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. She was dreamy! The couple had been meditating together for several years. Here is her report. Meanwhile, the couple says, they discovered more evidence of illicit activity. Instead they deny the experience of the "unenlightened" women who are the guru's victims. Because that's my whole life Even if I found out - how can I find out? He laughed gently and said but then, it is my power you are using for me. Carolyn rationalized: Swamiji was her guru, so even though the prospect of having sex with him seemed morally wrong and physically revolting, he must be doing it for her own good. * Several months earlier, he received a letter from Bob Hughes, a member of the Institute's board of directors from 1978 to 1980. window.__mirage2 = {petok:"rwoMEcu4d12i7H7r9Hc2xEPruriDZ_W2Qh9qgscL6JQ-86400-0"}; ", Shortly after Pandit Rajmani introduced her to Swami Rama, Megan says, the guru called her into his private quarters and told her that they'd been together in a past life, that he'd waited to meet her again in this lifetime, and that now they were reunited. Box 400, Honesdale, PA 18431: (717) 253-5551. So I visited the house and I discovered that the sound of her mantra was still vibrating there. 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. He called on 16th December. Not permitted by the Tradition.. [CDATA[ As the couple started making arrangements to move to England, they received another blow. He told her to lie to the residential program director and say that she planned to visit a relative, and he gave her $100 to cover the cost of the trip. Or maybe he needs to have sex just to release energy so he can meditate better. 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.". Swami Rama's claims to this spiritual background have been questioned by some of his former students. Analysis. These are also available through Lotus Press in USA. 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.". I said, Maharaj ji, then grant me the healing power and I will use it to heal you. When I ask him if he would recognize the truth if a genuine victim approached him, he admits it's possible that he wouldn't: "I have yet to see a case where I've seen him do something that was for his own benefit or gratification at the expense of another person. Similarly, gurus in the Buddhist and Hindu traditions are supposed to be examples of self-mastery and right living. In August, Carolyn says, Swami Rama told her to meet him in New York City for the next step in her spiritual training. Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. But it is also common in the thought-control techniques of totalitarian states. 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. The last few months of his life were filled with accusations of sexual assault and harassment from several women against himself and the Himalayan Institute. 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. ." Association of Himalayan Yoga Meditation Societies International. She never received a response. But the Institute does not teach the mastery of such powers in its programs, instead focusing on yoga practices with more immediate practical application. Interview with Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, PhD. Shortly after Marston filed her suit in 1978, Nuernberger moved to Honesdale, where he is currently a member of the Institute's teaching staff. 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." He demonstrated this feat in my presence five times. Please enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Most of the former members of the Institute who agreed to be interviewed for this article were also afraid to have their identities revealed; they appear under pseudonyms, marked with an asterisk. Most of the women who say they were abused by Swami Rama express feelings of fear, frustration, and betrayal. During those days I was very anxious to know this mystery, termed parakaya pravesha. Those who do so," she says, "are responsible for the continuing abuse. They also record numerous instances when he took many disciples illnesses upon himself and either absorbed them into his own physical systems or dissipated them. When they have contacted their friends and former colleagues at the Institute, they have been discounted as liars or labeled "emotionally disturbed." Dr. Ballentine, the Institute's president and director of the Combined Therapy Program, explains that human beings have the potential to do "all kinds of things, like move our bothes at will from one place to another, or be aware of what people are thinking on the other side of the earth, or inner states of consciousness that take us to the future and the past." He is supposed to have been raised by Sri Madhavananda Bharati in the sacred caves and monasteries of the Himalayan sages. She believes Swami Rama was trying to buy her collusion, as he had bought the collusion of the Institute's staff and many residents. The Swami also continued to teach and write from his centers in India. 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. One woman Institute member, who was desperate to talk with someone but afraid to give her name, called twice. The foundation stone for the hospital was laid in 1992. Carolyn was raised Catholic, and during high school she explored Transcendental Meditation, Zen Buddhism, Hinduism, and the "Jesus freak" movement. That was why he wanted her to be his secretary. To the last day of his life he was doing the rounds of his hospital. The Catholic Church may discipline a priest who has sex with a parishioner, not only because it violates his vow of celibacy, but because his parishioners must be able to confide in him without worrying that he will exploit their trust for his own gratification. In a few months time she would handle his bank account, income taxes, everything. No, this would not be shattering, certainly not. He reportedly sat down on a chair next to her bed and proceeded to make sexual advances. 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. His early American followers had been spiritual seekers of the counterculture who found their guru at his ashram on the banks of the sacred Ganges in Rishikesh, India. Dr. Ballentine denies sending out copies of Hughes's letter: 'I didn't do that. 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Please read the series At the Feet of a Himalayan Master. Answer (1 of 12): Swami Vivekananda was a perfect Yogi, He had all the powers to cure Himself as well as others. Your work is not yet complete. The headquarters of the mission is in Belur Math, a monastery near Kolkata. Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. Before he reached the state of deep meditation, there were violent jerks in his body. The yogis, he says, have demonstrated these abilities in the past and continue to do so. 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. Like Pandit Rajmani, Dr. Ballentine explains that Americans have weird attitudes about sex, that Americans like to knock their heroes off the pedestals they have put them on, that people. Sri Ramakrishna was, Steiner, Rudolf [2] The official biography states that when he was 28 he became the Shankaracharya or spiritual leader at Karvirpitham, part of Sringeri Sharada Peetham in Karnataka, South India, demonstrating extensive knowledge of ancient texts to qualify, and holding the position from 1949 to 1952. Carolyn says she is at a loss to discern any positive reason behind Swami Rama's behavior toward her. Who? When the doctors were trying to heal his cancer, he is reported to have said something like: Here, I am trying to rid myself of the big disease called the body by using a small disease and you all are trying to rid of this small disease that is my instrument. I don't have access to those files." Retrieved April 12, 2023 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/science/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/rama-swami-1925-1996. 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. Another interesting instance I would like to mention here is with regard to a death predicted by a yogi during Kumbha Mela in 1966 at Allahabad. From 1949 to 1952 he held the prestige and dignity of No definite diagnosis could be arrived at. 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. Those who build boundaries around themselves because of their ego problems create suffering for themselves." "I only needed one person to corroborate my experience," Megan says now. What a foolish woman! "But the most important thing," she says, "is that the abuse must stop. Ramakrishna, originally called Gadadhar Chatterji or Gadadhar Chattopadhyaya, (born February 18, 1836, Hooghly [now Hugli], Bengal state, Indiadied August 16, 1886, Calcutta [now Kolkata]), Hindu religious leader, founder of the school of religious thought that became the Ramakrishna Order. 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. On Vasanta Panchami (the celebration of the first day of spring) morning at 4:30 suddenly he said, Now the time has come. Then he sat in the meditative posture, siddhasana, closed his eyes, and became silent. [1] Views He has been subject to criticism over his racist views against blacks, discrimination against lower castes, anti-Semitism, negative views on women, and advocacy of crimes of Adolf Hitler. This was not true! ", I ask Dr. Ballentine how he would respond if a woman were to come to him and tell him she's been having sex with Swami Rama, and that her "inner voice" has been telling her that it isn't a positive experience. I asked him why these specialists cannot agree on a diagnosis. . Carolyn stayed at the Institute for three more years, working at a variety of jobs. Mantra is a syllable or word or set of words. Brian sued Swami Rama, and eventually the guru settled out of court for the full amount. Omissions? He is also head of the Institute's Holistic Studies (formerly Eastern Studies) program and has written a number of scholarly books on yoga philosophy. I mean, he's giving you the teachings and you're going to use the teachings to evaluate him? At that, she says, he raged at her until she was sobbing, unable to speak a word in her own defense: No! No, he says: "Even if it happened, what's the big deal? In the following year, he served as a consultant to the Voluntary Controls Project of the Research Department of the Menninger Foundation at Topeka, Kansas. He bade us good-bye and left guidance as to what to do with his body if he were to leave it. The well equipped hospital was already running in 1996. After leaving the post of Shankaracharya 1952, Swami Rama had first gone back to his master. Pandit Arya radiates calm as he speaks. He was just 50 years old. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. He also sent out a letter resigning from the board. The Medical College and the Nursing College were already recognized by the Government of India. Honesdale, Pa.: Himalayan Institute, 1978. Wisdom must show itself in action and lovingness." One of them, along with the other women from the tour group, attended the wedding of Swami Rama's son, although the guru is officially supposed to have been celibate since taking his Swami's vows. 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. In private sessions, ex-disciples say, Swami Rama has arranged marriages and instructed disciples to break off relationships. Rose spent the next six months moving from place to place, terrified that the Institute network would track her down. 14. As the Bhagavad Gita states: "He is unmanifest, is not the subject of thought, and is said to be incorruptible; therefore, knowing Him, it does not behoove you to grieve after anyone.". Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. 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