The lawsuit I heard rumors about in New York City never materialized. The Himalayan Institute and its varied activities and programs exemplify the spiritual heritage of mankind that unites East and West, spirituality and science, ancient wisdom and modern technology. Or, in the words of Rudolph Ballentine, M.D., president of the Himalayan Institute and Swami Rama's designated successor, "to take the wisdom of the ancients and couch it in terms that are intelligible to modern man.". He says he spends most evenings with the guru until midnight or 2 a.m., and that he knows better than anyone who is with Swami Rama late at night and who isn't. The Institute used to offer an accredited masters program in Eastern Studies and Comparative Psychology through an affiliation with the University of Scranton. HIT ranked 39 th under Best Hotel Management Colleges in All India by The Week 2022.; HIT ranked 23rd under Top Private Hotel Management Colleges in All India and 11 th in North Zone by The Week 2022.; HIT is ranked as one of the most preferred Hotel Management Colleges . She says he arranged for her to meet him at the Gramercy Park Hotel and instructed her not to call him Swami in public. HIT ranked under Top Commerce Colleges in All India by The Week 2022. Dr. Elmer Green says that he and his wife have heard from a number of women who said they were sexually exploited by Swami Rama. She remembers that Swami Rama received love letters from several women; one of two of them even mentioned "your child." I like to believe that somewhere inside of him, he is the good person I believed him to be. Himalayan Institute Online. When Swami Rama returned from India two months later, Carolyn resumed working as his appointments secretary during the day, and, she says, as his sexual servant on some nights. Had Nirvana said anything? She was afraid to stay in her room, which had no lock on the door, or to use the hall telephone, because all calls had to be routed through the main switchboard. Karen, the woman whose claims were ridiculed at the meeting where Swami Rama and the other directors responded to Brian's charges, was one of the first ex-members to confront top Institute administrators. And I feared that Carolyn-young beautiful, idealistic, and worshipful of Swami Rama, the Institute's founder and spiritual leader-could be vulnerable to such exploitation. Trained to meditate and educated in the scriptures from early childhood, he was able to translate and interpret any of the 20,000 verses from the Vedas by the age of 13, according to a biographical pamphlet put out by the Meditation Center. During a series of biofeedback experiments in 1970 and 1971, Drs. You're bound to get mixed up. Donate Help Our Cause US$20.00 By 1977, the Institute was able to purchase the Honesdale ashram, a former Catholic seminary in the rural Pocono Mountains, which now houses more than 100 residents and guests. himalayan institute of modern arts & learning (HIMAL) Giving back through life-changing experiences. Quick Links. The jury called the abuse "spiritual incest . Swami Rama made Carolyn his appointments secretary in August also. During that time, neither of them would see any other, and she should never tell anyone. Live online programs, on-demand courses, and hundreds of yoga and meditation classes. At the same time, she felt anxious, because she'd seen how severe Swami Rama could be with those closest to him. According to Marston's attorney, Philip W. Getts, his client never recovered the $50,000 in punitive damages Nuernberger owed her, because Pennsylvania is one of the few states that does not allow the court to garnish wages. Only recently has she acknowledged her anger at Swami Rama. My father certainly had sex, and that's why I was born, so will I lose faith in my father? She renewed her acquaintance with her former meditation teachers and started taking classes in Glenview, Illinois, at the Institute's original headquarters. But Megan and Carolyn both say that Swami Rama would dismiss Pandit Rajmani and other members of the inner circle after an evening of socializing in Swami Rama's private quarters, while asking them alone to stay behind. But the University of Scranton didn't offer a degree program in Carolyn's area of study, so she saw a way to rationalize leaving the Institute while still saving face; she could still be considered a good disciple if she cold get the guru's blessing to go away to college. Pandit Rajmani says he also has concrete reasons to know that Swami Rama could not be sleeping with his disciples. When Carolyn had to work, I attended classes in Hatha yoga or read. By this time Carolyn had gained 25 pounds from binging on sweets. Dr. Ballentine, the Institute's president and director of the Combined Therapy Program, explains that human beings have the potential to do "all kinds of things, like move our bodies at will from one place to another, or be aware of what people are thinking on the other side of the earth, or inner states of consciousness that take us to the future and the past." Companies Himalayan Institute Tell us how to improve this page In today's Academic Minute, the University of Houston's Christopher Burnett determines how bad the damage can be. The jury awarded $275,000 in compensatory damages and $1.6 million in punitive damages to the woman. But the victims of what Jungian analyst Peter Rutter, M.D., has termed "sex in the forbidden zone" (in his book of the same name) submit to sexual advances because of a powerful psychological threat. No one can expand his consciousness if he remains egotistical. Well-to-do New Yorkers flock to Honesdale on weekends for seminars in stress reduction, meditation, and diet and nutrition. She said no: She had been on a work crew Swami Rama had ordered to week poison ivy roots for his new garden, and she was covered with oozing blisters. They are crazy. Within a sect the guru's authority is often absolute: he rules from the pinnacle of the institutional hierarchy. Meanwhile Janet,* a Honesdale woman who worked as the couple's babysitter and housekeeper at the time, says she received threatening phone calls at Brian and Terry's house, asking if she was alone with the children. Pandit Rajmani Tigunait is the resident spiritual director of the Honesdale ashram, as well as a member of the Institute's teaching staff. Lecturing and teaching worldwide for more than a quarter of a century, he is the author of fourteen books, including his autobiography Touched by Fire: The Ongoing Journey of a Spiritual Seeker, the best-selling At the Eleventh Hour: The Biography of Swami Rama of the Himalayas and a regular contributor to Yoga International. During my weekend visit, Carolyn and I took long walks on the Institute's wooded grounds while talking about her compulsive eating patterns and her disastrous relationships with men suggested as possible husbands by Swami Rama. Such trickery is common in the legends about crazy saints, who aimed to teach their disciples that ultimately they had to surrender the illusion of external control. Similarly, a woman who had been repeatedly abused by Sri Swami Rama of The Himalayan Institute when she was 19 years old was awarded $1.9 million. Community, Courses, and Content. Many people, including the victims themselves, have trouble understanding how damaging such sexual contact can be, because the women are adults and no one is holding a gun to their heads. The yogis, he says, have demonstrated these abilities in the past and continue to do so. She took a meditation class at the alternative high school program she attended, and one evening her teachers invited her to a lecture by their guru, Swami Rama, who was visiting the Chicago area. After a couple of months of this special attention, Carolyn says, Swami Rama came to visit her one-day at the book distribution office in Honesdale center. He also sent out a letter resigning from the board. Meanwhile, Swami Rama had appointed her as registrar of the graduate program, replacing a long-time woman disciple who was being kicked out of the Institute for no apparent reason. A world leader in yoga, meditation, and holistic health, we are dedicated to serving humanity through educational, spiritual, and humanitarian programs. "The person wanted something, and the other person did not agree to fulfill their desires," he says. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. As Rutter explains in his book, a sexual relationship between a man in a position of power-doctor, psychologist, mentor, or priest-and a woman who is dependent on him-as patient, student, client, or troubled soul-almost always involves an element of coercion and a betrayal of trust. Elmer and Alyce Green observed that Swami Rama could produce different brain waves at will, including theta and delta (sleep) waves, while remaining aware of his environment. Burnett is a postdoctoral fellow in Houston's department of education leadership and . But as she spent more time around Swami Rama and his inner circle, Megan says, the guru subjected her to a barrage of sexual harassment. We inspire, educate, and. "A lot of people have confused the siddhis-the powers to control body, emotions, and mind-with spirituality. It is sad for him, and for those who cared and were so deeply hurt by him, that his behavior has been allowed to continue with such devastating results to people just looking for help." Although the jury entered a judgment against Nuernberger, it also found that the clinic was not liable for his actions, so Williams failed to recover damages. Halfway through their meal, Carolyn remembers, Martha hesitantly said, "I know this will sound like a weird question, but has Swamiji ever asked you to have sex with him?" The Swami Rama died in 1996 at the age of 69. Become more involved with the projects of the ashram-seminars, residents, the patient program-in time she would be in charge of the whole thing. Himalayan Institute Online. In recent years, the harm caused to women by "sex in the forbidden zone" has been recognized in their codes of ethics by most universities and professional associations, including the American Medical Association and the American Psychological Association. Wisdom must show itself in action and lovingness." At some point, we ran into Swami Rama in a hallway. Carolyn says she spent years blaming herself and trying to rationalize away what she now regards as sexual abuse. Back; Cameroon; India; Mexico; Tibetan Settlements; Get Involved. But after they started saying all these things, I never trusted them anymore. Initially, Brian says, most of the other directors responded with concern. Whether youre retracing the footsteps of sages through pilgrimage in the Himalayas, or immersing yourself in the most incredible spaces the US has to offer, you will experience the life-changing power of yoga in action. A pearl necklace that Brian had bought from Swami Rama as an "investment" was appraised at roughly one-third of the $100,000 he had paid for it. But during the next three weeks, she says, she saw the Swami mistreating his disciples, especially the women, on a daily basis-yelling at them, ridiculing them, ordering them around, and occasionally kicking a woman in the buttocks when she was on her hands and knees weeding. The victim's confusion and loss of trust are compounded when her community refuses to acknowledge her suffering. In my interviews with current and former members of the Institute, I heard an almost unvarying litany of beliefs about Swami Rama's abilities. -- Swami Rama, "Living With the Himalayan Masters". 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