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SWAMI CHEATANANANDA
-- GURU EXPOSE SERIES:
This four-part series appears online at:
r.e. securing a spiritual empire:
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/news/oregonian/guru_day1.frame
r.e. 11 women charge guru with sexual abuse,
abuse of power:
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/news/oregonian/guru_day2.frame%00
r.e.the guru money ties :
http://www.hotboards.com/plus/plus.mirage?who=ex-premieforum&id=12946.537843860200
r.e. disciples leave cult:
http://www.hotboards.com/plus/plus.mirage?who=ex-premieforum&id=13679.4548810753502
'I bust my guts out for people who mostly
wonder, you know, 'What in the hell happened?' and
'What's that son of a bitch trying to get from me
anyway?' Well, the truth of the matter is, I'm
after your money. (laughter from audience). Or, I
could be after your bodies. (more laughter). --
Chetanananda, during a talk in February 1998
'If you're going to do any kind of deep
experiencing . . . the first thing you're going to
have to get through is that piece of plastic in
your head called the mind. It's just Saran Wrap.'
-- Chetanananda, May 11, 1988
Former disciples say the sexual conduct
described by the 11 women affected a wider circle
of people. 'Now personally I think celibacy is
total baloney. In India it's one thing. But here
it's something totally different.' -- Chetanananda,
April 1992 tape-of-the-month.
'Spiritual growth is about surrender, not about
understanding. Whenever that part of you that wants
to figure out, or know why, or what for, or so on
or so forth, kicks in, kick it out. Kick it out.'
-- Chetanananda, in an April 21, 1993, talk
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INTERNET CULT DEBATE
see this website:
www.leaving-nityananda-institute.org
On Dec. 21, 2000, an e-mail from an outsider
alerted W. to a new Web site, launching a battle
that continues. Former members had created the site
-- www.leaving-nityananda-institute.org -- that
featured an anonymous statement about Chetanananda
by 11 people.
'He told us the only thing we had to surrender
was our tensions,' the open letter said, 'when in
fact we were expected to surrender everything to
his program: our families, our girlfriends if we
were men, our bodies if we were women . . . our
money, our former religious beliefs and morals, and
our sense of belonging in the society at
large.'
Soon afterward, institute members registered
Internet domain names, such as
www.leaving-nityananda-institute.com, resembling
that of the former members' site, to steer Web
surfers their way. The sites accused the former
members of using hate-group tactics to incite
prejudice and intolerance.
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FEEDBACK LETTERS FROM THE GURU CULT EXPOSE:
I received an email from a friend who had been
sharing a series of critical articles about swami
chetanananda on the internet and had then read some
feedback about the articles. One letter was written
by someone who has done 25 years of counselling
with survivors of closed groups:
'I found that whenever such a group finds itself
being held accountable for its behaviors in the
public media, the same denials, in literally the
same words, are forthcoming.'
'We never did that, some mistakes were made, we
don't do that anymore, these allegations are
completely false, anyone is completely free to
leave whenever they want; my critics are
unspiritual, dedicated to destroying the truth, and
their words cannot be given credence, and besides,
there are just a few of them, and so on.'
'The people...who criticized the swami's program
are neither mean-spirited nor weak personalities.
Rather they are strong, intelligent people who in a
moment of vulnerability were conned, like any of
the rest of us could be.'
A 2nd letter I found on the internet today in
response to the series was written by Melanie
Rubin, who was a student at the ashram from 1985 to
1998.
Missing the message on quest for
spirituality:
07/24/01 by MELANIE RUBIN
'Some people wonder whether I said this to
defend Swami Chetanananda or justify my own
participation in the community. Actually, I made
this statement to address a gap I often perceive
when I hear people discussing the ashram. I believe
The Oregonian performed a valuable service in
publishing the ashram series -- but the issue I
hoped to address was largely missing.
Participating in community and having a
structure for spiritual development in the ashram
exacted an extremely high cost. Still, I think it's
important to note that these aspects reflect values
our society is desperately seeking and often not
finding. I'm concerned that readers will see the
ashram story only as something foreign and
dangerous -- another example of a weird cult gone
wrong -- and not look beyond the sensationalism to
consider what relevance this story may have in
their own lives.
From the articles, one might conclude that most
students came to the ashram to escape a very
disturbed past. Although this was true in many
cases, my impression was that, overall, these new
students were not more damaged than any
cross-section of the same socio-economic group,
since there's so much emotional, physical and
sexual trauma throughout our culture. And many
people came to the ashram seeking to meet the
healthy human needs we're all after -- such as
love, contact, security, fun, feeling special and
valued and finding personal meaning.
So many people today feel lonely and
disconnected in their families and communities.
This happens everywhere -- with the middle school
kids I've mentored recently; with friends who have
the good jobs, homes, spouses and children often
thought of as defining the American dream and with
my mother, now a senior citizen struggling to find
a place in a society that often overlooks the
elderly.
So many people seem confused, wishing for
something deeper in their lives, but they're not
sure what. The fact that huge crowds came to see
the Dalai Lama on his recent visit speaks to me of
this craving.
It was the shared experience of community in the
ashram that I found valuable -- of living, working,
having fun, creating and building together, of
having so much common experience over the course of
years.
And I believe there is a value in having a life
that creates space for inner reflection and
spiritual pursuit. In our culture we move faster
and faster past each other, trying to keep up with
all the demands and information, trying to 'get
ahead.' There's not much reinforcement, I find, for
taking time every day to sit quietly and explore a
deeper source of creativity and connection.
For me, the price of these benefits in the
Rudrananda ashram was way too expensive and
ultimately did not compensate for the abuse. Even
surrounded by many people, I felt lonely because I
was taught my questions were unacceptable and that
I should not express my true thoughts or feelings.
Even with daily meditation, I found it difficult to
hear my own inner voice, competing as it was with
the voice of the guru who I was told knew better
than I did what was good for me.
But, to use an old cliche, I'm hoping readers
will not 'throw the baby out with the
bathwater.'
The bathwater is abuse on many levels,
repression and turning one's power over to any
other human being. But the baby is the need each
one of us has to find community and a connection to
spirit in our lives, however we choose to pursue
these values.
I'm hoping readers will see the ashram story as
yet another sign, beyond the violence occurring in
high schools and the growing use of
antidepressants, that we have to find new ways to
meet these critical human needs, and, in so doing,
begin to heal the disconnection, trauma and
loneliness so common around us.'
Peace and lentils,
da lil' swami j. suchabanana
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