Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Food for Thought: Does it really matter?

As sad and disrespectful as it may seem, I only have one statement to make, “I really don’t care.” Do you realize this one incident is very insignificant in the world that matters? What does it matter if it was meant for Ravishankar or someone else? What does it matter if it was a terrorist attack or an internal rivalry? It won’t change my life and it certainly won’t change yours. It may, however, change the lives of those who are still in the AoL, but that is also not a problem. I thank my aggressors every minute for having helped me get out of that blurry world.

The fact I write about it does not mean anything other than I am writing about it, just as a journalist writes about a story. There are days I have more time to moderate the comments, and there are days I don't. There are days I don't care, there are days I feel motivated to. It is only clicking a button after all! Writing for this blog has helped me see through a lot of things in me and in the AoL phenomena, as I understand it has also helped many current and former devotees process their confusion and pain. It was not just me. I know there are a lot out there going through what I went through for so long.

The only thing that makes me sad though is to see the hatred, feverishness, fanaticism, thought process, lust, greed, immaturity that the AoL commentators project with their comments. Yet, with all due respect, of course, they are convinced they make smart remarks and are absolutely correct in their conclusions. Where did the spirituality go? How can they teach and spread spirituality when they handle those who don't agree with them this way? At least I am not teaching anymore and probably, like many, I should have never taught at all. It is not just about reciting a few cute phrases or counting 4-4-6-2 or pressing a play button to a So Ham tape. Not even Ravishankar lives the knowledge, and if the teachings led people to true spirituality, then many things that happen, would not happen, and an AoL police would not be here together with other devotees posting with aggression. There is a lot more responsibility involved than one fathoms in teaching those courses. I would think true spirituality should lead one to greater humbleness and all-encompassion.

However, their minds and practice are all about good vs. bad, you vs. me, us vs. they, policing those who do not agree or control, whether they are out or in the AoL. Sadly, it happens also to teachers and volunteers inside the organization! But, as I grew out of it, I found out life is a lot more than that!

Believing that those who do not agree or do not see RS as the God almighty does not mean anything but simply that. What happened with “not seeing intentions behind people’s mistakes” then? Why can’t they see it as just as mistake? There is a lot of ignorance in the world and as far as it concerns me, it is all relative. Maybe I am ignorant for not seeing Ravi as god, maybe they are ignorant for seeing Ravi as god. At the end of the day, does it really matter? The truth is it only matters to them.

Some of the people whose comments are the most nasty are people I remember way back when they just joined the movement and/or even before they became teachers. Most of them were very nice and sweet people. Somehow, inevitably, as people become teachers and get more and more involved, something shifts and the niceness disappears. I wonder what will happen to these people if AoL falls one day, or if RS decides to run away with USD 7 million like Nithyananda did.

There is no good vs. bad, no us vs. they. As far as it concerns me, they can blame me of anything they want, insult as much as they need to. Of course, with an incident that hits so close, someone needs to be blamed because otherwise it could only mean there are problems inside the organization and RS. How can anyone, but a disgruntled idiot, not like RS? I was shocked myself when I found out there are many out there! Reading the Guruphiliac and other articles that questioned the AoL or denounced certain discrepancies was perhaps one of the most shocking yet liberating experiences after I left the organization. I had been convinced for so many years AoL was the best and if anyone doubted it, it was due to ignorance, jealousy, bad karma, low prana. One of the most embarrassing moments in my recent life was when someone asked the name of the organization I belonged to for so many years and a day later, having not shared anything about it or the reason why I left, said, “How long did it take you to realize it is a scam?” I was stunned. How did it take me so many years to realize but one second for this guy? To make matters worse, as the first AoL hate comments started flowing into the blog yesterday, I sent a few to him to see and he said, “You are not taking them seriously, are you? These people act like teenagers and write brainlessly!” Again. How did it take me so long to realize this but one second for this guy?

Thus, I always come back to the question: what inside me did not allow me to see thru the truth and instead permitted so much abuse in my life? What was wrong in me? I don't hate them. I know they have no other choice but to attack me and anyone else in my similar stand. People like me challenge the comfort zone in their mind and heart. If anything, I feel bad for them. Nothing about the AoL comes with peace, soothingness, belongingness, harmony. Do I remember those days!

Of course, reading these hate mails is not fun (and I know it upsets many) but it certainly confirms my decision to leave this toxic community. I pat myself in the back realizing I no longer fear them and my mind is clearer everyday. Sadly, I probably had become zombie like them at some point or the other. It is impossible not to when that is your environment, association, language and education, and when one is trained to be and think that way. It is impossible to reason with them. It is impossible to reason with arrogance, self-righteousness and greed. They have their fanaticism to defend, but beyond that, they have feelings and a life to defend and justify. Waking up to the truth, questioning the validity of it all is a lot more painful. I went through it. I know.

They take this blog as a personal attack, they see intentions, they fire hatred, as if I was the only one who thinks and feels this way and in an act they are convinced is "ahimsa". How contradictory of all their teachings and actions? Maybe I was the first one to have the courage to express myself in a written form, publicly. But there are many out there too. Perhaps Vinay was luckier for getting only one bullet in his thigh. These bullets of hatred and insanity in the form of comments and blog persecution are a lot worse. But, unfortunately, nothing that is not familiar to me of the AoL days. Fortunately, I was well groomed for it during my extensive stay with them.

Believe it or not, I don’t care if AoL falls or not, if RS comes out of the closet or not (not in the sexual connotation). I repeat, this blog is just my journal to help me heal and deprogram. If I was interested in exposing or defaming, I would be writing different stories, with full names and details. This blog has served its purposed in marvelous ways and thru the writing, I have gained "consciousness" after a long deadly comma.

Art of Living-free people: please do not waste anymore time with this incident. It really does not matter who was the target nor the contradictions of the stories. We left. We are free. We own our minds and lives again. Is there anything more important than that? Just sit back, relax, let them feel important and enjoy the fun of the drama. Someone will tell you the end of the story. Whether the truth of the incident is unveiled or not, it also does not matter. Not everything that is good prevails and not everything that is bad falls. The only thing that matters is we are free! And it certainly feels SO GOOD to be Art of Living-free!

I do wish everyone the best. I do wish my former friends find peace beyond the indoctrination and fanaticism. I do wish Ravi the best too. He is a guy who started with good intentions (I hope) and I do hope that at some point, he remembers what they were.

The only truth is there is a lot more to the world than the Art of Living. The Art of Living does not even account for 1% of the world population and, just as it came, so shall it go. It is the nature of life. Wasn’t that one of the pillars of knowledge?

It is all changing.

Peace.

31 comments:

Rahul said...

Dear KLIM

I understand your sentiments . What is happening at AOL happens in more spiritual organizations especially the New Age Ones . No doubt lot of these institutions teach lot of good things like Yoga , Pranayam , Meditation etc which are very good for physical and mental rejuvenation but problem comes when people leave their jobs etc and go there becoming full time volunteers / teachers escaping their real life problems /situations . My advice to people is by all means attend AOL Courses or any other related Yoga Courses and develop a healthy life style putting in to practice what u have learnt but kindly note that your day to day problems related to your job ,finance , work , family ,society etc will not vanish overnite and that u need to face them and resolve them on your own and by joining AOL or other Organizations will not give u a magic wand to wipe off those problems in one stroke . This is the advice Krishna gives Arjuna on the battlefield i.e stop running away . The issues are the same as it were thousands of years back only context changes .Kindly note that freedom and security never go together . If you think that leaving a Corporate Job and becoming a full time volunteer in AOL or any spiritual Organization is a solution to all ur problems then God save you .All that happens inside a Corporate Environment happens inside spiritual Organizations .If you can work in spite of that then wish u all the best .Otherwise just quit these organizations and start rebuilding your own life .

Awakened2010 said...

AOL principles only apply to those that are part of AOL i.e., "do not see intention behind others actions" only applies to devotees that are frenzy about Sri Sri and blind followers and all part of the cult. The principles do not apply universally (though they claim universality).

In my opinion, this latest incident is ABSOLUTELY a publicity stunt, how can anyone not see that?

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Chidambaram-differs-from-Sri-Sri-Ravi-Shankar-on-ashram-attack/articleshow/5996187.cms

Of course, this certainly makes Chidambaram the bad guy, not a courageous one for speaking his opinion, note that the devotee (vinay) could not confirm Sri Sri's presence.

I don't think anyone on this forum encourages guns/violence against human beings, but for AOL to capitalize an incident involving shooting to its own benefit and publicity is just SICK SICK SICK!

manju said...

Rahul is SPOT-ON. Absolutely correct.

Learn the good from these orgs and go back and practice it in your day-to-day life. So, try to have patience and understand your colleagues, family, friends. One must try to be detached in life, and detachment applies to a Guru and an org as well. Wish them well and move on when the sign tells u to. (believe me, the sign does come up quite often, only people tend to quash it...).

After all, cant u be spiritual in the the real world too? That's a real challenge!!

I for one don't want to judge this incident.

The truth will eventually come out. Whatever. I wish the org and Guruji well. The org didn't suit me, after a point, but why shouldn't it suit others?

Peace..!

The Reformer said...

Finally!! I hope people listen at least now when you say 'Relax!! It doesn't matter!!' It was so amusing to watch a kiddish water balloon fight, fought over nothing.

I had questions before, but I simply used to brush them aside, not because I didn't have the courage to ask, but because I simply didn't have the time. I was spending so much time in seva that I didn't want to bother myself with more questions. After all thinking a lot does take a lot of energy out of you. I guess this is one of the ways used by over zealous teachers, in their mad rush to impress the guru. i.e keeping volunteers so busy that they don't have time to think.

But then I realized,if I am going to continue serving, I need to be confident of what I speak first. Not because my guru said so, but out of firm understanding. I had to address all the questions that came and keep coming up in me. The intellect is surely not meant to get stuck in, but definitely is meant to be used to analyze and understand. And your blog was what gave me the final push to go ahead.

I don't mean to be insensitive, but frankly, I really don't care whether this whole blog is true or not. If it is true, all my love to you, get well and strong like the wind. If it is not, I don't care, but still all my love to you. Why? Because I have no way of knowing whether all this true, and it is not worth my time to be worried about all this. Whether fact or fiction, this blog has made sure that I shall have faith, but shall not become a victim to blind faith.

Strange are the ways of the divine, that I should get so much good out of something which quite openly says the worst possible things about the one I consider my teacher.

Love, Blessings AND Gratitude.

AoL-Free said...

Reformer, this is exactly what it comes down to: not falling victim of blind faith. Questioning, finding out answers, not believing in the same stuff as the rest of the crowd is OK too. There definitely is no good vs. bad, or us vs. they. But cheering for either side like fanatics, in aggression and feverishness, is something I still don't understand how it can come out of people studying spirituality. Don't know what it does to others, but it definitely makes me doubt the Teacher.

With this blog I really don't intend to pull anyone out of anywhere. It just happened, like shit just happens. But if it happens, it really should make the organization ponder, what is wrong? what can be changed? Instead of snapping agst anyone who disagrees with them. There is no logic behind that reasoning, and definitely no spirituality.

But, it is always good to have the other side, cuz the other side also exists. Best to you.

AoL-Free said...

I am not posting any more nasty comments neither from AoL police - bc it disturbs those former members who are trying to heal from spiritual abuse, nor from former members - bc we left that! Let's not fall into the trap of snapping to AoL behaviours or going "against" the mistake. As far as I am concerned, as a former member of a cult, I really don't want to take on my cultic behaviours anymore. Let's really find our own peace and dive into it Whatever and however they want to say, do, etc. their problem. It is a free world after all.

AoL-Free said...

Light and Wisdom, I am not posting your comment because it is enough. I did not wage war but you guys did and I stupidly replied. I could not help it because it was quite comical, and the realization that I am no longer afraid of the AoL or that it does not haunt me anymore gave me a shot of ecstasy and sense of invincibility. It is too good to know one is free. But I do accept your apologies though I never read any of your statements so I have no idea what you mention. You don't convey any light or wisdom, by the way, but I do wish both for you. Really, don't take disagreements or bad experiences personally. This blog was not created with any such intention. On the other hand, your blog was. And you are the one who is officially in a path of spirituality and spreading it. That is all that I wish for you. True spirituality and peace. It is OK to disagree and it is OK to be in the same world not believing the same thing. It is OK if RS is the best and it is OK if he is not. It is OK if you are loving it now there and it is OK if it was a shithole for me. Believe it or not, I respect all of you who still venerate all that you believe. You need it, you enjoy it, why not? I once did and I was once also was convinced about it as well. I consider it my fortune to not be there anymore, but that does not mean I consider you are unlucky to be there. In spirituality, there is no "us vs. they". Really. I am sure Ravi has taught us better, or at least, our parents! All the best.

Anonymous said...

klim the comment @June 1, 2010 1:54 PM was amazing .. i think u shud write a complete post of this kind only .. that will be good..!!!

FAROXA (friends and relatives of ex-aolites) said...

I consider it my fortune to not be there anymore, but that does not mean I consider you are unlucky to be there. In spirituality, there is no "us vs. they". Really. I am sure Ravi has taught us better, or at least, our parents! All the best.

This is the part most AOL-ites will find very difficult to grasp, since it is all about 'us vs. them', how to get more of them to have what we have (which we are Oh! SO LUCKY to have...), etc.
Many will continue to think on these lines - "KLIM was scared off by police threats etc., or by "Guruji's power" or whatever.So KLIM is trying to pretend to be friendly, harmless, etc.; but really KLIM is still one of THEM". Sad...

Anonymous said...

Dear Klim
It appears that u are finally succumbing to the pressure created by the existing cult members. It also appears you have also reached some agreement with the cult as a result of which the blog exposingtheguruholic has been removed. While as a blog owner you have every right to take any decision regarding posting of comments but as a regular visitor to your blog I strongly believe that you should post every message that is written in parliamentary language. but you should not react to unfavorable as it dissipates your energy which is the very purpose of the cult. I think they been very successfully doing it

GBK said...

Definitely food for thought. I tend to agree with what Rahul and Manju say - be a part of such organizations if you want, but know when to quit. I think it is difficult for most people though, given that such cults thrive on divisive dichotomies ("us and them") and evasive explanations ("It's all in the mind") by strangling free thinking.

After listening to some pompous prattle by some of my friends who are a part such a cult, I decided to stay away. Ego, I thought, is more than happy to reside in minds which have forgotten how to think.

GBK

AoL-Free said...

Anon 3:20AM. Nah. I am still here, the blog is still here and there was no negotiation of any kind except with myself. I left a cult, I did not drop out of spirituality.

Anonymous said...

Klim and all those who are dissatisfied with AOL. AOL has a probably mixed bag of karma as you yourself accept. It spread meditation techniques and spiritual knowledge in various parts of the world, including war-torn and calamity-striken regions like Lebanon, Haiti, Sri Lanka, etc. How much those, who lose their near and dear ones untimely, suffer mentally cannot be understood unless one is in the same boat? Without meditation and spiritual knowledge, dealing with extreme level of trauma is well-nigh impossible. It is said that the suicide rate is the highest among psychiatrists among all professions - those who are in the profession of healing others, themselves are not able to heal themselves. It is a stark reminder that modern psychology has not been able to understand human psyche very deeply. Any orgazination like AOL, TM, etc which has been able to spread yoga and spiritual insights among people of the world, has done a good job even if they might not have done everything right. I guess, those who have never created or worked in an organization, seldom understands how complex it is manage them and how sometimes, the same organization does some good and some bad together due to complexity involved. I guess, enough criticism of AOL has been done in this blog. Can some constructive posts on what you learnt about yoga and spiritual insights from AOL and other organziations/books be put on this blog? Can one expect a post from klim and other ex-teachers of AOL on what meditation or other yoga techniques you practise, how you learnt it and how it helped you?

The bottomline is: please share not only what went wrong in your life, please also do share what went fine in your life (due to something you learn in even AOL or may be from other organizations/books) and what others can possibly learn from your experiences/insights/techniques? After the phase of catharsis, one should move to positive things, otherwise one will get stuck to the past and not mature from the unpleasant experiences. I hope, catharsis phase is almost over for all post-writers and they will love to share some positive things also as part of their own spiritual healing and progress.

Hope, these suggestions make sense.
Thanks

AoL-Free said...

@faroxa
No no no! Because I am not one of them I decided it was enough with all that insane aggression. I walked out of that. Actually, reliving it put me back in a twighlight zone. Let them think whatever they want, do whatever they want. Who said succumbing? No no no. Just practicing Aikido. But mind you, they are the vegetarians, thus, the non-violent creatures, who are officially in a spiritual path, studying spirituality, doing practices that led them to further evolution, and spreading peace in the world. What peace if they bombard those who do not think they are the best with so much hatred? Wow. Just even seeing that level of aggression is not good. RS says watching violent movies affect the consciousness and lowers the prana .... so, we should not watch violent movies but we can enact them? Someone explain?

WhistleBlower said...

@gopal4mission
OK, Gopal, just for you I share something positive I learned from AOL/RS.
I have learned to avoid any spiritual path who is made around glorifying a so called guru & see all the sign in a megalomaniac, narcissist guru & corruption in the organisation.
Now a days, thanks to my experience with AOL, I can recognize a cult from 100 miles away!
read my post Original Sin in AOL & the final Salvation! for more detailed explanation!
http://aolfree.wordpress.com/2010/05/19/original-sin-in-aol-the-final-salvation/

Svetana said...

@ gopa14mission, who asked:

“The bottom line is: please share not only what went wrong in your life, please also do share what went fine in your life (due to something you learn in even AOL or may be from other organizations/books) and what others can possibly learn from your experiences/insights/techniques?

Below are some things I learnt from AOL, that had positive effect on my life:

1.Greatest treasure in life is FREEDOM.
Now I know that I’d rather get to hell, as a free being, then to paradise, as somebody’s slave (SS devotee) or carbon copy (SS teacher).

2.Greatest joy in life is CREATIVITY.
I learnt this after spending some years with AOL community, where people, like parrots, just repeat what guru said, and teachers teach from guru’s scripts. How boring!

3.Greatest present God gave me are my PARENTS.
They shared with me deep Knowledge of what is true in life and their unconditional love, without asking even a penny in return. I started appreciating it better, after realizing that SS so-called unconditional love and desire to spread Knowledge is based on overwhelming GREED.

4.Greatest knowledge is that GOD dwells in one’s HEART.
Now I am happy with my own company and company of my closest friends. Being a part of any organizations, especially, as corrupted as AOL, distracts a seeker from the beauty of deep spiritual states. The moment you reach this state, they would shamelessly pull you out of it by asking for another donation or forcing you to subscribe to more courses.

5.Last, but not the least, is that the Mind is as important, as the Heart.
Only human beings are blessed with both, so, don’t surrender your Mind to anybody, doesn’t matter how great he/she may seem. By doing so, you may become a puppet in the hands of some great conman and your life will be in a mess. Rather use your Mind, as a torch, that will light your way on a difficult road of understanding the mystery of life.

WhistleBlower said...

Well said Svetana. I Can ditto all that. You also have a great sense of humor.
I particularly loved “The moment you reach this state, they would shamelessly pull you out of it by asking for another donation or forcing you to subscribe to more courses.” So true. This was indeed AOL written policy. Indeed I had come to conclusion that the reason for various courses, was making us malleable to depart with more $$$$. No matter how much we had already paid for participating in any course, they would still want some more donation at the end of the course.
In ultimate cunningness they would even get participants in groups at the end of the course & ask them to raise the donation as a group (rather than just putting it in a box anonymously), as a way of forcing people to more donation. An Adv or DSN course success was quite often measured as how much was collected at the end of the course & how much more money it brought to AOL.
I hope Gopal can see that we learned many positive things from our time with AOL & it wasn't entirely a waste of time!

Peaceful Warrior said...

@Gopal

AOL is the kindergarten of spirituality. It was something I had to go through to find real spirituality.

I'm grateful to AOL for introducing me to spirituality, and angry at it for shamelessly exploiting my gratitude to satisfy their hunger for money and power.

Towards the end, I found little spirituality in that place. Mostly blind guru worship (which is not spirituality), dishonesty and manipulation - all of which people justify in the name of serving the master. I don't need it anymore - I've connected with the divine that lives inside and around us. Time to discard the banana skin that is AOL.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Svetana. More or less mimics what I think. I value freedom and what I have more than what I desire.

I am not a former teacher and haven't endured as much but I have gone through the AOL course to know what you guys are saying.

As an Indian, I apologize to people of other nationalities for this junk export.

Anonymous said...

"Don't enslave yourself to Allah, Christ or Krishna - For all prophets came to make you free". Period

The Dude said...

Gopal

For what it's worth...this is my story of involvement with AOL.

In the beginning I was attracted to the spiritual aura around RS and teachers. Some of them really did have a powerful presence, and I got pulled in by their powerful presence. In addition, I had always been a religious person, and the thought of learning the vedas from an authentic guru was music to my ears. I devoted myself completely to this pursuit - not just listening to RS, but reading upanishads on my own and living a sattvic lifestyle.

I did not question his organization initially - as I was there for my education, not to get into organizational affairs. But try as I may, I saw exploitation and manipulation, and could not ignore these things beyond a point. On careful examination, I came to realize, that RS and his teachers don't walk the talk at all. All the talk about unconditional love is B.S ...the teacher and RS could care less about you. They only care about their own interests. They don't care about dharma, or service to mankind also - that is just a ruse to gain more power, money and influence.

To give you an analogy - In indian mythology, Ravan is a brahmin, and a devotee of shiva, who uses his blessings to gain personal power and wrecks havoc. Sri Sri is a narcissist and a psychopath like that. Real guru will be a man of integrity and have humility that comes from - not the ego and pride as he has.

A sincere devotee gains even with a false guru, because the earnest self-effort is his. Thus I have learnt. I don't do kriya, but I do meditate daily. I'm embarrassed to have been part of this stupid organization - and would not recommend it to anyone.

Svetana said...

“Ego, I thought, is more than happy to reside in minds which have forgotten how to think.”

Thank you, GBK, for this wisdom. It’s brilliant!

Anonymous said...

when you are in the spritual path, the vehicle you use and the speed with which you travel varies - chhandogya upanishad

A sincere devotee gains even with a false guru, because the earnest self-effort is his - kena upanishad (aatmanaa vindate viiryam vidyaya vindate mrutam)

KLM and others- I do not think you lost or paused anything in your life.. You do not know what you gained in terms of your spiritual goal. Be happy and thank god!!
USA-CA-ANON

Unknown said...

Why are you not posting my comment that I mailed you. I'm sure you'll agree its a positive one that means no harm to you or anybody else. It's a well meaning one, so why the bias?

:)

AllIsWellAngel

AoL-Free said...

A, do you realize you sent this question even before you wrote your comments? Keep your feverishness and aggression at home, please. Given your attitude, honestly, I did not even check what you wrote. Rather silly, don't you think?

Unknown said...

The aura is missing. Really. There were a lot of good vibrations in the air in 2000. The satsangs were nice and I swear the trees used to dance with the music in the old amphitheatre. Now,the new amphitheatre appears soulless and the mantap in the background and the general busybodies and the corporate types who have taken over AOL have got rid of whatever spirituality there was.
This is not just my experience. All the same, I have ceased to be active in the AOL world but do the Kriya as often as I can, after all I paid for it! Overall, one needs to have balance. Take what is good and let the idiot devotees do their seva etc. Most of all avoid these teachers who have egos that are sky high and preach about ridding oneself of ego. Once you have learnt the Kriya do the short kriya in the privacy of your home, avoid long Kriya and all social contact with AOL and its teachers.

Take this from someone who has seen these worthies from close quarters.

Chris Williams said...

KLIM, sweetheart, I'm gonna miss you. May you be blessed deeply for ever and ever. :)

Anonymous said...

OMG Thank you for this blog you saved me from getting inviolved in aol, something didnt smell right but I might have laid aside my natural suspicion if I hadnt seen posts by former AOL'ers.

Cosmic Devotee said...

Dear All

I do not know where to post my comment so choose this subject by chance

I am an ex AOL myself. The Sole reason for my leaving was direct and indirect, respectful and humililiating demands to attend courses, visits to Blore and make donations for various projects. One of the arguments given in sincerity in defence of this pressure tactics to part with money was the statement that it is not spiritually improper to rob someone of his money for a good cause.The victim will get the "punyam" i.e merits of the god deed in this life and thereafter.

I spared my money and time for their various activities and I do believe in this punya theory. Somewhere, my self respect or lack of it did not allow myself to be assertive and say "NO I cannot give more time and more money". I always fell for their sweet talk and felt guilty saying No.

I believe In Guruji. I think He is not a fake as many in the blog make him out be. He is a realised soul and there are many such souls who have visited this world. His sweet talk endears to me and I consider his sweetness as a reflection of the embodiment of divinity. I beleive in his teachings and i do not care if he lives by them or not.

AOL is overall working for a good cause. The end justifies the means. Only those who have a big mind and I really mean a very very big mind can accept this reality- of the end justifying the means.

As far as AOL and many of its people of concerned- they are be selfish, hypocritical, manipulative, political and decidedly inhuman and almost all other spiritual organisation of our times have the same weakness, yet on a bigger picture, each one is doing more good than bad even if some down the line are having their pockets lined!

I am concerned with my goal- spiritual evolution. Do more sadhana, satsangh and seva. I do it outside of AOL. I interact with Sathya Sai followers, Pranic healing followers, ISKON followers and the likes. There is good and bad in all these organisation

I believe in one thing- No Name, No fame, No power, no position, Love All Serve All, Help Everyone, Hurt no one, the Lord will take care of you- One to one. You do not need any intermediary. If the Lord really feels the urgency He will send a guru or he will himslef become a guru and hasten your evolution. I know for my close friends that guru is SSRS himself and for someothers it is Shirdi Sai Baba for some Shankaracharya etc. For a sincere seeker, the Lord is impatient!

Divine Love is what Jesus taught us- If some slaps your face- show him the other face! Showing him the other face is the most expedient way to evolve. If you cannot be tolerant, forberaing, compassionate, please do not show the face- you can avoid the person slapping your face altogether from your lives. But sooner or latter your will be slapped by someone else. We are living in this cosmic diine drama where everyone is out to slap your face

We cannot achieve the goals of spirituality without being tolerant and compassionate.

In summary, what I want to say is this- AOL and its people- whatever their traits- good or bad is a reflection of this outer world of ours. Whether you are in AOL or outside, you cannot achieve the goals of spirituality of "Divine Love" without being tolerant and compassionate. If AOL does not teach you the lesson, the world will. AOL teaches the lesson far too quickly and rudely for our comfortable ego!

Anonymous said...

Art of Wealthy leaving.

Very interesting blog, I also came across RS basic course AOL. I found following things objectionable:-
1) No uniformity in pricing, price policy change according to location, customer,and affordability. Price you can know only at the time of subscription.
2) No Service tax / Entertainment tax paid by AOL for entertainment in basic course.
3) No accounts details are available, like balance sheet, income - expenses statement, no audit done.
4) AOL is like mutual fund collect money from people use for own personal life and rest 10 % spent for seva in hope of noble price.
5) unaccounted property by AOL
6) Trustee of AOL are kept secret and no asset, disclosure is made by trustee.
7) Teachers are not trained and without any formal certification any one can became teacher by doing basis course and recommendation by senior by maska polish.
8) RS use all luxurious items, travel by plane, five star hotel stay, only vip meeting.
9) RS is first guy to charge for satsang.
10) RS wake up if you have guts please give answer to aforesaid question and stop cheating people.
11) RS has ruined family and sex life of various followers and teachers.
12) Teachers are mostly gay or diverosy and having internal affairs.

I think people will wake and stop going this type of chicken guru.

Thanks
From,

(Sri) Sri 420

Anonymous said...

Dear Klim,

Thank you for posting this article. I am currently in AoL and have been for several years. When I entered the organization I was skeptical and for the first two years I took the good and left the irrationality. However during this past year I have been succumbing more and more to claims of "magic", and miracles, prayers being answered, and to a large extent have stopped taking responsibility for my life. I respect the AoL community and think they do a lot of great service projects, and that courses bring a lot of fun into people's lives. I look forward to being involved with them for service projects in the future. But thank you for reminding me not to stop thinking and questioning. I needed that.