Hughes, who ran East West Books Chicago and then worked as publicity and sales director of Himalayan Publishers and Distributors, now has a masters degree in counseling and hosts a successful TV series in Memphis, Tennessee: Total Health and Relaxation: An Ounce of Prevention." Your work is not yet complete. Initially, Brian says, most of the other directors responded with concern. ), In 1852 poverty forced Ramkumar and Ramakrishna to leave their village to seek employment in Calcutta (now Kolkata). During a series of biofeedback experiments in 1970 and 1971, Drs. Carolyn stayed at the Institute for three more years, working at a variety of jobs. 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. She was thrilled; it was commonly believed at the Institute that the fastest way to reach enlightenment was to spend as much time as possible in the presence of the guru. No, he says: "Even if it happened, what's the big deal? Brian sued Swami Rama, and eventually the guru settled out of court for the full amount. They are crazy. Terry, who is now a practicing psychotherapist, says she believes Swami Rama's behavior is compulsive-he can't help it." When the couple confided their resulting marital troubles to Karen and George, Karen confirmed her friend's experience by revealing that she, too, had had a supposedly exclusive and spiritual sexual relationship with Swami Rama before her marriage. Everyone knows about Lord Rama's wife i.e. Fourteen years passed and he was still in the body and I took a sigh of relief. 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. Like incest victims, women who say they have been sexually abused by their gurus are sworn to silence by their abusers. He looked hale and hearty, standing as usual tall and erect. But something, which is truth, cannot be falsified by having one hundred witnesses. "I will not tolerate anyone propagating malicious stories about the Institute or its founder on the Institute's own property," Dr. Ballcntine's letter says. There he founded the Meditation Center. Many of those beliefs are based on Hindu and Buddhist teachings about the nature of the guru. Megan remembers asking him why he was trying all this on her. Died: August 16, 1886 I was counting years. 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. At the same time, Carolyn is trying to understand how her family background and conditioning contributed to her victimization. His devotees hovered near the ashram's entrance, hoping for final instructions or a blessing from the guru. 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. Hughes wrote Dr. Ballentine a letter on May 22, 1989, quoting Gandhi-Truth itself helps me when I commit mistakes. 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. "The person wanted something, and the other person did not agree to fulfill their desires," he says. In my interviews with current and former members of the Institute, I heard an almost unvarying litany of beliefs about Swami Rama's abilities. My work is now complete. Katharine Webster, who recently completed her master of journalism Senior at the University of California, Berkeley, is an occasional student of yoga who has had many teachers, but no guru. IT HAPPENED.. (SWAMI RAMA) S WAMI R AMA WAS SUPPOSEDLY BORN in 1925, and allegedly grew up as an orphan in northern India. He and Pandit Rajmani say that a guru is "that which dispels darkness." 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. Even today his thoughts are used as a priceless mantra by his followers. Om wasn't keeping well for quite sometime now after he . Relationships are the first test of spirituality. [2] [3] During his American tours Swami Rama Tirtha spoke frequently on the concept of 'practical Vedanta' [4] and education of Indian youth. But after two unsatisfying years, she left college and returned to the Chicago area. So if someone wants to come to me and say, this man's taking advantage of me for his pleasure, I just find it hard to believe.". [5], In 1966, he founded the original Himalayan Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy in Kanpur, India; this was followed by an institute in Glenview, Illinois in 1971; it is now headquartered in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, purchased in 1977. As soon as that ashram was established, he left from there, came back to the Rishikesh ashram and earnestly set about to establish the grand hospital for the service and benefit of the mountain people. He became famous for his ability to control his body in yoga nidra, writing many books including the autobiographical Living with Himalayan Masters. And he abruptly dismissed her. And this according to Physiology, people can not do. However, the date of retrieval is often important. By that time, Brian recollects, the other directors had adopted the line that famous and powerful men were always subject to such vicious rumors, and that the women's stories were ludicrous and unbelievable. She became paralyzed by her fear of angering him. Within the Cite this article tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. 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. He replied in disgust: Much earlier, I tried to organize a yajna (fire offerings ceremony) with mrityunjaya mantra for his health. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. 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. Several months later, the two couples met up again. I asked him why these specialists cannot agree on a diagnosis. Ramakrishna died around 9-9.30pm on the night of August 15, 1886. He backed off, Megan says, while telling her that sex wasn't necessary-she could be his special student. Honesdale, Pa.: Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy, 1978. Some stay longer, for a few weeks or months in the Self-Transformation retreat program. Soon Carolyn noticed she wasn't the only woman being favored by the guru; he was also paying attention to Megan and Nirvana. Please read the series At the Feet of a Himalayan Master. I just don't know that it makes sense to go run around trying to evaluate other people, when you haven't evaluated yourself.". ." 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. Residents are expected to donate a large portion of their labor, and they must sacrifice personal freedoms and privacy. Following on the wave of favorable publicity, Swami Rama founded the Himalayan Institute in Illinois in 1971. There she learned Swami Rama's style of "super-conscious" meditation, which she describes as a basic, impersonal training in mental concentration. If somehow Pandit Rajmani were forced to acknowledge that the women were telling the truth, would this shatter his faith in the guru? 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. Swami Rama has a reputation among his followers as an incredible psychologist who uses his insights to help others. Who? '"My dear,"' she says her counselor told her, "You sound just like a sexually abused child, a little girl whose Daddy told you never to tell anyone.". He replied, At a certain time I have to leave my body. Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. Well-known Indian teacher of yoga, meditation, and holistic health. 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. But he did not cure himself of the diabetes he took on from someone. 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. 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. Soon after his first vision, Ramakrishna commenced on a series of sadhanas (austere practices) in the various mystical traditions, including Bengali Vaishnavism, Shakta Tantrism, Advaita Vedanta, and even Islamic Sufism and Roman Catholicism. In the year 1938 when I was sent to Benares to stay with a Bengali couple, I was informed that the couple would drop their bodies at the same time. Everything happens for a reason, and we can't judge him." Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. 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.". Rama, Swami. Yet the women never seemed to complain about such treatment, Megan says. 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. [2][11] The journalist Katharine Webster stated in Yoga Journal in 1990 that women had since the early 1970s made claims of sexual abuse against him, and that since the matter had never been investigated, she had spent two years researching it. 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. But not all of us know the real reason (s) behind his demise. 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