Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi's Sahaja Yoga
Second Coming? or Mother of all Cults?

"By catching the same string, the chief newspaper editor who came to a meeting said, "You're very lucky that you got your realization through Sahaja Yoga, even though you're in jail. The balance in life is achieved by the process like Sahaja Yoga. Jails will be no more there if the community understands this yoga. And it will prosper the lives definitely."

"Furthermore, he said that there are many people with obstructive minds and criticism in their tendency, but when they pass through such a process of mind peace and experience realization, then complete transformation is seen in their lives. "Mr. Sadashiv Shukla, while informing Sahaja Yoga, said that it is practiced by millions [grossly inflated figure] of peoples in about eighty countries all over the world. The person ascends with the cleansing of his mind and body.

"The jail superintendent said that all prisoners are under stress all the time in jail, are always burning with revenge in their mind. To make their life easy and sahaj, such a process is carried out, which made peace in the prisoners, gave them self-discipline and productivity in jail is increased.

"Mrs. Madhuri Mohgaonkar was a channel to arrange this program."

c. not telling Rogers [Vancouver] & other cable companies that SY is a religion & that the guru is head of her own religion thus getting free broadcasts & publicity. Also, TV exposure sets viewers up to assume more of a background check than is the case.

A Sahaja Yoga radio program is going to more than seventy radio stations across Australia via satellite. Three to six thousand listeners tune in. (Every Sunday since 1995 at 2SER.FM oldest community radio station in Sydney, Australia at 107.3FM.)

Planned for the U.S. is a series of half hour shows that will be introduced by U.S. SY leader, Dave Dunphy & broadcast on PBS. They include carefully selected excerpts from the guru's talks interspersed with carefully selected interview questions and answers from carefully selected group members. Also coming is a documentary on the life of the guru. An info-commercial called the "Vision" has been made & effort is made to get libraries to carry and TV stations to broadcast it. It is also being used at recruitment meetings in the U.S.

In October 1997 SY made major inroads in Turkey. "The most important event was the very positive attitude of the media! The same media was very hostile and sarcastic against Sahaja Yoga some two years ago. And the most important ... [event] was the realization given to millions by Yogi Mahajan [a SY disciple] on the 8 p.m. TV news! Many viewers phoned to tell they felt the cool breeze. Turkey, being the first and the only Islamic country where Sahaja Yoga is practiced, this event is also important for the Islamic world where fundamentalism is on the attack. This TV show was also watched in all these lands -- the Middle East, Europe, Asia covering over 150 million people."

d. approaching medical schools, medical conferences & alternative medical establishments to legitimize SY by getting them to sponsor or allow activities dealing with it & again deliberately leaving out the more colorful of the organization's teachings. Scientists and medical doctors are ignorant of what to watch out for and are very easily taken in.

A team of Sahaja Yoga medical doctors & organizers went to China in April 1996 to a World Epilepsy Congress to present Sahaja Yoga to medical delegates. Also exposed were Chinese officials within the Department of International Relations, the Sports Ministry and the Department of Health. Specific Chinese officials exposed included Mr. Shen Yu Long, the Director of Foreign Affairs at the Bureau of Chinese Traditional Medicine; Mr. Cui Gupwei, Vice Director of the Beijing Physical Culture and Sports Commission; Dr. Shen Zhi Xiang, M.D., the Director General of the Department of Foreign Affairs, State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine; Jiang Zai Zeng, the Vice-Director; Professor Chen Shikul, Director, Department of Administration; Mr. Shen, Division Director and Ms. Gup Jing Hua, Program Officer.

As the result & without taking the care to investigate the group & get the whole story, the Chinese accepted a proposal to establish in Beijing a Medical Research Centre to "teach" & "research" Sahaja Yoga. If the scheme succeeds, similar "clinics" will be established all over China. In addition, tentative agreement was made to have some hospitals offer doctors a six month "training course" in Sahaja Yoga, with the granting of "diplomas" in Sahaja Yoga "practice". What would such a course include? A Hong Kong/Australia based SY disciple Alex Henshaw writes, "It will be an interesting exercise as we have to cut out all references to God, religion or devotion and worship. We are currently developing a course which will give a more medical picture. It will also contain a philosophical approach which is leaning more to Confuciusian [sic] ideals to make it more acceptable to the Chinese people.... We have also got the provincial head of the Health Administration in Guangdong interested in running a similar course in southern China". Another group exposed were English representatives from the London based David Lewis Foundation & they want to experiment.

[Hong Kong ashram: 1/F 38 Blue Pool Road, Happy Valley, Hong Kong. Tel: 852 28935227 Fax: 852 25044965; new address Flat D, 6/F, Lei Shun Court, 106-126 Leighton Rd., Causeway Bay, Hong Kong]

Meanwhile in Sydney, Australia a franchise group of medical centres have decided to offer its patients free Sahaja Yoga programs, as bona fide treatment to alleviate stress. All those patients who complain of stress or stress-related diseases to any of the doctors serving these medical centres will be referred to the Stress Management Programmes run by a Dr. Ramesh Manocha and other yogis. [Will patients be told ahead of time minimum of minimum that Sahaja Yoga is a religion? If experience is an indicator deliberate effort will be made to keep in the dark what is needed for informed consent]

e. to present SY in such a way that prestigious organizations (such as Saint Petersburg based Russian science academy Petrovskaya Academy of Science and Arts with people like Einstein as honorary members) confer honorary membership on the guru thus legitimizing her cause & then using this to advertise the group. Similar effort with the U.N. which in 1989 awarded the guru their yearly peace award & the Nobel committee so it short listed the guru for the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize opening the way for the ultimate advertisement & vehicle to quash naysayers. [As above so below]

f. On 2 May 1996 Shri Mataji was awarded "La Plejade" an international award given through the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the European Parliament Office and the Planning Institute for Quality of Life and Unipaz (associated with the U.N.) and other organizations. According to the judges Shri Mataji "is proposing new directions on the path of human evolution ... guiding us to meditate on the deepest dimensions of ourselves, and helping the foundation of a balanced and serene society where peace can be actualized, starting in the deep self of each individual." [Their selection process completely failed to penetrate the group's public aura. Why?]

g. securing non-profit status for the organization [Vishwa Nirmala Dharma Education Society] while behind the scenes cash & checks change hands to fund the guru's latest gold, silver, ivory, crystal, etc. "present"

h. getting the well placed or famous or those related to them to write letters of welcome or speak favorably at group events or confer honors on the guru or disciples based on incomplete information about the group. Some examples of who became a mark by missing the mark: provincial premiers Mike Harcourt & Wm. Vander Zalm, a late 1980's early 1990's provincial governor general whose name I do not recall, Vancouver mayor Philip Owen. A few of the foreigners not left out: Bal Thachkery, leader of the Shiv Shena party in Maharastra India; Iranian Ayatollah Medhi Rouhani; grandson of Alfred Nobel, Marcus Nobel and other relative Claes Nobel; R.N. Anil, Secretary General of the Unity International Foundation, New Delhi who is to give the guru the "Unity Award for International Understanding" in late 1997. In Cincinnati, civic officials have sanctioned a "Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi Day". And the guru tells followers the "American Congress of -- you can say the parliament of America -- has sent a very beautiful certificate for Me."

"Dr. U.C. Rai, a ... exponent of Sahaja Yoga, [was] conferred the Vladimir Vernidzky Award for making significant discoveries and research in the field of energy information science. Dr. Rai, who is currently director of the International Sahaja Yoga Medical and Research Centre in Mumbai was presented the award by Prof. J. Halperin in Moscow on August 30th [1997]. He also attended the third International Congress of Flok Medicine if Russia, which was held under the aegis of the All-Russian Scientific and Research Centre [where] he presented a paper on the effects of Kundalini awakening." Rai insists to followers that the kundalini energy is different from what the Russians call "bioenergy" -- so the Russians may well have awarded him for "research" into other than what Rai, himself claims is being studied.

i. starting a Los Angeles area film company with a name like Immaculata to produce & distribute info-commercials [let us pray] identified as such as well as feature films promoting benign philosophy &/or major historical figures & associating group teachings with those. An info commercial called "The Vision" has already been mentioned.

j. using writers, singer-songwriters to radiate selective group philosophy over radio & TV. As well, getting Alternate Press such as Seattle's the "New Times" & Vancouver's "Common Ground" to write puff pieces about Shri Mataji highlighting say her address to the United Nations Conference on Women held in China in early 1996 where, is usual, the untoward was deliberately left out. A European theatre group called the Theatre of Eternal Values made up of SYs tours with various plays and during each performance give Shri Mataji and Sahaja Yoga a plug.

Sahaja Yoga's own literature brags that during Sahaja Yoga music and other theatrical performances the audiences without consciously being aware of it are exposed to addictive "energy" effects the meaning of which Sys then interpret for newcomers as something wholesome. If the effect really happens, hard science is woefully behind explaining the phenomena and the group has the field to claim whatever they want & here is why SY dwarfs Scientology & the rest with potential for trouble.

k. using the internet to lure surfers to waters beneath which more than a little is deliberately hidden

Australia:

http://www.sol.com.au/kor/kor.html

Canada:

http://www.securenet.net/members/gobas

http://www.metamodernera.com

l. guru approved formation of a political party called "Satya Marg" (True Path) Party to run in the 7 May 1996 Indian elections in which all party candidates are members of Sahaja Yoga but which has no official ties with Sahaja Yoga. While professing need for reform & using high sounding rhetoric, the real power is the nonelected guru. It would be interesting to know whether candidates admit to voters that all are members of Sahaja Yoga. If not, voters would be condemned to making uninformed choice. [Withholding information a virtue; forthrightness a sin; a nonelected power behind the scenes to whom elected candidates literally do forehead to the ground obeisance. "True Path" to what?]

j. Setting up booths at fairs of various kinds and luring passers-by into Sahaja Yoga.

k. Going to East Indian Temples and tricking the authorities into letting worshippers be exposed to Sahaja Yoga.

l. Holding "religious" conferences at which SY members grasp at whatever they can to tie SY with "Holy Books" or "beliefs". Attendees do not admit their affiliation with SY & count on the press (in the case of the East Indian) not to surmount 16 thousand years worth of guru business conditioning & with the western press not to overcome the habit of seeking profit through sensationalism. Either way the result is uncritical articles that help spread SY. By not admitting SY membership, given is the impression that the outside world has discovered SY & endorses it. If non Sys show up, the occasion is used to recruit them which should not be difficult because with the progress of science more & more pillars of "faith" collapse leaving more & more "grasping" & vulnerable to a Sahaja Yoga.

"Islamic Conference Focuses on Sahaj Yoga" reported in Hindustani Times: SYs who are Moslem hold a "conference" at which they use whatever they can to tie SY with Moslem Holy Books & beliefs. They do not admit their affiliation with SY & count on the press to be the press

2. absolute loyalty

threats of punishment in the here-and-now as well as the hereafter to anyone who says anything negative about the guru. 'Anything against Christ will be forgiven but nothing against the Holy Ghost.'

"Declare to all the nations now that I am the Holy Ghost and I have come for this special time, that is the resurrection time."

Birthday Puja Talk, Sydney, 21 Mar. 1983

"... the deities, devas and ganas [invisible spirits] are constantly watching how obedient we are towards Shri Mataji ... "

Nirmala Yoga Vol. 3 No. 17 September-October 1983 p. 39 para. 5

In the 1996 Guru puja talk, Mataji describes invisible forces that work for her killing three media people in Turkey who were responsible for articles critical of Sahaja Yoga and that this paved the way for a favorable press in Turkey.

"Christ is Me, now sitting before you. It is all said about Me. Try to identify ... with Me."

"What is expected of Sahaja Yogis and where are we?" Bordi Puja Talk, 13 Feb. 1984

3. marginalizing those who are slow or unwilling to accept official views; false characterization & vilification of those who leave or else no mention of the departed no matter what the contribution or how long the involvement

4. having no qualms about accepting donations of money or equipment from those being marginalized

5. claiming freedom of members in the face of their psychological dependency & fear

6. Telling people one thing while knowing the truth to be something else. Claims kundalini awakening cannot be forced; the individual must desire it, must consciously ask for it, that above all else the freedom of the individual is to be respected. This supplements the point made about addictive "energy" effects.

During the 1993 Canadian federal election the guru came to Canada & from newspaper photographs of party leaders picked Mel Hurtig as the one worth supporting. She then from the photograph alone & by her own admission raised his kundalini energy. Next day Hurtig on radio swore to return the favor to whoever it was who gave him a foul cold suddenly come up & which he assumed was from someone on the plane.

[Kundalini awakening was forced; Hurtig was told nothing & still knows nothing about the matter; no respect was shown for his freedom. The guru claims that it is paramount that the freedom of the individual be respected but her actions show she does as she pleases & has no respect for conscious choice or rights of the individual.]

7. members adopting odd mannerisms [reflecting stress?] & rationalizations for them

bowing the head, crossing the arms, & with thumb & forefinger of each hand gripping an ear lobe & imagining such posturing will elicit forgiveness from the Divine

8. magical thinking

a. flooding in the U.S. Mid-West several years ago supposed to be punishment to those who in previous lives were mean to the American Indians

b. all natural disasters (floods, earthquakes, fires, hurricanes, tornadoes) are triggered by the Hindu entity Vishnumaya

c. if a pregnant lady sees an eclipse of the moon during pregnancy then her baby will be born with possession

d. rampant alcoholism in Paris, France due to spirits of the dead rising from the myriad of graveyards in Paris & infecting the living

e. lesbianism & homosexuality are due to possession

f. schizophrenia is due to possession

g. epilepsy is due to possession

h. astrology back & held up as a source of truth

i. guru claiming credit for defeat of Hitler & fall of communism yet no explanation for legal defeats when she sued the French press for writing up SY as a cult or Merv Griffin for leaving her sitting back stage instead of having her on his program. [Either the ways of God are mysterious or not even He could have beaten O.J.'s Dream Team]

a. some followers holding in reverence leavings from the guru's body such as hair and finger and toenail clippings. [I am tempted to ask if another leaving is Holy but bear up & resist]

j. this for victims of the Holocaust, survivors, and their descendents:

"He [Christ] has done [suffered] for us -- this is the point where the Jews must understand. The other day I was reading -- today only -- some discussion with the Archbishop of Canterbury took place and the fellow was asking him questions as if he was asking questions to God. And in a way, he said also that 'I would ask this question to God. This why is it so many Jews were killed?' They asked for it! They wanted that they must suffer because they wouldn't give the credit of suffering to Christ. They thought we all had to suffer. Ego. It's ego. 'How did anybody suffer for us, we must suffer separately.' They couldn't give that credit to Christ. And all the later thinking was that we must suffer. So, whatever you think comes into action on this gross level. So Mr. Hitler was born and he made them suffer ..."

"The Creation of Lord Jesus" Talk, 4 Nov. 1982

9. putting people in situations where they feel effects, then defining for them the meaning of those so that they become attached to the group. [Ignores the fact that many of the same effects can be duplicated through alternative methods: Reiki, Lency Spezzano emotional release techniques, Centrepointe Research audio tapes using sophisticated audio technology & void of philosophy]

10. encouraging a large variety of practices which do not have have any scientifically proven value & when the individual who has done them in good faith is not bettered, perhaps even become worse, blaming him for the result

11. element of anti-science, anti-intellectual bias which sets stage for members accepting things because so-and-so says so or on sensations in the body which may be just conditioned responses & if not that then the sensations cannot be used to rule on what is being discussed. I have good reason to believe the sensations are conditioned responses. I have trained myself to get a strong affirmative response to the question "Is Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi the anti-Christ" which is the exact opposite of what the followers hold dear.

Problems with all this:

a. provides a vehicle through which members can take advantage of other members

b. closes member's minds to views outside the group; conditions people to plug their ears at the mention of professions & categories of people ("psychologist", "intellectual," "mental people" etc.) who have the potential to recognize & put negative cast on techniques of individual & group control

c. can put member's lives at risk when they postpone or completely forego standard medical treatment with proven success against their condition(s)

Chief SY front man and M.D. Prof. U.C. Rai, lecturer at Oxford & Zurich, tells Sys [and this contradicts what Mataji promised them], they will not become their own doctors and will have to rely on others to judge what is wrong with them vibrationally because "self-diagnosis" is not reliable. Slipups in SY newsletters have SY M.D.s using SY methods unable agree among themselves what the problem is or the solution.

12. financial hooks & effortful initiation

a. guru's multi-hundred thousands or by now possibly millions dollar collection of "presents" ($5000 gold crown, $10000 crystal swan etc.) accepted on a national basis despite condemnation of material tendencies in rivals. Esthetic loot, follower money, & free labor on Mataji's growing real estate empire would probably be enough to start her own Tilden Rent A Car.

[Anyone who says boo to this can expert the Jesus Christ, Himself, to do a bigger & more lasting number on the malcontent than a tag team of Hulk Hogan and Jesse "The Body" Ventura.]

b. 500 to 1000 British Pound (not including air fare) India Tour in which members spend two to five weeks of heroic bus & train rides, recruiting events, all night sing-along in mainly foreign tongues, sight-seeing, & lecture sessions on the confusing genealogy, qualities, & foul temper if not kept pleased of a myriad of multi-named mainly Hindu deities

c. arranged marriages in which member's partners are selected from a pool of other members also on the "tour" based on the guru's assessment of compatible "vibrations". [Turns out now it is the national "leaders" that do the choosing not the guru. The real reason is probably that the more people can be made to sacrifice, give in, allow others to decide things for them the deeper the psychological attachment is and the easier it is to control and further indoctrinate. Lead-a-long and deception are never justifiable and where they take place is clear warning to beware. Rationalising such practices as showing respect for people's freedom to find out things for themselves is rubbish and those suggesting such would do well to find the courage to introspect, face the unpleasant truths and move on. The one they should be angry with is Shri Mataji. She may not have a degree in psychology but knows well all the tricks and methods to prey on hope, fear, and idealism.]

13. various techniques to strip followers of what is needed for autonomy

a. "As long as you try to be individualistic you 'cannot' be a good Sahaja Yogi. You have to become One with the Whole."

"Mother Earth" Talk, 21 August 1983 quoted in Nirmala Yoga

b. "When you are resurrected the first thing that should happen to you is to understand you are no more an individual, but you are a collective being. You are no more an individual. All things that circumsize [sic] your individuality -- throw that away. You are no more an individual."

"The Creation of Lord Jesus" Talk, 4 November 1982 quoted in Nirmala Yoga

c. 'Ambition is absolutely against Sahaja Yoga' [discouraging ambition]

d. 'The yogi does not plan; he knows what is going to happen' [discouraging planning]

e. 'change your friends; they are Sahaja Yogis now; change your friends' [limiting social contact to members of the group forcing lip service & finally allegiance to group thinking or its lack]

f. discouraging opposite sex members from meeting outside group settings or even speaking to each other privately by phone. If in addition to nature's call, individuals are chafing over other matters then they are to speak to the local "leader", who in turn, is in frequent contact with the guru. As a tool that weeds out the half-hearted, the doubting, & the critical while maintaining control, this simple technique is hard to beat.

e. "Don't judge yourself by what you think of yourself but what Mother thinks of you. How much joy are you giving to your Mother? If you make Her unhappy then what is the use."

Nirmala Yoga Vol. 3 No. 17 September-October 1983 p. 36 para. 2.

[Individuals not responsible for their own happiness but relying on others to provide this. Could be a long wait]

f. encouraging members to attribute any & all successes to either the system or the guru's grace while accepting total blame for any & all failures

14. guru playing off national groups against each other

15. strategies to bond members to group in face of outside criticism

a. letter writing campaign to French press when, in 1990, reporters infiltrated the group & wrote it up as a cult. This not done to persuade the critics but to hook the followers by virtue public confession of faith -- verbal or written.

b. encouraging members to send their children to schools in Rome & later India where they are bonded more strongly to the group & guru than to their own parents & where despite the good education given, also included is indoctrination in group dogma & no chance to hear alternatives to it. 'They are not your children; they are My children.' 'They [your children] have been telling me [the guru] all about you [the parents].'

16. lowball technique in which early promises are qualified to the point of saying that very few people are of a calibre to really benefit. This provides a dilemma for the organization because world class people get that way through judicious use of ambition, planning, effort, intellectualism, autonomy, & ego [separate sense of self; pride in one's achievements], & know they cannot stay that way without those things. Those remaining in the group are left with some choices: 1) paying selective attention to what is being said but carrying on as before & not by any chance following the edict to treat the guru's every word as a mantra; 2) believing against objective experience things will go well by staying silent & playing along; 3) rationalizing other reasons for continued involvement & hoping detractors are somehow wrong

Some general books on cults and persuasion that warn of things to be aware of ahead of time:

Cialdini, Robert B. 1984

Influence: How and Why People Agree to Things. 1st ed. New

York: Morrow

Hassan, Steve 1988

Combatting Cult Mind Control. Rochester, VT: Park Street Press

ISBN 0-89281-243-5

Authors with personal experience in Sahaja Yoga who are critical of it or who bring to light things critical of it:

Pullar, Phillipa 1984

The Shortest Journey. Boston: Unwin Paperbacks. ISBN

0-04-291018-8. First published in Great Britain by Hamish

Hamilton Ltd. 1981

Last two chapters are about her experiences in Sahaja Yoga. Her conclusion is that Sahaja Yoga is a "tantric cult" and while impressed with a guru's ability to trigger generally pleasant sensations on a follower's nervous system worries in the end for the mental health and autonomy of those attracted

Kakar, Sudhir M.D. 1982

Shamans, Mystics and Doctors: A Psychological Inquiry.

He like Pullar, worries about the autonomny and mental health of those who come into Sahaja Yoga but unlike Pullar denies the existence of effects on the body Pullar experienced.

Her Holiness Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi 1996

Meta Modern Era, 2nd ed. Bombay: Computex Graphics.

ISBN: 81-86650-05-9

Given chance to tell her side of things the guru comes off as someone prone to gross generalization who invites the reader to accept ideas like "possession" and even entertain what looks like possible anti-Semitism

Copyright:

Vishwa Nirmala Dharma

9 Bhagyachintamani Soc.

Paud Road, Kalhrud

Pune 411 029. India

Published & Printed by:

Computex Graphics

112, High Tech Indl. Centre

Caves Road, Jogeshwari (E)

Bombay - 400 060. India

People who support Sahaja Yoga:

Mishra, Ram Ph.D (that someone like this could get hooked is a real shock)

Head

Department of Psychology

McMaster University

4 Hardwood Court

Dundas, ON

L9H 6T1

905 626 3063 H

905 521 0048 FAX

605 525 9140 W

e-mail mishrar@fhs.csu.mcmaster.ca

supposed to be versed with research on Sahaja Yoga. Worth finding out if Sahaja Yoga is just "relaxation response" or something more and in any event why all the trappings of an arguably destructive personality cult

Spiro, David M.D.

7 Albany House

50 Flask Walk

Hampstead, London

England

NW3 1HG

071 438 2018/01 435 2018 Phone

071 431 1778 FAX

Another who should be up on research

Chelsham Road Ashram

44 Chelsham Road

London SW4 England

44-171-622-1634

Toronto ashram:

1110 While Clover Way

Mississauga, Ontario

L5V 1G7

905-858-8269

Toronto Sahaja Yoga Hotline: 905-567-9825

Dave Dunphy

27025 Silver Moon Lane

Ranchos Palos Verdes,

California, USA 90275

310-832-713

[American leader and one who approved scheme to ensure that male-female disciples communicate with each other only in group settings where they can be monitored. Verify whether this is his idea alone or does it have the guru's endorsement?]

If these people are approached as member of the press most will probably run away or cringe in silence until the questioner goes away. Their preference would be to treat the questioner as a "seeker" and dole out information slowly. This was the method used on them. For real fireworks try asking if cult identifiers that apply to this group are in play or draw attention to all the things group members turn blind eye and deaf ear to convince themselves SY is what they think it is, not what it really is. [Idea of possession from wearing consignment clothes or being barbered by someone not in Sahaja Yoga, the legions of invisible spirits spying for the guru on the followers, the guru's "present" collection etc.]

For the medically, scientifically trained, good questions would uncover recommended "treatments" & ask what objective proof exists showing these do anything flattering for whomever does them. It would be interesting to know which practices those questioned personally follow despite no scientifically proven value. Ask for proof Sahaja Yoga causes genes to change, myelitis, and cancer to be cured as is claimed in the guru's book "Meta Modern Era". Concerning those doing research on Sahaja Yoga what safeguards are in place to ensure objective work from those researchers who also practice Sahaja Yoga?

Sample treatments:

a. Shoebeating: After circling a spot with a hand while sitting on the ground, writing with a right finger some problem and then hitting the spot with heel of a left shoe at least 108 times while staring upward, ideally with a vacant mind.

[Can attest from personal experience that it does not save Canada from Free Trade or NAFTA; hold the line on cuts to Medicare, education, or the CBC. And far from becoming pillars of salt, neo-conservatives become pillars of wealth & power.]

b. Sleeping with olive oil soaked cotton batten in one's ears or ghee [melted butter] up one's nose

c. "Stopping all psychiatric and psychotherapy treatments for mental disorders, and slowly reducing the intake of drugs given for the disturbance" as prescribed in the "Treatment Book" in favor of affirmations, writing the problem on paper and burning the paper, waving burning candles about oneself with or without the feet resting in salted water etc.

Her Holiness Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi 1996

Meta Modern Era, 2nd ed. Bombay: Computex Graphics.

ISBN: 81-86650-05-9

Copyright:

Vishwa Nirmala Dharma

9 Bhagyachintamani Soc.

Paud Road, Kalhrud

Pune 411 029. India Published & Printed by:

Computex Graphics

112, High Tech Indl. Centre

Caves Road, Jogeshwari (E)

Bombay - 400 060. India

Excerpts from "Meta Modern Era":

p. 8 para. 1

"...the first great astrologer, Bhrigumuni. In his book 'Nadi Granth', he made clear predictions about these modern times. He also specifically predicted how the Kundalini would be awakened spontaneously through Sahaja Yoga, that is, spontaneous union with the Divine, and become the means to both individual and collective transformation on a mass scale, through teachings and incarnation of a great Yogi. This Yogi would be an unparalleled master of the Kundalini and would teach all the people the ancient secrets of self-transformation. These are the times described in the Holy Bible as the 'Last Judgement' and in the Koran as 'Kiyama', the Resurrection Time. Astrologically it is also called the Age of Aquarius, the time of rebirth and of great spiritual development on the Earth."

-astrology great?

-no precise book location references given to support argument

p. 10 para. 1

"... magic and witchcraft...."

-endorses real what has made no effort to prove real

p. 14 para. 1

"America was invaded by Europeans destroying the peaceful culture of the natives. It is impossible to meet any native in a high position in society in North America."

-natives were butchering each other long before whites arrived

p. 20 para. 1

"On the contrary there are some half-baked Christians like ADFI [Catholic anti-cult organization] from France who are spreading stories against Sahaja Yoga through the French media without having any idea as to what is the truth."

-calling the opposition names rather than raising their criticisms and showing why they are wrong

p. 21 para. 2

"Actually, the natural basis of Western culture was challenged by a four pronged attack. One is, of course, Science. The second, the intellectuals, heirs to the tradition of so-called enlightenment. The third being organised [sic] religions, fake gurus and cults. And the fourth one, the most powerful of all being the money-blinded media used or exploited by the entrepreneurs."

-setting up to demonize those who might cast negative light & expose the writer -mentions the word "cult" but leaves out warning signs that arguably mark this group as one. Two things are thus accomplished: 1) lulls the reader into a sense of security since by using the word "cult" he assumes the leader would not mind him finding out about cults so no need to bother; 2) by not extensively listing the danger signs of a cult the reader is kept ignorant of what he should know

p. 21 para. 3

"...Karma..."

-states as proven what has made no effort to prove

p. 22 para. 1

"People in the West talk ... of spiritual life ... but no one even knows what it is they are seeking."

-the American who called herself Peace Pilgrim gave a 30 year example what nonsense this is

p. 22 para. 1

"Many seekers were born ... but were destroyed ... after succumbing to false teachings which promised much and gave nothing ... but ... psychological dependency."

-precisely ADFI & other critic's arguments against Sahaja Yoga

p. 23 para. 3

"I asked many [members of other groups] who had actually starved in order to buy a Rolls Royce [for rival gurus]"

-if the dollar value of the "presents" let alone luxury hotel stays & air fare paid for by the followers this guru accepts were added up, no doubt it would be a tidy sum

p. 24 top

"... a dead spirit to possess and mesmerise [sic] them ...."

-stating to exist what has not proven real

p. 28 para. 2

"Secrecy, is the key word of all such world ending cults."

-Sahaja Yoga is loaded with withholding information and lead-along. 5000 people on the December 1995 "India Tour", $2000 collected on average from each for a total of ten million dollars [5000 x $2000]. What happened to the money or is it a secret?

p. 29 para. 2

"When I was on a lecture tour in the USA, the television interviewers in Boston asked me how many Rolls Royces I had."

-wrong question. How many $5000 gold crowns? How many $10000 crystal swans? How many ivory sculptures? How many $4000 three day luxury hotel stays bought & paid for by the followers? How much air fare paid by the followers. And all this for a grand tax free total of how much? This total divided by say $200,000 per Rolls Royce equals what number?

p. 30 top

"... (saintly personality, guru) ... through his lifetime he will not do anything that jars or that is considered sinful or anything that goes against human benevolence. Nor will he create destructive ideas in the minds of the people."

-when the body dies according to this guru, the aspect of god the Hindus call Vishnu grabs the part of the body that survives death and sends it up to heaven, down to hell, or leaves it to hang in limbo as a ghost depending on how well the person pleased this guru during life. Guru claims to be Vishnu among others. Does planting such ideas in followers "jar"? Is the practice "destructive"?

-In the 1996 Guru puja talk the guru brags how her unseen forces orchestrated the DEATHS of three media people in Turkey responsible for articles critical of Sahaja Yoga.

p. 47 para. 1

"If Abraham Lincoln were alive, how would he react to this kind of society?"

-in the dead were alive he would think; if the dead were alive he would say; if the dead were alive he would do

p. 47 para. 1

"... sensationalism of the modern life ... eager to shock ... modern media, causing blood cancer."

-if sensationalism then blood cancer -- has not proven relationship

p. 49 para. 1

"I say that, in the modernist period, it (alcohol) also leads to economic recession."

-has not established link between stated cause & effect

p. 49 para. 2

"... you can make grape juice out of water with divine vibrations ...."

-proof?

p. 57 top

"Plastic is not something which helps to sustain a healthy life for existence. It's constant use causes all kinds of skin troubles and even respiratory problems, because it is not natural."

-proof?

p. 61 para. 2

"The original idea of homosexuality might have by some coincidence, where some man must have been misidentified for a woman by another man, as in the comedy Charlie's Aunt."

p.p. 64-65

"With modernism, we have created static forms made up of straight lines and stark contrasts in ... design of ... homes and in ... dress fashions .... But all such creations are ... morbid ... living in such houses, people develop psychogenic problems or end up in lunatic asylums. If not, they simply fade away into ... mediocrity from ... 'fashionable' clothes ...."

-proof?

p. 70 para. 1

"... tight fitting clothes ... made them develop ... varicose veins ... clothes ... with holes ... [causing] rheumatism or gout."

-claiming relationships without proving them

p. 71 para. 2

"As children born in the West are [in general] left to themselves without any love or any rapport, they feel very lonely and lost."

-gross generalization

p. 73 para. 1

"You can never buy [in the West] two pieces of the same neck-tie because every tie has to be different."

-referring to production in the West. Nonsense.

p. 77 para. 1

"Now the choice of marriage partner is based purely on the whim of the ego, lust or greed."

-referring to Western mores. Generalization.

p. 88 top

"... as traditional wisdom knows, silver is very important for a good heart ...."

p. 88 para. 3

"Plastic is machine-made from the waste matter of the earth which has therefore got all the ingredients for our destruction within it."

-oxygen: waste matter of plants -- what we breath; carbon dioxide waste matter from animals -- what plants need

p. 88 para. 3

"Things ... made of plastic have a ... capacity to penetrate any natural material such as cloth or glass, or any other God-made material that is used together with plastic. So much so that the natural material feels debased and loses its own particular energy."

-proof?

p. 94 para. 3

"A benevolent ruler, in the form of a philosopher king (as put forward by Socrates), is the ideal person to be the head of government. Such a person must be an extremely wise, detached personality, without any desines [sic] for lust, power and money."

-would the guru as world ruler or acting from behind the scenes be benevolent; have any respect for democracy & individual freedom?

p. 95 para. 3

"... most democratic countries have become, with mutual consent, absolutely authoritarian ... materialistic."

-investigate how authoritarian Sahaja Yoga is

p. 97 bottom

"Perhaps ... the [French] Law Courts know nothing of dharma' but blindly follow Freudian theories and obediently accept the opinions of psychoanalysts when it comes to interpreting the law."

-proof of claim?

p. 100 para. 1

"Pop music is generated by entrepreneurs ... to make money ... skillfully flattering human weaknesses, they are constantly pushing young people to get into moods which cannot create peace, harmony and joy, but which lead to very great turmoil within and a great sense of dissatisfaction ...."

-Simon & Garfunkle: "Bridge Over Troubled Water"

p. 104 top

" ... Vedas and Upanishads, and Geeta .... For thousands of years, people lived according to their noble vision of mankind. What we see in the modern world is quite clearly therefore a serious regression, a falling back of human beings from the higher state they had already achieved through their ascent."

-more likely only a minority have ever lived "according to noble vision"

-if Golden Age was so golden it would still be here

p. 107 para. 2

"Another product of this license of abandonment is brutal, mad violence, because people have no sense of what is wrong and no fear in their minds, even for a moment, of the possibility of retribution."

-nonsense

p. 113 para. 1

"Unfortunately, the love a family has for its own children is not evident in the white people."

-reverse racism?

p. 118 bottom

"The western doctors take no responsibility for their patients on Saturdays and Sundays or on holidays. For them holidays are holy days which they must celebrate by boozing and getting drunk."

p. 125 para. 1

"Jews [in Hitler's Germany] were known to be very religious and moral, but also very greedy. They always lent money on exorbitant terms and then pursued the borrowers all their lives, often causing distress."

p. 126 top

"At the time when Hitler grew up, the Jews were making a lot of money in Germany out of people who borrowed from them for their bodily pleasures. Hitler had a strong feeling for his country which he felt was in dire trouble. He reached a condussion [sic] that he had to destroy these greedy Jews who, according to him, were sucking the blood of the foolish immoral people."

p. 128 bottom

"A horrendous war in Germany broke out against the Jews who had to die in gas chambers, because they were very greedy and cruel and had, according to Hitler, killed Christ. There are so many ways by which one could have controlled these greedy people."

p. 145 top

"Even small children [in the West] want to read pornographic magazines because they want to have knowledge of the great science of sex. This is the result of curiosity created by schools giving sex education openly."

-education creating curiosity or does curiosity create need for education

p. 148 middle

"If sex education is given openly it becomes a subject which children discuss and want to know from each other. They have no other topic but sex. Their innocences [sic] is lost completely."

-sex education causing loss of innocence or is it sex education that causes loss of ignorance?

p.p. 164-165

"Some frightened French Sahaja Yogis wanted to save their children from the immoral society of France and they send very few to our school of Sahaja Yoga, where children from all over the world come. But the Catholic Church had a blind folded [sic] organisation [sic] called ADFi [sic] who gave two [sic] much trouble for one boy that the school has no French children. They were afraid these children might become moral and maybe absolutely misfit in the Catholic traditions."

-French court criticized the lack of established educational standards at the school. Guru manages to avoid mentioning that the school in question is not in France but India nor does she mention that the children being sent are grade school age for the school in India and even younger than that for another school in Rome, Italy. Also, no mention of what is taught in either place.

p. 169 para. 1

"They [the Jews] are wailing and crying before the wailing wall wearing the Torat in small amulets, but actually the most important thing for them is to collect the money that they have lent and buy diamonds at any cost."

p. 175 top

"Sahaja Yogis ... marry among themselves without any conditionings .... It happens automatically, spontaneously and these marriages are 95% successful. They are models of very good happy family relations."

-the only way for people to marry who are in Sahaja Yoga is by going on the "India Tour" or now the Soviet Union and submitting to guru or leader selected choices. People who insist on being independent are discouraged from attending some group activities -group pressure is to conform, that much is automatic, spontaneous

p. 184 top

"... this ego gets inflated. Intellectuals, scientists, professionals, bureaucrats and politicians specially are all very prone to this inflationary [ego] process."

-labelling potential critics

p. 187 top

"A thin person is much more hot-tempered than a fat one. This is caused by a bad liver."

-more traditional wisdom?

p. 188 para. 1

subject of the reason for burgeoning population in India:

"Perhaps children are very happy to be born in India to loving and caring parents and neighbours." [and neighbours?]

-alternative explanation to deal with burgeoning population in India:

education and standard of living up; need for extra children to support oneself along with birthrate down. Are we there yet? Are they?

p. 194 middle

"If one person is sick the whole body of Sahaja Yogis rush to his help. If one person has a genuine problem, the whole organisation [sic] which is a living organisation, [sic] acts spontaneously to solve the problem of that individual person."

-person on the "India Tour" told of another on the tour who had a psychotic break and was abandoned with the words, "the vibrations will take care of it." Then, when the afflicted became worse, he was bundled away and abandoned in a psychiatric ward where modern techniques succeeded where traditional wisdom failed

-someone in SY dies of their breast cancer which SY is supposed to capable of curing and offered up is every rationalization except that maybe SY does not cure anything and at least as it is now being run, has potential to create or aggravate mental troubles

p. 202 bottom

"Sex education in an open class room [sic] has the effect of exciting the children and inducing them to experiment with sex at a very early age. ... the children lose their sense of shame about sex which is an exceedingly private matter."

-sex = shame

p. 205 bottom

"I have found out that one of the causes of psychosomatic diseases like cancer, is the built-in fear children imbibe in their childhood."

-proof?

p. 207 bottom

"Children should be encouraged to read good books written by great and noble men of the whole world, not only of their own country. They should develop a great liking for books which are biographies and autobiographies, rather than science-fiction which is imaginary or some sort of a warmonger's life story."

-Arthur C. Clarke -- "Childhoods End" -is the truth that the queen of the Borg resents anything suggesting humankind could survive without placing itself under dominion of a tantric guru?

p.p. 211-212

"For example, three foreign journalists went to India and trespassed into our school and made all kinds of false statements about it. A complaint was filed against them and the [Indian] Court [court case in India to distinguish it from court case that took place in France] has decided that these foreign journalists would be proceeded against if they ever came to India again. For this, the Embassy concerned was not very happy, through their journalists have used this news against us all over Europe, especially in Belgium, France and also in other countries where some people of the Catholic Church are disturbed at our success. They have an organisation [sic] called ADFI which is constantly prying into the activities of the religious and spiritual organisations [sic] and maligning them by describing them as cults. I do not know if the Catholic Church is not the greatest cult. If the definition of a cult is an organisations [sic] that indulges in violence, or has illegal weapons, or makes tainted money, then the Catholic Church could itself be called a cult because all these things are happening in the Catholic Church as well. ["as well"?] They call us a cult even though it is well established [by whom or what?] that in Sahaja Yoga we have no secrets, underground or clandestine activities and that Sahaja Yoga is a purely spiritual organisation [sic] working for the benefit of all people of the world."

"Furthermore, which of the Western countries are supposed to be secular? I am sorry to say that in England, only the Church of England is the state religion, all others are not. In Spain, in Italy, in Germany, in Austria, and in France especially, it is the Catholic Church which is the recognized religion and everything that is not Catholic is always treated like a cult."

-gradualism, withholding information, magical thinking, other trappings of a charismatic, authoritarian, personality cult and the guru's "present" collection

p.p. 213-214

"Since much of the Press and other elements of the media have abused their freedom and have become a menace to children, to families and indeed to society, it is now necessary to bring them under proper control. I am fully in favour of the freedom of human beings and also of the Press. The press should have sanity to know its responsibility. It is for giving news that would bring benevolence and security it would have eternal value to the readers. ...These days anybody can start a newspaper. Only those who have a proven sense of responsibility and dignity of morality and some sense of understanding of other countries as well should be allowed to start newspapers. All editors must first be examined by a group of eminent persons to see if they are unbiased, honest and noble people. Newspapers should not get into the hands of crooks. Once a paper gets into wrong hands, it would be impossible to stop all kinds of horrible, sensational, nonsensical rotten news and editorials from being published. Of course, one must acknowledge that some of the newspapers have done a good job in finding out and exposing grave misdeeds of men in power. But there are not many instances of this kind despite the fact that the media is very honest and powerful. On the contrary the power of expression is so highly misused by newspapers that at present one cannot do anything about it. Clearly then, there is the need for a high-level Board or Committee which should intervene and punish severely newspapers which engage in publishing palpably wrong or scandalous stories. No scandals should be allowed to be published in the newspapers [even if true?] and this will be the best that one can do for public life and for family lives."

"The newspapers should be children proof, so that even children can read them. What is the use of giving all the filth of hell as an announcement in the newspaper. It is just money-making by giving false but sensational news."

"Apart from this, newspapers like to give distressing and shocking news all the time. ...It is much too much to begin one's day with disturbing and upsetting news of this kind. A serious effort should be made to give prominence to good happenings, to instances of people being helped, to events which influence people and transform them .... But presently there is no way of expressing such ideas through any media. They only want to know how many people died, how many were killed and how many disappeared."

-Question:

Would a true story, a scandal about a tantric guru with scheme to take over & rule the world pass censor and be fit to print or air in the proposed new world order of the Fifth Estate?

p. 215 middle

subject of media promoting those doing missionary work:

"Substantial donations are collected and these are perhaps shared with the media. Altogether, this seems to be a profitable business. The media can build up even a Peace Prize-winning image. No one knows where all this money is going and what is happening. There are no properly audited accounts."

-proof to back the allegation?

Questions:

How much money was collected from participants on the December 1995-January 1996 "India Tour" and what happened to it?

Money collected from individuals at guru worshipping ceremonies (pujas) in the form of cash ends up where on the organization's books and how is it spent? Is the money taxable? If the money falls under the rules governing "charitable organization" does its use violate the rules governing charitable organizations?

p. 217 para. 2

"Then there was a prophet, Zoraster, who was born five times in his country, Persia."

p. 220 top

affect of genes on character:

"... now an open invitation to immorality and getting away with it by blaming it on one's genes. This is also a very dangerous postulate, because it suggests that inherited genes determine the character of a person, which cannot be improved by education or religion or spirituality. The truth is that the characteristics of inherited genes can be altered. It has to be understood that we can change our genes all the time."

-proof?

p. 228-230

subject: the guru's political new world order

"Americans are not the right people to dominate the world, because they are very immature and very sex-oriented. We have to have another higher house for the U.N."

"... If persons of high eminence, integrity, wisdom, character and intellect are elected to the proposed new high body to direct and guide the entire United Nations system, the people of the world may have a new chance of seeing the world governed by righteousness and dharma and not by narrow selfishness, greed and immorality. ... Such a high body which we may call the Supreme Council, will not be dominated by any one country, not even by America. ...what one sees in America now is that people need to become mature, and this maturity will only come if they take to Sahaja Yoga and not to some sort of evangelists or false gurus."

"We cannot say with certainty that this Supreme Council which will be created to control the U.N. will be absolutely perfect. First of all, they will not be paid very highly, but an honorarium would be given and they may try to do something which is not honest if they are by any chance, money-oriented. So the only conclusion one can reach is that this Supreme Council should be constituted by the election only of excellent Sahaja Yogis. They have all the requisite qualities in abundance - they are selfless, they are compassionate, they are devoted to public interest without the slightest bias on grounds of race, religion or nationality. They will thus always make sound and proper decisions. Most importantly, the Supreme Court [Council?] consisting of Sahaja Yogis, will spread the message of Sahaja Yoga throughout the world not merely by words but by deeds which will inspire all the people and thus ensure a new peaceful and just world order. Sahaja Yoga is thus the only solution to world problems because it will ensure the transformation of all human beings and thus create a new highly evolved human race."

p. 239 para. 2

"The conclusion they [scientists] have reached that genes are only inherited is absolutely wrong. Actually genes also reflect our personality that we create in day-to-day life. All our sympathetic activity is reflected on our genes as well."

-proof?

p.p. 239-240

"It cannot explain in the science of medicine why acetylcholine or adrenaline, two chemicals, act in a very different manner in the body when they are a fixed chemical formula. Also, it cannot be explained why a child, which comes as a foetus in the womb of the mother, is not thrown out by the body as all other foreign materials .... As science deals with only [only?] matter or the human body, it cannot solve the problems of Modern times. It cannot discover the subtler or wider problems of life. For example, what is the purpose of evolution and meaning of human life? What is the solution for getting out of this mess of modern life, which is very confusing and full of violence? What is the way we can achieve global peace? All these questions should be asked but science has no answer for these questions ...."

-setting up to prey on the vulnerable by implying science is more limited than it is

p. 244 middle

"...The genes change and complete transformation takes place. People have given up even drugs over night. They never had withdrawal symptoms or any other trouble. Self realisation as a result of Kundalini awakening has exhibited fantastic results. It brings forth new creativity...financial problems are solved; the problems of psychosomatic diseases get cured, like cancer, myelitis etc. Many incurable diseases also get cured without any medicines."

p. 258 para. 1

"... this vital power [Kundalini] starts flowing within our being and all [all?] our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual problems are solved as our genes are put in order." -proof?