Free Free Censored Censored by Sri Sri?

By Skywalker

the latest post on our ”ghostblog”, www.artoflivingfreefree.blogspot.com, was suddently edited recently, omitting the following RS quotes. In the interest of objectivity and fairness, we have decided to re-publish them. Really I find that they speak for themselves, and I fully understand why they were suddently deleted. This is the original Free Free post:

Tuesday, April 27, 2010
A Favor

I got a chance to talk to Sri Sri Ravi Shankar today. I mentioned to him that i had started this blog, basically to counter the stuff that some of those bilious minds seem to come up with about him. I told him how it could affect many people's opinions about Art of Living and him adversely, and what he said left me quite speechless.

He said, Oh let them write whatever they wish. As much bad things they want to write they are welcome to write. it's good.

Seeing the quizzical expression on my face, he smiled and continued. If there are any people who believe this and are going away, then they are weak minded people. People who want to deny the overwhelming evidence that is staring at them in their face, or who doubt their own experience and listen to some bunch of people criticizing us are being filtered away from us. and that is good!

We will be able to find out who is intelligent and who is strong. We should thank them. They are doing us a big favor.

What a different way of looking at things.

Later, I asked some others why Art of Living had not put up any official counters to this disgusting (at least to me, most of them seemed not to be bothered about it), they said in different ways, we are too busy.

Very few were concerned about it, but when i told them what Guruji had said to me earlier, they all brightened up and encouraged me to write more on this blog. Some of them even said they wanted to contribute.

One of them told me about an interview that Sri Sri had given sometime ago. He had been asked, Guruji can you predict the future? With a smile He had replied, wise men don't predict the future, they make it!

This volunteer told me i have much to do, to make the future, can't be bothered by Guruholic and co.

I asked another, what about Satyameva Jayate? That truth should prevail.
She smiled and said, in time, truth will always prevail.

J

OK, J, since you are an ardent reader of this blog, please answer the following questions (i will submit this post on the free free blog also, as a comment, just to make sure you read it). If you are left speechless, as seems to happen to you quite often, you may bring the questions to your Master, for him to answer.

”If there are any people who believe this and are going away, then they are weak minded people. People who want to deny the overwhelming evidence that is staring at them in their face, or who doubt their own experience and listen to some bunch of people criticizing us are being filtered away from us. And that is good! We will be able to find out who is intelligent and who is strong.”

Please show me the overwhelming evidence, staring me right in my face. Really, I am not being sarcastic! Finally RS comes to the level of sound arguments and reason, instead of asking everyone to simply have faith. I will be most happy to study any evidence you may submit, arguing the claims that

1. RS is an enlightened being, with no self-interest

2. has the power to know people's past and future, as he claims (uups, then why does he need this blog ”to find out who is intelligent and strong”?)

3. has heightened awareness/supernatural powers, thus being able to predict/manifest the future

4. has any other siddhis or powers, like for instance these guys, who miraculously levitate (It's true, they actually fly through the air, watch the video! My rationalist point of view was shaken watching it... or not!)

5. ....Oh, I could go on, but what is the point?

Okay, please explain to me then, why RS wants to ”filter away” the ”weak minded”. Isn't the whole point of a guru to help the weak get stronger? Or could it be that what RS really intends is to filter away the strong minded, those who dare question and think for themselves? Does he feel threatened, maybe? It reminds me of a quote from one of Nick's posts:

"Joel Kramer describes in his book "The Guru Papers: Masks of Authoritarian Power" how cult leaders often show great love, compassion and tolerance, as long as their growing needs for personal ego gratification are met. As soon as the cult's popularity and growth starts to diminish, the cult leader will often react by weeding out the weak of faith, and strenghening his grip on the remaining members." (Nick)

Maybe the weak of faith are the strong of mind, intelligence and integrity?

”People (...) who doubt their own experience and listen to some bunch of people criticizing us are being filtered away from us. And that is good!

J, listen up: we are the ones who stopped doubting our own experience. That is why we left. We write now to the people with secret doubts, the ones who are in pain and who need a way out. When we share our pain and insight, our experiences in and our liberation from the cult and its leader, these people gain hope and inspiration. If you are happy in AOL, fine. If ever you should feel that nagging doubt about the integrity of your Master, you will probably find -like we did- that nowhere in the organisation are you allowed to openly express those doubts. Yes, you may criticize the organisation -it has become quite the fashion amongst senior teachers, to openly do that, as if they feel the need to demonstrate that the organisation is open and transparent enough to allow this. But who criticizes or questions the guru? Once you start doing that, you are weeded out.

Is doubt really just lack of prana? Or are doubts your own good judgement desperately trying to be heard, through the AOL mind conditioning? If doubt is lack of prana, how come so many people in the prana-enriched AOL community are having secret doubts? RS, if you are really only interested in the strong of faith, why do you threaten your remaining teachers, telling them "they will be eaten up by their own minds" if they leave AOL? Don't you know that fear makes you weaker, not stronger? Or is it all really about (your) power and (your) control, rather than about empowering and freeing people?

No wonder Sri Sri censors censors Free Free!

Eaten Up By My Own Mind (part 1: Anonymity and Confrontation)

BY NICK

It is exactly two years now, since my exit from AOL. I was a member for 10 years, a teacher for 8 of those. Reading this blog, I sympathize deeply with the people who have been hurt by their affiliation with the organization. I understand the need for anonymity -I myself do not want my full name associated with the organisation. I imagine a future prospective employer googling my name, and there I am, linked to a religious, new-age cult. How embarrasing! So, I am using my ”Nick”name, to write these posts. People who knew me back then will know who I am, and they can make their own judgements as to how reliable my story is. Anyone else... sorry guys! My years in AOL are not something I am proud of. If I am going to be able to put them behind me, I need to be able to keep my name clear of AOL.

Some writers have expressed fear of violent reprisals by AOL'ers, lest their identity be known. I have no fear of that; the AOL teachers and organisers in my area are basically good people, albeit severely deluded. True, there are some genuine nutcases also, more powerful now that many of the good people have left. But the violence in AOL seems to me to be primarily emotional. There is quite a lot of that, though. But I live in a quiet part of the world. Ex-devotees in other countries may have different experiences. As for the fear of legal reprisal: Imagine the organisation suing the authors in this blog, for libel. ”We are not a cult. We do not use mind-control techniques. No money has been siphoned off to private accounts.” Can you imagine AOL doing that? No, me neither.

I no longer do any practice, except for some occasional yoga. I regard the AOL practice as helpful in many instances, potentially harmful only if you overdo it (as many of us did back then) or regard it as a miracle cure for all personal problems, mental and physical -thereby not seeking proper, professional help (yep, we did that too).

In the years before leaving, I had gradually ”lost faith”. A clinical depression, lasting several years, had not lifted, despite SSRS's claim that "I was in a difficult astrological phase, and it would get better next year". A trip to India, personally invited by SSRS to travel with him, left me feeling empty and even more depressed than before. There were no answers to be found in the Holy Land. Personal time with the Master turned out to be... well, boring. And the hysteria, the manipulation of devotees and the general bad craziness was worse than ever before.

One day, sitting in the throes of deep depression, with suicidal thoughts, I suddently realized: He won't be able to save me. In fact, no-one will come to save me. I am alone, and I have to face up to that reality. In that very moment, my three-year long depression lifted, just like that. I also lost the last shreds of faith in the Guru as a person of supernatural power, able to communicate with and and influence people through metaphysical means. I still had faith in his good intentions, though, and a couple of months later, with this new conviction I left home for a National Teachers' Meeting with the man, to test whether my newfound belief would be accepted.

You see, I really enjoyed teaching the course. And I figured, why not be the first atheist AOL teacher? Sure, maybe SSRS believes himself to be enlightened and in posession of divine qualities and supernatural powers. Well hey, everybody are entitled to their own personal beliefs, so why not him also? Maybe some people actually need a guru to whom they can surrender their free will, someone to relieve them of the responsibility of life. Maybe he is doing good things for some people, and only unintentionally messing other people up.

Two days before the meeting, I sent him an e-mail, with copies to my teacher colleagues. This is the mail:

Dear Guruji,
I have two important issues that I would really like to discuss on the National teacher's meeting Saturday, where I will also be present. One regards the Art of Living organisation as a whole, the other regards the local organisation.

My main concern is the emphasis and focus on your person, as a Divine being with supernatural powers. A new Messiah, you might say. In fact, are you aware that a lot of people -teachers in particular- actually believe you to be a reincarnation of Christ? Some of them even claim to have heard you yourself say so. I am not saying that you are not, although personally I find it very unlikely. All I am suggesting is that you either deny those claims, or get ready to prove them should they become publicly known, as is bound to happen eventually. Can you imagine the reaction from the christian community?

Already on the internet many of these stories are being told, by "defectors" from the organisation. If you don't believe me look at http://guruphiliac.blogspot.com/2008/03/defection-aol-teacher-sees-light.html and it continues at
http://guruphiliac.blogspot.com/2008/04/sri-sris-shameless-flimflamming.html

Now of course these examples could just be someone trying to drag your name through the mud. It just strikes me how similar my own thougths regarding you have been recently.

I used to believe in your Divine powers, your ability to hear and answer prayers coming to you from across the globe, your ability to be present in two places at the same time, to heal the incurable etc. etc. Why shouldn't I? I was surrounded by people who were prepared to swear that their miraculous experiences in your name really happened. The fact that I myself never saw you perform any miracles -defined as "exertion of supernatural powers", something that could not be explained by reason and science- made me feel very shameful. Maybe I was not a proper devotee? Maybe I was not worthy to get a glimpse of your true, Divine being? Not strong enough? Not surrendered enough?

For many years I used to pray to you, to give me a sign -give me my own "Guru-story" that would vaporize my doubt and make my faith strong! Shame and guilt grew in me, because of my secret doubts about my Guru. I was told repeatedly on courses and TTC, that doubt was just lack of prana. As a way to compensate for my guilt, I would try my best to convince other people that you had these special powers.

The teacher's training reinforced my inner conflict. We were told countless "Guru-stories" documenting your Divine powers, and many stories going "My Guru told me to do this-and-this and I didn't and I was miserable and then I did it and everything became fine", and "this person left the organisation and look at him now he is miserable". Maybe these stories are meant to be inspiring. In me they created fear - fear of independent thoughts and actions. Fear of following my heart, should my heart tell me to do things that was not related to Art of Living. For many years I was afraid to ask your advice in personal matters. What if you told me to do something that went against my own, innner conviction? Then I would have to do it, because not doing as your Guru tells you is extremely bad karma. So I had been told. So better not ask. And then lots of guilt for not trusting you.

It seems to me that you have allowed a whole mythology to be created around your person. The closer you get to the "inner circle" around you, the more people act as if you are the ultimate answer to all the problems of the world. You are all-knowing, you posses special Divine insight etc. As a concequence, very few dare question you at all -and may even be feeding you wrong information about your own organisation, based more on what they think you might want to hear -based on your "prophecies"- than actual reality. It is certainly a joke how AOL activities and achievements are routinely exaggerated. Maybe you are surrounded by yes-sayers, of the worst kind? Certainly a strong dogma among the teachers is that you do not under any circumstances question the Guru.

At the root of every religion is the notion that "We have the ultimate truth. Everybody else are deluded". Too many people are treating Art of Living as a religion. I can't say that I blame them. I used to believe myself that you will save the world, that your ultimate and Divine knowledge will envelop the whole world. If we do nothing to stop this tendency, then I believe the Art of Living will end up just like that -another religion, of which the world has too many allready. Just recently attemps were made to throw me out of the TTC group in my country, on the grounds that "I was not adhering to the proper teachings of the Guru". It was demanded that "I declare the nature of my relationship with you". Many teachers have been blinded by faith, to the extent that declaring your proper faith becomes more important than living basic human values. The whole Guru-hype culture and in particular the massive indoctrination happening in the TTC is creating this, and I can not at present recommend teachers training, DSN or even phase three courses to anyone. The risk of getting caught up in the myths surrounding you, and thereby loosing trust in your own judgement is too big.

I have lost my faith in you as the all-knowing, almost-omnipotent, Guruji. And it is a great relief, as it has allowed me to gain faith in myself. I no longer believe in Grace as an actual thing transferred from you to me -and I am experiencing more Grace in my life than ever before! It seems to be coming from inside of me.

We were told on TTC that we were "The Chosen Ones" -hand-picked by You to spread the light in the world. And oh, it felt wonderful to be among the select few. Unfortunately it widened the distance between me and the rest of humanity (non-aol people) and made me feel increasingly lonely. After climbing down off my pedestal I feel such relief and so much more belongingness to everyone. I no longer follow the advice from TTC to "hide your attachments", I no longer feel pressure to maintain a proper front as an Art of Living teacher. I am just... me, mr. Average Joe, no better or worse than anyone else. Wonderful!

I believe I would have followed you even without the promise of enlightenment through Divine Grace. I acknowledge the tremendous, positive difference you make in people's lives. And I wonder why you allow people to attribute every single positive change to your Divine intervention, thus creating a false dependency on the Guru. As I see it, when people relax and gain knowledge, they heal themselves. It is a perfectly natural -not supernatural- thing. In fact, my innner conviction is closer to that of atheism than anything else. And frankly it offends me to read talks by you in which you claim atheists to be stupid. As if we are unable to perceive and appreciate the beauty and wonder of the world without a belief in God.

I just recently finished teaching a Basic course, and I must say -I enjoy it very much, and I would like to continue giving these courses. And although I certainly do question your judgement, particularly in regard to how you allow cultish worshipping of your person, I do not question your authority in the Art of Living. I will bring my kriya tape Saturday, and if based on this mail you do not wish me to continue teaching, I will hand it back to you, no hard feelings. I don't really expect you to change anything, purely on the basis of my humble opinion, and I am ready to drop my involvement in the Art of Living complety. I am writing this out of love for the knowledge, the organisation, it's people and... well. You.

See you saturday!
Love,
Nick.


(to be continued)

Siddhis, the ally

When I first was introduced to SSRS, so much had been spoken about him, I imagined him a lot bigger than he really is. In any case, by the time I sat in his presence for the first time, I was convinced he could read my thoughts, and, as years went by, I attributed many other supra natural powers to him. Even when people said, “Gee, he is so short”, I’d be perplexed, “What do you mean? He is not that short, is he?”

It is said he can see our past, present and future, and liberate us from the cycle of life and death, as well as remove our karmas with just his presence or serving him. It is said he can change the weather – “I am nature! It flows through me! Nature does what I tell it to do!” he once yelled at me, “Don’t you yet understand?!” It is said he can produce fragrances: “What do you want? Chocolate, roses?” It is said he can predict and he knows everything about you even when you are not present or know everyone’s names. It is said he can cure people even of terminal diseases (even the blind recovered sight, and the deaf hearing). In other words, he knows everything and he is almighty God.

AoLers call these so-called powers, “siddhis”. Many people attribute him mastership and the state enlightenment with the argument “but he has siddhis.”

I have met many people with these “gifts”, many more accurate and precise when predicting and curing, yet, they don’t brag nor call themselves a “spiritual master”, nor claim to be more evolved or enlightened, and certainly do not use it as a means to dig into people’s wallets. These “siddhis” are just skills that anyone can have, and do not indicate at all anyone’s state of evolution. There is a difference between a clairvoyant and a mentalist, and neither of them, in a healthy mind, would claim to be a Guru or want to be one. In any case, even so, many of his predictions are flawed and many of his so-called cures and magic, hoax and tricks a-la-Houdini (maybe he is just the reincarnation of Houdini or related to David Copperfield).

Before exiting the cult, a friend started keeping track of all the predictions he’d state in public, as well as all the claims in numbers, prizes and events,and then check them in the internet. Right after the 2004 tsunami, he predicted, for example, another would soon hit the Atlantic. After the 9/11 he predicted attacks as important as the one in NY would take place in London, Frankfurt. A nuclear war between India and Pakistan that also did not happen, though he later claimed was saved by a maha kriya. Of course, for every such prediction he’d insist we needed to get more people to the knowledge to “save the world”, only our knowledge and SK would prevent chaos and bring peace to the planet. He insisted a teacher married a man who sabotaged her stay in the country and work, and was having an affair all along with another married woman! He blessed the daughter of another teacher to marry someone they found out ONLY the day of the ceremony, the man was married with children! He insisted a devotee who was very sick he did not need more medical check-ups, but just do SK thrice a day, because he’d live another 17 years, yet he died a few weeks later. Not to mention, every year he predicted he’d win the Nobel Peace Prize: “This year we’ll get the NPP.”

What we usually labeled as super natural was rather someone giving him prior information or intuition and common sense (note: it is well-known psychotics possess a sharp intuition doctors often call “sixth sense” or “clairvoyance”, I knew a case of psychosis which regardless of the sunshine, he’d say, “At 4 o’clock it will rain”, and it would; or “such and such is …” and it’d be exactly as he’d say. Medical psychosis diagnosed in this man who, despite his “siddhis” does not have call himself a Guru).
When it comes to real things, he really does not know everything. When a friend of mine left, he told her she should not be worried about losing her position and then told everyone else it was because she wanted to have a family. The woman left because she could no longer agree with the unethical practices of the movement and had lost respect for him! He even accused her “lack of faith” to having spoken to a “bad influence” when she had not been in speaking terms with this other person for years! How many times did I call him and he’d ask me where I was or what was I doing! I often provoked him by saying, “What do you mean? I thought you knew everything.” In private he often asked, “What did he say? What happened? What do you think?” Of course, to justify his “cute innocence” we’d say, “He knows he has hairs but he does not need to tap to how many exactly he has. Of course he knows everything.”

He knows people have a lust for magical thinking and miracles. Though he initially critized Sai Baba and his path by stating it was not a path of evolution because their faith relied on miracles, he himself started that trend too. In fact, when this started, amongst teachers we’d often make fun of it, by adding, after a stupid story, “It’s a miracle!” He wanted them told in courses and esatsang, and there we’d be, sitting in long eternal sharing sessions. Though, often he himself would be surprised with the stories. You see, he does not know a thing, he simply knows the weaknesses of people and how to manipulate and use good-timing in his favor.

All this magical thinking simply “idiotized” us. “Oh, Guruji told me to take the TTC and I could not, but after he told me to do so, I called the airline and I found a ticket for only $100! He is so amazing!” People! The airline had a good promotion! Sometimes there are good air fares and you happened to get one! “And just when I was saying that to him, he turned around and looked at me!” Gee, he just happened to look at you! “Oh my god! Guruji gave me his blessings and when I talked to my boss to take days off for the course, he said it was OK! Guruji is so amazing!” Hello? Maybe you were entitled to a few days off?“But he can remember all our names!” So what if he does! I remember everyone’s names too and where each one of my students sat during their first kriya! And, it is not true he remembers everyone’s name or that he knows everyone! We, people close to him, teachers, etc. coach him often before the meetings. He’s often told me, “But I don’t know who they are”, about some of even his board members! “I asked Guruji for his blessings and then my business picked up significantly.” Honey, you simply are talented at what you do and you would have done that with or without his blessings! “Ever since I do the practices I don’t fall sick anymore! And my skin looks so good!” What about maybe your health would have been just as good without the practices and your skin is good because you got good genes? Jesus! I have even heard RS claim a woman was more beautiful because she joined him! Many old timers who have left are actually afraid of speaking out because they fear his power of “destroying” via the mind, magic, etc, “He has powers he uses in the wrong way”, they say. Sadly, I also got sucked into all this stupid magical thinking too and blew it out of proportion with the obvious final ending: “His siddhis.”

The sad thing about this is it is used in the wrong way to manipulate and weaken people more. “If Guruji says so, it is because it is that way.” I have seen people injusticed with this thinking. People who did not do anything wrong, yet because Guruji said so, or because he supported someone in favor of that idea, then, it must be so. Thus, at the end of the day, in AoL one loses authority over one’s own thought process, judgment, values, power. Instead of empowerment, we give away our power. “Guruji says ….”. “Guruji knows …” Let's remember that magical thinking is what took several cult groups to mass suicide and other calamities.

A true spiritual master is made by the amount of siddhis. It’d be utmost pathetic shallowness (that we all fell for unfortunately). In fact, I don’t recall any miraculous stories attributed to Buddha. And the teachings of Jesus Christ do not revolve around his turning water into wine twice. Their teachings, their persona transcend all these little stories, miracles, siddhis.

It sadly is just an indication of how superficial and lost our society has become and, thus, how easily we can be preyed by these con-men. And before one says, “Guruji says ….” Or “what did Guruji say about this?” One should ask oneself, “What do I think about this?” “What actually did happen?” “How do I want to my life to be?” “Who am I?”

I wonder then, why did his siddhis not prevent this blog earlier? Did he not know there’d be one eventually? Why is he accusing the wrong people of being behind the blog? Shouldn’t his siddhis know? Why is he even accusing or threatening or fearful of people expressing themselves? It is just a blog of opinions. That is all. Isn’t he above it all? Didn’t he say, “Words are futile”? (God Loves Fun). Wouldn’t his siddhis tell him nothing will harm him because he is the best and the one who would “bring about the spiritual revolution of the new millennium”?

Siddhis does not equal spiritual evolution. Having siddhis or not does not give power to anyone nor make anyone more evolved than anyone else. If that was the case, then, CNN weather report is still my favorite Guru!

Sri Sri Reincarnations

Here is a list of the divine rumors I recall, spread by devotees, teachers, his holiness himself about the divine reincarnations of AoL devotees and Sri Sri, “the embodiment of God”, yours truly. Others may have more to add to the list. One can laugh at them, or believe in them. It is too much coincidence or too much narcissism that all great names, except those Sri Sri does not like (e.g. any Muslim related), reincarnate in the AoL community.

It is claimed RS is the reincarnation of 1. Krishna, 2. Shiva, 3. Vyasa, 4. Adi Shankar, 5. Jesus Christ, 6. Buddha, 7. Swami Brahmananda Saraswati.

Nitin, now Rishiji, claims to have been Arjuna.
Suki, now Swami Sukchaitanya, claims to have been Ravi’s brother in a past life.
Most senior teachers claim to have been some emperor, queen, yogi some previous life time, as well as Jesus Christ’s apostles (btw, the 12 of them and Mary are there!)
Wolgang Amadeus Mozart is apparently in the holy family too: Arvind, the holy nephew.
Pitaji is the reincarnation of Rama, whereas Sita is a teacher now "on leave" - another scandalous secret the holy family managed to cleverly cover.
Inevitably, about a thousand women claim to have been his gopis when he was Krishna, and Bhanu, of course, who knows what she claims!
Mary and Joseph, parents of Jesus Christ, were also in the AoL(though no longer with the organization. Some problem with accounting, board, … no further comments).

When the Eternity Process was first introduced, some old timers came out saying they saw themselves being crucified in the times of Christ. SriSri’s response was, “Oh, it still bothers you?” Which immediately confirmed they were indeed the great apostles and he, the reincarnation of Christ.

I’ve heard him speak in first person when talking about Christ and Krishna. Exactly what people need to confirm the rumors. I’ve even heard him elaborate a great story about how before Christ was born, a congregation of rishis approached Vyasa asking him to “save” the West because there was too much ignorance (the Middle East). Vyasa told them he’d born there to “save it.” (note: India, according to him, is always sacred and more evolved, the West is dark, thus India saves the West, as it continues to do so, since, according to him, produces all enlightened spiritual masters). He gave instructions to 3 rishis – the 3 Wise Men, and he, Vyasa, was born in Bethlehem (while he remained Vyasa in India – Star Trek already already existed in the times of Ramayana!). The 3 Rishis traveled from India to Germany to reach Israel, and stopped where the AoL German ashram is today in their way in and out of the expedition! In fact, they meditated exactly where SSSRS sits in the Spring Hall to give satsangs! Very conveniently magical.

When he went to Israel for the first time, he claimed children ran to him yelling, “Messiah! Messiah!” But the elders, “stressed out, angry Jews”, would pull them away from him. His explanation: “Children always recognize me.” (though I also have seen many children freaking out in fear in his presence too! Of course, it’d be cleverly explained as some terrible past life impressions that were being lifted upon his presence!). I clearly heard him say he did not like Israel, a country of ignorant people who have no chances this life time, and would never want to go back. He claims the Middle East will never have peace. Yet, he went back after that because he needed brownie points for his Nobel Peace Prize campaign.

A swami said that once Ravi called while he was on tour in South America and said he was in hell. In case you need translation: he meant hell is where South America is (apparently, to be more precise, Brazil). I find it awful, but maybe his Latin devotees should know what he truly thinks of their homeland (maybe they’d consider moving out of “hell”), instead of that show he puts up for them in international events: “Ay, ay, ay, ay ….! Bonita ...” When he actually means, “Bonita my ass”. Ouch! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!”

In one way or the other, all these rumors were used to further convince people of his proclaimed grandiosity and that he is not just a simple con-man of southern India, but God on Earth himself. If anyone attacks him, he and devotees will typically say, “Christ was also attacked but few were able to recognize him. Time will show.” As cleverly elaborated in the Ashtavakra tapes: one glorifies the prophets of the past or waits for a future one, but cannot recognize the one living in the present.

He once had an akash reader tell us, “Soon the world will know who he is.” Back then, I was excited the world would find out he was God on earth! It’s been over 10 years and most of the world still does not know who he is (though AoL claims the contrary, he is not that famous in the real scale). Looking back, I wonder if the “soon the world will know who he is” meant, “soon the world will find out he is a fraud, a con-man, a sociopath.”

There was a senior teacher who went to India to teach one of those advanced courses, which I will not name – a course that did not last long. It was held for top VIP/CEOs of India and it was a course that relied on verbal and psychological abuse. One most powerful CEOs got mad and sued the teacher and the organization. The teacher had to immediately flee the country, cannot go back to India and the whole story is a big guarded embarrassing secret. Instead of simply humbly recognizing the mistake of both the arrogance, ignorance and psychosis of the teacher and the irresponsibility of the organization, removing the teacher from her position, even not allowing her to teach anymore, Ravi and the teacher justified it with a past life story about her having been some queen and an unrequited love story the man not knowingly acted out on. Of course, the CEO was in fault, not able to transcend his impressions. The teacher was just a messenger, expressing his repressed feelings/memories.

I could go on and on - I know the stories of reincarnations of so many AoLers! I think I may have even met Napoleon! But there are only two points worth making,

1. If one is truly that great, does one really need magical thinking stories to prove it? Would a true enlightened spiritual master use these arguments to hold and acquire more followers? Would he/she really care to mention any of this? Is it not too cocky??? Too not humble? Too irrelevant in the spiritual path?

2. Many other well known gurus also claim to be the reincarnation of all the above listed characters, ie. Krishna, Jesus, Buddha … Can the so-called enlightened gurus please raise their hands and decide who is who for real?! Or has Ravishankar also monopolized all the claims, as he has in the NGO world: "the largest NGO of volunteers"?

So much for living in the present moment!

Healings or Hoax?

By ART OF LEAVING
One of the main methods used by Ravishankar and AoL to bolster up the faith of his devotees and lure unsuspecting newcomers to the fold, is by constant testimonies about blessings and miraculous healings.

During the 2006 Navaratri celebrations Ravishankar gave darshan to international devotees at the Bangalore ashram. While circulating among the country groups to hear what projects each country was planning (note: as usual his primary interest was in projects rather than in people’s spiritual/personal concerns), he requested an Indian devotee to share his experiences with the Blessings course.

The devotee said Guruji had sent him to do blessings in certain Indian provinces where large numbers of farmers were committing suicide due to increasing debts. He claimed to have blessed approximately twenty-eight thousand people within a few days and rambled off statistics about how many blind and deaf people gained sight and hearing, how many got cured from depression, etc. He even claimed that people saw him as Guruji during the blessings and demanded to know why he had not previously warned them it was Guruji himself who would impart the blessings.

He was not a self-confident speaker and people were more interested in where Ravishankar was in the darshan queue than in listening to his testimonies. So every now and again he would lose heart and fall silent, with Ravishankar calling out: “Continue, continue.” I felt a bit sorry for this guy, thinking he was being taught a lesson on self-assertion.

At the time I was sceptical about the long-lasting effect or authenticity of all the reported healings. I wondered if the deaf persons who acquired hearing were able to speak/understand their mother tongue afterwards. I knew that deaf people whose hearing is restored by means of cochlear implants often have a long and difficult journey to distinguish sounds and learn to speak. I wondered if these blessings instantly conferred the gift of speaking as well. Similarly with blind persons who gained sight. It’s not just about gaining sight but also learning to distinguish shapes and know what you are seeing. As for people with depression, how can one claim an immediate cure? It is easy to bless someone and make them feel better for the moment, but what about next week, next month, next year?

Incidentally, someone who has worked for eighteen years with deaf children, some of whose parents occasionally take them to Christian faith healing services, has told me that she has not seen a single case where they have not returned disappointed. Some children who had some degree of hearing beforehand said afterwards that they heard better, but when tested no improvement was detected.

Similar to many Christian faith healing groups, AoL is quick to exploit people’s testimonies of healings to promote kriya, their courses, the organization and the guru. AoL cameras are always ready to register testimonies. But if the same person comes back next week and says the old condition has returned, would s/he make it again to a camera? Would anyone get to hear of it? Not a chance.

Healing should come with responsibility. If miraculous mass healings are claimed, they should be accompanied by scientific investigation and report of the cases (before and after, as well as long-term follow-up). And if scientifically validated, well, let’s have them bless and heal all sick people without exception!

As for myself, I have not been blessed or healed – neither physically, nor emotionally, nor spiritually. From an already fragile emotional state I was steadily pushed to the verge of a complete breakdown. Who was there to bless me then? If Ravishankar can bless and heal some, I can also testify from my own experience that he is capable of doing very deep damage.

With all the evidence of deception and manipulation mounting against Ravishankar and AoL, I now wonder if the reason for that devotee’s poor public speaking skills weren’t perhaps because he was instructed to fabricate lies about healings that never took place, rather than due to a natural shyness on his part.