Later, many of the women broke out in head-to-toe swelling and rashes from what had in fact been poison ivy roots. To my relief, I could detect no flash of recognition, guilt, fear, or anger in Carolyn's eyes. She says he arranged for her to meet him at the Gramercy Park Hotel and instructed her not to call him Swami in public. He warns against relying too heavily on the inner voice: "When we look for the guru within, we only end up finding our own samskaras-vagaries of the unconscious mind are mistaken for directions from the superconscious. 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. 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. The women's fears have aborted projects intended to expose possible exploitation to a wider audience. According to Marston's attorney, Philip W. Getts, his client never recovered the $50,000 in punitive damages Nuernberger owed her, because Pennsylvania is one of the few states that does not allow the court to garnish wages. Rose said that she struggled, but the guru physically overpowered her, throwing himself on top of her on the bed and forcing her to perform oral sex. Explore high-quality, unique, practice-enhancing products made for yogis everywhere. See the article in its original context from. But still, she was afraid to leave the community she'd been part of for so long and reenter a world that had practically forgotten her existence. She became outraged at the residents and the professional staff who enable and legitimized the Swami's behavior. As an enlightened being, he is thought to be beyond the judgment of ordinary mortals, their laws and morality. The Institute's program is no longer accredited by the University of Scranton. 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. 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. Since she had taken over, everything had been put in order. Long-term residents must get administration approval for any overnight absences; permission may be denied if their destination is judged inappropriate. But it is also common in the thought-control techniques of totalitarian states. Himalayan Institute Online Our new online platform for community, courses, and content. I just don't know that it makes sense to go run around trying to evaluate other people, when you haven't evaluated yourself.". 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. 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. Two women wrote statements, which said they had discovered that Swami Rama was attempting to "seduce" both of them contemporaneously. The guru spoiled them, they say, calling them his spiritual son and daughter, and soon invited them to come live in Pennsylvania. The core of HIs service mission relies on a community of volunteers and karma yogis, and the generosity of its members and donors to fulfill its mission. Spiritual head of the Himalayan Institute, Pandit Tigunait is the successor of Swami Rama of the Himalayas. Back; Cameroon; India; Mexico; Tibetan Settlements; Get Involved. And he abruptly dismissed her. God knows whether it was true or not, and even if it was true, this is a normal phenomenon. Himalayan Institute Buffalo Yoga | Meditation | Wellness Yoga classes and seminars for March - April are now open for registration. 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. Only recently has she acknowledged her anger at Swami Rama. Megan*, a former graduate student in the Eastern Studies program, wrote a letter to the Jesuit administration of the University of Scranton saying that Swami Rama was subjecting women students to sexual exploitation. Outside of work, Sawana has been married to her wonderful husband since 2008 and together they have 3 beautiful sons. But their encounters were exactly the same as before, she says-emotionally impersonal and sexually mechanical. Some were afraid of Institute retaliation; most were afraid of hurting their families, who in some cases do not know about the abuses the women suffered; still others were worried that their professional reputations would be harmed. Well-to-do New Yorkers flock to Honesdale on weekends for seminars in stress reduction, meditation, and diet and nutrition. In the United States, far from the strong cultural morality of the guru's country of origin, it is not regulated at all. But ultimately he chose to believe Swami Rama. The Himalayan Institute community reaches across the entire globe. 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. At the same time, she says, he offered her money and told her he wanted to put her in his will. The Himalayan Institute has been and continues to be home to a service-driven community of yogis, volunteers, and faculty-in-residence. Those statements are on file with the cult Awareness network (formerly the citizen's Freedom Foundation) in New York. Yet she is vulnerable to feeling re-victimized every time her experience is denied or distorted. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. 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. He must also vow that he will not harm any living being. Two of the guru's most devoted disciples left the Institute three years ago because they had learned while in India as part of an Institute tour group that parts of Swami Rama's official biography were fabricated. At that, she says, he raged at her until she was sobbing, unable to speak a word in her own defense: No! himalayan institute of modern arts & learning (HIMAL) Giving back through life-changing experiences. Everyone said you had to surrender to the guru, so she would simply have to follow through with whatever he ordered her to do. He also sent out a letter resigning from the board. That one gesture unleashed a storm of long-suppressed emotions. He reportedly sat down on a chair next to her bed and proceeded to make sexual advances. Brian didn't believe his teacher, and he spoke with several other Institute administrators and board members about Rose's claim of abuse. 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. He bragged about his sumptuous homes in India and Japan and about his shopping sprees for designer clothes, she says. He backed off, Megan says, while telling her that sex wasn't necessary-she could be his special student. Once there, Carolyn devoted herself to her yoga practices and threw herself into her assigned jobs. "A lot of people have confused the siddhis-the powers to control body, emotions, and mind-with spirituality. 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. But Trescelli says she had to discourage her. Carolyn had sought a consultation with Pandit Rajmani, who told her that Megan was either lying because she was "on an ego trip," or fantasizing a sexual encounter that had never taken place. But Carolyn says she stifled her doubts about the guru, transforming them into doubts about her own selfishness: "Because I'd rationalized that he was teaching me a lesson, I believed he must be teaching other women the same lesson, and I shouldn't begrudge his attention to other students.". 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. I ask Dr. Ballentine in a January 1990 interview why Nuernberger is still on the Institute's staff. 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. Himalayan Institute | Honesdale PA "This sudden animosity indicates that there is something fishy in the statement of this person. Join us for studies in the true meaning of yogaincluding asana, meditation, mantra, tantra, sacred scripture, and the art of joyful living. A saint is a person who does what he says." He says it is a relationship that goes beyond religions, the purest relationship possible, "the relationship of water flowing from a hill and filling a hollow at the bottom-the hollow has nothing to give in return, but only to accept that grace in gratitude. Now Megan says that in a different atmosphere, she would have immediately recognized Swami Rama's behavior as sexual harassment or "sadistic manipulation." But the victims of what Jungian analyst Peter Rutter, M.D., has termed "sex in the forbidden zone" (in his book of the same name) submit to sexual advances because of a powerful psychological threat. Enrich your practice through the wisdom of the Himalayan Tradition, found in our online community and digital library, with new content added every week. she wondered. Today HI continues to innovate and offer the world high-impact, revolutionary programs and humanitarian initiatives around the globe. Brian and Terry say her family members at the Institute harassed her by mail and by telephone, with accusations that she had "a habit of inducing this sort of behavior from men.". Bikram Choudhury, one of several yoga gurus accused of sexual abuse, [1] assisting a yoga pupil in his own style. If somehow Pandit Rajmani were forced to acknowledge that the women were telling the truth, would this shatter his faith in the guru? Here is her report. Carolyn is not alone. A rash of articles featuring Swami Rama appeared in national magazines, including Time, People, and Playboy. -- Swami Rama, "Living With the Himalayan Masters". There he founded the Meditation Center. University of California System Bans Fully Online Degrees. 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 . Finally, she obtained his permission. Our new online platform for community, courses, and content. In private sessions, ex-disciples say, Swami Rama has arranged marriages and instructed disciples to break off relationships. 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. 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." She listened calmly as I admitted that I'd worried she might be a victim. 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. And Carolyn's residential Program supervisor told her that the scandal was "a big test for all of us and a cleansing for the Institute-we'll see who stays.". Carolyn says the "goofy" letters never got answered. She loved him like "a second father," she says, "and the real tragedy is that this is how our relationship ended. 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. Himalayan Institute of Technology Ranking and Awards. Nestled in the rolling hills of the Poconos, our stunning 400-acre campus is a gathering place for seekers from around the globe. He is held accountable only to the higher spiritual laws, which he is uniquely able to comprehend. Initially, Brian says, most of the other directors responded with concern. Ayurveda 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. 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 the jury entered a judgment against Nuernberger, it also found that the clinic was not liable for his actions, so Williams failed to recover damages. 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. Megan recalls that in one of her first encounters with Swami Rama, she watched as he humiliated a quiet, withdrawn woman resident. I like to believe that somewhere inside of him, he is the good person I believed him to be. In daily lectures by the Institute's teachers and in conversation with Swami Rama's disciples, she frequently heard that Swami Rama had a "greater purpose that we couldn't understand," and that he was "beyond morality and judgment. 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.

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