If only they would send one of their directors here for a week, I thought, they would see what Ananda is really like. Surely, if they would exert the simple integrity to study us before they judged us, then all might be well. Members of the Ananda community operate the Living Wisdom School in Palo Alto, where children are taught values from an early age, in harmony with the guidelines that Paramhansa Yogananda recommended. This all seems to provide proof positive of another not so spiritual reality; If a cult leader wants to keep a cult going after he or she is gone, do some estate planning. Did I need help getting to the nearest center to attend services? Workers in Anandas churches, book stores, and restaurants became used to receiving phone calls from individuals who claimed to be interested in the teachings of our path, and who would ask after a brief initial discussion, Arent you part of Self-Realization Fellowship? Or, Ive heard that Yogananda started an organization in Los Angeles. And it certainly is questionable that any mental health professional would base an opinion on such specious and subjective and sources. I moved to northern California in 1970. This is a term used to describe uncritical articles that are more positive spin and/or froth than substance. We delivered tens of thousands of pagesevery book, pamphlet, brochure, poster, and letter that Ananda had ever printed. Browsing there on a Saturday evening in 1974, I picked up a copy of Swami Kriyanandas book, Cooperative CommunitiesHow to Start Them, and Why. Walters was also sued by the Fellowship for copyright infringement and lost. (He now serves with his wife, Maria, as the spiritual director of the Ananda community in Sacramento, California.) In numerous news reports former members have spoken out about the abuse they endured under Spriggs harsh totalitarian rule. A 1976 fire burned almost the entire fledgling Ananda community to a crisp. In his talks, Rev. I was deeply aware that great masters do share their teachings as much through their vibrations as in theliteral meaning of their words. Reading another book, Stealing JesusHow Fundamentalism Betrays Christianity, I discovered that there have been two main currents in the history of religiona religion of law and a religion of love. Author Bruce Bawer documents the history of these two streams of thought, going back to the gnostics of ancient Rome and their fundamentalist brethren. Ironically, the meditation class was to help her with stress reduction, she said. The interview took place at the SRF church in Richmond, in the San Francisco Bay Area. And the more common category of largely domestic seekers is examined in The Faith Healers by James Randi. Ananda Village is a spiritual community of over 200 residents approximately 25 minutes north of downtown Nevada City. Authorities in Calcutta are warning residents to beware of the gurus and swamis who say they have supernatural powers and can effect mystical or magical cures. They also host the Ananda Virtual Community, providing support, inspiration and spiritual friendship to truthseekers worldwide. Not for a moment did I feel that by leaving the organizationhe had founded, I had offended him, or that I had been expelled from his spiritual family. (The full text of this book may be found online at http://www.ananda.org/aplacecalledananda/.). Some yoga students say these common types are simply cults.. Surrounded by 72 acres ofbeautiful meditation gardensand forest, it provides an ideal setting for a rejuvenating, inner experience. The prominent lawyer litigated and won the landmark appellate court decision, Molko v. Holy Spirit Association (1988) 46 Cal.3d 1092. matheson rooftop menu. Isnt this a bit like the foxes guarding the hen house? The County anticipates adopting a Mitigated Negative Declaration for the project because all impacts can be mitigated to a level that is less than significant. (Master considered running an ideal exercise, Brother Bhaktananda wrote in a letter. http://www.ananda.org/aplacecalledananda/, My Position in Yoganandas Work and Legacy, Further Important Changes, and Recreating Masters Image. A plethora of neo-eastern gurus and New Age types are hoping to cash in on the yoga craze. Decentralization, not strong central control, is the spirit of this age. If I stumble and fall, I know that my gurubais will consult their consciences before they judge me. Her legal expenses have been astronomical, she said. It seems nearly half at one time or another have been involved with groups called cults. And some of the schools registered at YA are associated with cults.. On Monday, four Ananda Margis were convicted of killing then railway minister L N Mishra on January 2, 1975. But how can a hopeful student find a reputable studio with a good teacher? A flurry of increasingly urgent letters from the Mother Center only exhorted me to keep up my tithes. It includes a retreat center, multiple temples, a well-known garden, market, school, dairy, goat dairy, and vegetable farm. One of his highly advanced chelas was Abdul Gufoor Khan, a Mohammedan. Learn to relax and enjoy the spiritual path, he wrote, responding to my overly desperate style of prayer. OLeary sent the following statement to CultNews via email: I am in India now, with absolutely no intention to visit Sai Baba. It is made up of disciples of Paramhansa . In addition to wars there will be a depression the like of which has not been known in a very long time. But Walters and his followers persevered. My longing was fed by the ministers transparent spirituality. "It's been such an ordeal," she said. Children here are safe from the negative outside influences of drugs, gangs, and violence. Hoffman discusses his exploration into what was called New Age Psychiatry,' which might be more objectively seen as his odyssey through the world of cults., The doctor admits he has studied with Rajneesh, Shirley McLaine, Kevin Ryerson, Edgar Cayce, Ramtha, and Yogananda.. The first such community was Ananda Village, founded in Northern California, in the foothills of Nevada City, in 1969. Hare Krishna teacher abuses children in Dallas, ABC News show GMA3 promotes purported cult leaders as inspirational couples counselors and thought leaders, Rudolf Steiner, Racism and Waldorf Schools, Order of Christ Sophia has become a dangerous and destructive organization, Racist, sexist, homophobic cult leader dead at 83, Nature Boy and the cult called Carbonation, Animal Rights and Environmental Extremists, General Assembly Church of the First Born, Lyndon LaRouche and Executive Intelligence Report, Oklahoma City Bombing, Timothy McVeigh, Terry Nichols, Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association, True & Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the L. After the verdict was handed down in her favor on Thursday, Bertolucci told the Weekly that she has been afraid to go to her local coffee shop recently because of all the publicity surrounding the. On each of these occasions, the giving of help was done as naturally as breathing. While reading books written by other Indian saints, I would wonder at the relatively pale expression of Yoganandas thoughts, as edited by SRF. The old adage you cant take it with you applies to everyone, even gurus. A fewagain, as expectedbecame the communitys most vocal critics. The other sidethe Gnosticsbelieved that God could be known as a living presence in this life, through inner communion. Brother Turiyananda never turned his back on Kriyananda, regardless of SRFs anti-Ananda policies. I was wrong. Thankfully this is apparently a very small minority. I had joined SRF in 1967. S-90-0846 EJG PAN. Fulfilling Yogananda's Vision of World Brotherhood Colonies. It is a fore-mirroring of the millions who, as Paramhansa Yogananda himself predicted, will be drawn to this path. Gurus faithful continue to manage his substantial assets. Satchidananda accumulated prime real estate in Manhattan, which provides space for an Integral Yoga International (IYI) school and a vegetarian grocery store. Certainly these articles will not be nominated for Pulitzers. In fact, it was Swami Kriyananda who persuaded the SRF leadership to accept Turiyananda, even though he was past the accepted age of 30. A spiritual dynamo, Ananta was eventually ordained as a minister and authorized by Swami Kriyananda to give initiation in Kriya Yoga. Yet when Paramhansa Yogananda spoke about the idea, it was with great urgency, as Swami Kriyananda reports in his book, Cooperative CommunitiesHow to Start Them, and Why: In his last years on earth, the great teacher Paramhansa Yogananda repeatedly and urgently spoke of a plan that he said was destined to become a basic social pattern for the new age: the formation of world brotherhood colonies, as he called them. In India police are cracking down on God men, reports The Telegraph. Ananda Sangha began with the founding of Ananda Village in 1968, near Nevada City, California, USA, by Swami Kriyananda, a direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda. While Ananda has been forced to defend itself against SRFs lawsuit, I have sensed an underlying respect at Ananda for SRFs leaders as fellow disciples of our Guru. That IYI student was only at the ashram for two weeks before marrying one of its swamis she had never met, who was old enough to be her father. Nor have I found it necessary to remonstrate with Ananda members for portraying SRF inaccurately. When Brother Anandamoy violently criticized Swami Kriyananda to a group of Ananda members, for example, Swami Kriyananda wrote him a letter in which he said (I am paraphrasing): I thank you for your criticisms, because they impel me to bless you even more than ever. As for mocking the SRF organization, the truth is, SRFs own statements and behavior made invention superfluous, even if we had been so inclined. However, these three teachers have all been historically referred to as cult leaders. And former students claimed their yoga was often a means of recruitment and basis for abuse. With Brother Bhaktanandas encouragement, I had taken up running for exercise. View Upcoming Teacher Training Calendar. After all, we are the standard bearers for Yoganandas work!, These calls got to be quite a joke. Theyre in it for the exercise and the physical benefitshold the chanting and the New Age vibes, reports Newsweek. One police commissioner said, We will do everything to guard Calcuttans from the clutches of such swindlers. He added that they frequently prey upon the sick who are in a vulnerable state.. You will learn about SRFs draconian lawsuit against Ananda in which it attempted to gain sole ownership of the Masters name, writings, and likeness, and how, in the judges own words, they attempted unsuccessfully to put that organization out of business by bankrupting it through protracted litigation. Om Peace Amen. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. The 5 acre complex has outdoor space for events, a chapel for meditation, a community dining room for shared meals and a pool. Palo Alto resident Anne-Marie Bertolucci may have won her case against the Ananda Church of Self-Realization, but her victory has come at a high price. I guess youll just have to accept me as I am, I prayed. Surely the theory of meditation could be learned just as efficiently, if not more so, while practicing it. A quick rule of thumb might also be, if you see some gurus picture on the wall, or religious statues in the entrance area or practice room, something more than yoga might be lurking within the instruction. Nothing, beyond a few petty exhibits which, if viewed from the skewed perspective of organizational bias, might remotely be construed as persuasive. In addition, you will hear the deeply inspiring personal stories of people who dedicated themselves to living by sincere self-offering to God and Guru in prayer and meditation and humble service to Their cause, and how, as a result, they found profound success and happiness. If theres one thing Ive realized about God in all these years, its that He is fathomlessly tolerant and forgiving. I think I speak for others when I say that I entered this path full of joyful expectationthat God can be known as the joyful Spirit residing in each one of us. I have seen many of them grow profoundly in their attunement with the Guru, to the point where to be in their presence is a blessing. I recall my first formal meeting with Swami Kriyananda. "Some of my friends are still with Ananda. NEW! And its important to understand just who you are becoming suggestible to and within what type of environment. A few members left over the years, as would be expected of any organization with over 700 resident members worldwide. Blessings of life in a spiritual community. But such statements only raise more questions. Some of the scheduled Ananda events and activities take place in this lovely setting. And the helping professional occupies a position of power and influence in that persons life during the course of their therapy/counseling. But cults have a nasty way of getting headlines, through bad behavior and shattered lives. If you do what he tells you, youll make progress.. She idolized its leaders, he said, which made it all the more difficult when things began to go wrong. I couldnt imagine that their views on Ananda were based on anything deeper than misunderstanding. I also learned that less than 10% of SRFs members ever actually finish the lessons series. She stayed on to become a devotee and yoga teacher.. He would have to study the Bible in secret, and meet clandestinely with like-minded friends. I say this in indignant refutation of SRFs claims to the contrary. A special day dedicated to the Temple . Green was nominated along with three other California attorneys for his work regarding a 22-year legal battle to collect a multi-million dollar personal injury judgement awarded to Lawrence Wollersheim against the Church of Scientology. Such positive spin for cults in not limited to America. It is based on the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda and was founded by his direct disciple Swami Kriyananda in 1968. In 1946, his guru, Yogananda, in his epic "Autobiography of a Yogi," had expressed his desire to create a Yoga Institute: "I plan to open a Yoga Institute here. Ananda Village is a community of a few hundred peoplethe fulfillment of Yogananda's dream of "world brotherhood colonies" devoted to "simple living and high thinking." Every aspect of life is expressed herefamilies, work, service, playwith spirituality as the pulsing heart that animates everything you see. Mary Lynn Tucker, Co-chair of the Outreach Committee, studied yoga with Swami Satchidananda and lives near the ashram the guru created named Yogaville.. This was not a puff piece and Sarkar comes off as little more than a sociopath, hardly covered in a life of peace. And not apparently respected by Hindus. She also alleged that J. Donald Walters--known to devotees as Swami Kriyananda--made unwanted sexual advances toward her when she turned to him for help. I had noticed Kriyanandas picture in old copies of Self-Realization magazine. When Brother Anandamoy violently criticized Swami Kriyananda to a group of Ananda members, for example, Swami Kriyananda wrote him a letter in which he said (I am paraphrasing): "I thank you for your criticisms, because they impel me to bless you even more than ever." And if you are not interested in their beliefs, their yoga classes are probably not for you. It shows great courage on the part of Lahiri Mahasaya that, although a high-caste Brahmin, he tried his utmost to dissolve the rigid caste bigotry of his time. Then came Ananda Seattle in Washington, and Ananda Portland in Oregon. Ananda Margis took out a silent procession on April 30 to protest the killing of 16 monks and a nun, allegedly by CPM cadres in Kolkata 32 years ago. Drive past the bigger flower shops in Rice Village and find this tiny, unassuming storefront. So it seems that there may be more to the diet doctors regime than meets the eye. Ananda Village, founded in 1968, is a place where spiritual seekers come together to practice simple living and high thinking. The saintslie? Two-and-a-half months later, at the end of June, a forest fire destroyed 21 of the villages 23 homes. Include one or two funny stories; people are more receptive when they can enjoy a good laugh., (The Pathcontains over 300 stories of Paramhansa Yogananda. In August 1994, she left the church under a cloud. Sister Savitri, Daya Matas secretary for 20 years, reveals the increasingly rigid spirit of intolerance and sectarianism within the SRF leadership. She said last week that she probably would not have had the strength to continue with her case if she had been the only one. I realized that it would be madness to reject their help, because of any personal peccadilloes that stood between them and final liberation. 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