A friend sent me the cutest comic strip with the following message:
"When something is nice, it does not need marketing."
Should I send it to Sri Sri?
Friday, December 18, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
Confessions of a Guruholic ©
Search This Blog
About Me
- AoL-Free
- This blog was created with the sole purpose of providing former Art of Living members and currently doubting ones a space for healing, finding answers, understanding processes that we went through as active members and as "drop-outs", sharing, supporting each other, with understanding, compassion, and above all, freedom and forgiveness. We welcome you to share your stories. Authors will be kept confidential unless you request your name be published.
Blog Archive
-
▼
2009
(36)
-
▼
December
(25)
- On DSN, by an anonymous
- Klim and AOLeaving and all,
- Qualities of a Guru
- News Flash
- The Art of Acting and The Art of Marketing
- Twinkle twinkle little stars
- Sudarshan Kriya: FREEING or FRYING the mind?
- The blind and the seva
- Flies: musca domestica
- The blog: what, why, how, when
- Monkey business: something to think about
- A comic strip speaks wisdom
- Thinking out loud
- Psychotherapist leaves a comment
- Maharishi, Maharishi not
- Inspiring words from John Knapp: "How not to be a ...
- YES we can!
- The one million dollar question: where do all the ...
- Relax, SOMEONE will get the Nobel Peace Prize
- He blesses, He curses, He threatens
- Fake it until you make it
- Stupid or relaxed? Part 2
- Stupid or relaxed? Part 1
- Deepak Chopra, according to AoL
- Gandhi also did not get the Nobel Peace Prize
-
▼
December
(25)
Helpful Links
- A Seeker's Hopes Dashed: the Art of Leaving Sri Sri
- AoL's "Exposing the Guruholics"
- Beyond the Art of Living - Critique of AoL and SSRS
- Counseling for Cult "Walkaways"
- Cult Awareness and Info. Center
- Culture of Cults
- Further Beyond the Art of Living
- Guruphiliac
- How genuine is Sri Sri?
- In love, losing is winning
- Independent Info of TM
- International Cultic Studies Association
- Is Sri Sri a Fraud Fraud?
- Nation Master Report on AoL
- Psychopathology of Cult Leaders
- Recovering Former Cultists's Support Network
- The Art of Living Business
- The Great Sri Sri NGO NGO scam
- TM Free Blog
Helpful Books
- "Take Back your Life: Recovering from Cult and Abusive Relationships" by Janja Lalich
- "The Guru Papers: Masks of Authoritarian Power" by Joel Kramer
Disclaimer
Opinions expressed in this blog are an expression of free speech and are protected as free speech. At no time is any content posted by the blog creator knowingly false. Opinions expressed in articles and files on this blog are those of the contributors and those opinions may not necessarily be shared by anyone involved in the creation of this blog. Events described in this blog are as accurate as memory and recollection permit. The experiences described in this blog is unique to the authors. You may have a more or less satisfying experience with the Art of Living Foundation or its related organizations.
Followers
Labels
- Abuse (20)
- AoLers (5)
- Art of Leaving (4)
- Art of Living (54)
- Astrology/predictions/siddhis (7)
- Brain-washing (6)
- Courses (9)
- Cult (30)
- Cult psychology (33)
- Deception (26)
- Disaster relief scams (2)
- fradecd (1)
- Fraud (43)
- Humble Witness (4)
- Klim (34)
- Leaving AoL (22)
- Lobbying (3)
- Maharishi (5)
- Marketing scam (20)
- Miracles (5)
- Nobel Peace Prize (7)
- Practices/Sadhana (13)
- Ravishankar abuse (11)
- Ravishankar family (6)
- Ravishankar twisted knowledge (26)
- Recovering from AoL (13)
- Seva scam (13)
- Sex (6)
- Silver Jubilee (2)
- Sri Sri Ravishankar (73)
- Sudarshan Kriya (10)
- Teachers (27)
- Teachers experience (28)
- Threats (5)
- TM (7)
- TTC (6)
- Youth courses (5)
Copyright 2009 LEAVING THE ART OF LIVING
13 comments:
Yes Yes Please do that. I think think AoL's success in Iraq is not marketed enough. Btw what is the purpose of your blog?
I Read where do all millions go. Interesting enough. I was wondering worldwide who feeds all full time teachers of AoL.
How about posting the link? Why waste a perfectly good comic strip. I'm very impressed with the forum you have provided to those of us who had experiences with AoL (Art of Lying). I wouldn't bother sending the comic to Ravi. He probably wouldn't get it.
He will just cut and paste it and use it in his daily wisdom. Then it will become "Precious Knowledge from Guruji", and all AOLers will be quoting it out of context.
hi i have read many posts on your blog. you mean to say that sri sri is an absolute fraud? when the global media and the indian media paints him with a very clean picture.. hmm am sure that he must be extremely shrewd to set up a global operation in 158 countries teaching yoga and pranayam. people come and go in every organisation and also get hurt and also grow and every organisation has its politics and drawbacks. i have been there tough not with aol but another org...i did the basic course years ago but didnt continue but the ashram in bangalore is really beautiful tough....thanks for this blog it serves as an eye opener in2 the innner circles of h.h srrs and also other organisations...id like to say that every orghas moderates, nutters, pscho cases , even the church today has gay bishops so what we are living in the 21st century...and iheard all about the yes we cna programme in europe on of my friends who hailed froma broken home got in2 it and found it a good suport system.. and has pestering me ever since but im all against it because of my prior experiences with another group where there was not just a " prozac " abuse but it got to the extent of going to the local mla in bangalore to ban the local chapter...being a punjabi and also believeing in shirdi sai baba's and gurunanaks teaching, jaigurudev logiaclly means to me- while not only saluting the divine within you one is also saluting the victory to the big mind...dont the hard core aolers also say jai gurudevand in what context do they use it?i do hope you heal fast you are not the only one.. many people come and go in these orgs and shit happens in life but one has to move on whether on the spiritual path or not. also in india today all the "spirtual organisations "and temples are becoming soo comercilaised but then they ave 2 as many ppl leave their homes and all to work in the social area full time ..
" He will just cut and paste it and use it in his daily wisdom. Then it will become "Precious Knowledge from Guruji", and all AOLers will be quoting it out of context ".
Spot on anonymous. That is precisely what aol would do.
Thanks KLIM for this blog. I wll be spreading the word. I'm originally from Bangalore and several people in my family fell victim to Sri Sri. Members of my immidiate family did the basic course and were impressed by the Sudharshan Kriya and did it for a while. I remember them complaining of side effects later and then stopping. I was the only skeptic in my family and was in my early twenties then (this was around 2003) and extremely strong-willed and refused to have anything to do with AoL and its asociated nonsense masquerading as spirituality. Some people in my family used to even mock and tease me for missing out on the great AOL experience saying I had not received a higher spiritual calling. It's just that I asked too many questions and the answers were never logical. Thankfully people in my immidiate family came to their senses. Unfortunately many others in my extended family did not. I have seen brillaint careers, with degrees from IITs and IIMs and medicine fall by the way side thanks to "seva" for the ashram and this imposter. This man needs to be jailed for misleading people and not accounting for his wealth. I am so glad my original instincts have been proved right.
Never stop asking questions.
Dharini
Why I am grateful to Sri Sri
Sri Sri made me recognize that God is in me. I had the experience for the first time in my life. I have been exposed and brought up in different spiritual traditions, but he facilitated that experience of the knowledge that was already in me. For this I am grateful.
He made me realize that there is no difference in the Divine and Me, that we are one; that I can reach for the stars not because it is a trite saying, but truly because it is not that a big deal to reach for the stars. Not just in relation to Art of Living work. Doing Art of Living projects expanded my skills, and I was soon transferring those skills to “real” world projects. The results are amazing. For this I am grateful.
He introduced me to the beauty of logic and rational knowledge. I have read and continue to read Yoga Vasishta and listen to Ashtavakra. It is true that several commentaries are available. But it was through him that I began to enjoy the timeless wisdom of my Indian heritage. For that I am grateful.
Some reader will want to vilify this by saying these are "Hindu" religious books or tradition, if so, so be it. But with the onslaught of Western thought, he has helped me access what is a part of my heritage, my tradition and culture. That is important; I know for sure indigenous cultures need to preserve their culture too. I think it will be a loss to the whole world if the entire history and spiritual tradition of my country (India) is destroyed in a manner similar to what happened to native American cultures (both North and South America)
Is he god? I do not know, for I dont know who God is.
All I know is I am capable of giving my 100% to this world, that this world is my very own. That it is possible and deserving of me to be hugely successful, happy and fulfilled at the same time. It is natural to expect huge success and achievements and be kind, generous and loving to those around me. In other words, I don’t have to pay a “price” in terms of losing my heart and conscience in the pursuit of happiness. That confidence, devotion, experience in divinity and nature, has been strengthened, for that I am grateful.
The space constraint here does not permit me to blog the entire post.
The remaining part of the post follows this posting.
Why I am grateful to Sri Sri
I go to a church and my heart is full, and the sense of belongingness is incredible, I can pray to Christ and experience the same connection as the many gods in my Indian tradition. I feel connected to other religious traditions as an experience, not as some intellectual idea, for this I am grateful.
When I go to a temple now, there is that same connection with the idols I grew up praying to, that these Gods are my best friends and well wishers. They are also family, for this I am grateful.
Is Sri Sri the ONE and THE ONLY ONE, and superior to everything else that has preceded on this planet? Look I don’t have that knowledge, these are intellectually complicated issues, and can never be argued out.
I am also grateful to your blog. It has made me think and consider my relationship with Sri Sri. You have done a service for me, I have become even more realistic about my relationship with him. Is it projection of my own shortcomings, expectations and unfulfilled wishes? So be it, good to recognize that; it is freeing, very liberating.
That experience of knowledge - that everything I need to have and know is already in me, that I am loved very much by the divine; for that confidence, belief and experience I am grateful.
It does not matter how we arrive to these moments of bliss, if it is AOL or any other path. If you or I feel the need to experience that from a master, the Universe will send that person to us. If we want to do it on our own that will be given to us too.
Is AOL for all the 6 billion people on the planet? NO! If any one says otherwise, well wish them luck and keep moving. Life is not waiting for complainers, whiners, only people who take action, right?
Does your blog upset me? No, you come across as a sincere person; some of your observations will definitely benefit AOL. So for that I am thankful.
The times you come across as vindictive and malicious is when you make accusations, I would suggest you have evidence before pronouncing some one guilty. You would not want to be accused of the same and insist on “guilty until proven”? People have pushed you around so much; this is where spirituality on ANY path is there to takes us. I feel before making accusations, it is better to look at the whole truth and figure out a wholesome solution.
So what is your solution?
"The times you come across as vindictive and malicious is when you make accusations, I would suggest you have evidence before pronouncing some one guilty."
It's funny. If one says the circle is round, ice cream sweet, the sky is blue, I was raped, I was beaten up, one is stating a fact or at least, an experience. If one says, the Guru is stealing, the Guru is abusing, the Guru is lying, the Guru is manipulating, one is making "accusations" out of revenge. I still don't understand this phenomenon or this dissonance that many followers of a Guru or a path have. I do not write anything that I have not had direct experience of, heard or seen or lived first hand. In other words, I have plenty of experience that come with name, numbers and dates, except, it is important to keep certain names, numbers and dates private for the simple reasons: 1. to protect the people involved, including myself; 2. to respect boundaries/privacy of the people involved who have suffered in an organization such as this, 3. this blog was not created with the intention of accusing anyone, but simply, again, of sharing.
While in the AoL we were encouraged all the time to "share experiences", in fact, that is all SSRS instructed us teachers, "make sure their share" (sometimes the sharing in a big course took as long as 3 or 4 long boring hours! even 2 days!), that was "raising energy", but sharing things that are difficult to read, hear or process, is "accusation"? What about maybe "an eye opener"? Interesting. At the end of the day, frauds like SSRS always get away with their schemes because of thinking like this. Your point exactly corroborates "Thinking out loud."
"He introduced me to the beauty of logic and rational knowledge."
Man, he may have introduced you to logic but you surely contradict yourself illogically more than once, and the worst is, you don't realize it.
"Sri Sri made me recognize that God is in me."
He taught you God is within yourself but then you don't know God? In other words, you don't know yourself, then how can you make any sense? No wonder you contradict yourself so much. etc etc etc etc.
This is the mess SSRS creates in people and still they feel they owe it to him. Dude, the world is in a state of emergency. People are free to think and feel whatever they want but I suddenly feel sick.
" Sri Sri made me recognize that God is in me ".
ROTFL.Anonymous ,
If so how come you have animosity towards Western thought/culture ? Is God cut up into pieces existing only in aol SSRS & his followers ? Missing in the others ?
Indeed you betray how much of Yoga Vaasishtham has been assimmilated , still seeing not only Time and Distance but also East & West:))
Worshippers of SSRS vist this blog to go into damage control overdrive. Please don't. When you are so convinced of his divinity why bother at all ? Carry on with your alleged projects/seva.
" Sri Sri made me recognize that God is in me ".
ROTFL.Anonymous ,
If so how come you have animosity towards Western thought/culture ? Is God cut up into pieces existing only in aol SSRS & his followers ? Missing in the others ?
Indeed you betray how much of Yoga Vaasishtham has been assimmilated , still seeing not only Time and Distance but also East & West:))
Worshippers of SSRS vist this blog to go into damage control overdrive. Please don't. When you are so convinced of his divinity why bother at all ? Carry on with your alleged projects/seva.
Post a Comment