Art of Living is a business – So what’s the big deal?

The following comment was recently left on one of the posts and I thought that as it raises some good questions about a number of criticisms raised across these blogs, the comment should be made into its own post, with my responses afterwards.

by Spiritual Seeker

1. AOL is a business in the guise of spirtuality
2. A lot of people in this business are hypocritical- they do not practise what they preach and they have one rule for themselves and one for others
3. There is no fair, ethical and moral treatment of those in AOL and of those outside of AOL/potential new comers
4. Some or many of those who are associated with AOL become financially, phyisically, emotionally and psychologically destroyed

So what is the big deal?

If a mutinational business does this and survives 10-20-50 years and there are tons of such institutions which practise the above in real world and have managed to survive longer, the world has no problem with it but why do we want a spiritual organisation to be above board? Why- the samehypocritical people from real world populate the spiritual organisation as well- It is not that because they join a spiritual organisation they will behave like saints instantly

AOL is a mirror reflection of outside world. If you see corruption, bureaucracy, nepotism, hypocricy, immorality in real world you will see it in AOL as well. Just that you have reprogrammed yourself immediately after first day part 1 course- to expect AOL to be better than the world outside. The problem is your expectation. Expect AOL and its people to be no more than the self centred, politiking, hypocrites of the corporate world- you will have no problem

Yet a lot of schools are set up, a lot benefit from water and other projects, there is a lot of good work done. See it as a business imperfectly run without morals and ethics for a good cause. There will be acceptance and peace. Accept AOL as it is !

AOl is a cult- Again what is the big deal if it a cult? Our problem is that many in AOL behave like in a cult yet they do want to call it so- What is the big deal- this is another form of hypocricy

The end justifies the means. This is the gross reality of nature and existence in this material universe. So long as the end benefits the world more than imperfect means with which the end is achieved, nature and existence will support it. Bin Laden was supported by the world for 3-4 decades- when nature saw the means could not support the end it finished him. US and navy seals were only an instrument!

Can we view AOL as a spiritual organisation and SSRS as a spiritual master. In spirtuality there is no right or wrong, there is no good or bad there is no polarities. You just see one common fabric of existence. Appliances may be many -some dysfunctional some functioning exceptionally well yet electricity is one. There is no airconditioning electricity or amplifying electricity. All electricity are the same. All Creation is one. Bin Laden, SSRS, Krishna, you me are one- this is spirtuality

Each cult has some benefits to offer. Each cult works for a greater common good as its end. the means adopted may vary and because it is a cult is always imperfect. The day when the means cannot justify the end- Nature, Existence or God whatever you call it will end it. AOL will be finished and some other cult will rise. Bin laden is finished- does that mean it is the end of terrorism. Bin Laden represents a cause. AOL represents a cause. SSRS represents a cause. True AOL followers are those who represent the guru’s cause and there are many such good people in AOL. The rest are rotten apples- so what they are also evolving in their own way. Bin laden has evolved . These AOL rotten apples will also evolve

Dear AOL bashers- Accept this reality and move on. This is how Nature, Existence or God functions in this imperfect world. Take the best out of AOL and move on. As to its imperfections leave it laws of nature and God who will take care of it

There has been and is and willnever be a perfect spiritual organisation. AOL is not perfect. Do not worry about its imperfections. The world is not perfect. Even our extreme selflessness in our behaviour produces only selfish results. If this is how Universe and Existence has been designed by God, let us accept and comply

Selfishly take the best out of AOL and move on

Jaigurudev!

My response:

1. AOL is a business in the guise of spirtuality

This issue is at the core of much of the criticism. A multinational business makes no pretense about being a spiritual organization, whereas Art of Living makes every effort to convince people that it is both a spiritual organization and a charity. If it were to admit that it is actually a business, then this would go a long way to addressing many of the criticisms voiced in these blogs and elsewhere.

2. A lot of people in this business are hypocritical- they do not practise what they preach and they have one rule for themselves and one for others

This doesn’t readily lend itself to businesses. The hypocrisy in AoL stems from those who run the organization preaching a set of values which they themselves do not follow, whereas multinationals generally aren’t in the business of preaching. One cannot make an analogy here.

3. There is no fair, ethical and moral treatment of those in AOL and of those outside of AOL/potential new comers

This is a sweeping statement. Can you elaborate a little more?

4. Some or many of those who are associated with AOL become financially, phyisically, emotionally and psychologically destroyed

This generally does NOT happen with employees of multinationals, although there are a few exceptions such as those who are made redundant. If anything, people gain financially from corporations, or they wouldn’t work for them in the first place. As for physical and emotional damage, again I would say the majority walk away from companies relatively unscathed.

If a mutinational business does this and survives 10-20-50 years […] the world has no problem with it but why do we want a spiritual organisation to be above board? Why- the samehypocritical people from real world populate the spiritual organisation as well- It is not that because they join a spiritual organisation they will behave like saints instantly

We want ALL organizations to be above board, not just spiritual ones. Just because an organization claims to be spiritual, it shouldn’t be excluded from the rules and regulations that organizations have to submit to. Also our experience here is with AoL. If we had uncovered these same issues with any other organization, we would feel duty-bound to report them instead.

AOL is a mirror reflection of outside world. If you see corruption, bureaucracy, nepotism, hypocricy, immorality in real world you will see it in AOL as well. Just that you have reprogrammed yourself immediately after first day part 1 course- to expect AOL to be better than the world outside. The problem is your expectation. Expect AOL and its people to be no more than the self centred, politiking, hypocrites of the corporate world- you will have no problem

Most of us are willing to accept that AoL will have exactly the same problems as any other organization. The issue is not that we are naïve to believe it doesn’t have these problems, it’s that AoL goes out of its way to deny that a lot of these things are happening and tries to paint a picture that everything is roses. Further, if anyone raises any grievances they have with AoL, whether people still in the organization or who have since left, rather than handling them in any appropriate way, the individual(s) making the complaints are labeled negative, low prana, mentally unstable and various other things. In other words, there is no forum within AoL for expressing issues and doubts one may have. Most businesses, on the other hand, have procedures in place for dealing with issues, and some even have human resources departments dedicated to this sort of thing. If in AoL people’s complaints were actually listened to and handled appropriately, then this would be another step closer to addressing a number of criticisms we have made.

Yet a lot of schools are set up, a lot benefit from water and other projects, there is a lot of good work done. See it as a business imperfectly run without morals and ethics for a good cause. There will be acceptance and peace. Accept AOL as it is !

I agree, there is a lot of good work done by AoL and many do indeed benefit. This has never been the subject of any criticism, though. Rather, we would really like to know, how much good work has actually been done by AoL, and most importantly how much of the money collected in the name of charity has actually been spent on humanitarian projects? This is still very much a mystery, since AoL’s accounts in India haven’t, at least to the best of our knowledge, been audited. This is a problem for anyone who gives money to AoL in good faith that it will be spent on service projects as most of us here have done.

And just because an organization does good work, it doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be criticized for any wrong it is doing.

AOl is a cult- Again what is the big deal if it a cult? Our problem is that many in AOL behave like in a cult yet they do want to call it so- What is the big deal- this is another form of hypocricy

It isn’t so much whether it is a cult or not, rather what aspects of its being a cult are likely to cause issues, especially for its members? Note that in this aspect AoL differs radically from traditional businesses. Most businesses do not have a leader who everyone worships as God (I said “most” for a reason here, because yes there are a few exceptions to this!), and most do not convince their employees to go out and recruit as many people to work for the business. Also, businesses pay their employees a salary in return for services rendered, whereas in AoL unless you are a full-time teacher you don’t receive any money from the organization and you give your services for free, or in return for “bad karma” being removed.

The end justifies the means. This is the gross reality of nature and existence in this material universe. So long as the end benefits the world more than imperfect means with which the end is achieved, nature and existence will support it.

This is very subjective, and as such I would have to disagree with you here based on everything I have seen. However, as always I will leave it to the reader to make up their own minds about this based on all the information available.

Bin Laden was supported by the world for 3-4 decades- when nature saw the means could not support the end it finished him. US and navy seals were only an instrument!

Supported by “the World” – are you absolutely sure about that?! If, as you say, nature was responsible for employing US navy seals to finish him off, how do you know that nature isn’t employing this blog to expose AoL, and that those behind this blog aren’t also simply instruments? 😉

Each cult works for a greater common good as its end. the means adopted may vary and because it is a cult is always imperfect.

I don’t agree with this statement at all. Evidence has shown that most cults work for the good of its leader or the group in control of the cult. Cults do however portray an image that they are doing at least some work for the common good, and while most do at least some good  they generally tend to exaggerate exactly how much.

AOL represents a cause. SSRS represents a cause. True AOL followers are those who represent the guru’s cause and there are many such good people in AOL. The rest are rotten apples- so what they are also evolving in their own way. Bin laden has evolved . These AOL rotten apples will also evolve

What exactly do you think “the guru’s cause” is here? There are certainly many good people in AoL who are doing good work around the world, but is this the same as “the guru’s cause”? It seems as if the “AOL rotten apples” are at the center of and hence running affairs in AoL.

Dear AOL bashers- Accept this reality and move on. This is how Nature, Existence or God functions in this imperfect world. Take the best out of AOL and move on. As to its imperfections leave it laws of nature and God who will take care of it

We have accepted AoL as it is, and we have moved on. That’s why we’re here, in fact, otherwise we’d still be in AoL and you wouldn’t hear from us at all 😉 But joking aside, you can accept something and still warn people about the experiences you had with it. I will be the first to put my hand up and tell people I had mostly good experiences, however it doesn’t mean to say I should turn a blind eye to all the questionable  things that are clearly going on in AoL, especially if I am aware of them. I, like most others, feel obliged to reveal everything we know about AoL, both good and bad, if it will help people make a more informed decision as to whether or not to associate with AoL in any way.

It’s a free world and just as we’re free to post our experiences here on this blog, visitor’s are free to choose whether or not to read and accept these things. Maybe some day someone who is in a position to make a difference in Art of Living will even realize that it’s better to take on board these criticisms and start doing whatever they can to ameliorate the situation than to continue with the status quo. Over time I’ve lost all faith that this will ever happen, however if it did then there may be still be some hope left for Art of Living  …