Digest Number 951

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 02/12/2001 4:06:00 PM W. Europe Standard Time,

pietersa writes:

> What can I say. The circumstances that brought me to Yogi Bhajan we so

> unusual and the assistance and guidance he has provided have been so

> unrestricted and timely and substantive, that I can only report to you what

> I have.

>

> Pieter

>

 

I suppose I'm left wondering, how much does it matter to me that

Yogi Bhajan is financially and sexually unscrupulous?

How do I feel now about doing the sadhana outlined by 3HO?

I feel not as good about it today as I did yesterday before I was

aware of YB's doings.

 

I will also add that Bhajan's reputed misdeeds

made for very pale reading compared

to what people having left Siddha Yoga have reported... there are

no reports of the kind of horrendous personal and financial

exploitations I saw described on the leavingsiddhayoga site/list archives.

Maybe there is simply more to come from ex3HO people, and

many have not been heard from... I hope this is not the case.

 

I was saddened to read the allegations about Yogi Bhajan...

I had hoped the influences of Sikhism would

provide him/the 3HO members some protection

against the inevitable/ugly consequences of trying to make a human

being into "the guru"...

 

Serena

[Guest guest]

Message: 1

Sun, 11 Feb 2001 23:29:39 EST

GCWein1111

Re: susan dane/pieter samara

 

In a message dated 2/10/01 9:50:41 AM Pacific Standard Time,

umbada writes:

 

A new article by Pieter Schoonheim Samara on his experiences with Yogi

Bhajan was just published at <http://www.nonduality.com/020901ps.htm>. I

think you'll find it very interesting. Check out the link to Pieter's

updated web pages while you're there.

 

No offense intended to anyone, as l don't question Mr Samara's account of

his experiences, but since he is actively portraying Yogi Bhajan in such an

idolatrous light, I feel the dark side of this guru should also be made

known, in order to help prevent others from being misled.

 

Yogi Bhajan and his 3HO organization have been scandalized time and time

again through disclosures by his many former students. 3HO bears all the

earmarks of a dangerous cult: YB being put forth as an omnipotent and

omniscient being, countless allegations and lawsuits

involving sexual and financial misconduct, attempts to coerce and

completely control members, threats made against members who leave and

reprisals against them after they do, a slew of criminal indictments and

civil litigation involving 3HO and prominent members thereof.

 

Anyone interested in digging into this can go to www.rickross.com for more

detailed info. I've seen other websites in the past that have provided more

damaging evidence, but I don't have the url's to them now.

jerry

===============

Dear Jerry and Harsha,

 

As it turns out, this is quite often what happens to spiritual teachers that

provide some dharma and path to live by, especially when it provides a path

for both the ones starting, the ones that have evolved and everyone in

between.

 

Ramana Maharshi in India, which is not known to have a litigation oriented

culture, especially back at that time, was also taken to court.

 

In the US there are always consumer protection agencies and organizations in

every sphere, such that if the results one is told are possible, which one,

therefore, expects to achieve, do not happen, litigation or efforts to

disprove the benefits are developed into documents, and the money involved

to be a successful protractor can be significant.

 

People choose a path that they hope will work for them. I often meet with

people, who have been involved with different Sikh, Buddhist, Zen,

Christian, Sufi and many yoga methods and paths, without any significant

realization, but they keep up on faith alone for most of their lives, 20 -

30 - 40 years.

 

Some get frustrated and leave, some get frustrated and litigate their

teachers, their teachers teachers, the organization, while some get

frustrated and try to figure out what could be wrong with the path or

teachers that prevented them from realizing any significant truth in their

lives.

 

In more ancient times, crucifixion was the best means of eradicating someone

or some path that wasn't the accepted norm, or being boiled in oil and fried

on a pan over a fire (as was Guru Arjun Dev at the dawn of the Sikh Dharma).

 

The means provided by Yogi Bhajan is mostly a do it yourself path, where he

provides as much as a student wants to work with (without limit to kriyas,

mudras, mantras, yoga sets, meditations, diet, community, moral

behavior,..., and when the student makes progress, he will advise and

provide more, and should you arrive at some significant realization, you

will find that he is there as well, and that you have not started on a path

only to discover that the guide is not there to assist you whenever

assistance is needed.

 

The question becomes for the seeker and the teacher, what will trigger in

the student the recognition of the Self, what will trigger the awakening of

That which is always awake? From time to time we hear about and read the

Teachings of those that have realized the Truth (Buddha, Christ and others),

but there are few around that can explain the non-dual Truth as taught by

these Teachers in a way that It is heard, which triggers the sudden

awakening.

 

Yogi Bhajan has been able to provide several synergystic paths and

approaches to somehow bring the field of the body/mind to the point, where

there is such a level of balance that the Truth can be heard. But

ultimately, he cannot hear the Truth for the student.

 

Hearing the Truth is just the starting point, and what It is cannot be

imagined or thought about intellectually or conceived of in any way.

 

Everyone is striving for something that cannot be realized, for a liberation

for which there is no possible release. The Teacher is hampered by this and

can offer only methods to balance and purify the system and request the

student to have faith and to keep up, until that which is True hears and

dissolves the illusion of striving and liberation, and one abides as the

Truth.

 

The Teacher always wants his students to experience what he experiences, and

there are always also students with some experience that become zealots for

the cause. While most teachers one might meet will accept and work with

advanced students where there is already some clear intellectual

understanding, very few will take, what we might call, entry level, students

that don't have any understanding of the purpose of the yoga practice at

all, and are simply looking for some group through which they can build a

meaningful identity, especially in relation to some psychic experience they

may have had. Where this is the case, the protractors become numerous, and

probably more so in a consumer oriented society, where near term

gratification and realization is a requirement, but in this case only

possible if you abandon the idea altogether. Thus, while the

www.rickross.com website was interesting to look through, it doesn't resolve

that the failure of students to succeed - to hear and abide in the Truth (as

consumers seeking gratification), was the fault of Yogi Bhajan.

 

What can I say. The circumstances that brought me to Yogi Bhajan we so

unusual and the assistance and guidance he has provided have been so

unrestricted and timely and substantive, that I can only report to you what

I have.

 

Pieter