Instructions to Give Blessing
Before or while placing the hand on the person to be blessed, think or feel the presence of “the guru”, aka Ravishankar, and inwardly chant the guru sloka:
“Guru Brahma Guru Vishnu Guru Devo Mahesharaja Guru saksha parambrahma tasmaisri guruve namaha” or
“Jai Gurudev”
3 times,
and then (if your hand was not on the person yet, do so now) say quietly, “Om Namah Shivaya” 3 times or “Om Namo Narayana” 3 times.
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Beyond The Art of Living 
And how much do you have to pay for learning this.
ha ha ha
I did the blessing course because I was “fortunate enough” to have completed enough advanced courses and DSN and sahaj. There were a lot of processes we had to go through, and I have forgotten most of them, but there is one I cannot forget.
We had several group “therapy” sessions of sharing our deepest sexual and other fantasies to “get them out of our systems”. We were told that since it is done in the presence of a senior swami, (who really represents SSRS himself, so we should consider ourselves in His presence), we would then be completely cleansed of all such desires.
Back then I was still a gullible fool so I believed it all. It was too hard to start talking, but I did. I don’t know how many people spoke their true thoughts, but I did.
We were also made to promise an oath that anything shared in these sessions will be forgotten and not spoken about anywhere else.
Obviously, none of these happened. I still have fantasies just as often. I have also heard a few people discuss those secret fantasies that were not supposed to be discuss, and also some people teasing others because one of our group had a thing for Deepika Padukone.
In the end, I think there is no clear black and white, good and evil here. There are some practices and yoga and meditations that are helpful. At the same time you end up worshiping a power-mad god-guru who plays his followers quite literally like string puppets.
Hello Helllo Hello Mr. Raghu Spaghetti Sauce!!!!
You are habbing constipation No? Berry Good Berry Good.
You are habbing anger problems No? Berry Good Berry Good
You are no longer in AOL No? Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish
We Wish you Well!!
What a bunch of idiots you guys are really. lol
JGD
Yes i recall that blessings course – the sexual desires process was the end of the road for me. As a person, i am not really into sex fantasies – really, just never have been, but i was coerced into describing some, so i lied. And i came out of it so disilluisoned again.
Yes, there is pressure to come up with as many sexual fantasies as possible. I wonder if Swamiji has hidden microphones collecting these fantasies to use against people later.
Anyone ever asked Swamiji or SriSri about their sexual fantasies? Why do they have so much obsession with sexual fantasies? Why do they want other people’s sexual fantasies?
What do sexual fantasies have to do with blessing? Do the people who do blessing course become free of these fantasies afterwards? If not, does it affect their power of blessing? If they transgress and have a sexual fantasy, do they have to repeat the blessing course before they can bless again?
And if someone doesn’t confess to all their sexual fantasies do they still become blessers?
Majority of people becomes blessers, but some are declined and asked to repeat the course. What was wrong with them? Didn’t they have enough sexual fantasies or didn’t they confess them all?
hahaha, this is really funny! My thinking has become spherical after AOL. It has either transcended me or made my intellectual decision making or discrimination faculty numb. really!! after all one question remains- what is real- this seen world, or the unseen world…these arguments or something beyond…mind can’t comprehend…don’t want my brains to fall off from inside the skull…but still keeping an open mind.
if following aol has made ur life better than it was before then u r at profit not the aol.
fools
@bhushanthinks: I bet bhushan will stop thinking, sooner or later, if he is in AoL!
Don’t worry about Bhushanthinks…Worry about yourself…
I worry about you seriously..
We Wish you Well!!
AOL and SSRS nearly destroyed my life, Bhusan. I’m very glad I got out when I did. I’ve seen many lives ruined at the hands of “HHSSRS” and AOL. I only hope, for your sake, you don’t end up like them. Don’t waste your life. You only get one life. He’ll possibly tell you to “just teach” or “just follow” him, or some other such garbage. Then, if you wake up 15 or 20 years later, and have nothing, what will you do? Whatever you do, Bhusan, keep your own work, separate from AOL. Don’t believe in those people. You would be taken in, used, then discarded like so many others they’ve used. Just read Klim’s blog. It’s all true.
@anonymous – is there any way you could share more details of these “many lives ruined at the hands of “HHSSRS” and AOL”? Exposing issues of this nature is critical to what this blog is trying to do, namely raising awareness of all the questionnable goings on in AoL, especially those where people are being abused. Once people gain insight into these things, it should really help them to make an informed decision as to whether or not they want to have anything to do with AoL in the future.
Obviously can do this in such a way as to protect the identities of all these people including your own identity. This may be asking too much, and I fully understand if you don’t want to go ahead with it. But if you can, please post it here, or if it’s longer than a simple post, please send to the blog owner (email in the Disclaimer at the top of the page). It would really help with what we’re doing here and I would really appreciate it.
Agree with Doc… at the same time Bhushanthinks it would be nice if you could share with us .. your benefits rather than reacting and calling people here fools. There can always be a logical, cordial dialogue between people who are against the art of living and the pro art of living group…. One doesn’t qualify as a villain if one is against art of living.. coz the ones who are against were once pro aol… if they are anti now… it means that they have felt some pain or bitterness… … should you(the whole aol group incl Senior Teachers/Swamis/Rishis/ devotees) not have a bit more sensivity and compassion like Sri Sri teaches you.. or sensitivity and compassion are only applicable while reading the knowledge sheets. And remember many of the people here have been teaching the courses for more than a decade.
Warm Regards..
OA-SCS
Ruined your life??????
Weaklings like you dont belong in AOL…
Move on and let go…
We Wish you Well
don’t regret later,,,,, those guys writing in here are the ones who have been into aol much more than you are,,, THAT makes some SENSE,, beware,,wish you all the best,,,,,,
Not following has made our lives even better :). Why do you/AOL have a problem with that ?
I was searching for something entirely different on the net and chanced upon this instead. I do follow Art of Living and Guruji and consider myself blessed to have been able to do so for the last seven years. I am not a teacher, but I have been and continue to be close associated with many a senior teacher. In that sense I’ve seen Aol from the inside and the outside. Yes a lot of the allegations made are correct, infighting amongst teachers, pushing people to enroll for the various courses and so on and so forth. Such actions cannot be defended in any way, but let me explain, if I can.
Teachers, from whom others expect perfection, are only human and therefore anything but perfect. Yet, the Aol machinery would be defunct without these teachers. All teachers are not the same and even the most senior teachers have their imperfections. It is important to remember that teachers are merely mediums for the flow of grace and knowledge. Unfortunately in teachers, the imperfections stand out so glaringly that, that is all we end up seeing of them. For whatever reason the human mind has a tendency to attach itself to the negative. We never doubt the negative, only the positive. We end up believing the worst in the person and also attributing the imperfections of one or few to many. The Roman Catholic Church has had its share of celibate Popes who’ve fathered children, been involved in forced conversions, yet the Church continues to provide solace to many. The bad does not take away from the good that it has done. ISKCON has recently been embroiled in controversy but the ones involved are but a few. Many in ISKCON, some who I know, have dedicated their lives to helping those in need. As also Aol. Some of you may be aware of the change it is bringing to rural India, or to those suffering from the trauma of war, and to terrorists worldwide. The media does not often cover that. Is it fair that organisations such as these be judged only by actions of the black sheep they house? Maybe, maybe not, but that has been the way of the world and continues even today.
What we can do is instead look at the number of lives such organisations have touched and made a difference to. Aol has more than five million followers worldwide. All five million could not have been brainwashed. (I don’t have the relevant statistics for the other organisations. The RC Church definitely has more followers.)
Specifically on Aol, Guruji’s teachings goes far beyond the actions of individuals who are a part of the Aol machinery. He teaches about love and compassion, which all spiritual masters through the ages have taught, and which is written about in every religious text. At the end of the day, it does not matter how one teacher has behaved towards another, how pushy one teacher was, whether a volunteer has applied his mind or not.
Seven colours and their blends make up the rainbow. Take one out and it is incomplete. It takes all kinds to complete this world. The ones we criticise, the ones we praise and also us, who sit in judgement over others. While we are at it, it may do some good to ask ourselves, what have we gained by sitting in judgement over others and what fuels our need to do so.
I am not a blogger and don’t really read blogs. Hence I may not be around to read your replies, if any, to my post. If any of you seek any clarification regarding Aol and its activities you will find it on our website. If you are looking for criticism to confirm what you already believe that too is widely available online. And should any of you become a part of the Aol family, then your questions surely would have been answered. My best wishes to all of you in your search for the truth, because whether you believe it or not, that is what you are doing.
Jai Gurudev.
@Kallol,
Thanks for taking the time to post this. I do agree with a lot of what you’ve said, however there are a couple of things I would like to discuss further, if you’re still sticking around that is. 😉
Firstly, I too accept imperfections in everyone in the world, at least to a certain extent, as we are all human and no-one is perfect. However, there does come a point whereby imperfections become unacceptable to me. For example, I have absolutely no problem with people having egos, I too have an ego as does everyone I know. However, if someone becomes abusive in any way, or tries to cheat people by claiming to be something they aren’t especially to gain money or power over them, or worse still threatens their lives in some way or other, then I have a huge problem with this. And if I am aware of the person or organization responsible for this wrong-doing, I feel a compulsion to raise any such issues and make everyone aware of these things in the hope of protecting them from any harm.
It doesn’t matter whether it is Art of Living, the Roman Catholic Church, ISKCON or whoever else. All of these organizations do some good in the world, however if anything bad is happening as a result of something any of them has done, no amount of good that they do can make amends for these things.
I fully understand that each person has their own level of imperfections they are willing to tolerate, though I would say that most sane people will find it difficult to accept any level of abuse from an organization, especially a spiritual one.
Secondly, regarding the human mind’s tendency to cling to the negative and only see the negative, many of these issues reported in these blogs are actually kept carefully hidden from the public, and especially from AoL followers, including most of the people reporting here at one time or another. It is only because we have now left AoL that we have been able to come together, share in our experiences, and put together the missing pieces of a huge and complex puzzle which is revealing a very disturbing dark side to AoL that most people are unaware of.
A standard response from a lot of people in AoL seems to be just to ignore these things and look at the positive things AoL is doing. This sounds to me like they are asking the world to ignore these bad things and focus just on the good things. Is this what you are asking us to do and is this really acceptable?
Yes keep blabbing..blah blah blah you mental midget…Loyalty and Trust cannot be ascribed to you…
Forget about Spirituality – If you are deceitful and dishonest you are a ‘Cancer’ to Society…
Get rid of your negativity and beg for forgiveness..One day things will improve…
We Wish you Well!!!
“Some of you may be aware of the change it is bringing to rural India, or to those suffering from the trauma of war, and to terrorists worldwide. The media does not often cover that.”
“THE MEDIA DOES NOT COVER THAT.” Is it supposed to be a joke?
For every $1 popcorn charity, AOL spends $5 on advertisement and propaganda.
“Teachers, from whom others expect perfection, are only human and therefore anything but perfect.”
Not only are many teachers not perfect – they are also childish juvenile and immature. What can you say about a spiritual organization which does not insist on good standards. Many vulnerable people come to a place of spirituality for healing after being battered by the world – you need mature, responsible people in your organization – not power trippers and manipulators as you see in AOL. Unlike you, I do question the wisdom behind all this – and it’s very clear that RS is interested in $$ and creating a large organization – not a high quality one.
The knowledge point about how the mind doubts the positive and believes the negative just isn’t true. When I was in AOL I doubted the negatives quite a bit. I didn’t believe that anything could be wrong with AOL or SSRS. Doubting the negative is called denial. All of us at some point in our lives go into denial and doubt the negative and believe the best in people – even when there is overwhelming evidence that people are not at their best.
What I find frustrating is when people use the ‘knowledge’ as a weapon to control and intimidate people. Saying that the mind only doubts the positive is just a plain old lie used to manipulate people into conforming when they sense something is wrong.
kalol: i agree to all dat u’ve said.. its so true . i belong 2 aol and it has changed my life tremendously. im so grateful to be on dis path of knowledge. very few people are blessed with dis truth. don waste ur energy on explainin to these people coz truth can never b explained as wen put into words it gets distorted but d truth is inevitable n triumphs at all times.so don worry at all. jus have compassion for these poor souls who are dominated by their minds. and are slaves of their concepts, judgements..they are ignorant n do not know d self. guruji has cum here to help us. everyone makes mistakes n everyone is here to move to perfection, if we point at one person ..no less are we. everyone needs grace to b perfect, dat is why all of us are here but only if they cud see beyond an event beyond a person… they are all stuck in their small minds of judgements.have u heard of the saying dat faith can move mountains… dis is it! ” lack of faith” … and dats what attracts them to all the blunders possible.
@aashita,
> guruji has cum here to help us
LOL…thanks for the unintentional humour. 🙂
“truth can never b explained as wen put into words it gets distorted but d truth is inevitable n triumphs at all times.so don worry at all”
Sorry, but you’ve been brainwashed to believe this explanation justifies all the unexplainable and unaccountable things AOL does. This truly is a dangerous concept you have – to blindly trust and surrender your intellect.
The rest of your post is all very familiar to many of us. We’ve been there too. We once also believed we were the “chosen ones” and part of something special. We also believed those who had any criticism against AOL were low in prana or had bad karma, or whatever other bullshit explanation you want to use.
Keep hanging out on this blog… you’ll be well on your way to recovery my friend.
Let me guess, we’re all low in prana and have bad karma too? That is the reason why we would have reason to challenge AOL. Only the strong can completely surrender their intellect, right?
” truth can never b explained as wen put into words it gets distorted but d truth is inevitable n triumphs at all times.so don worry at all. jus have compassion for these poor souls who are dominated by their minds. and are slaves of their concepts, ”
lol, we’re all familiar with this lie. We’ve been there. Most of us (including myself) used to believe this too. It’s a dangerous concept to believe in, because when AOL does things that are questionable or wrong, you justify it by saying “truth can’t be explained…”
Keep hanging out here my friend, and you’ll be well on your way to AOL recovery.
Perfect example of cult brainwashing. Little does she know that members of every other cult are also programmed to think the same way.
‘Aol has more than five million followers worldwide. All five million could not have been brainwashed. ‘
Doing basic course do not make the person ‘follower’. Once a Basic course teacher revealed the fact that only 2-3% Basic Course participants continue their association with AOL. About 80% forget this after the course is over, 10-15% visits occasionally on some mega events etc.
I think AOL adds all the course participants in their ‘devotee’ / ‘follower’ list. They want to be ‘Biggest NGO’ on the planet.
I heard many times from senior volunteers that, some time ago Redcross was biggest NGO, now AOL has overtaken it. I don’t know the truth.
Any of you been doing the kriya regularly.. Without fail, if so there would be no questions on the doctrine of aol. All the negatives are negligible compared to the positives that aol has had on the upliftment of souls across the world. Evolution is realizing we are all one. Read any spiritual book and you will realize HH Sri Sri ravi shankar is propagating the most effective way of saving ourselves from ourselves. The universe is indeed a reflection of your inner self. So make effort to cleanse yourself to be able to see the positives in all this. Lust indeed is a hindrance in the spiritual path and ridding of it uplifts your chakra energy from the lower to the higher chakra, if you were really honest about your fantasia you would have rid of them, or perhaps you are not occupied enough …for an idol mind is the devils workshop 😉
” if so there would be no questions on the doctrine of aol.”
So you mean to be skeptical is to have low prana ?
To save yourself from yourself, you need to cultivate awareness – and there are many ways of doing so. Moreover, I don’t want to just save myself from myself, I want to live a fulfilling life. Again, the key to that is cultivating awareness. Living in the confines of an ashram or with a guru, may be a way for some, but not for me. The dysfunction in the organization is something I just can’t ignore, and feel compelled to speak up. On a personal front, I’m happier without AOL. Yes, life is a challenging, but also very rewarding. It need not be full of dukkha, if you have the right perspective 😉
“The dysfunction in the organization is something I just can’t ignore, and feel compelled to speak up”
Yes..compelled to speak up like a coward… anonymously..
FYI: I’ve tried to raise issues in our local sangha. The way it is dealt with is the way you see typical AOL response on this site. They label you as negative, low-prana or just plain weird. At most they will do is listen and ignore. They pretend that all is perfect, and problems will go away if you ignore them.The organization is not set up to handle criticism. They want you to do seva, but only on their terms. Woe to you if you use your own common sense and good judgement.
On the other hand sycophants and people who follow instructions blindly are promoted and get to have a say. This is not just my experience, but that of many others. All we are doing is sharing our experience – so people who want to leave get up and get the courage to leave.
Also your attempt to label me as coward is futile. For the umpteenth time, let me reiterate, being anonymous has nothing to do with the content of my criticism. The truth is out there – people can make their own mind after reading this. Labelling me/us as coward is not going to alter the truth in any way.
good. now I see your point. In your local sangha you never had a say, you were never promoted… and you were considered ‘weird’ and an outsider….now I see where all the resentment comes from.
being anonymous has nothing to do with the content of my criticism- really? Are you kidding me? The very fact that you choose to hide your identity casts serious doubts on whatever you are saying…
PW: Show some courage….. like ha-ha Harshal did when he publicly admitted that he drinks his guru’s dirty waters and other bodily fluids to get enlightened. I mean who else can admit it?
Although, he has not yet revealed whether he drinks it after collecting it in a pot or directly puts his mouth on the orifice, but that is a minor detail.
@Harshal
On what exactly you’ve the ‘serious doubt”? For a moment, let us talk numbers. Can you give any subjective answers to this?
From Charge 11 of Prosecutor …
It seems that Mr Arvind Varchaswi + Mr Narasimhan is actually using the ‘charity’ money to buy stakes in other companies as well, other than the Sumeru group of companies. Seems that they’ve huge stakes in Inwinex Pharmaceuticals Ltd as well.
http://gujarati.economictimes.indiatimes.com/snapshots.cms?companyID=6568
http://www.indiainfoline.com/Markets/Company/Background/Board-Meeting-AGM-EGM-Schedule/Inwinex-Pharmaceuticals-Ltd/531398
“According to IIFL (link 2), their market cap is Market Cap: [Rs.Cr.] 13, and based on economictimes (link1) the promoters themselves own 3368184 or 74.85% of shares – That means a ~9 crore investment has gone to purchase the stakes here.
Even if we divide that 74.85% of 13 Crore that is approx 9.6 Crore in 6 equal part and then summing 2 parts of Arvind and Narasimhan it comes to approx 3.2 crore. And as seen these 2 guys hold a top position among Board of Directors!!”
I don’t understand how you can conclude that having huge stakes in some companies= using charity money? Do you have any proof? I suggest if you are really concerned, instead of asking on a forums like this, you try to find out openly. Unfortunately I have no idea about what you are asking nor am I interested in finding out. I do my work , meditate ,live happily and come to this blog for the same reasons I see stand up comedians on my computer…..I find that statements like ‘thanks for saving me’ , ‘i am compelled to speak up-anonymously’ are extremely funny.
To those who say ‘thanks for saving me’ are you so inept that you cant decide for yourself , based on your experience…what is good for you? For example I went to pub and realized that I don’t fit in there so i don’t go there anymore. I didnt have to go to a blog telling me how bad it is etc etc… I think these people are just confused, stuck in their minds emotions feelings and all those things.
Those who say ‘I want to fight , speak up etc’ choose to do so anonymously. Its just because they are scared. They are not sure if they are correct.They are worried, what other people, people in their sangha will say/think about them or may be they have something to hide . If they are so fully convinced that AOL is all bad then there should be no reason to hide identity.
And then there are others (like peaceful warrior) who were hurt by the organizational chaos in their satsang groups and are now venting their anger here…
The only purpose of the existence of all these people , according to me, is to entertain me…when I am free/tired of work and needing a break…
@Harshal “I don’t understand how you can conclude that having huge stakes in some companies= using charity money? Do you have any proof?”
From my observation, I’ve seen that the money that goes out of AOL from the charity money for any real charity purpose is almost nil. Then, where else this money is going? If you know the kind of job Mr Narasimhan had and their family background – that was not big enough to generate this much money to start all these businesses. Commonsense.
“I suggest if you are really concerned, instead of asking on a forums like this, you try to find out openly. ”
Sorry, I’m not a detective. I just raise my concerns here, because forums like this is intended to open up the closed nature of the organization. Also, you can see what will happen to even forums like this if they criticize AOL. Then, just imagine what is going to happen if I go out and shout this question to all?
“I do my work , meditate ,live happily and come to this blog for the same reasons I see stand up comedians on my computer”
Good for you 🙂 – You are not real close to the AOL as some of us are. But there are people who dedicated a part of their life/their entire life for the ‘bigger cause’ – just to see the efforts they put for raising funds for real charity or ‘bigger cause’ is ending up in businesses like this – why this hurry in investing in businesses, instead of orphanages, old age homes etc?
“Those who say ‘I want to fight , speak up etc’ choose to do so anonymously. Its just because they are scared.”
On the contrary – People come here when they feel that they are not absolutely right. They feel gaps in their own beliefs and what is happening in reality. They are scared about shouting that out in the organization, because the past experience shows if you do that – you’ll be emotionally blackmailed.
A number of posts in this blog are off the point – some of them may be even emotionally triggered. I personally adore Sri Sri, but having said that, I really think Guru is one thing, and the organization is something else. I truly believe that the organization/politics part of AOL needs a fix. You may agree or disagree – Because here all of us are free to agree or disagree with any point – Contrary to what that normally happens in the AOL organization.
Let’s raise concerns about your sanity first. Let’s create a Geronimo blog and talk about concerns about the man you’re dating.
We of course have no idea that you’re dating and having a relationship with a man. We have no idea if youre a man/woman to begin with.
But, let’s start a blog about these concerns we are having.
“The very fact that you choose to hide your identity casts serious doubts on whatever you are saying…”
How so ? – the points I have raised are objective, not subjective. Money meant for social service being diverted into buying personal assets and financing someone’s expensive education has nothing to do with me. Same is true about people being lied to. How does it matter if an author uses a pseudonym.
“In your local sangha you never had a say, you were never promoted… and you were considered ‘weird’ and an outsider….now I see where all the resentment comes from.”
….haha good job trying to paint me as a disgruntled ex who could never fit in (classic cult-leader strategy). It is not about my ego, as you seem to suggest. You may want to deny the truth and believe that it’s just a disgruntled person talking, but that is not the truth. To set the record straight it is not about my getting credit – it is the expectation that a spiritual organization would act with integrity. Yes, I do feel let down by the organization and it’s leader, but no I have no interest in trying to get any sort of revenge. It was my own stupid mistake to fall into their trap. The sole purpose of my writing here is to make people think for themselves and empower those who want to leave.
Because you have no valid criticism of our critique, you choose to indulge in mindless ad-hominem attacks.
@harshal
“And then there are others (like peaceful warrior) who were hurt by the organizational chaos in their satsang groups and are now venting their anger here…”
I’m not troubled by the chaos, I’m troubled by the lack of integrity, dishonest practices, and focus on recruitment instead of spirituality in a so called spiritual organization. As far as being angry goes – the only person who rants here is you.
there goes ha-ha, off tangent- AGAIN!! he is talking like a fool- just like his guru. not interested in finding out about misuse of funds, funds that he makes for this org ( i’m presuming he is a teacher) and not concerned how the money is being used? he doesn’t mind being made a fool of? this reasoning is possible only due to the hyperventilation that is done in the name of SK, it makes one disoriented. and disorientated mind cannot think logically. you can see ALL of ha-ha’s posts to conclude this. instead of sticking with a point, he’s all over the place. note this in his reply to Anonymous, no amswers to solid questions instead off on a rant…..and if he doesn’t have answers to such questions, he should just shut up, and stop making a fool of himself and his org.
what solid question liquid question? hes just making an allegation without any proof… and I have no idea what he is talking about, what tangent can i speak to?
You are just an ass hole who only know how to use words as knives. Why don’t you go back to your own country and do some good
‘the only person who rants here is you’- lol
@Harshal,
I find it ironic that you claim to come here for entertainment, yet you actually end up being the entertainment.
I find it equally ironic that you disagree with a lot of what is said in these blogs, yet by the very way you are acting, you actually end up reinforcing these very same things you disagree with.
You really should change your name to something more suitable, like maybe “Ironic Man”. Because you really have shown that you are a true master of this art form!
😉
‘you actually end up reinforcing these very same things you disagree with’- ya thats the whole idea….don’t you get it?
You sure spend a lot of time here Harshal, for one who makes fun of others for “having time to write essays.” I see the same immature posts of yours back from last fall. A serious spiritual seeker surely shouldn’t be spending time mocking others for entertainment. Am I wrong?
You keep asking for people to show their names. What purpose do want their names for? Blackmail attempts? Harassment? Some other kind of other damage you want to cause them?
Surely being anonymous is useful at times, or else the PART II courses wouldn’t ask people submit their questions into the question box anonymously. Right?
“‘you actually end up reinforcing these very same things you disagree with’- ya thats the whole idea….don’t you get it?”
Aha, now I do get it, thanks for explaining finally!!
So, by your own admission, you’ve been acting like a complete imbecil all this time just to prove us right?!
I find it ironic that you claim to come here for entertainment, yet you actually end up being the entertainment
so true, doc, so true!!..and observer II , let’s not be so harsrh o ha-ha, he’s a result of drain damage caused due to hyperventilation. if you’re regularly hyperventilating, the brain DOES get affected. ha-ha is a clown in a circus called AoL, where the ring leader is SSRS. just the way he rants, the usage of language ( it’s obvious that english is a foreign language for hin), the content of ALL his posts show an iq that is way below average, no answers and disinterested in knowing the truth, when it stares at him in the face. either he’s making money and his livlihood depends on AoL, so he feel threatened of the exposed truths or the dopamine levels in his brain are affected. that can happen, due to hyperventilation. hyperventilating everyday or regularly, will impact the brain. and before i sign off, one last comment, in ha-ha style… get a brain scan, take some meds, and start writing in marathi…..doesn’t this sound like something ha-ha would say? love to all, heh-heh.
anon=another idiot assuming my identity. To have a conversation with idiots like you I have to stoop down to you level…
“A serious spiritual seeker surely shouldn’t be spending time mocking others for entertainment. Am I wrong?” – when did I claim that I am a serious spiritual seeker? What the heck does ‘a serious spiritual seeker’ mean?
Hah! Now he shows his true colors. Spiritual seeker resorting to name calling. You make your organization and Guru proud, Harshal. Keep it up!
Don’t crib with Ha-Ha Harshal. He might be drunk…. on his masters dirty waters, naturally.
attaboy ha-ha, good going, let the pearls of wisdom keep flowing!! just love your retorts! @ ANON- not only is he high on his master’s dirty waters, he’s also brain damaged due to hyperventilation! @ Dayalu- totally agree with you- on a platform for the world to see, feeble arguments defending his org coupled with vehement filthy language, ha-ha makes a spectacle of himself and his guru. or maybe these guys believe any publicity is good publicity…after all, his guru also resorted to this, last year, when some one tried to “assasinate” him.
so Ha-Ha admits he’s not a serious spiritual seeker, and doesn’t know it’s meaning.
-when did I claim that I am a serious spiritual seeker? What the heck does ‘a serious spiritual seeker’ mean
Told you, English is a foreign language for him, to be coherent he need to express himself in Marathi. All his posts defending an obviously suspicious cause, written with so much passion, only to admit he is not a serious spiritual seeker shows him as cantankerous personality, which should have been smoothened out by “living in the knowledge” under the “grace” of his guru. Obviously, since SSRS has absolutely to grace to shed, the grace factor could not work it’s magic on Ha-Ha. As far as living the knowledge is concerned, the only knowledge he and his guru seem to be folowing is “let’s make a fool of ourselves, just get noticed, doesn’t matter-how, evade uncomfortable questions by digressing from such topis with name calling, or as the case with his guru, simply keeping quiet and move to the next question.” There is an oath taken by AoL-ites, i.e- be totally intolerant of any difference of opinion. And intolerance must be expressed in the most undignified manner. Attack small blogs, threaten to shut them down. And if need be spend money on litigation, money earned by naive teachers who have been made to believe that the biggest sewa is spreading the guru’s name , to increase popularity. Really, what a pathetic state to be in, where the brain is made dead due to hyperventilation, that the need to question basic ethics is eroded. But instead, by getting high on drinking master’s fluids, it makes you believe that it’s ok for a once middle class family that travelled from Jayanagar to Kanakpura in a battered Maruti, to suddenly acquire enough wealth to afford a U.S education, fancy cars, big flashy diamonds. And all this when there is no other source of income besides marketing spiritualism. Critical thinking abolished to the extent that naive teachers parrot tall claims of SSRS and his divinity, medical benefits of SK without any factual backing, and not realizing that these are just only claims. Zombied brains. Yup, thats what this cult is all about, and folks like Ha-ha fight passionately. However, I honestly hope, Ha-Ha and his likes continue posting here. It’s providing fodder for this blog, otherwise it might have died silently- going totally unnoticed.
@ Anon: Insted of using and refering to terms like ‘sincere spiritual seeker’ can you not explain what it means? or is it just a concept in your head? your ‘know-it-all personality’ is so amusing. You have no idea who I am, you make assumtions and purport theories based on those faulty assumptions…why is it so difficult for you to accept that someone can have fun at your expense ? I can push you guys into writing huge essays after essays at will..
Having said that, I do agree that I give some fodder to this blog. I am going on a month long vacation to India, so I will take a break…I hope that by the time i am back this blog will have gone down the drain…along with you all..i am already seeing the signs…no money to get a proper lawyer….no ticky no washy…….lol….itellectual ,ethical and monetary poverty goes hand in hand…haha and haha
@fakedoc; once last time…I am giving you a free advice…..get yourself checked from a good psychiatrist…you might already have one…but you deserve better…
@Harshal – Let us ignore all the blabbering going on – With respect to my comment here – https://aolfree.wordpress.com/secret-aol-knowledge/instructions-to-give-blessing/#comment-4374
Do you think AOL as an organization need a revival, or not?
shucks! ha-ha is leaving for India- FOR A MONTH?!!! will miss you ha-ha, as i did the last time you’d sworn not to write only to get back within a matter of weeks/ but surely someone as demented as you can proxy for you?? someone who is ok with corruption, who is ok being exploited. AoL is filled with such types…only a deteriorated brain can be ok with such issues, and those are plentiful in your cult. one more criteria should also be name calling. not to forget angry. and using your words, “know it all” ( where did you pick up that phrase, it’s passe) that I am, making faulty assumtions of your identity, you are doing just that!!! when you say – ….itellectual ,ethical and monetary poverty goes hand in hand…haha and haha- assuming my state of poverty.,,amusing ( your word, not mine) . grow up, ha-ha, your retorts a foolish to the core that this perhaps, is the last time i’m engaging with you. you’re begining to get boring.
Do you really represent AOL?! There are seven volumes of “An intimate note to the Sincere Seeker” by SSRS. Earlier I might have told you to rpt/do the Part I in Ashram as you are going to India.
adding on to what I posted earlier. Ha-Ha now also comes across as extremely selfish. Just to keep himself amused he’s ok providing fodder, thereby being party, to a movement tarnishing his guru’s image? And Ha-ha does not have a life either. If this is his source of entertainment, can you imagine the quality of his life. I speak for myself ( and am sure this also reflects the sentiments of others who post regularly) this is a cause, unveiling the facade of SSRS and his conmanship, that moves me, to the extent, that despite hectic schedules I always take some time out to see the developments here. And unless there are some issues that don’t stir passion in you, where, for totally unselfish reasons, you stick your neck out, there is no difference between you and something inanimate. Even animals are known to risk their lives to save that of their masters
It should not come as a surprise that Ha-Ha believes that “….intellectual ,ethical and monetary poverty goes hand in hand…”. In Ha-Ha’s worldview people are poor because they are ethically depraved.
It is the same philosophy that Ha-Ha’s master also endorses. In one of his interviews SSRS has told that today there is no dearth of jobs in India and if people are still poor, it is because they are lazy.
@ Anon- This makes SSRS sound like the Indian version of Mary Antoinette. So disgusting for a “spiritual” guru to be talking like that.
Yes yes..We will see all of you receive plenty of blessings alright..ha ha ha ha ha
Keep blogging and blogging your negativity, while everyone else in life becomes a success. While everyone else in life is serene content and blissful – unconcerned about any other spiritual organizations. You all continue your little blogs.
When you were with AOL – we were on your mind. Now that you’re not in AOL – we are also on your mind..
Let go and move on with life little men…You weren’t STRONG enough to be in AOL so you were let go..Only you think it was your decision and you all became disenchanted why you don’t feel good anymore – so you decided to unleash your inner bitterness…
You anonymously left AOL, you anonymously blog about AOL – Yet you all are Cowards..
Hardly the fiber of a Spiritual Warrior..
We Wish you Well!
AOL people desperately want this blog to be stopped 🙂
Approaching half a million hits… no wonder they are going crazy. lol
“We wish you well” lol, sure you do…
LOL @ “Jacob” I wonder who this royal “we” is? Such ridiculous people, this SSRS and his followers!
“You anonymously left AOL, you anonymously blog about AOL – Yet you all are Cowards..”
In contrast just see how bravely “Jacob” has revealed his identity.
I mean once he tells the world that he is “Jacob”, everyone knows his identity. Doesn’t his brave action show his extraordinary courage and total commitment for transparency?
Come on anti AOL folks. Can anyone from you show such daredevilry as “Jacob” has shown here by revealing his identity?
“shoot the message and not the messenger” is better appreciated and effortlessly practiced when the messenger goes anonymous.
when one doesn’t know the messenger – ones faculties would rightly focus on ripping apart the apparently bogus message- provided your faculties are not damaged by repeated hyperventillation.
“Aol has more than five million followers worldwide”
Doing basic course do not make the person ‘follower’. Once a Basic course teacher revealed the fact that only 2-3% Basic Course participants continue their association with AOL. About 80% forget this after the course is over, 10-15% visits occasionally on some mega events etc.
AND DONT FORGET, NEARLY 50% OF BASIC COURSE PARTICIPANTS ARE REPEATING THE CURSE, OOPS, I MEAN COURSE.
So, do the Math and see that the 5 million number is so grossly inflated.
“Aol has more than five million followers worldwide”
that’s just 1 percent of loyal al qaeda followers
argument of NUMBERS is not the argument for TRUTH
and remember , not even a century ago a BILLION PLUS people believed that the earth is flat- there’s no limit to man’s collective foolishness
Jacob, are you speech impaired, or font impaired, or language impaired? You’ll be the one to return anywhere in a dhoti, like all the other Ravi Shankar clones, if you stay around him long enough, ‘yarrr’. Go to any satsang and see the brainwashed fools at the front sporting their ‘rishi’ dress, and long beards. They were once normal students, or even businessmen who lost it…
dear jacob
some of us did not anonmously leave aol…some of us roared like lions (if you need me to speak a language that you may understand), some of made sure that teachers in india and even his royal arseness knew the reasons we had walked out. there was no walking away in shame, a lot of us walked away, with our heads held up high. And we continue like spiritual seekers do, is seek for the truth. we are not stagnated in our journey as his royal arseness likes to keep his zombies .
lol …”freeagaiin”- that name gives me a nice laugh!
ditto – harshal has a rather funny take on it too…lil arse all
Do You know what is liberation ?
Liberation is freedom from mind.
There have been many Masters in the past is there now and will be in the future.
Many have been called. A few have been chosen.
There have been only 12 apostols. One have betrayed Jesus Christ the son of God.
He could not stand pain so he have commited sucide.
You dont have to commit suicide when you speak against Being of Light !
The One who is enlightened is one with the Self thus Being of Light !
To be chosen is to mature.
Just to be on THe Path gives you enormous Bliss.
The problem is people who have made this blog, have all stuck in mind, ego, or emotions.
So to escape from hurt you spread negativity and hope others will hear you and support you. This blog should be named the blog of misery.
You dont have to chose Guruji or any other Master for your Guru.
But do not spread cloud of negativity.
The Enlightened ones are very very patient, loving and compasionate.
They represent Mahapurush. They will not want you to suffer even if you spread garbage or speak against. Those who have ears will hear and those who have eyes shall see !
There is still time for you founders of this blog. Surrender your hurt, do not create bad karma for yourself cause you are inviting endless suffering. God does not want you to suffer. You suffer cause you do not let go of small mind.
Guru is compasionate but Durga and Rudra are not. They are DEMON SLAYERS.
God Loves You but do not force Him to take a stick !
And you’re so happy and blissful in AOL, that you have to spend time on this blog. Why bother reading it if you’re so happy? The people on this blog who have left AOL are healthier, happier and less miserable than anyone on the path of AOL. We’ve all been where you are Demon Slayer. You’ll regret it if you stay in AOL. Good luck on your recovery.
I was chosen to destroy ill talkers ! If you just once more suggets me what path should I follow….well just read my comment bellow and think very deeply if you will answer or not !!! You worthles fool !!! So If you have chosen then experience Divine wrath ! God is very very loving and you are part of God, just dont hurt yourself with ill talking! Wish you well. Om Nama Shivaya! Jay Gurudev !
“Just save for youself your stupid comments about who is Ravana”
I admire how your comments are just filled with love and compassion.
” I see Guruji very pure soul, Light itself, as much as Buddha,Christ, Babaji, and all other saints”
That’s fine. We don’t.
“…dont answer me again with your rubbish or you will experience bad karma results soon ! The spirits will take care of it and all others ill takers ! This is my final warning out of compasion, so think 1o times before making stupid comments again !”
So you’re saying “agree with me, or else…” lol. Using fear to try to make people agree with you. You are a perfect example of the damage aol and kriya has done to people who practice the exercises for 16 years.
DEMON, the fact you are on this blog shows you have doubts about the organisation. The strong wake up from this and are set free. The weak stay in AOL forever and live a life of misery. It’s up to you.
Poor Demon Slayer,
If you want to see real misery take a long look at some of the old-timers, AOL teachers, some at the ‘top of the heap’, heading the organization, ‘closest’ to Guruji. You will find a group of disgruntled, physically ill, angry people who act out with temper tantrums when challenged in any way. You will find the saddest group of people, some of whom I have actually had say “where else could I go now? I gave up everything? I have no career…” You will find losers and wanna-bes. You believe that Ravi Shankar is a Demon Slayer. I believe he is like Ravana, having done so much Rudra puja that Siva must bestow certain favor on him in the form of Siddhis and other gifts. But in the end, somehow, someway, Ravana will be slain. It doesn’t mean Ravana was not great! He was not nothing! He was a tremendous power. But he was a greedy, negative power, filled with anger and hatred towards anyone who challenged him. Just like Ravi Shankar is angry about this blog. Just like you are. No one at this blog is like Lord Rama. No one is Pure enough to do anything to this new-age Ravana, posing as Krishna, Rama, Devi as far as I can see from the various comments. They are mostly debates about the use of ‘charity money’ and abuses that occurred to them personally at the hands of the organization and it’s master. But someone will come. Be sure of that. Having said all of that, who really cares? It’s just some little blip on the radar of life, this Art of Living, this Bangalore ashram, this Ravi Shankar and all his followers. All of this will be forgotten in 30-50 years. Most of those people will be dead within 60 years. Nobody will care anyway. Not about him, not about you, not about me. 🙂
You can choose your destiny, God is so merciful and loves you.
You think you are smart ass, do you. I was doing sadhana before you were in womb and praying holplesly that someone take pity on you and take you back on the earth, like other haters you think you are smart. Actually I was doing many lifetimes smashan sadhna as Aghora. I am very healthy, very strong since I do Kriya and have a lots of money too, and I am doing Kriya 16 years now ! but dont bother about it. You are so scared about your material security, so certainly not ready to be a seaker.
Just save for youself your stupid comments about who is Ravana, I see Guruji very pure soul, Light itself, as much as Buddha,Christ, Babaji, and all other saints. He is doing very good work to humanity, just please dont answer me again with your rubbish or you will experience bad karma results soon ! The spirits will take care of it and all others ill takers ! This is my final warning out of compasion, so think 1o times before making stupid comments again ! Om Nama Shivaya ! Jay Gurudev !
What’s with this Demon Slayer person? He thinks he’s some saint or God or something to dole out punishments? So typical of Art of Living people — all they want to do is claim to be peaceful, and when countered or crossed, they spew vitriol and poison into your face. They can’t take any kind of disagreement, or they threaten to kill you. This DS person proves all the points made on this blog as to just how intolerant and cruel and disgusting the whole of the organization is.
@Demon slayer
Have you been doing the Kriya regularly for 16 years?
And the Rudra Puja 3 times a day also for the same duration?
LOL at this HUGE ego, “Demon Slayer”. Proud, are you of all your “sadhana”? This guy is a real trip.
Take a chill pill dude. Go meditate and get some peace of mind instead of bashing people who come here to chat. What’s your problem? You want to control what people say?
The fact that you think that someone having a different opinion of your master from you makes them subject to bad karma shows how ignorant you are. Who are you anyway to show compassion or not?
Learn the meaning of Jai Guru Dev, then post that. And please learn better spelling and grammar.
Just a feedback for the blog owner .. . I think the moderation on comments should be removed .. this will help traffic flow freely and be good for the blog in terms of number of hits.. one wont have to wait for a few days to see one’s comment be posted and then wait another few days to check for a reply etc .. It will help the blog become more interesting ..
Jr’s reply is really to “DS” is really good.
Btw, Demon Slayer, (Laughing just typing that name), didn’t your beloved master teach you that when you curse someone, it goes in their direction, about 5% of your bad intentions lands on that poor person you dislike, and then the curse boomerangs right back at you, and you end up with 95% of your own bad intentions. This, he told me himself once, is even amplified (the bad things from the ‘curse’) when someone is doing sadhana like Rudram or any type of Puja regularly. Good luck DS, you are really going to need it! 🙂
He(demon slayer) is doing Rudram chants 3 times per day .. thats is why he is speaking like Rudram, he is filled with that energy but cannot seem to handle all that .. Coz to handle this energy one needs to be free from all vice( anger, greed, jealosy and lust). Demon slayer is indeed a Demon in disguise.
Hi all…
The revelation of “sexual fantasies” and sharing it amongst sexually deprived “seniors” reeks of a “cult” which is going astray. Ruining lives, breaking up of families is all it can do.
No wonder, real “Brahmacharya” or celibacy is hard. If these people were real celibates, they would not have invented this form of “spiritual entertainment,” forcing juniors to describe their sexual fantasies.
Congratulations to those who have come forward and disclosed that this is going on within AOL. I encourage more brave souls to come out and reveal stuff. If senior people in this organization are unfulfilled, have rancor, and are angry and bitter, the world needs to know as well. Please be brave; freedom of speech is protected on most parts of the planet….
Congratulations to the publishers of this blog-site; may TRUTH win.
I have not done the blessing course but can understand the process and value of sex-session mentioned by few above.
As per most religions, spiritual progress becomes difficult if one has a wrong attitude towards sex. Now this wrong attitude towards sex refers to both obsession as well as rejection. Thinking that sex is bad is no lesser wrong attitude that being obsessed with sex. May be sex should be accepted as something as normal as any other part of body or as normal as any other feeling like anger or joy.
Once you accept this without any bias, you would be in a position to drop the same. Else you may not be able to bless a person of opposite sex if there is either obsession or rejection(thought that it is dirty) of sex.
My prayers are with all of you so that you see the light of peace. May God bless you.
Uttam,
Having known senior teachers in Art of Living, none of these processes seemed to help them with their sex issues. In fact, you need look no further than their leader, Ravi Shankar, to see really bizarre thinking about sex, and really ridiculous instructions (given privately, usually) about what to do when and where and with whom. Really some of the most sexually messed up people I ever encountered were in Art of Living, and teaching full time. Although he appears to have stopped this, people who were involved and left the organization to get married or be with members of the opposite sex were labeled as “blue star” and other uncomplimentary things. Stories were created about them and spread all through the organization. Former “friends” in the organization were instructed that the person (who left for a man or woman) was “sick, mentally ill, sexually disturbed” etc. I know several who, after realizing that the Guru was not such a great Guru, but a fearful little man with his own privacy agenda and issues of other types (don’t want to get sued here, so no more will be written), went on to be happily married and are to this day, in spite of ‘curses’ and ‘warnings’ from the great Guru and his minions. It’s a truly abnormal set of people with all sorts of sex phobias and weird ideas of how to get rid of ‘bad karmas’ that are carefully hidden from public view and discussed only in the inner circle. Please get very close, Uttam, and find out for yourself.
Many consider Osho’s teachings as bizarre which may not be so. Many a places, one needs to look at the intent and not words, but alas the intent can be interpreted differently. In this incarnation, every body commits mistakes but it helps if one looks beyond, at the good, which is divine. BTW, mistakes are also perceptions, interpretations for the viewer.
It is also a fact that many have benefited by doing the Basic course or advanced course or DSN. I hope you do not have denial regarding this. For the progress of India as well as humanity and the society, yoga needs to get popular and our words and actions should motivate people to take the path of yoga. AoL is doing a great job here. Lets appreciate the same.
Gurus has appeared differently for different disciples throughout ages, at times may be even in a negative roles, but only for the further spiritual growth of the disciple. The key should be faith on the divine and the Guru who has shown divine to the disciple. It had been very difficult to understand highly evolved souls for common man and I need to evolve much to express any views on your comments.
May peace be with you and all.
“Gurus has appeared differently for different disciples throughout ages, at times may be even in a negative roles, but only for the further spiritual growth of the disciple. ”
This is an old excuse for abusing people. Many religions use “suffering is for your own growth,” and that’s how they justify any sort of harm they do towards their devotees or seekers. That’s not to say that struggle doesn’t build strength, but this statement is used to take advantage of persons all the time, whether in AOL or other religions.
“BTW, mistakes are also perceptions, interpretations for the viewer.”
There is some truth in this, and it’s true that we all have our perception of things. But if someone is late to a meeting, they are still late despite if they want to look at it as good or bad. If someone is physically abused, they were physically abused. Suggesting all perception is only what we want to see is simply not true. Cults have also used this to make rape victims feel it is their own fault, which is as offensive as it is ridiculous.
Your point about “looking into the intent” is one most on this blog would agree with. Most of us on here have found that not all the intentions of the organization are what they claim, or what they say their goals are. But please understand that I’m not claiming AOL is all bad. Like most things in life, it’s not all one way or the other.
“Else you may not be able to bless a person of opposite sex if there is either obsession or rejection(thought that it is dirty) of sex.”
Doing the blessing course and talking for 2 days about sexual fantasies in a group is not going to remove the instinct from you. The thought that you are blessing someone is sufficient to keep at bay the sexual desires, hence there would not be any problem to bless the person of opposite sex. Know the difference between blessing and fondling
Your logic seems childish and stupid.
@Uttam,
Pls. note that the greatest accomplishments that mankind ever achieved were done so by individuals who made no claims to being “evolved souls” or “enlightened” or being “chosen ones” or some such.
Pls. also note that if the clergy of all religions were tied into a gunny sack and thrown into the ocean, society would still continue to function. The same cannot be said of farmers, metal workers, artists, philosophers, scientists, engineers and other such people who live “unenlightened” lives.
Sucha beautiful discussion. One can so sense the difference in the IQ levels of both the parties. The way the arguments of the former AOL members are provided just make sense, while the arguments of the still caught up ones, are just what this blog is trying to highlight.
I am beginning to feel that most events, poojas (guru pooja), project, knowledge sheets, are all indirect promotion and attempts at brainwashing.
The defenders are proving things so well, its comic!
Good work Guys.
Doctor from Beyond, Thank you for your continued intelligent remarks, keeping your temper through such ridiculous BS presented by people like Dr. Peter S, and always guiding the conversation to the basic issues first raised by this blog. This will help many people to see through the brainwashing they might just be starting into if they are not yet too involved in AOL.