The Himalayan Institute and its varied activities and programs exemplify the spiritual heritage of mankind that unites East and West, spirituality and science, ancient wisdom and modern technology. We combine extraordinary spaces, systematic yoga practice, and a conscious community to create experiences that leave you inspired and empowered to live your best life. And she would help him write books. "If someone is a saint, celibacy would be his normal condition," Dr. Green comments. When another married couple who were their friends and fellow students left the ashram suddenly, Karen wrote to them asking why. Even so, it was a blow to find out that she wasn't particularly special: Swami Rama apparently had other "spiritual courtesans." Himalayan Institute Humanitarian is a 501(c)(3) public charity supporting the educational and charitable projects of the Himalayan Institute. Rather than being a saint, according to Green, Swami Rama is an advanced yogi and "a mortal with some ego problems.". My initial experience with yoga in the 1990's at the Himalayan Institute of Buffalo led me to making a radical shift in lifestyle and moving to the Institute's educational headquarters in Honesdale, P.A. Residents staff the Institute's administration, bookstores, and other small businesses, including Himalayan Publishers and Distributors and an elementary school. 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. When I asked Pandit Arya about the allegations of sexual abuse, he admits that he was very disturbed when he first heard them. On the contrary, they sought opportunities to serve the guru's every whim, or even to be abused by him: Megan remembers one woman saying she wished the guru would kick her. A system that encourages such vulnerable individuals to give up their own "egotistical" judgment to the arbitrary whims of one person is one of the key features of a totalist organization, or "cult.". A saint is a person who does what he says." During this spiel, she says, he put his hand on her buttocks, but she told him she wasn't buying it. And she was afraid to leave in her old car because a freezing rainstorm had covered all the roads with ice. Teaching since 1971, the Himalayan Institute offers a wide variety of wellness supplies. 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. 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. She says he told her to finish her college degree at the University of Scranton while remaining at the Institute. We partner with rural communities to provide health services, public libraries, and sustainable employment opportunities. Megan* started the Institute's graduate program in Eastern studies in the fall of 1982. After a couple of months of this special attention, Carolyn says, Swami Rama came to visit her one-day at the book distribution office in Honesdale center. Things are moving quickly now in the sex scandal involving the three oldest sons of Steven Anderson of Tempe, Arizona's favorite SPLC hate group Faithful Word Baptist Church. Long-term residents must get administration approval for any overnight absences; permission may be denied if their destination is judged inappropriate. God knows whether it was true or not, and even if it was true, this is a normal phenomenon. The guru spoiled them, they say, calling them his spiritual son and daughter, and soon invited them to come live in Pennsylvania. 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. In his enlightened state, they believe, he could never commit any selfish acts, which would create new karmic burdens. Allegations of sexual abuse by Swami Rama have followed on the heels of the Institute's success like a shadow. -- Swami Rama, "Living With the Himalayan Masters". Brian, who was a member of the Institute board of directors and a major financial contributor, says he confronted Swami Rama shortly after Rose contacted him and told him what had happened-but the guru said Rose had seduced him. * "Nirvana was up at his cabin, walking his dog at 5:30 in the morning, and Megan was with him day and night." Ayurveda Several months later, the two couples met up again. Himalayan Institute Buffalo Yoga | Meditation | Wellness Yoga classes and seminars for March - April are now open for registration. 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. Our humanitarian projects serve impoverished communities through rural empowerment and environmental regeneration. The program seemed to provide the ideal family she'd never had, where everyone shared her values and spiritual goals. No one can expand his consciousness if he remains egotistical. Swami Rama is supposed to have freed himself from the bonds of karma. 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. Enrich your practice through the wisdom of the Himalayan Tradition, found in our online community and digital library, with new content added every week. Megan recalls that in one of her first encounters with Swami Rama, she watched as he humiliated a quiet, withdrawn woman resident. She loved him like "a second father," she says, "and the real tragedy is that this is how our relationship ended. Our new online platform for community, courses, and content. Terry, who is now a practicing psychotherapist, says she believes Swami Rama's behavior is compulsive-he can't help it." Fortified by their mutual discovery, Karen says, the two couples undertook to inform their fellow students back home in Minneapolis. But one by one, Trescelli says, the women backed down and decided not to pursue legal action. After dismissing the other workers, she says he repeated the familiar litany, but this time he slipped in a new message. She would live with him in the house he was buying. 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. Despite this, our rural empowerment programs continue to thrive and grow as we work towards our goal of fighting poverty, illiteracy, and inequality through education, health care, and job creation. A report has been made to law enforcement, and I'm guessing . HIT ranked under Top Commerce Colleges in All India by The Week 2022. 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. 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. He promised her he'd set up a complete, personalized yoga program for her there-a prescribed diet, special yoga postures and meditation practices-as well as a game plan for her higher education and future career. Read More Ag Innovation Center Business Plan. ALL NEW! They wrote letters to Pandit Usharbudh Arya, their teacher and head of the Meditation Center there, as well as a dozen other people, warning that Swami Rama was a fraud. himalayan institute of modern arts & learning (HIMAL) Giving back through life-changing experiences. Terry* and Brian* say they were recruited into the Himalayan Institute's inner circle for their wealth and social connections. Cons Not one that I can see. Back; Cameroon; India; Mexico; Tibetan Settlements; Get Involved. Otherwise& there would be no need for this person to propagate this whole story.". Two months after Swami Rama left for India, Carolyn went to Chicago to visit her family for Christmas. 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. 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. She recalls that he would repeat a series of affirmations and commands in a hypnotic monotone: She had done very well organizing the book distribution operation, Carolyn says he would tell her. Cameroon Himalayan Institute Cameroon Cameroon is in the midst of conflict. Carolyn says the "goofy" letters never got answered. At a young age, Swami Rama is supposed to have been appointed Shankaracharya of Karvirpitham, an exalted spiritual post. 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. 7,616 were here. She recalls that she blushed as she forced out the words: "I think you have been sleeping with other women." Although she told an institute official about the assaults and the institute was aware of similar complaints by other women, the complaint said, the center did nothing to stop them. Perfect. Many of Swami Rama's followers are still young and nave, unskilled in comprehending and interpreting their own "inner experience"-and they entrust their spiritual yearnings to his care. Two women wrote statements, which said they had discovered that Swami Rama was attempting to "seduce" both of them contemporaneously. During a series of biofeedback experiments in 1970 and 1971, Drs. Swami Rama, she says, would extol his own sexual abilities but tell her she was bad at making love. Everyone said you had to surrender to the guru, so she would simply have to follow through with whatever he ordered her to do. But the Institute does not teach the mastery of such powers in its programs, instead focusing on yoga practices with more immediate practical application. 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. Yoga seminars, retreats, and professional certifications taught by our world-class faculty, designed to bring you the best of an authentic yoga tradition. Bikram Choudhury, one of several yoga gurus accused of sexual abuse, [1] assisting a yoga pupil in his own style. But a deeper anxiety also motivated my visit: I'd heard a rumor that several women, ex-members of the Institute, were taking Carolyn's guru to court on charges of sexual misconduct. In my interviews with current and former members of the Institute, I heard an almost unvarying litany of beliefs about Swami Rama's abilities. When Swami Rama returned from India two months later, Carolyn resumed working as his appointments secretary during the day, and, she says, as his sexual servant on some nights. Shortly after they returned to the U.S., Karen and George say that they and all their correspondents received a bizarre, defamatory letter containing an implicit death threat. A week later, Megan blew the lid off Swami Rama's private life, confirming what Carolyn already knew in her heart. See the article in its original context from. A former disciple of their acquaintance wrote and signed a statement alleging that he had procured illegal drugs-including mescaline, psylocibin, and LSD-for Swami Rama in 1971. Its mission, according to the Articles of Incorporation, was "to make known to the members and people in general the real, synthetic, and harmonious view of world religions and philosophy in terms of modern scientific achievements and undertake researches for all around ethical, social, economical, and spiritual development of humanity to attain world peace, international integration, understanding, and spiritual awakening of the human race." She began talking about Swami Rama's exploitative behavior with anyone who would listen, especially women who she thought were being victimized. Well organized, fine atmosphere, and a strong community. "Unpurified ego is an evil which obstructs one's own progress. 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. Brian says he did not realize at the time that a conviction for fraud could have lost the Institute its federal tax-exempt status as an educational institution. But she says his attitude toward her underwent a dramatic change; he began to make her a target for his anger, issuing contradictory orders and then screaming at her for her incompetence in front of the other secretaries and disciples and gossiping about her behind her back. 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. Hadn't he taken vows of celibacy? He bragged about his sumptuous homes in India and Japan and about his shopping sprees for designer clothes, she says. 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