Isha Yoga - just another scam

A friend of mine wanted to visit this dhyanalingam temple of Isha Yoga (@coimbatore).I have heard a lot of good things about Isha through some of my friends, relatives and they are all over the media, naturally i was curious. so i accompanied him.

Now these are the things i have learnt about Isha through the people who have been there,

• You go there to get enlightened, people respect each other more and be very compassionate, even towards plants.
• Isha yoga is not based on any religion
• Sathguru claims that his methods are scientific

So these where the expectations i had, when i entered their ‘temple’,

my first shock was when i noticed that the volunteers and residents there who are supposed to be enlightened showed clear signs of frustration.

There is this one kid who is running here and there and these guys are giving a death look to his parents asking them to catch hold of him.

Another instance,within the temple there is this another kid who strays away from the line and starts inspecting the walls, and some isha guy comes and threatens him! mind you the kid was just touching the walls nothing more.

There was this other supposed teacher who was preching a couple of guys, so i mingled in the group wanting to know more.

He was saying how great sathguru is, how his energy levels are in a dreamy eye like how a small kid talks about his imaginary super hero.

we were all sitting in the grass, so all this time he was casually plucking the grass to keep his hands busy! where is the supposed compassion towards even plants? Also i saw so much wood work everywhere , from beautifully decorated wooden doors to ornamental objects, i didnt expect to see this in an organization which supposedly promotes itself as tree loving.

This guy continues saying that because dhyanalinga traps so much bad energy they have constructed this new bhairavi temple and he claims its so powerful that nothing wrong will happen within 13 kms! Wonder how they found it is 13 km may be because Coimbatore is 20 km away and for 13 kms around the temple there are only very small villages and mostly forest.
And he continues saying that It is because Tamil nadu has all these temples that it is free from many major disasters and that it is safe (tsunami?). He also claims that the US people wanted sathguru to build something like this in their country in a meeting and he said very boastfully that a lot of people stood up and objected to this. Tamilnadu will always be awesome, he told it with so much pride!! Now hold on for a second, aren’t people supposed to be treated equal? Shouldn’t they be struggling to have this everywhere so everybody in the world are happy ? Racial Discrimination is a virtue of the yogis now?

Then he started talking all abstract ridiculous stuff like vibration and energy levels, that’s when I decided i have had enough and went to the bhairavi temple.

Now isha claims it is non religious and meant for all religion, but trith is except for a small marble stone in the entrance where they have symbols of all the religions, every other place screams Hinduism!

• A huge nandhi sits outside the isha building.
• Behind the dhyanalinga building they have a huge marble with lord shivas face etched!
• The bhairavi temple has a trishul where people tie yellow ropes after praying!
• They give kum kum !
• Within the temple they have chantings praising lord shiva.

Now tell me this isn’t Hinduism!

I am not saying Hinduism is a bad thing per se, but why should they hide it? what do they gain by hiding it, so they can attract more people?

The other thing i noted is how they demand money for everything. they say a red rope when tied around your hand will improve your ‘vibration’ but you have to pay 5 rs for it! its just a very small piece of rope, if enlightening people is your objective shouldnt you be giving it away for free? or atleast for a nominal fee? why would you sell it for a profit?they also sell a red handkerchief sized cloth for 20 Rs.
Before entering the dhyanalinga you are asked to go to theerthakund where you can wash your feet or get a bath, guess what each person has to pay 10Rs for that.
Outside they have a store selling isha merchandise, they sell everything from isha branded soaps to night pants at a very high price.
The building and temples were far from being modest, they are very fine pieces of art with so much attention to details. It would have costed a fortune.
Sathguru himself has a very luxurious accomodation.
I find it hard to accept this is a foundation which preaches modesty and simplicity.

See where they are building their next ashram, in the United States !! Is it because of all the countries in the world, people in the US are suffering the most and in dire need of enlightenment?

As usual whenever we raise these questions, people will say they they do this good thing and that, but to me it looks like a front for all their bullshit so that people can defend them if something leaks out. Because honestly do you think these are the practices of a foundation which preaches enlightenment?

After seeing all these things, i was pretty upset by the time i reached my home. I looged on to the internet to see if anybody else has found anything suspecious with Isha, guess what i am not alone! even ex ishaites have blogged their problems.

here is a very length discussion on Isha and Jaggi,
http://guruphiliac.lefora.com/2009/03/17/sadhguru-and-the-isha-foundation/

the user Velliangiri of that forum has summed it up very nicely,

• Was Jaggi accused of killing his wife Viji by her parents? Yes
  Was there another women involved in this matter? Yes
  Did this women divorce and leave her family? Yes
  Was she the closest disciple of Jaggi in a previous life time? Yes
  Is she a Brahmachari/Sanyasi now? No
  Is her life opulent in the ashram just like Jaggi’s? Yes
  Did Jaggi initiate his young daughter into Brahmacharya? No
  Is he initiating other young girls/boys into Brahmacharya? Yes
  Did his daughter ever do volunteering? No
  Did she ever go through long term/permanent ashram life in her teens like Samskrithi kids? No
  Is there any objective proof/witnesses of Jaggi solidifying mercury? No
  Is there an objective proof that he learned and practiced yoga from Malladihalli Swami? No
  Is there an objective proof that he was student of Rishi Prabhakar for more than a year? Yes(1)
  Is Jaggi and his colleagues are teaching the same yoga, meditation and BSP with minor differences? Yes
  Did Jaggi ever gave credit to/confessed about Rishi Prabhakar? No
  Did Jaggi’s contemporary/colleague Ravisankar Mysore Ramakrishna commented about Jaggi’s plagiarism and lies? Yes(1)
  Is there an objective way to confirm Jaggi’s enlightenment before taking his programs? Yes(2)
  Is he a self confessed liar? Yes
  Does Jaggi have political tie-ups? Yes
  Does he shadow celebrities and crave media attention? Yes
  Did Isha ever disclose their social outreach program details/numbers to public? No
  Is Isha a 100% volunteer run organization? No
  Did Isha use/is using immoral tactics to usurp land? Yes
  Are Isha fanatics waiting for an utopian mass enlightenment never explicitly promised by Jaggi? Yes
  Are they dangerously delusional/hypocritical? Yes

1.http://harmanjit.blogspot.com/2007/10/sadhgurus-lineage.html

http://www.blogger.com/profile/17667691388665612640

Ravisankar Mysore Ramakrishna

the arguments and counter arguments about Jaggi and his life are interesting. One fact I wish to share is we both got trained by Guruji Rishi Prabhakar in the years 1984-86. e both took SSY teachers training together in Gommatagiiri near Mysore. We did SSY classes together and westarted the Hyderabad center of Rishi Samskruti Vidya Kendra under Guruji. then he was sent by Guruji Rishi Prabhakar to Coimbatore to start center there. there he slowly left the organization and started his own. He renamed himself as Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev and became popular. His Guru Rishi Prbhakar will not cclaim him to be his student as Jaggi has not lived upto his word. there is no secrecy in these matters. Jaggi himself will accept it(I still believe he is truthful). I have not contacted him so far after he left Guruji Rishi Prabhakar.

2.Jaggi ‘Jatti’ test (aka) Red underwear test of enlightenment.

Jaggi’s biography(Sadhguru by Arundhathi) says he saw his kinder garden teacher’s red underwear and asked her about it when he was 6. She freaked out. He always could see inner organs and garments. So ask the color of your underwear when you get a chance. Before sucked into his direct/subtle claims of spirituality give him this test. This is for your benefit and everybody around you. If he passes then you can be sure of your fast forward enlightenment.
/s

more reading:

http://www.priyankawriting.com/2009/10/my-life-isha-yoga-center.html

http://forum.rickross.com/read.php?12,59190,page=1
http://expertdabbler.com/2009/04/08/isha-yoga-my-perspective

For tamil readers:

http://www.savukku.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1777:2013-03-10-10-05-51&catid=1:2010-07-12-16-58-06&Itemid=19

Tags: cult, religion, scam