stripping the gurus - Brahma Kumaris Info

46 STRIPPING THE GURUS
Then all children attending the ashram school were asked to
sign a document pledging that they would not date, have
sexual contact, listen to restricted music, or watch restricted
television shows.
Satchidananda never came forth to comment formally
on the new restrictions, but residents understood that the
rules carried his implied imprimatur (Katz, 1992).
With those restrictions in place, an ashram member was soon
reported for listening to a Bruce Springsteen album.
Increasingly oddly, given all that: Rivers Cuomo, the lead
singer of the power-pop band Weezer, spent much of his first ten
years in Yogaville.
* * *
Some people take advantage of the language in the tantric
scriptures, “I’m going to teach you tantric yoga,” they say.
“Come sleep with me.” With a heavy heart I tell you that
some so-called gurus do this, and to them I say, “If you want
to have sex, be open about it. Say, ‘I love you, child, I love
you, my devotee’”....
Yoga monks automatically become celibate when they
have a thirst to know the Absolute God, and feel that in order
to do so they must rise above the physical body and the
senses (Satchidananda, in [Mandelkorn, 1978]).
[T]he distinguishing mark of a Guru is, as Sri Swamiji [i.e.,
Satchidananda] says, “complete mastery over his or her body
and mind, purity of heart, and total freedom from the bondage
of the senses” (in Satchidananda, 1977).
The taking of the monastic vows in which the title of “Swami”
is conferred again inherently includes a vow of celibacy. That serious
promise, however, may not have stopped the “Woodstock
Swami” from, as they say, “rocking out,” via Springsteen’s The Rising
or otherwise:
In 1991 numerous female followers stated that he had used
his role as their spiritual mentor to exploit them sexually.
After the allegations became public many devotees abandoned
Satchidananda and hundreds of students left IYI
schools, but the Swami never admitted to any wrongdoing.
As a result, the Integral Yoga organization diminished by