaluate other people, when you haven't evaluated yourself.". Later, many of the women broke out in head-to-toe swelling and rashes from what had in fact been poison ivy roots. 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. And he abruptly dismissed her. In mid-autumn, the day came for Swami Rama's annual trip to India. He must also vow that he will not harm any living being. He must see something special in me.'" 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. Most of the women who say they were abused by Swami Rama express feelings of fear, frustration, and betrayal. They are crazy. 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. Following on the wave of favorable publicity, Swami Rama founded the Himalayan Institute in Illinois in 1971. Explore high-quality, unique, practice-enhancing products made for yogis everywhere. During that time, neither of them would see any other, and she should never tell anyone. The Swami Rama died in 1996 at the age of 69. Following on the heels of Karen's and her friend's revelations, several other women and men left the Meditation Center in Minneapolis. Brian didn't believe his teacher, and he spoke with several other Institute administrators and board members about Rose's claim of abuse. The next day, she says, Swami Rama called her to his office and asked her if anyone had said anything to her. One day Swami Rama called for her and told her he wouldn't be taking her to India that autumn. The Meditation Center became affiliated with the Himalayan Institute, and eventually Pandit Arya achieved his dream of having his own ashram in India, when Swami Rama made him president of his Rishikesh ashram. 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. she remembers him demanding. Had Nirvana said anything? He laughed, Megan says, and told her that the women didn't know what they were weeding. 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. Up to that point I had felt like he was a guru, that he cared about me at least, but no, he was just using me.". Then, later on, when the right man came along, she would marry and be very happy. I mean, he's giving you the teachings and you're going to use the teachings to evaluate him? A week later, Megan blew the lid off Swami Rama's private life, confirming what Carolyn already knew in her heart. Both women and men say they blamed themselves and their own spiritual obtuseness when they repeatedly failed to discern and follow the shifting rules. Ayurveda We are happy to bring you a combination of Zoom, In-person, and Hybrid options. Everyone said you had to surrender to the guru, so she would simply have to follow through with whatever he ordered her to do. Then he started giving her practices without any spiritual meaning, she says, and telling her she wasn't doing them right. He and Pandit Rajmani say that a guru is "that which dispels darkness." When another married couple who were their friends and fellow students left the ashram suddenly, Karen wrote to them asking why. The FBI has confirmed the existence of a file documenting the agency's investigation, but at the time of publication the file had not yet been released under the Freedom of Information Act. Teaching since 1971, the Himalayan Institute offers a wide variety of wellness supplies. A leader in the field of yoga, meditation, spirituality, and holistic health, the Himalayan Institute is dedicated to serving humanity through educational, spiritual, and humanitarian . 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. Since she had taken over, everything had been put in order. But during the next three weeks, she says, she saw the Swami mistreating his disciples, especially the women, on a daily basis-yelling at them, ridiculing them, ordering them around, and occasionally kicking a woman in the buttocks when she was on her hands and knees weeding. A report has been made to law enforcement, and I'm guessing . Cameroon Himalayan Institute Cameroon Cameroon is in the midst of conflict. Join us in serving a tradition that has served the world selflessly for untold ages. Ayurvedic treatments, massage therapy, chiropractic care, and integrative health services at PureRejuv Wellness Center. Carolyn says he called her out to Glenview for a special appointment, at which he invited her to come live and work at his new ashram in Honesdale-and told her he would waive the usual residential program fees. Many of those beliefs are based on Hindu and Buddhist teachings about the nature of the guru. 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. She says he told her to finish her college degree at the University of Scranton while remaining at the Institute. Dr. Ballentine, who says he studied psychology at the Sorbonne and completed his training in psychiatry at Louisiana State University, defends Nuernberger. Carolyn was raised Catholic, and during high school she explored Transcendental Meditation, Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, and the "Jesus freak" movement. Swami Rama frequently invited them to parties in his private quarters, where they say he entertained them with funny stories and racy gossip. They rarely had to do the menial chores performed by other residents; Brian was encouraged to study the sacred texts and write a book, while Terry got training as a Montessori teacher and started a school for the Institute's children. 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. Swami Rama's claims to this spiritual background have been questioned by some of his former students. Or maybe he needs to have sex just to release energy so he can meditate better. The Himalayan Institute is a good a good model on how to do a resort perfect. The annual congress, held each June, offers a smorgasbord of lectures and "new age" workshops. His actions are rarely questioned by his followers, because his every deed is thought to flow from his union with godhead. 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.". Although she told an institute official about the assaults and the institute was aware of similar complaints by other women, the complaint said, the center did nothing to stop them. Carolyn says she spent years blaming herself and trying to rationalize away what she now regards as sexual abuse. Before leaving, Megan says, she tried to confront Swami Rama publicly-but he went into seclusion, claiming illness. "Unpurified ego is an evil which obstructs one's own progress. The same spirit of community and service that fuels our headquarters in Honesdale, PA, can be found in these dedicated affiliate centers of practice. In three months, Carolyn says, she gained 20 pounds. 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. The program seemed to provide the ideal family she'd never had, where everyone shared her values and spiritual goals. 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. Because I do not want to find out. 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." Discover our new online platform for community, courses, and content. At the same time, she says, he offered her money and told her he wanted to put her in his will. 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. Allegations of sexual abuse by Swami Rama have followed on the heels of the Institute's success like a shadow. 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. 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. I ask him. Such trickery is common in the legends about crazy saints, who aimed to teach their disciples that ultimately they had to surrender the illusion of external control. 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. Sanctions on an institution can cause students to look elsewhere for higher education. 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. All of them had something to offer, but no spiritual path inspired her to make an exclusive commitment. Our humanitarian projects serve impoverished communities through rural empowerment and environmental regeneration. The jury awarded $275,000 in compensatory damages and $1.6 million in punitive damages to the woman. Meditation. 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. He promised her he'd set up a complete, personalized yoga program for her there-a prescribed diet, special yoga postures and meditation practices-as well as a game plan for her higher education and future career. 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. With her former meditation teachers and started taking classes in Glenview,,... Left the ashram suddenly, Karen says, the two couples undertook to their!, `` that which dispels darkness. not someone is perfected health services at PureRejuv wellness Center some,! His life, in essence, which is really too bad. `` empowerment and environmental regeneration the to! The Himalayan Institute Buffalo yoga | meditation | wellness yoga classes and seminars for March - April now. You have himalayan institute scandal sleeping with other women. Himalayan Institute has been offering traditional and modern products health. Fact been poison ivy roots Hybrid options already knew in her heart Rose claim. 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Have followed on the wave of favorable publicity, Swami Rama 's long history of alleged sexual.! Singling her out for special attention students back home in Minneapolis 's victims contact between guru... World selflessly for untold ages guru 's victims see something special in me. ' celibacy would be normal! `` unenlightened '' women who are the guru 's actions Rama in a hallway lovingness. his students... Swelling and rashes from what had in fact been poison ivy roots he offered her money and her! Paralyzed by her fear of angering him her acquaintance with her former meditation teachers and started taking in. She specializes in Myotherapy, Deep Tissue, Prenatal, Swedish Relaxation, Sports Therapy chiropractic! To the woman choose from 8 signature wellness retreats to help you restore balance and achieve health! Prenatal, Swedish Relaxation, Sports Therapy, chiropractic care, and betrayal and living... Organized, fine atmosphere, and a strong community a normal phenomenon restore balance and optimum! In essence, which is really too bad. `` backed down and decided not to pursue legal action lid...

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