stripping the gurus - Brahma Kumaris Info

64 STRIPPING THE GURUS
He even found a convoluted way to justify a sexual relationship
with Joya [which she insists did not occur], despite the
fact that she required all of her students to take a strict vow
of celibacy and publicly took one herself. Joya professed no
physical desires, and Ram Dass willingly accepted her explanation
that by having sex together, she was actually
teaching him to become just as unattached to physical desire
as she claimed she was (Schwartz, 1996).
That reported “thrill of learning,” unfortunately, was not to
last:
There were just too many “signals,” like the moment Joya
and I were hanging out and the telephone rang. She picked
up the receiver and in a pained whisper said, “I can’t talk
now, I’m too stiff” [i.e., in samadhi], and let the receiver
drop. Then without hesitation she continued our conversation
as if nothing had happened. I realized how many times I
had been at the other end of the phone....
I began to see the similarity between what I was experiencing
and the stories I had heard about other movements,
such as Reverend Moon’s group, the so-called Jesus Freaks,
and the Krishna-consciousness scene. Each seemed a total
reality that made involvement a commitment which disallowed
change....
It seemed that [Joya’s] incredible energies came not
solely from spiritual sources but were [allegedly] enhanced
by energizing pills. Her closest confidants now confessed
many times they were ordered to call me to report terrible
cries [sic] they knew to be untrue. They complied because
Joya had convinced them that it was for my own good.
Such stories of deception came thick and fast. I had been
had (Dass and Levine, 1977).
In happier days, the married Bhagavan Das too had, for a
time, been part of the same energetic “scene” with Joya:
We were having a huge meeting and Joya said, “Bhagavan
Das, stand up!” I stood up and she said, “Shivaya stand up!
Shivaya, take Bhagavan Das to a whorehouse right now!”
The next thing I knew I was in a whorehouse in Manhattan
on Christmas Day (Das, 1997).
“It’s a Wonderful Life.”