The Himalayan Institute is a good a good model on how to do a resort perfect. 7,616 were here. The victim's confusion and loss of trust are compounded when her community refuses to acknowledge her suffering. Since 1972, Himalayan Institute Excursions have offered purpose-driven journeys to discover the fulfillment your soul is seeking. Shortly after they started studying with Pandit Usharbudh Arya at the Meditation Center in Minneapolis, he introduced them to his guru, Swami Rama. She says Swami Rama began telling her that he had never had sex, that he was dreaming about her at night, and that he was experiencing novel physical sensations because of her. Since the early 1970s, women have been claiming sexual abuse at the hands of this prominent spiritual teacher. Similarly, gurus in the Buddhist and Hindu traditions are supposed to be examples of self-mastery and right living. 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. One evening in early June, Carolyn remembers, Swami Rama's housekeeper phoned the women's dorm and asked her to bring the manuscript she was preparing over to Swami Rama's new cabin. The Combined Therapy program and the outpatient branches of the Institute for Holistic Medicine combine Western medicine, homeopathy, Eastern medicine, psychotherapy, nutrition, yoga, and meditation to treat people with a variety of physical and emotional problems. 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. Live online programs, on-demand courses, and hundreds of yoga and meditation classes. Terry, who is now a practicing psychotherapist, says she believes Swami Rama's behavior is compulsive-he can't help it." The scandal convinced Carolyn not to reveal her own secret, she says; she was learning that the Institute administration dealt with such accusations by smearing the women's reputations. Nestled in the rolling hills of the Poconos, our stunning 400-acre campus is a gathering place for seekers from around the globe. She became paralyzed by her fear of angering him. 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. Himalayan Institute Online. His actions are rarely questioned by his followers, because his every deed is thought to flow from his union with godhead. India Himalayan Institute India Our program model in India has been designed to focus on three initiatives: providing educational programs for children to help them rise above poverty level, preserving ancient culture and wisdom, and providing support for villagers dealing with natural disasters. He voluntarily sopped his heart from pumping blood for 17 seconds, and he reportedly demonstrated his telekinetic powers, moving a knitting needle with mental force. Donate Help Our Cause US$20.00 See the article in its original context from. Those who build boundaries around themselves because of their ego problems create suffering for themselves." And she would help him write books. We partner with rural communities to provide health services, public libraries, and sustainable employment opportunities. "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. One evening she went out to dinner with Martha*, an old friend from East West Books Chicago. In May, Swami Rama visited the area again. In March 1978, she says, Swami Rama came to Glenview and initiated her. Ex-members say he has counseled patients in the Combined Therapy Program, although he lost is license to practice psychology in Minnesota in 1979. Once there, Carolyn devoted herself to her yoga practices and threw herself into her assigned jobs. 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. 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. 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. From her childhood Carolyn had been steeped in Catholic faith and educated in scientific skepticism; now it seemed the Institute could help her harmonize these two seemingly contradictory ways of perceiving the world. Our new online platform for community, courses, and content. Carolyn,* an old friend, called me collect. Arya, however, says that much of Darling's information is inaccurate. Live online programs, on-demand courses, and hundreds of yoga and meditation classes. At the same time, she felt anxious, because she'd seen how severe Swami Rama could be with those closest to him. 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. 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. The Himalayan Institute publishes over 60 titles on yoga, spirituality, and holistic health, including the best-selling Living with the Himalayan Masters by Swami Rama and Yoga: Mastering the Basics by Sandra Anderson and Rolf Sovik. Finally I found an opportunity to broach the topic of the lawsuit with Carolyn. 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. Finally, she obtained his permission. Why did Carolyn say these things? Swami Rama made Carolyn his appointments secretary in August also. He explains that Nuernberger was just a graduate student, inexperienced and lacking in professional judgment, when the incident with Marston occurred: "At a time when he was learning to be a therapist and thought that someone is asking for you to reach out, you reach out and you touch them and you let them see your feelings, and I think that was very bad." The women's fears have aborted projects intended to expose possible exploitation to a wider audience. You're bound to get mixed up. Unfortunately, there is some mystery surrounding its founder, Swami Rama, and possible connection with drug abuse and sexual indecency. But the siddhis can be an ego trap. Two women wrote statements, which said they had discovered that Swami Rama was attempting to "seduce" both of them contemporaneously. Whether youre retracing the footsteps of sages through pilgrimage in the Himalayas, or immersing yourself in the most incredible spaces the US has to offer, you will experience the life-changing power of yoga in action. I ask Dr. Ballentine in a January 1990 interview why Nuernberger is still on the Institute's staff. Yet the women never seemed to complain about such treatment, Megan says. Following on the heels of Karen's and her friend's revelations, several other women and men left the Meditation Center in Minneapolis. 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. But the purified ego is a means in discriminating real Self from not-self-real Self from mere self. Continue reading Be the first to find this review helpful Helpful Share Report 5.0 Former Employee, more than 3 years Came for a job left with life-long friends 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. During my weekend visit, Carolyn and I took long walks on the Institute's wooded grounds while talking about her compulsive eating patterns and her disastrous relationships with men suggested as possible husbands by Swami Rama. A saint is a person who does what he says." Himalayan Institute Online Our new online platform for community, courses, and content. 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. Meanwhile, Carolyn says, Swami Rama began singling her out for special attention. Join us for studies in the true meaning of yogaincluding asana, meditation, mantra, tantra, sacred scripture, and the art of joyful living. 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. 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. We inspire, educate, and. But after they started saying all these things, I never trusted them anymore. Back; 2022 Clean Water and Public Health Fund; Make a Donation; Blog; Search for: Log in . Bikram Choudhury, one of several yoga gurus accused of sexual abuse, [1] assisting a yoga pupil in his own style. No one can expand his consciousness if he remains egotistical. Or maybe he needs to have sex just to release energy so he can meditate better. 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." Born in Northern India, he was raised from early childhood by the Himalayan sage, Bengali Baba. "By their fruits you shall know them," he says, paraphrasing the Bible. Early the next morning, she says, he announced to her that she was going to leave; he never set up the promised program. Cameroon Himalayan Institute Cameroon Cameroon is in the midst of conflict. During that time, neither of them would see any other, and she should never tell anyone. ALL NEW! 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. Like incest victims, women who say they have been sexually abused by their gurus are sworn to silence by their abusers. "If the guru's instruction leads to a deeper peace, freedom from conflict, a deepening of meditation, harmony in relationships - all of these. 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. The guru spoiled them, they say, calling them his spiritual son and daughter, and soon invited them to come live in Pennsylvania. That day Rose returned to New York City, and within 48 hours she had quit her job and gone to stay with a friend in Texas. 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. The yogis, he says, have demonstrated these abilities in the past and continue to do so. Had anyone spoken to her? Swami Rama was the founder of the Himalayan Institute. In the United States, far from the strong cultural morality of the guru's country of origin, it is not regulated at all. ", Why would the women want to blackmail 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.". Swami Rama, whose legal name is Brij Keshore Kumar, was born in 1925 in Uttar Pradesh, according to his official biography, parts of which appeared in the March/April 1990 issue of Yoga Journal. Swami Rama is supposed to have freed himself from the bonds of karma. "Believing such stories means disbelieving in myself. "We were Brahmins in the Institute's caste system," Terry recalls. Sanctions on an institution can cause students to look elsewhere for higher education. Several former students of Swami Rama granted interviews to Patricia Ann Darling, Ph. Our commitment to service both at home and abroad incorporates our global humanitarian impact through projects in Africa and India as well as a commitment to sustainable partnerships with the local community at our world headquarters in Honesdale. In mid-autumn, the day came for Swami Rama's annual trip to India. Within a sect the guru's authority is often absolute: he rules from the pinnacle of the institutional hierarchy. The Institute's "scientific" approach to yoga has made it a success, attracting long-term spiritual disciples as well as large numbers of people who merely want a boost for their psychological or physical well being. After teaching, studying, and traveling throughout India and Europe, he came to the University of Minnesota in the 1960s, where he taught Sanskrit and Indian religions. God knows whether it was true or not, and even if it was true, this is a normal phenomenon. One of the greatest adepts, teachers, writers, and humanitarians of the 20th century, Swami Rama (19251996) is the founder of the Himalayan Institute. 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. Meanwhile, Swami Rama had appointed her as registrar of the graduate program, replacing a long-time woman disciple who was being kicked out of the Institute for no apparent reason. In my interviews with current and former members of the Institute, I heard an almost unvarying litany of beliefs about Swami Rama's abilities. Now Carolyn is more articulate: "When I finally start listening to myself, and I tell him I know he's sleeping with other women-and this is the man I came to, to help me learn how to listen to my inner voice, and then he tells me not to listen to it just as I'm starting to get some confidence in it-that's when I realized, this isn't yoga, this isn't truth, this is abuse.". A week later, Megan blew the lid off Swami Rama's private life, confirming what Carolyn already knew in her heart. 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. Who We Are; What We Do; Where We Work. Devoted herself to her yoga practices and threw herself into her assigned jobs libraries, and should. His actions are rarely questioned by his followers, because she 'd seen how severe Swami Rama could with... Of Darling 's information is inaccurate are sworn to silence by their fruits you shall them. 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