Original Sin in AOL & the final Salvation!
By Whistleblower
I feel some urgency in writing this post as I feel not only it will go some way to explain how the mechanism of trapping or shall we say enslaving of the spiritual seekers works in AOL, but also that this understanding may throw a life line to those who are trapped & wish to get out but their own blind faith prevents them. It may also warn those who have not experienced AOL to stay away from it & its “sugar coated poison” guru (according to Maharishi of TM fame). And most importantly those who have experienced AOL in its initial & introductory phase (all very nice & lovely!) , and are contemplating to go deeper in this very enticing but perilous journey, to do so with their eyes open & some emergency kit to have handy for getting out when things start to get too sticky!!
There are many wrongdoings in AOL. The fraud & abuse in the organisation is widespread & pervades all aspect of the organisation. Many aspects of this fraud has already been exposed in KLIM & Guruphiliac & this blog by many ex-AOL teachers & volunteers , and many more of such abuses will come into public light in coming months. By the end of this year, Sri Sri has to think of more effective damage control measures than his two current counter-blogs or sending threatening legal letters to those whom he suspects are the authors of artoflivingfree blog. Soon there will be no stop to the torrent of testimonials exposing SriSri & AOL/IAHV for what they really are.
In this post however, I would like to focus on what I consider to be “the Original Sin” in AOL. Indeed it is this Original Sin that has made all other sins & wrongdoings & abuses possible in AOL.
What is this Original Sin? Simply put, it is attributing the student’s healing, spiritual experience or insight, gained through some spiritual practice or knowledge, to the guru, in this case Ravi Shankar.
This happens in AOL, right from the word go & continues throughout & it gets hammered into conscious & subconscious of the students by so many subtle & not-so-subtle ways & means.
In this post, I won’t focus on the ways & means this is done. Anyone who has done any AOL course or been to any AOL event would have many insights to these means. And full exposure of them can in itself be the subject of several posts. I will refer to these as sticky sparkling goo!
Every time, some of this sticky sparkling goo is sprayed on the seeker/student, he or she gets stuck just that much more to SriSri/AOL. Before long this goo paralyses the person & prevents him/her from any ability of critical thinking or seeing how one’s sincere devotion & love & faith is used against him/her self. For most part the victim is not even aware that he is totally trapped!
We all have huge reservoirs of love, faith, devotion within us. The genius or the cunningness of Ravi Shankar (whichever way you would like to look at it) is tapping to this reservoir & claiming it for himself as if it is his!
This is the Original Sin in my opinion & is the pre-cursor of every other sin or abuse (mental, emotional, financial, spiritual, psychological, spiritual,…) occuring in AOL.
Once the person is trapped in this way, it is his/her own devotion & love & Divine attributes (like desire to help others or do service), which is used to get him/her trapped further.
And interestingly enough it is the understanding of this original Sin that finally gives the victim the key to free himself from the jail. The jail of his own devotion, love & faith misplaced in a false guru.
Indeed all the abuses the trapped victim notices , and in some cases experiences, in AOL, helps him/her to shake himself/herself a little bit more off the sticky sparkling goo!
Sooner or later, all the justification of the world cannot cover the weight of evidence as to “something is terribly wrong here”. The victim wants to get out, but doesn’t know how to, doesn’t know where the key is. Doesn’t know his own love & devotion to the guru is keeping him/her inside the jail.
The victim’s faith & love in Guru doesn’t let him/her to see the reason for all the wrong-doings/abuse in AOL. He or she tries everything to justify & exonerates the “guru” & to divert the pointers for all the abuses happening in organisation away from the Guru. Weeks, months & years can pass by in this way & many people have different surviving mechanism to go through this phase.
And as long as the person thinks of Sri Sri as the “Enlightened Master”, he/she can’t make much sense of all the terrible stuff happening in AOL, right under the nose of SriSri & indeed with his blessing!
It is only when one realizes that Sri Sri is not an Enlightened Master, but only a false guru and a conman, a psychopathic, narcissist ,that everything suddenly makes sense. All pieces of puzzle then perfectly fall into place & one realizes that all those ugly stuff in AOL is only a reflection of its founder , SriSri himself!
And when the person realizes the implication of the “Original Sin” & realizes that no one owes anything to SriSri for their personal experience, then freedom beckons.
It is only when one realizes that any healing, insight, spiritual growth only belongs to oneself & the credit is due only to one’s Higher Self & to Divine’s Grace , (and not to a false guru), that they can take their first step to freedom from the jail of their own devotion to a false guru.
The moment they free themselves from the grip of the “Original Sin” , or the gooey stuff, they can reclaim back their power from the false guru. They can reclaim their own love, devotion, ability for critical thinking, etc…
So in the same way that the “Original sin” was the cause of their spiritual enslavement to a false guru, the realization or insight to this original Sin is the key to freedom of the trapped victim & final Salvation. Prior to that all the hurt & trauma & abuse experienced or observed in AOL helps one to shake off the gooey stuff a little bit more & alert one again & again that not all is well in AOL & make one wonder how it could all be possible if RS is truly Divine incarnation as he claims he is. But once one realizes how he/she got trapped in AOL through the “Original Sin” in the first place, then that is it, the grip of the false master is all broken & jail’s door is open!
That is why if you look at the comments of RS lackeys frequenting artoflivingfree blog & Guruphiliac blog, they keep alluding to this “Original Sin”:…Didn’t you have a nice experience in AOL?….Didn’t you love Kriya?….Didn’t AOL change your life?….Aren’t you grateful to AOL/RS & all the stuff you learned?…..etc, etc.
Now anyone who has regained their freedom from gooey stuff, immediately recognizes the trap inherent in the above statement. A Real guru would neither lay any claim to a student’s spiritual experience, nor he would use any knowledge or technique or experience to enslave anyone & use them for his personal power, fame & glory & source of income & influence. That in itself will mark any false guru as such & immunizes you for life against this infectious disease!
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Beyond The Art of Living 
I have worked (or rather done Seva) the way AOLf puts in the Art of Living International HQ in India for some months. Although I went there on my own will, I realized after some months that the place was not for me… It was full of hypocrites who did not believe in doing anything substantially good for the society but just took the Guru’s name day and night. There is a lot of brainwashing and blind following that goes on there. They make you feel that you are incomplete and your life is full of conflicts without doing their courses. They make you do seva of all sorts… sweeping the ashram etc in their advanced courses in the guise of earning good karma etc. I also encountered an incident while doing the DSN course…. a course participant ended up coming late on the first day and shockingly the volunteer of the course asked her to shell out Rs.2000 as penalty or gave her the option of going back home. The participant was foolish enough to give the money too. As a part of the course, we were assigned to go out to some stretches of Bangalore and sell their Journalism course to people. We had to go back and report to the teacher how many people showed interest and how many potential students’ mobile numbers did we get! Well… it left me wondering if I had enrolled for a spiritual course or a marketing course?
Also, how come Sri Sri’s sister’s children have studied in the best schools abroad with our hard-earned money? Whatever happened to the vedic system of education and the vedic schools that are run in the Ashram?
There was some amount of good work too, like adoption of many tribal children and providing for their education, food and stay etc. but maybe that was just an excuse to show the world that the money was going somewhere and at the same time brainwashing the kids minds.
Also, I remember forcing the Content Manager of their website to display where the donations are being used, just as any credible NGO would do. She kept dodging that topic. They have not put up any such thing till date.
I have lived with the inmates. There were so many robberies that took place in the Ashram in my presence. Also, check this – The ones who work in Sumeru Software Solutions ( the software company operating from the Ashram) get better rooms to stay in as they pay for them. The other Ashramites (real devotees) have to share dingy rooms. I see no compassion ( that is preached by AOLf) here.
Most of the higher designation teachers and volunteers flaunt their Blackberrys and Macs.
Having said all this, the organisation sucks but somehow I still have some respect for Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. I hope I can get rid of it soon.
And I thank my stars and my fiance for getting me out of Art of Living! I definitely feel much more alive now 🙂
Hi Riddhi,
Thanks for writing and sharing your sharp observation.
I am glad you wrote this:
“Having said all this, the organisation sucks but somehow I still have some respect for Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. I hope I can get rid of it soon.”
This is quite common feeling. Most ex-AOL people, esp. ex-teachers experience this and it is quite natural. After all we worshipped the guy and believed in his divinity and loved and served him with all our heart. Unfortunately the image we have from him in our mind and the reality are world apart.
But still how can we just drop a person (or the image in our mind of the person) whom we loved so much. Each ex-teacher/volunteer would have his/her own story of how they took this final step and for most it was extremely painful. Maybe when I have time I will write a post on this and other teachers can also share their experiences. In the meantime, read all the posts and comments on this blog and artoflivingfree and Guruphiliac blog and also observe SriSri/AOL behaviour in news, etc. More you get to know the man as he really is, the easier is to take the final step. Everyone takes their own time.
And re your other comment. That is also very common feeling among those liberated from AOL grip.
As if one gets his/her own life back. It is for sure, very beautiful feeling.
RIDDHI
I have noticed that even when disillusioned with the organization, most naive folks then start saying that they are not connected with the organization, their connection is only with the guru. They are just lying to themselves. For me that was a step towards true liberation. Once you see the BS that goes on, it will not be long before you start acknowledging to your self that Ravi is hollow and empty. That it is NOT possible to seperate Ravi from the organization. They are both the same. The attitude of the organization is only the attitude that Ravi has. A huge EGO, arrogance, greed, lust for fame and power, need to hobnob with internationally famous people are the traits. And this is what will cause his slander and downfall. It will not be sex issues- like Nithy, but rather money issues. The very fact that you want to get rid of any respect/ reverence you have for Ravi is your step toward freedom. Congratulations!!
Hi Whistleblower and Mojo,
Thanks for reverting to my comment! I know somewhere deep down that it is obviously the guru who is running the sickly organization but like whistleblower said, I will take my own time to come out of reverence for him… it will take some time for the brainwashing to fade away 🙂 But I am really happy that this and such similar blogs have come up. I truly support this initiative because I used to always observe all the manipulation and corruption happening there but had no place to vent it out. Keep going. And yeah…. I used to hate the Jai Gurudevs that were mandatory before any conversation!
Interesting, this ‘Jai Gurudev’ – why does anyone has to call out ‘Jai’ for the one knows past and future and can change the way he wants? Someone has pointed out earlier the similarities between ‘Heil Hitler’ and ‘Jai Gurudev’, may be that is where from?
I recently read an old TM article and it was full of “Jai Guru Dev”s!!! So it seems even JGD was stolen from TM!
I just watched their latest Gurupurnima video:
It is amazing how, after you have come out of the AOL Trance, you can see things differently. Whereas once upon a time I would have been one of those sitting at the feet of the master, feeling grateful and behaving silly as the rest of the brainwashed, now all I can see, very clearly too, is what a conman SriSri is; how he puts on the same act year after year.
I can now see how he uses “the original sin” as a tight straitjacket to trap his devotees. Be grateful for the “knowledge”, to all the masters,…. he says. Except of course that the treatment he and his lackeys give to him, so well stage-managed, doesn’t leave any doubt in any mind (esp. those present), that he is the one who should be considered the subject of their gratefulness (and their $$$), that he is the “Master”.
He acted and the rest of his clowns also acted to the script. Bhanu Didi as usual there as Master of ceremony to establish SriSri as Divine-reincarnate, deserving the Arti, and not just once either!!She even took over the job of the puppet pujaman, whom SriSri brought all the way from Bangalore Ashram, making him redundant, watching from the side!
And what an act SriSri puts on, pretending he is Divine reincarnate, drunk on his devotees adorations.
I could even see through his faked way of speaking and acting, pretending he is an enlightened Master. Now he looks to me like someone on dope!
Oh, how grateful I am to have my eyes and ears, my mind and my soul, free from the clutches of this conman.
This video really shows how they enslave people, how they ram again and again the original sin to their heads, so like Sheep they happily go to the slaughterhouse!
I wonder if he has photo of himself on the table in front of him, or the one that he has added his picture to the picture of tradition of masters?!!
I was watching this video with my 12 year old, he was asking who is this guy – what these americans are doing there? I said he supposed to be teaching knowledge, he didn’t get it. After seeing RS putting all these stuff on his head, he asked does he think god or something? after the crown came up he said he thinks he is an emperor and he wants 100s of people singing for him? Probably we have teach some knowledge to these people so that they don’t dance like that. Remember a never said anything good or bad about RS. Just watching the video while he was there. I thought if a twelve year old can get it – why not the big people.
He painted his beard, he is so concerned about how it looks. I saw him for the first time in 2003, it had little white hairs. Now he is rejuvenated! I met him 5 times. He never looked sincere. He is a clown. Insincerity reigns around him. In Bad Antogast ashram he said “Germany is sleeping”. Just because there are not enough fans. He likes just how many people there from different countries. Deep inside me I felt afraid of him. I felt that he is not what he presented.
Well my friend, your intuition guided you well.
Indeed many people have similar intuitive feelings about RS when they first meet him. However, his senior teachers, tell stories about how , in the beginning, they also felt he was dangerous, etc. and they would then laugh at their own initial hesitations. Have you heard for example Prashant Rajore (now Swami Pragyapad) relating how he thought RS was a dangerous man, messing up with people’s head, in his first few encounters with him. And how his own intuition was telling him to get away from him.
He disregarded his own intuition and got totally entrapped by RS. Same with Swami Sadyojathah. Same with Atika and Vikram and with many others.
Basically they all want to drive the point home that their intuition was wrong and encourage others to dismiss theirs too. Very successful method, I may add!
I have observed this feeling of fear from many people who meet him for the first time, to the degree that they try to hide behind others, strong physical fear reaction. I have seen small children being absolutely terrified of him and breaking into uncontrollable cry.
Only if we had all listened to our intuition and initial feelings…………….
And yes, asking how many from various countries is the only thing he cares about in international events, counting his sheep and pressurizing the coordinators to produce more!
I missed this post. Now, watching it, I can’t believe I was a part of this at one time. Embarrassed of having looked as stupid as the current lot of followers. Ravi looks eccentric. Does Ravi believe in his divinity, or do you think, sitting on that podium, he;s looking at his audience thinking how foolish we all are. Bhanu also doing her role perfectly. Do brother and sister , behind closed doors, have a good laugh at the rest of the world, do thet pat themselves on the back for pulling off such a scam? Just wondering.
It’s good to read all your posts. I think there should be some opposite force (however small) against any big force to maintain the balance. A good place for all those followers to pause and think.
But have you ex-followers been totally set free? When you were true followers you all were blind with love for your Guru and now it seems you all are blind with hatred or disgust. I understand once you’ve been burned with fire you will always be scared of it. But then you will miss so many fun and beauties of life. Get rid of the hatred or any sort of emotion that enslaves and then you will see the right light. I’ve done few of AOL plus other organizations’ courses. Basically they all teach the same things plus try to spread their own propaganda. But I always took them as a business organization not some Divine’s blessings. I learned the good things (yoga, meditation) and met different people but stayed away from clinging to any one of them. I myself have advised my friends and family to do yoga and mediation and encourage them to enroll for these classes. But I don’t do or say it to get some Guru’s blessings or become famous anywhere. I do it because I genuinely think you can benefit from these spiritual organizations if you only know what to learn and do not forget what you truly seek (your own self not some divine guru). You go there to learn not to outsource your thinking. Listen to them but in the end you should decide what you want to do.
Clear your mind and then think what you can do with all your spiritual experience. You will realize that even though you’ve suffered so much but in the process you’ve learned so many wonderful things also. Do not ignore them.
Once we asked him what we can do for our country. He answered “do Art of Living Center”. Incredibly, he does not care about us and the people. He cares only for his business. We proposed to make the ashram in the mountains, we have nice clean mountains. He was not pleased, he asked the center of the capital to enable more people to come. He does not care that the air there is very dirty and how people will make this air …
The Art of Living in Europe is not popular. He wants to conquer and this continent. Therefore create a program Yes We Can. In Germany I saw in the ashram to sell blessed by Sri Sri chocolates to 10 times more expensive than in supermarket in Germany! In Polish ashram in Tarasca I saw they chopped trees in the forest. Where is care for nature? I was looking to meet a real profound teachers in aol, but I saw most of the same false and ambitious. I met also good, sincere devotees, but they do not become teachers … It is more important to do propaganda and advertising and to pretend…I was 9 years in aol, I was drifting between nice emotional moments of doubt and intuition. But I did not want to become a teacher, I did not want to be hypocritical. Many sincere people have left. Teachers also left. I’m not from India or the USA. I’m from Europe, there is also disappointment. Everywhere is the same. We believe in a better world, we now realized that this was an illusion, we’ve been used and manipulated.
my girlfriend is just right now in Yes We Can. I didn’t really know what this organisation is, so I took it natural and didn’t protest.
I’m so waiting for her to come back. It seems that rehabilitation is gonna be needed. Wish me luck…
and thanks for the blog!! Very informative and helpful.
Good on the critics for exposing this phony narcissist. I went on an AOL course last weekend, and felt really good to start-then I realised what a sham it all was when they showed the 15 minute video of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, talk about, ahem, idolatry, vanity, greed, lust, covetousness etc. I had a funny feeling about the course when there was stuff about breaking down barriers between people-as a survivor myself, I am very familiar with the mind games, manipulation etc used by sociopathic narcissists to brainwash others-give ’em an inch, they’ll take a mile. This is a CULT in every way. If you read in a more discerning manner about spiritual matters, you’ll see there are a few things to say about false prophets masquerading as angels of light-Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing. God-the initial course is full of “love” bombing. And the exercise at the end where we had to sit as close to 3 people as possible without touching and look into their eyes was creepy and deeply inappropriate. In fact, the course tutor seemed to be hugging people quite a bit-also deeply inappropriate given what some of the course participants may have been through in their lives. Thank God the man upstairs gave us a brain I say, to discern truth from a lie. And never trust a spiritual teacher who drives a Mercedes Benz or uses “faith” healing like a snake oil merchant. I’ve been in 2 other CULTS in my life, and they all operate in the same way. Spirituality should never be about control, it’s supposed to be about setting people free from bondage. I worry about vulnerable people being abused by this organization, but of course, one can only do so much individually, thank God I wasn’t involved for 10 years before I saw the light, but I must say, I was upset yesterday when I read the blogs offering the truth on this organization. The real deal with spirituality don’t come as easily, I’m afraid, and this was all too good to be true, no real spiritual discipline, just icky feely slogans (and worse I’m afraid) and cliche ridden nonsense stolen from every other self-help book under the sun. So if you are feeling vulnerable, be careful whom you trust with it, as the prancer has a nasty bite.
MAY THE REAL GOD PROTECT AND COMFORT THE EX AND CURRENT MEMBERS -AND KEEP THE WOLVES AT BAY. I HOPE YOU FIND SOME PEACE IN YOUR LIVES
|| Jai Gurudev || May you all be bestowed with true knowledge….
|| Jai Critical Thinking|| May you be be blessed with the power to resist brainwashing and may you regain the ability to think for yourself…
@observer: it seems that you have copy-righted the power of critical thinking, so no-one is able to use it.
@Harshal – Maybe it seems to you that it has been copyrighted because none of the people you know seem to be thinking for themselves?
But, I can assure you, it is not so. Critical thinking is alive and well, and free to use. Try it sometime!
and our wish is for you too devotee to be bestowed with TRUE knowledge from the one TRUE SOURCE – GOD (not to be mistaken with SSRS)
just wait and watch. It took him 8 years to realize that AOL is not good…after 8 years this one will start blaming the true-source as well.
Harshal lost his job, harshal lost his job, na, na, na, na, na, na…………..
Or is this his new job? Give by the master himself?? LOL at Harshal occupying so much of his time here in a place he finds so useless and stupid (this blog).
ya, I have a new job now. I am treating paranoid schizophrenics.
Oh! Congrats, Harshal. Then your Guru, Sri Sri Sri Sri Sri, The Holiest of Holies, Ravi Shankar is now your patient! Great! Maybe you can help him. Then he’ll know whether he is Lord Siva, or Lord Krishna, Or Devi or Lord Rama Or whatever else he thinks he is this week/minute! That would be very wonderful indeed! What a great great seva you are now undertaking! Curing such a Great Soul as HHHHHSSSSSSSSRRRRRSSSS 10000000008 must be a long and arduous process. Good Luck! Then maybe you can tell him that searching guests bags at the ashram won’t be necessary when he’s missing something! Or accusing people of being power hungry and stealing from him when something got thrown away by accident.
Just saw this blog and the video of gurupoonima. There is course in the Bangalore ashram called Gurupooja Course . This course is taught only by Ravihshanar’s sister Bhanu and nobody else. Interesting what is taught in this course is nothing but 25- 30 lines of ” Guru pooa mantra” . And interestingly this course is taught in two phases I and II ( more courses more more money you see) . They charge a bomb Rs 12,000 to Rs 15,000 for this course which lasts for 3 days ( each phase) .All three days they just teach you to to chant those 25-30 lines . This is of course interspersed with guru stories. The also charge and additional Rs 5000 for the silver guru pooja kit. What daylight robbery! They claim that all the money goes to the VVMVP school. But I have seen the school which was supposed to have been started in the early nighties still has few buildings on the hill opposite to the ashram, for the amount of money raised I am sure they could have done a lot better.
Reading the comment on the Guru pooja course, let me share my experience, so much arrogance on the part of ravishankar’s sister, these guys act so high handed and arrogant, I saw this : A teacher came to make a donation to the gift a smile project , obviously she had spent a lot of energy in collecting the donations and hence wanted to personally hand over the donations to Bhanu. Bhanu has her own office, and her own secretary, for what I don’t know, she does nothing there except sit with her few ardent followers who are all the time admiring her, praising her , two of them are always massaging her feet ( all these boot-lickers ,she has made them all into Sahaj Samadhi teachers….. interesting ..huh..)The secretary completely ignored the teacher ,despite her earnest efforts she was not allowed to meet Bhanu. Just then Bhanu came out and when the teacher moved towards her, she was shoved rudely out of the way, and Bhanu walked on without even sparing her a glance…. if you guys are so loaded why do you beg so openly in every advanced , DSN and guru pooja course.
What does ravishankar’s sister know about how much hard work is done to collect all these donations,the famiy of ravishankar always travel only by car,flights, have never in so many years ever seen any of the family members his sister, nephews ever get their hands dirty with any seva.
For all these Aol people promoting for a clean environment, and planting trees, ravishankar’s family themselves each own a seperate car for their use, his brother-in law has a scoprio, sister has an Innova and nephew has one of those latest longish cars….. and each of them come to the ashram in their own car……. so much for saving the environment and reducing the carbon footprint which arvind .. ravishankar’s nephew continuously propunds in the YES+ course which he teaches himself
@Ex-foolish devotee
Reminds one of the story written ny Georgee Orwell called “Animal Farm”.
that longish car is a Honda Civic ..
RS has a lot of double standards and promotes select teachers for his own reasons and other teachers are not even looked at.. There was this teacher who misused the course donation (i.e stole money from his course fees) and guess what RS does, he promotes this teacher as his secretary. Many teachers exploit common people just like RS. They get their feet and body massaged (free) by volunteers when they travel, and misuse peoples property and money to their convenience. There are many volunteers who are brainwashed and exploited with RS’s stories and miracles, and are made to sponsor RS’s, his teachers and his entourage’s travel, stay and events.
Making of the Swami’s is one of the biggest jokes I have ever seen,. People who I have seen, throwing plates and slapping each other are made into swami’s I don’t see any great difference or change in these peoples attitude, but RS keeps claiming “Change is the only thing constant “but the only constant thing I have been seeing in this place is the constant bullying and over smartness of RS, his secretariat and his family.
SSRS is a very good manipulator. In the satang, he says that “Dharma” is most important, and it is only, but natural for some to help others when they are in pain/trouble, But our very own SSRS turned a blind eye when a senior teacher came to him with a genuine physical problem and was in obvious pain, seeing which any one’s heart would melt. But when this teacher met RS , he hardly stands to listen to their problem and tells them flimsily , “these things come and go, don’t bother , just do seva“ So much for his Gyan on Dharma.
Similarly, Just a few months ago RS promised to take all his Ashramites on a road trip to Hoganakal falls, and also promised to travel along with them. So, early in the morning about 200 or more enthusiastic Ashramites are ready at 8.30am to travel to the falls with RS . They board the bus and are eagerly awaiting the arrival of RS, but no sign of RS, after much waiting and delay, people travel to Hoganakal falls. All are in the hopes that their dear RS would also be arriving there. But all their hopes are dashed , as RS does not even turn up for this trip and he is busy playing in Radha Kunj in that 2 feet deep water falls.Every body was left sad and wondering why RS did this to them…….. of course nobody dares question his holiness. The audacity that he has to such a thing ,And no apologies for the same. And his actions are camouflaged by words of wisdom that “A guru knows what he’s doing and whatever he does will be for our good only”.
All devotees/ashramites do seva only for a single glimpse of RS and some very very very …..Little little little…. personal time with RS, but this is what RS gives in return. So much for all his talk about sense of Sharing and caring.
What a load of BS!!!
If you are a Performing teacher, or good looking, or rich, or a person with a lot of contacts or influence in the society, or their personal Yes master then RS and his sister give you private time and personal attention, else it is better you stop doing seva and relax at home (cause you are surely going to get nothing from RS).Remember this is their family business and not a NGO, every thing happens as per the lord’s and his family’s wishes.!
Why just the other day , Bhanu personally called one lady who was quiet influential at the Government level, with whom she has hardly spoken to in all these years, and showers her with personal attention and love and makes her a Eternity Course Teacher .
GO FIGURE!!!
Could the blog master plz start a separate blog post where people are invited to share the Guru stories they have heard. I am curios to know some of the fairy tales which they circulate.
Was also planning to do the Guru puja course myself.Having seen and met banu on a few occasions, i felt that she was quiet full of herself, but then i convinced myself it can’t be so as she meditates and practiced SK , but after reading all this , i am convinced about my initial instinct.
Khudos to RS and his Clan!!!
Most of the people on this blog have been wondering where all money is going.
Right now all the money is being spent on the wedding of Sri Arvind (Nephew of SSRS) with Srividya at the Bangalore ashram since the last3 days.
Don’t fret guys… all the donations the ashram receives have not gone to a waste. One must see the decoration of the wedding location, the plush leather sofas and fancy seating. all the loads of food. Of course nothing wrong in getting married with pomp and show, many people do it in style …. But with their own hard earned money, unlike SSRS and his family who have HARDLY earned it.
But here comes the double standards, sorry multiple standards…
A few years ago, SSRS expanded his business through ASHRAM WEDDINGS!!! , it all started with a meager, left over stage and decorations after Navarathri offered to the ardent devotees …of course at a princely price!!
Bangalore ashram charges a lot of money (Rs.One lakh or more) to conduct a wedding in their premises.
For this money….The devotees were busy chasing the Ashram administration to find the whereabouts and what abouts….. about their own supposedly family event (dearly promised by SSRS).
I know of a few AOL teachers, devotees and ashramites who were married at the ashram a few years ago. For the money they paid they were given a few rooms for their relatives.
Rooms are quite far way from the wedding hall which and to ferry the guest to and from the rooms to the wedding hall and the dining hall was the headache of the bride and the groom…… (Aren’t they supposed to be enjoying their own wedding???)
A few years ago Food organized for the wedding used to be part of the general food served usually at the kitchen counter, it used to be quite embarrassing for the groom/ bride to see their relatives standing in a queue for their mediocre lunch and having to wash their plates in the end themselves. But Soon SSRS improvised on this, by enclosing these wedding guests into the corner of dining hall.
Later SSRS after several suggestions from his devotees upgraded his marriage business, by launching his new kalyana mantap (Old meditation hall revamped) and introduced an events team to manage these affairs. (Of course, to earn more moolah!!!)Even after all this, the Bride and the groom were always busy running around organizing instead of marrying.
But Of course, there are a few privileged ones (the non thinking, YES YES whackos of Bhanu and SSRS) who get extra facilities like outdoor catering, additional items in the food, extra decorations and additional rooms for no extra cost.
Last time Ajay (Bhanu’s elder son who lives in the US) got married at the Bangalore Ashram, the groom came riding on an elephant. Everything was grand .Who served food in the kitchen??? Who else but the free laborers…our AOL teachers. All the Bangalore teachers were invited for the wedding of course…… but to help out in cooking food, serving food for all the guests….VASUDAIVA KUTUMBAKAM YOU SEE….
For the money that family has accumulated over the years I am sure they could have easily afforded a caterer.
This time around, for Arvind’s Wedding Bhanu and her husband have improvised and hired top class caterers form all over India and made it an elaborate 4 day affair,
Let’s wait and watch the latest wedding tamasha!!!
May be this comment by annoyed groom deserves to be a post by itself.
is it gonna be streamed online across the globe? if so, I would love to watch it 🙂
@annoyed groom,
Won’t they be sending out invites to the millions of members of their “one world family” spread across the globe, from Bali to berlin, for the marriage ?? ROFLMAO
So here is another opportunity for AOLites to earn merit by doing some seva for the marriage of their guru’s nephew. Wonder thats where harshal is now ?? LOL
Harshal is attending the wedding, of course, enjoying the sumptuous food and is probably looking like many of the swamis do (fat, unfit, glazed eyes). Well, look at it this way — at least these nephews didn’t claim celibacy when they were not at all celibate, and got married like average people. What a shame that so much money from donations goes to fund such lavish nonsense, though. AOL will say “oh those young men earned it through the companies they run”. Nobody even asks the question “where did the money come from to start those companies in the first place? Where did the ashram money come from? Where is the ‘charity’ in any of this BS?”
Interesting observation.
SSRS promotes celibacy and swami hood to his devotees, except his NEPHEW’S , After all they need more progeny to continue their family Business.!!!
Hey hey hey !!!
uncle is Gay
Nephew’s go family way.
While RS makes others obey
and make’s sure they don’t sway,
All together its a family get away
With all the $$$$ going their way
Hip hip hurray !!!
Nice one. It can go well with the other bhajans in the mahasatsang.
its unfortunate that whistleblower has left this spiritual path…this path is not of infatuation, nor greed , not even social service, not even living in ashram and being close to guruji….its only depends on how u feelvand what u benefit from it…..when u have doubts and feel bad the way people have treated u in ashram, its ur problem again and that only shows lack of mental strength…this means u r comfortable in ur zone…its natural 2 feel unreal when u r infatuated to a spirituality..it was only a matter of time b4 u had reached the ultimate path… so i must insist 2 all those seekers its the most difficult path 2 follow..but if u r get 2 the goal, its worth going through all those mental illusions