tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3564480661548850441.post1228725803194442659..comments2023-12-23T03:43:38.964-05:00Comments on LEAVING THE ART OF LIVING: Violence and deceit promotes youAoL-Freehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08266984166472037468noreply@blogger.comBlogger91125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3564480661548850441.post-2702146892444955312010-03-09T00:26:15.890-05:002010-03-09T00:26:15.890-05:00Its been several years since I did my last advance...Its been several years since I did my last advanced course. I have done 3 DSNs.. I feel the quality of the experience depends on the teacher, setting and the participant(s). From what I am reading on this blog, it seems that the quality control has gone downhill from those days. Add to that a confused organization that has no clue on how to manage or build an institution that doesnt depend on one person, then the sorts of things that are reported here are not surprising. Its nothing short of miraculous that things haven't deteiorated much more than they have. A little honesty could go a long way.<br /><br />The basic problem is that few people are "genuine" seekers. Most have some troubles or whatever that leads them to gurus. I found the DSNs pretty interesting and self-revealing.. but then others may have found it different. When an org also becomes corporation, then there are various compromises that are made and the teaching suffers.<br /><br />Since I never made the commitment to be a teacher (this is a big step) I dont feel the need to leave the org as I dont feel I joined it in the first place. One thing I did learn was compassion. So if some teacher has had affairs, was rude or whatever, its appropriate to balance that with the good that they do. If there is systematic criminal wrong-doing, that's a whole different matter. On the whole the dialog in this blog is constructive.fair_and_balancednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3564480661548850441.post-21567496374354798212010-03-06T15:14:47.650-05:002010-03-06T15:14:47.650-05:00I was not sure whether to post this comment under ...I was not sure whether to post this comment under this heading "violence and deceit promotes you" but I went forward.<br />moderator,please put it under some other heading if you think correct.<br /><br />Has anyone done eternity ?<br />Klim,did you see any past lives in that ? I did it in 2006.I didn't see anything.<br />One thing which surprised me was she charged me 1500 rupees for it whereas for basic course also fees was same (1500) at that time.now basic course takes 7 days and 3 hours every day and this was just a 2-3 hour session that s all.<br />i mean they had said they charge 1500 for basic course so that it should slightly prick on the pocket so that it is made sure that people finish the course and not leave it midway.what pricking is required in this case so why are you charging so heavily ?<br /><br />I have heard a very senior teacher telling me that she saw many things in her past lives.<br />Another volunteer told me he had seen 3-4 past lives.<br />Is this all true ?<br /><br />Also they say that in the eternity course Sri Sri takes all your karma on himself.At that time I beleived it , even though i didn't see anything I thought at least some benefit i have derived by doing this .. i have progressed spiritually some what at least.<br /><br />any views on this taking the karma on oneself stuff ?Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09257510928966428497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3564480661548850441.post-75370219269164428622010-03-06T14:08:52.446-05:002010-03-06T14:08:52.446-05:00I attended a Part-II course of AOL conducted by Ri...I attended a Part-II course of AOL conducted by Rishi Nityapragya at Noida (near Delhi) in December 2009.<br /><br />At the end of the course, Rishiji scolded one of the participant in a rather humiliating manner.<br /><br />Rishiji used to say that he has been teaching Part-2 course since last 7 years.<br /><br />I could not help in thinking that being a teacher of the course and that too from last 7 years when he cannot control his anger on trivial issues, what benefit will us mere mortals will have?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3564480661548850441.post-40443942229597519102010-03-05T14:31:18.640-05:002010-03-05T14:31:18.640-05:00Nice to read all the views, mid in the night.
My...Nice to read all the views, mid in the night. <br /><br />My spouse had collected enough CDs, Cassettes, books, Shampoos, Oils, and what not ! The house is full of AOL stuff, in the name of SUMERU. At some point of time, I need to put a stop. <br /><br />Is AOL for the spirit or for marketing, infrastructure development, housing in the name of GURU and SPIRITUALITY ?<br /><br />Just visit the Ashram at Bangalore outskirts, and the mega-housing project under proposal, priced at rates almost equal to Mumbai or Chennai mid-town prices, in the name of Ashram / devotees / seva and what not rubbish being offered to so called teachers, and followers ?GBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3564480661548850441.post-81204747963111133862010-03-01T08:39:09.848-05:002010-03-01T08:39:09.848-05:00Date - 14 Oct 2006
Time - Evening
Event - Discours...Date - 14 Oct 2006<br />Time - Evening<br />Event - Discourse during the Satsang of Advanced Course held from 11-14 Oct 2006<br />Guruji declares that Krishna was born in 3032 BC and lived for 125 years.<br /><br />Another person told me that Guruji was Buddha and Krishna in his previous two lives respectively and that his next birth will be in mongolia and that he will live for 75 years in this birth.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09257510928966428497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3564480661548850441.post-17176006235887707252010-03-01T02:44:33.642-05:002010-03-01T02:44:33.642-05:00Many spiritual groups offer a "diksha" t...Many spiritual groups offer a "diksha" training that is similial to AOL's Kalki's group charges $10,000 for theirs and gets people from the US and EU to pay it. TM initiation now costs in the thousands of dollars. It is what it is. we all have "heard" lots of stories. Let's stick with the ones we have experienced or seen.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3564480661548850441.post-21384934234909856852010-03-01T01:54:42.732-05:002010-03-01T01:54:42.732-05:00This post was about promotion right.
I remember wh...This post was about promotion right.<br />I remember when I had helped whole-heartedly in organizing 2 yes+ courses in gurgaon in 2008 the teacher ramnik bansal had told me once that I could become [be promoted to] one of the important people for AOL in Gurgaon like the overall coordinator for AOL in gurgaon or some such thing ( I thought to myself he is a teacher why is he saying such a thing.Ideally speaking one should not work for a course because he wants to become something big in AOL or something of the kind one should do it thinking that one is taking a few more people closer to the Divine by connecting them to a Divine Being's energy through his course, that should be the spirit ).Of course two other people who were equally instrumental in organizing those 2 courses with me were not so idealistic and both of them are very political in nature and are important people in AOL now.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09257510928966428497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3564480661548850441.post-2096070914874338792010-03-01T00:43:40.892-05:002010-03-01T00:43:40.892-05:00I have personnly heard from Rishi Nitin that he kn...I have personnly heard from Rishi Nitin that he knows his last 7 births, and out of that in 5 births he was with Ravishankar. We clapped for 2 minutes. <br /><br />After 4 months of this event, a half teacher (TTC 1completed) told us that Rishiji told them that he knows his last 10 births. So, he made progress of knowing 3 more births meantime. <br /><br />I heard from one Basic Teacher that Guruji has told her that he has came to this Planet after 5000 years. (Krisha was supposed to existed 5000 years ago)He has 30 more years to work on this planet. <br /><br />I cannot correlate above. If anyone can please let me know.<br />These are direct evidences, heard first hand.<br />ND<br />Maharashtra State, India.NDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3564480661548850441.post-22527053889491326452010-02-28T18:37:49.554-05:002010-02-28T18:37:49.554-05:00@Art of Living
"I do feel that humanity and ...@Art of Living<br /><br />"I do feel that humanity and society at large (myself included) still has a very long way to go..."<br /><br />Indeed, that's why I started to volunteer for AOL in the first place. It seemed to be a genuine light in the world. Guruji talked about coming from the heart, not just the intellect, and I thought it was a compelling message the world needed. <br /><br />I never thought DSN was a bad program - just not for everybody. When you are trying to change the world, vested interests will fight back, and one needs to be mentally strong to face that - Kindness and human values not withstanding. I guess we differ in our views and that's ok.<br /><br />Never expected AOL to be ideal - just better than the world around us. If it had a more transparent structure, or the teachers (& RS) remained sincere, I might still be devoting time to it. I didn't need it anymore, it was time to move on.<br /><br />I continue to live by the same values I learnt in AOL - simplicity, contentment, love, kindness, sensitivity, not being a football, living in the present. I am grateful for them. Life is complicated that way - difficult to state these things in black and white in a blog comment!<br /><br />PeacePeaceful Warriornoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3564480661548850441.post-81812600437433771272010-02-28T15:23:06.505-05:002010-02-28T15:23:06.505-05:00Peaceful Warrior: “Yeah dude, the whole world is a...Peaceful Warrior: “Yeah dude, the whole world is a cult and everyone out to get you!”<br /><br />No, I won’t go as far as saying that. And I’m dropping my sarcasm now, by the way. But cults do come in all shapes and sizes and they’re not restricted to the religious/spiritual sphere only. They also show up in political movements and in aggressive sales campaigns for particular products. A cult dimension starts entering wherever the power dynamics are highly skewed towards one person and people become one-track-minded in pursuit of one particular goal, ignoring all ethical and other considerations. <br /><br />I don’t mean to say every pushy boss is a sadist or cult leader, although in some instances they might be, e.g. if they systematically subject their employees to AoL-type strategies. In my opinion the majority of businesses are not cults, but even so, most of them fall disappointingly short when it comes to good Human Resources management, ethics and environmental sensitivity. I certainly don’t believe a boss needs to be “pushing people around to get work done”. I think there we might have a fundamental difference in approach.<br /><br />As for schools and colleges/universities – I’ve seen a number of teachers/mentors who were very charismatic, but also caring persons, and I learned a lot from them. Of course, like everyone else, they had their faults, and some of them had terrible tempers and there were some exploitative and unethical situations. But no cults developed around them and on the whole they were not “just out to take advantage of you”. – Unlike with Ravi and AoL, where it is clearly a case of someone whose narcissism is out of control and who has developed an exploitative and unethical personality cult around himself.<br /><br />Although my own experience is not that “the whole world is a cult and everyone out to get you”, I do feel that humanity and society at large (myself included) still has a very long way to go when it comes to cultivating sensitivity, kindness, love, truthfulness, respect for diversity and so on. I am not prepared to just say, well, the current state of affairs is just the way things are and we shouldn’t expect any more of ourselves and the world than this. I feel we have a responsibility to tap into the deepest ethical and compassionate dimensions that humanity is capable of, and to evolve it further to the greatest extent possible to us.Art of Leavinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00771406007192517830noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3564480661548850441.post-68160121617243015292010-02-28T09:22:33.057-05:002010-02-28T09:22:33.057-05:00SLEEPING IN AFTER NOON IS CALLED MEDITATION..do me...SLEEPING IN AFTER NOON IS CALLED MEDITATION..do meditation give you what u come to see in dream or calm that sleep gives u in night?.with some clever speech and network help all these so called gurus make people to follow.there are 2000 yogas from ancient time and these guys steal some from them and just teach.sudarshana kriya is just like running a 10,000 meter or 5000 meter.or 3000 meter.just ask an long distance runner he know better about this.or you practice a 3000 meter jogging and close ur eyes and lay calm u feel the same thing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3564480661548850441.post-70230129814961395642010-02-28T01:21:22.573-05:002010-02-28T01:21:22.573-05:00When I started doing sewa, I was appaled at the wa...When I started doing sewa, I was appaled at the way things were done. Being new to the organization, I though it was because the people did not have good organizational skills and did not know what was to be done. I thought I should take responsibility instead of complaining, so I started to take charge, and very soon was the person running the show - despite being very junior.<br /><br />We genuinely believed that organization was doing things for charity - and we built a nice sangha. But soon, "national" started to push us to do things their way. People went to DSN and TTC - and soon clear vision and honest hard work was replaced by silly superstitions, praying to guruji, and cliquish politics. Patience gave way to feverishness, and publicity and marketing was replaced by manipulation of near and dear ones to take the course.<br /><br />I soon realized, that this organizational culture came from the very top. People blame "normal people" for the dysfunction. It is the other way rounf - normal people would have taken a much more common sense approach, and built a better organization. The problem is that at the very top.Peaceful Warriornoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3564480661548850441.post-29883405832116227592010-02-27T22:12:31.228-05:002010-02-27T22:12:31.228-05:00Visit www.bawadinesh.name and read about the upcom...Visit www.bawadinesh.name and read about the upcoming 108,000 and 75000 courses planned in Mumbai and pune. <br /><br />Advise to youth while I am heading towards my 40 soon - As a 7 year follower of AOL activities there are lot of good things to learn from the organization and one can or must leverage that after having taken the courses, however dont spend weekened after weekend volunteering for this or any other organization and spend money doing course after course or mad after guruji chases. <br /><br />Focus on your studies or professional careers and become wealthy while some keeping time for yoga or exercise time to remain healthy. Also know teachers are normal people and are also in a self development path, so if you see good stuff suck it all and ad stop leave it alone. Ok to praise people for their goodness but don't keep glorifying them and hype them. Bottom line is focus on on your professional career and dont waster too much time on other activities.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3564480661548850441.post-59347739660156527092010-02-27T16:51:56.870-05:002010-02-27T16:51:56.870-05:00Teachers of AOL- bullshit. Our first teacher are o...Teachers of AOL- bullshit. Our first teacher are our parents, followed by school teachers. Still further are college and professional teachers.One can become AOL teacher in as little as few weeks and they teach para normal and veered teachings?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3564480661548850441.post-35092654415533095572010-02-27T16:40:37.350-05:002010-02-27T16:40:37.350-05:00Klim pl trace the fate of AOL Teachers from joinin...Klim pl trace the fate of AOL Teachers from joining to the time they leave AOL/die in AOL.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3564480661548850441.post-44206932178412213402010-02-27T15:54:23.241-05:002010-02-27T15:54:23.241-05:00To Useless Blesser
I had a similar experience in ...To Useless Blesser<br /><br />I had a similar experience in the blessing course I did last year.People who had done just 2 advc. courses were doing that and except 1 or 2 out of about 200 all the others became blessers and they charged an exorbitant sum for the course.it was 7500 rupees , it seemed the higher the nature of the course (I had heard this course was much more powerful than advc. course etc.) the greater its fees in other words higher the quality of the product greater its price.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09257510928966428497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3564480661548850441.post-38690609140955979932010-02-27T08:37:40.935-05:002010-02-27T08:37:40.935-05:00Hi Anmol
The Blessing Course was a blessing in dis...Hi Anmol<br />The Blessing Course was a blessing in disguise for me. The blessings course opened my mind and eyes to what a farce AOL is.<br /><br />When I wanted to do my Blessings Course in 2006, the requirement was strictly 4 advance courses,listen to all knowledge CDS, read all the knowledge books, be steadfast and steady in the path. At the end of the then 6 day course, only a few became blessers.<br /><br />Of late, one can do the Blessing course (which has been reduced to 3 -4 days) even with one advance course (like what happened in my batch) people who were ill,mentally unstable, depressed cases were all in the course and surprise of surprise everyone in the class became Blessers. <br /><br />The teacher, a young rishi, who himself was a sickly and dull looking person, wonder how he became a blessing course teacher.<br /><br />What the hell does it matter? There are so many pathetic souls out there who are looking for solutions through all these bogus gurus and courses, failing to realise that everything is within ourselves and we do not have to seek spiritual growth outside.<br />These poor souls will buy anything the guru/teacher says,they are told to beg borrow or steal to attend the programs.<br /><br />The Blessings course opened my eyes and I am now totally out of AOL after being an active volunteer for almost a decade.Useless Blessernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3564480661548850441.post-15413893622733700492010-02-27T06:02:10.700-05:002010-02-27T06:02:10.700-05:00I got this email from one of the many AOL persons ...I got this email from one of the many AOL persons to whom I had sent the link of this blog.<br /><br />"<br />Dear Anmol Bhaiyya,<br />Thanks a tonne! I have been doing this in my journals for fear of going public about my opinions about the organization that, if I may say, ruined the most precious 3 years of my life! by heaven's grace, my life is getting back to normal after all the trauma, trying to fight the brainwashing and believing in my own sense of right and wrong. Sometimes, you just can't fight, while being "in the system".<br />I am following your blog now. I shall contribute some of my experiences which were nothing short of HORRENDOUS while being associated with the organization, that calls itself The Art Of Living.<br />I am doing great these days, How are you doing...?<br />"Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09257510928966428497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3564480661548850441.post-84573713731263947532010-02-27T05:59:59.076-05:002010-02-27T05:59:59.076-05:00To Art of Leaving
There is no need to apologize ,...To Art of Leaving<br /><br />There is no need to apologize ,you were right.If I ask someone for details then first I am the one who should be giving them out otherwise what right do I have to ask you.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09257510928966428497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3564480661548850441.post-18294536151427691302010-02-27T05:52:50.674-05:002010-02-27T05:52:50.674-05:00To anonymous who wrote
Anmol - Definitely you can ...To anonymous who wrote<br />Anmol - Definitely you can fix your problem with satsang people as you are the one who needs to ...<br /><br />You are right , it is not right to find problem with certain people.And you are right some people may find me untolerable etc.but for e.g. if some old timer says about a newly introduced guy to AOL who is doing his very first course (YES+) that this new guy seems to be teacher material .. what will you think.Are they looking to make people art of living teachers or self-realized souls ?Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09257510928966428497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3564480661548850441.post-69151204508808546222010-02-27T00:36:57.668-05:002010-02-27T00:36:57.668-05:00I'm going to share something personal here, wi...I'm going to share something personal here, without names. Anmol, thanks for answering my question. You're right, "appall" is about the only word that is right to describe the atmosphere of an Aol "satsang". My cousin is a member. He has a great job (yes, he still has it, thankfully!) and is a good guy, but then he joined AoL. I don't know what art they taught him, but he started behaving very aggressively, started swearing like it was nobody's business, began flirting a lot,etc. There were just way too many changes in him to attribute to anything else other than his involvement in the org. He became sort of like a living flier for the org. doing stuff like almost forcing his mom to visit their AoL clinic which is dead expensive, always babbling about the courses,etc. The so called "satsang" crowd is, as you said, all about showing off and falsehood - jewelry, clothes, flirting, lewd smiles. I think the wrong message is being given with these courses, sort of like a violent "let's rule the world" attitude. In my opinion, AoL is basically saying, "go flirt all you want, have all the sex you want (indiscriminately of course), beat up people if you're angry, destroy relationships if you don't like them, cross all lines of normal behavior in the society and recruit everybody you see to become an AoL member. Oh and don't forget to fake a spaced out smile and saying 'Jai Gurudev' all the time". Any wild guess as to who would take up such an offer? The youth of course. This is definitely not spirituality...it's just a crazy cult. Sad. Very sad. By the way KLIM, what I was trying to write earlier was that your name is showing up the word AMPERSAND as "a m p ;" in between the words KLIM and Co. Peace to all of you guys.Chris Williamsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3564480661548850441.post-91251493519550599222010-02-26T17:13:31.293-05:002010-02-26T17:13:31.293-05:00I know the last comment on the latest blog can get...I know the last comment on the latest blog can gets the maximum attention and readership. Can the bloggers agree to spend a little time looking at the title and post their comments in the appropriate blog? Otherwise it all looks to me like one BIG anti AOL commentary going on in any topic. <br /><br />KLIM - there are blogs in which the blog owner recommends where the comments are appropriate and the thread that is born out of those comments. Tend to think there is no special effort needed from anyone to spread this blog, the very fact I see people from India(Anmol, Sanjay, Gopal krishna..) involved it is a natural process that word is spreading rampantly about this blog.<br /><br />Any news on a long time teacher/singer from canada use to be very close(Devoted) to guruji and travels with her guitar in big gatherings left a while ago, any news on her and basis for her leaving - Also called as DP. Leaving stories are equally important to the guruji stories we all get subjected to <br /><br />TRUMANAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3564480661548850441.post-1150857981858596252010-02-26T15:20:51.146-05:002010-02-26T15:20:51.146-05:00Recommend 'mind control cult' video availa...Recommend 'mind control cult' video available on net to every one intending to join AOL/other spiritual groups.<br />Let people know other aspect of...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3564480661548850441.post-53504909675397596262010-02-26T14:57:15.064-05:002010-02-26T14:57:15.064-05:00Klim post your views on 'silence'. does it...Klim post your views on 'silence'. does it hastens self realization or a step towards isolation from family n world and being vulnerable to 'BRAINWASHING'?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3564480661548850441.post-63812015691017157602010-02-26T14:47:43.006-05:002010-02-26T14:47:43.006-05:00Klim what extent of 'cult rage' is prevale...Klim what extent of 'cult rage' is prevalent in AOL? To what extent AOLALCOHOLIC can go for a person like you?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com