The Himalayan Institute is a good a good model on how to do a resort perfect. Carolyn says the "goofy" letters never got answered. She never received a response. 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. ", Pandit Arya is not so reluctant as Dr. Ballentine to articulate is how one can recognize a worthy guru. By this time Carolyn had gained 25 pounds from binging on sweets. Those who build boundaries around themselves because of their ego problems create suffering for themselves." He is held accountable only to the higher spiritual laws, which he is uniquely able to comprehend. 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. Join us in serving a tradition that has served the world selflessly for untold ages. After a sleepless night, she said she snuck out at 5:00 or 6:00 a.m. and drove to Brian and Terry's empty house in Honesdale. At about the same time, Carolyn was accepted into the residential program at East West Books Chicago, the Institute's downtown branch. Companies Himalayan Institute Tell us how to improve this page Impact of Accreditation Sanctions on Enrollment. * "Nirvana was up at his cabin, walking his dog at 5:30 in the morning, and Megan was with him day and night." His devotees hovered near the ashram's entrance, hoping for final instructions or a blessing from the guru. 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. When the couple confided their resulting marital troubles to Karen and George, Karen confirmed her friend's experience by revealing that she, too, had had a supposedly exclusive and spiritual sexual relationship with Swami Rama before her marriage. Continue reading Be the first to find this review helpful Helpful Share Report 5.0 Former Employee, more than 3 years Came for a job left with life-long friends At some point, we ran into Swami Rama in a hallway. 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. Our new online platform for community, courses, and content. 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. But within the Institute, she says, everyone else seemed to accept the guru's sexually suggestive behavior and humiliation of women. 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. "This sudden animosity indicates that there is something fishy in the statement of this person. During her first eight months at the Institute, Megan was able to pursue her studies, but her situation altered dramatically when Swami Rama returned to take up summer residence. Community, Courses, and Content. 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. As an enlightened being, he is thought to be beyond the judgment of ordinary mortals, their laws and morality. According to the story Terry and Brian say Rose later told them, late one night Swami Rama tapped at the door of her room and then walked in on her. Instead, he told the other board members that he believed Rose, and that they should investigate the incident for themselves. India Himalayan Institute India Our program model in India has been designed to focus on three initiatives: providing educational programs for children to help them rise above poverty level, preserving ancient culture and wisdom, and providing support for villagers dealing with natural disasters. A week later, Megan blew the lid off Swami Rama's private life, confirming what Carolyn already knew in her heart. He would call her to his office for a private audience, and as she hung anxiously on his words he would paint a flattering picture of her future with the Institute. 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.". Authentic Ashram Living Similarly, gurus in the Buddhist and Hindu traditions are supposed to be examples of self-mastery and right living. Relax, restore, and nourish yourself with a wellness retreat. 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. Explore high-quality, unique, practice-enhancing products made for yogis everywhere. Such a relationship, instead of giving the woman the healing or validation she seeks, reinforces her feeling that the only thing of value she has to offer a man with worldly power is her body. 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. He must also vow that he will not harm any living being. Later, many of the women broke out in head-to-toe swelling and rashes from what had in fact been poison ivy roots. A 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. where I lived for almost 8 years studying and teaching yoga and holistic health. Well organized, fine atmosphere, and a strong community. Live online programs, on-demand courses, and hundreds of yoga and meditation classes. Quick Links. Himalayan Institute locations 3.6 Honesdale, PA Show all locations What's being discussed at Himalayan Institute? Shortly after Marston filed her suit in 1978, Nuernberger moved to Honesdale, where he is currently a member of the Institute's teaching staff. Megan* started the Institute's graduate program in Eastern studies in the fall of 1982. Today HI continues to innovate and offer the world high-impact, revolutionary programs and humanitarian initiatives around the globe. toshiba tv screen goes black after a few minutes. She could not control her emotions, he could not talk to her! They enjoy spending their free time adventuring, camping, exploring, and creating memories together. 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. But one by one, Trescelli says, the women backed down and decided not to pursue legal action. See the article in its original context from. Expert wellness consultations direct to your home. The guru spoiled them, they say, calling them his spiritual son and daughter, and soon invited them to come live in Pennsylvania. Once there, Carolyn devoted herself to her yoga practices and threw herself into her assigned jobs. But during the next three weeks, she says, she saw the Swami mistreating his disciples, especially the women, on a daily basis-yelling at them, ridiculing them, ordering them around, and occasionally kicking a woman in the buttocks when she was on her hands and knees weeding. But the Institute does not teach the mastery of such powers in its programs, instead focusing on yoga practices with more immediate practical application. Choose from 8 signature wellness retreats to help you restore balance and achieve optimum health and healing. Put that letter in the 'goofy file.'" Yoga seminars, retreats, and professional certifications taught by our world-class faculty, designed to bring you the best of an authentic yoga tradition. His response: "Listen, there are certain things which are based on witnesses-those are facts. She believes Swami Rama was trying to buy her collusion, as he had bought the collusion of the Institute's staff and many residents. After a bit, she was inclined to dismiss his behavior as a joke or a "test.". Instead they deny the experience of the "unenlightened" women who are the guru's victims. Given a mantra but little guidance, Carolyn dutifully performed her assigned practices, hoping that Swami Rama's "scientific" approach to yoga would eventually yield results. "We were Brahmins in the Institute's caste system," Terry recalls. 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.". 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. 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 . But ultimately he chose to believe Swami Rama. Before leaving, Megan says, she tried to confront Swami Rama publicly-but he went into seclusion, claiming illness. 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. Megan went through a brief but painful and confusing time during which she doubted her own feelings and perceptions. Who We Are; What We Do; Where We Work. February 27, 2023. 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. Karen and George say their friends told them that the woman had been pressured to have sex with Swami Rama even after their marriage, which the guru had arranged. "Unpurified ego is an evil which obstructs one's own progress. Obedience to the guru's commands is implicitly expected of all long-term residents; former students describe him walking through the main dining room and ordering one person to move to the New York branch, another to change jobs. Carolyn says she told him no, it "just didn't feel right." Carolyn remembers being amazed: Could Swami Rama possibly be talking about sex? The jury awarded $275,000 in compensatory damages and $1.6 million in punitive damages to the woman. In May, Swami Rama visited the area again. 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. Carolyn says she spent years blaming herself and trying to rationalize away what she now regards as sexual abuse. She would live with him in the house he was buying. A Swami, or monk, is supposed to be "one who is master of oneself: senses, body, mind." "Nirvana is one," Carolyn says she told him. He says that Nuernberger's one mistake has "ruined his life, in essence, which is really too bad.". Residents staff the Institute's administration, bookstores, and other small businesses, including Himalayan Publishers and Distributors and an elementary school. Back; 2022 Clean Water and Public Health Fund; Make a Donation; Blog; Search for: Log in . During that time, neither of them would see any other, and she should never tell anyone. 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. she wondered. Lecturing and teaching worldwide for more than a quarter of a century, he is the author of fourteen books, including his autobiography Touched by Fire: The Ongoing Journey of a Spiritual Seeker, the best-selling At the Eleventh Hour: The Biography of Swami Rama of the Himalayas and a regular contributor to Yoga International. His disciples believe he knows them better than they know themselves, and that if they want to achieve their spiritual goals they should do exactly as he says. 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.". 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.". Over the past 15 or 20 years, numerous spiritual teachers have admitted to, or been charged with, having sexually exploitative relationships with their female students. She would start with handling the appointments and then she would make his plane reservations, scheduling lecture tours. 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. 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. Brian also received a threat, he says: a note telling him he "might get hurt," which was accidentally shoved under the door of a lawyer who rented the office next door to his in a Honesdale office building. There she learned Swami Rama's style of "super-conscious" meditation, which she describes as a basic, impersonal training in mental concentration. That was why he wanted her to be his secretary. The Himalayan Institute community reaches across the entire globe. A short time later, Swami Rama let her go as his secretary-because, she says he told her, she didn't really want the job. Swami Rama, she says, would extol his own sexual abilities but tell her she was bad at making love. Fortified by their mutual discovery, Karen says, the two couples undertook to inform their fellow students back home in Minneapolis. In August, Carolyn says, Swami Rama told her to meet him in New York City for the next step in her spiritual training. 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. He says he spends most evenings with the guru until midnight or 2 a.m., and that he knows better than anyone who is with Swami Rama late at night and who isn't. Had anyone spoken to her? A rash of articles featuring Swami Rama appeared in national magazines, including Time, People, and Playboy. 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. The Institute used to offer an accredited masters program in Eastern Studies and Comparative Psychology through an affiliation with the University of Scranton. 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. Ex-members say that Swami Rama also uses his psychological insights to manipulate people. Tall and imposing, he had the sleek look of a successful man in his late 50s, at the peak of his power. Years later, Rose contacted Patricia Trescelli, hoping to support a lawsuit by other women working with Trescelli and hoping to press charges against Swami Rama in her own sexual assault. Like incest victims, women who say they have been sexually abused by their gurus are sworn to silence by their abusers. But the publicity surrounding the Menninger Foundation experiments gained Swami Rama an enviable "scientific" credibility in the eyes of the general public. Friends of the two couples set up a "truth booth" outside the entrance of the Institute's first annual congress in 1976. Many of those beliefs are based on Hindu and Buddhist teachings about the nature of the guru. 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. She began talking about Swami Rama's exploitative behavior with anyone who would listen, especially women who she thought were being victimized. 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. After teaching, studying, and traveling throughout India and Europe, he came to the University of Minnesota in the 1960s, where he taught Sanskrit and Indian religions. Himalayan Institute of Technology Ranking and Awards. Megan recalls that in one of her first encounters with Swami Rama, she watched as he humiliated a quiet, withdrawn woman resident. She was dreamy! Up to that point I had felt like he was a guru, that he cared about me at least, but no, he was just using me.". Carolyn,* an old friend, called me collect. 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