Of all the Institute's swamis and teachers, Pandit Arya is by far the most scholarly. Gurus were supposed to have conquered their desires, but in the spiritual literature they were often portrayed as contradictory, tricking their disciples into enlightenment. It was years more before she felt she had the right to be angry at her spiritual family, the staff and residents of the Institute who, she says, denied the signs of abuse all around them. Similarly, a woman who had been repeatedly abused by Sri Swami Rama of The Himalayan Institute when she was 19 years old was awarded $1.9 million. Or, in the words of Rudolph Ballentine, M.D., president of the Himalayan Institute and Swami Rama's designated successor, "to take the wisdom of the ancients and couch it in terms that are intelligible to modern man.". What a foolish woman! They enjoy spending their free time adventuring, camping, exploring, and creating memories together. Sanctions on an institution can cause students to look elsewhere for higher education. Carolyn felt important, entitled to be there because she was one of his secretaries. The yogis, he says, have demonstrated these abilities in the past and continue to do so. Himalayan Institute Humanitarian is a 501(c)(3) public charity supporting the educational and charitable projects of the Himalayan Institute. From its beginnings 20 years ago, the Institute has expanded steadily to include some 25 branches and affiliated yoga and holistic health centers in the Midwest, the Northeast, Texas, California, and abroad. In the United States, far from the strong cultural morality of the guru's country of origin, it is not regulated at all. 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. RFP & Business Plan for Dairy Processing Investor/Operator. 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. Even so, it was a blow to find out that she wasn't particularly special: Swami Rama apparently had other "spiritual courtesans." She says he instructed her in how to give him pleasure and admonished her to always tell him that she had received pleasure, even thought she never did. she remembers him demanding. 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." 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. Read More According to Karen and George, no legal action resulted. 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. 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. There he founded the Meditation Center. "Before [these women] started saying these things, I also had a very good feeling that these people were wonderful people and they would never lie and they were trustworthy people. Then, later on, when the right man came along, she would marry and be very happy. 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. Friends of the two couples set up a "truth booth" outside the entrance of the Institute's first annual congress in 1976. 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. The Himalayan Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy, nestled in the beautiful Pocono Mountains in Honesdale, Pennsylvania, was founded in 1971. Impact of Accreditation Sanctions on Enrollment. 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. That one gesture unleashed a storm of long-suppressed emotions. As the couple started making arrangements to move to England, they received another blow. 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. When the manipulation started to involve her meditation and spiritual practices, she says, she decided to confide in one man who had been at the Institute for a long time and who was planning to leave. She would live with him in the house he was buying. Check our website! Back; Cameroon; India; Mexico; Tibetan Settlements; Get Involved. Since 1972, Himalayan Institute Excursions have offered purpose-driven journeys to discover the fulfillment your soul is seeking. A rash of articles featuring Swami Rama appeared in national magazines, including Time, People, and Playboy. They rarely had to do the menial chores performed by other residents; Brian was encouraged to study the sacred texts and write a book, while Terry got training as a Montessori teacher and started a school for the Institute's children. Treat yourself to a massage, meditate in the peaceful meditation shrine, or relax in one of the many attractive community spaces available on campus. The original creator of the neti pot, the Himalayan Institute has been offering traditional and modern products for health and spirituality since 1971. 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.". The Himalayan Institute is a good a good model on how to do a resort perfect. Rose spent the next six months moving from place to place, terrified that the Institute network would track her down. Relax, restore, and nourish yourself with a wellness retreat. 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. Rather than being a saint, according to Green, Swami Rama is an advanced yogi and "a mortal with some ego problems.". The institute has branches in the United States, Europe, and India. Carolyn is not alone. They would travel together to England. 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. Two women wrote statements, which said they had discovered that Swami Rama was attempting to "seduce" both of them contemporaneously. 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. The Institute also offers a dizzying array of education programs, including a diploma program for hatha yoga teachers. 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. She never received a response. Live online programs, on-demand courses, and hundreds of yoga and meditation classes. The Institute's program is no longer accredited by the University of Scranton. Terry, who is now a practicing psychotherapist, says she believes Swami Rama's behavior is compulsive-he can't help it." "I only needed one person to corroborate my experience," Megan says now. You're bound to get mixed up. 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. Together we ate superb vegetarian meals in the Institute's dining commons and chanted evening prayers. In 1971 Swami Rama founded the Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy in order to create the means to scientifically verify, document, publish, and teach the experiences of his ancient heritage. In some states, a patient has the right to sue her doctor or psychotherapist for malpractice even if she originally consented to sex, because people under psychological or medical treatment are considered too vulnerable and dependent to give free and full consent. 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. 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 the Institute does not teach the mastery of such powers in its programs, instead focusing on yoga practices with more immediate practical application. However, after Swami Rama talked with them, they either told Brian and Terry that the guru should be allowed a "mistake" or they shunned the couple altogether. When Carolyn had to work, I attended classes in Hatha yoga or read. She listened calmly as I admitted that I'd worried she might be a victim. Ag Innovation Center Business Plan. "Believing such stories means disbelieving in myself. He is held accountable only to the higher spiritual laws, which he is uniquely able to comprehend. In the spring of 1983, Swami Rama began to court her again, she says: He told her that she would help him prepare a book of sacred poetry he was writing, and he assured her repeatedly that he would take her to India the following autumn. ", Pandit Arya is not so reluctant as Dr. Ballentine to articulate is how one can recognize a worthy guru. She says he arranged for her to meet him at the Gramercy Park Hotel and instructed her not to call him Swami in public. Swami Rama made Carolyn his appointments secretary in August also. His disciples generally agree that the only reason his soul still inhabits a physical body is because he wants to help others achieve liberation from maya, the realm of illusion. Carolyn says she experienced their sexual encounters as brief and rough, and that she performed her sexual duties mechanically: "I numbed myself in order to survive.". Now Megan says that in a different atmosphere, she would have immediately recognized Swami Rama's behavior as sexual harassment or "sadistic manipulation." Dr. Elmer Green says that he and his wife have heard from a number of women who said they were sexually exploited by Swami Rama. Explore our integrative health services & therapeutic treatments to help restore your natural state of well-being. In such a situation, she says, the whole system becomes sick and no one can see the light: "There's no truth allowed; it's a no-talk rule.". I just don't know that it makes sense to go run around trying to evaluate other people, when you haven't evaluated yourself.". Join us for studies in the true meaning of yogaincluding asana, meditation, mantra, tantra, sacred scripture, and the art of joyful living. Sexual contract between gurus and their American disciples is not a new or rare phenomenon. Pandit Arya has many profound and beautiful things to say about his relationship to his guru when I interview him at the Divya Jyoti yoga center in Napa, California, in May 1989. She recalls that she blushed as she forced out the words: "I think you have been sleeping with other women." In the mythology of the ashram, the guru is the all-powerful, all-knowing father and the disciples are his spiritual children. Two other women left the Institute shortly afterwards. In my interviews with current and former members of the Institute, I heard an almost unvarying litany of beliefs about Swami Rama's abilities. [2] [ Teaching since 1971, the Himalayan Institute offers a wide variety of wellness supplies. 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. Himalayan Institute Buffalo Yoga | Meditation | Wellness Yoga classes and seminars for March - April are now open for registration. 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. When they have contacted their friends and former colleagues at the Institute, they have been discounted as liars or labeled "emotionally disturbed." Minneapolis was the site of another Institute-related scandal in 1981. 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 . Megan says she squelched an urge to speak out, instead deciding, like most of the Institute's residents, to suspend judgment so she could "understand and learn" from this "great master." Under New York State law, according to Trescelli, a woman who does not get a medical exam or report the incident to police within a limited period of time has little chance of obtaining a conviction. Patricia Trescelli, and attorney with Parker, Chapin, Flattau, and Klimpel, agreed to consult with the women concerning possible legal action on a pro bono basis. She became paralyzed by her fear of angering him. But ultimately he chose to believe Swami Rama. And I feared that Carolyn-young beautiful, idealistic, and worshipful of Swami Rama, the Institute's founder and spiritual leader-could be vulnerable to such exploitation. Companies Himalayan Institute Tell us how to improve this page Our members consist of a vibrant residential community of practitioners, karma yogis (service-driven seekers), and faculty-in-residence as well as a global community of seekers, committed to living their spiritual values. 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. Initially, Brian says, most of the other directors responded with concern. Megan recalls that in one of her first encounters with Swami Rama, she watched as he humiliated a quiet, withdrawn woman resident. The annual congress, held each June, offers a smorgasbord of lectures and "new age" workshops. But something, which is truth, cannot be falsified by having one hundred witnesses. The man, she says, informed her of Swami Rama's long history of alleged sexual misconduct. She would start with handling the appointments and then she would make his plane reservations, scheduling lecture tours. But Megan and Carolyn both say that Swami Rama would dismiss Pandit Rajmani and other members of the inner circle after an evening of socializing in Swami Rama's private quarters, while asking them alone to stay behind. https://himalayaninstitute.start.page || Yoga. During that time, neither of them would see any other, and she should never tell anyone. They are crazy. In March 1978, she says, Swami Rama came to Glenview and initiated her. Discover our new online platform for community, courses, and content. And she was afraid to leave in her old car because a freezing rainstorm had covered all the roads with ice. A few weeks later she moved to Honesdale. Had discovered that Swami Rama 's long history of alleged sexual misconduct far the most scholarly for hatha teachers... 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