Guruphiliac: A Childhood Hell In Chinmoyland



Tuesday, April 14, 2009

A Childhood Hell In Chinmoyland

File under: The Siddhi of PR

This is much like what you'd expect from a guru whose primary claim to fame was performing elaborately-staged demonstrations of the fact he was a musclehead:
Tamm... depicts a charlatan who masqueraded as a god and convinced hundreds of thousands to worship him. Her parents were among the first disciples. Chinmoy arranged a "divine marriage" between a Yale-educated hippie and a single mother, then told them to practice abstinence. (Most disciples, however, were directed to remain single.) When Tamm's parents disobeyed and conceived her, Chinmoy invented a myth to explain her birth. He declared her the "Chosen One," a miracle child he'd selected to be his most devoted follower...

She also says the guru controlled his pupils by pitting them against one another. He created a caste system that allowed him to demote or promote members at will. He encouraged members to keep tabs on one another and turn in rule-breakers. Tamm says he once held a fundraiser where disciples paid $25 apiece to hear him describe their worst qualities. At one meditation session, he held a contest for the ugliest girl--a young member with a boil on her face won the distinction.
That's some crazy kind of karma, your "Chosen One" being the instrument of your life's true rendering. Sri Chinmoy clearly made the right choice in Jayanti Tamm.

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15 Comments:

At 4/15/2009 9:34 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

an abusing guru, a surprise?

yes and no. yes that such gurus are a great success and no, because it seems every guru is at it.

just read prem rawat's training 1999. just read the shocking way he treated those poor devotees.

nothing surprises me anymore.

 
At 4/15/2009 10:27 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

>>". Tamm says he once held a fundraiser where disciples paid $25 apiece to hear him describe their worst qualities."<<

$25.00? that's chump change. siddha yoga used to have something called the "No Ego Course" or "The Ego Course"...those who signed up paid ALOT to be tortured by the swamis (with earphone connection to gurumayi), humiliated, yelled at and generally treated like the scum of the earth, all in the name of "working on the ego". I don't think it was too successful as far as results go but it was way popular. they even sold a t-shirt with "Ego" printed on it, circled in red and crossed out. Hey, I don't have an Ego now! And I've got a t-shirt to prove it! lol!

just remembering
(I think the cost of the course was $500? could that be true? somebody out there will know)

 
At 4/17/2009 4:07 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hello Jody and other contributors,

I read this blog with great interest since I discovered it not long ago.
I think it is a good thing that other sides of spiritual leaders and their movements are being uncovered.Especially in this time I think it is healthy for the process of (individual) spiritual growth.
As a former Zen student I experienced also a great deal misuse of authority and spiritual practice.

By the way, here in Germany they (almost agressively) promote this guy Madhukar. Does anyone have experience with/knowledge about this character? I ask just out of curiousity. And what about Aziz Kristof (now known as Anadi) and Isaac Shapiro of the Advaita world?
Thanks and keep up the research.
People need it in order to wake up.
Peace,

J.

 
At 4/19/2009 4:04 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I used to know Jayanti, her brother Ketan and her parents Rudra and Samarpana when I was a disciple of the guru myself and am reading her book. It's all true. The whole "final avatar" thing was a complete scam and sham.

Thanks to Jody for bringing all this phony guru stuff to light.

The story of seekers and suckers goes on and on.....

Gary Swadhin Rigzin Dorje
(can't have too many spiritual names I always say)

 
At 4/19/2009 8:46 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey, just in case anybody is interested, here's the url of the Chinmoy Ex-Disciple site:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sri_Chinmoy_Information/

fwiw...

Gary

 
At 4/20/2009 1:51 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

J - As far as Aziz Kristof is concerned, I have several friends who studied with him. They report he is a very good teacher of meditation. He seems to be very serious, very dedicated to practice. He seems to have a certain heaviness in himself about spirituality, but no hidden dark behaviours or abusive patterns.

 
At 4/20/2009 10:19 AM, Anonymous Paul Maurice Martin said...

All the negative info on gurus... I don't get it.

Is it Hinduism you don't like?

Were you traumatized by a guru in childhood?

Do you believe gurus are the source of all evil?? Most of it?

I've never really thought much about gurus but my assumption would be that there are fakes and hypocrites - and also sincere people who do some good. Just like the clergy of every religion...

Maybe gurus can guru on you if you just get to know enough of them.

"All we are saying/Is give gurus a chance..."

 
At 4/20/2009 4:09 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

German Madhukar seems hated everywhere he goes and has a reputation for being a sex pest.

featuted blog
http://www.chi-ting.blogspot.com/
has some details

Isaac suffers from similar defects

Aziz went missing - did he get a face lift as well?

 
At 4/21/2009 1:45 PM, Anonymous ellen said...

"All we are saying/Is give gurus a chance..."

Most of the shysters lampooned here don't need a chance, Paul, they already have a super-efficient sales and PR confusion machine in place to capture the naively unfortunate seekers in the spirituality biz. Not much left to chance there.

There are good teachers in any brand of religion--having met some I'd say they are characterised by an absolute refusal to play the 'guru game', an insistence that the seeker take responsibility for themselves and a dedication to personal honesty--rare beasts who might charge for their teaching but do not promise an easy ride, claim miracles or posture as god's mouthpiece on earth.
Just other fallible human beings passing on what they've learned.

Which, for me, sums up this site too.

(the suffix "philiac" means 'lover of', not 'hater of')
I, personally, love good gurus. I've been lucky enough to come across some in all brands of religion and some with none. The essential teaching is always the same: each person has to do the work for themselves, that means taking no guru's word as inalienable truth for anything.

 
At 4/21/2009 9:50 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ellen, you have written one of the "truest" things here. It is all about self-responsibility. When you start giving your identity, your well-being, your hopes, dreams, and anything else to a "master" you become their slave. There are those who may have experienced more or experienced in a different way that one has oneself. But is that enough to call them a "master"? Bless the ones who give you knowledge and do not ask you to sacrifice yourself in return in any way. They are rare.
Simply anon.

 
At 4/23/2009 6:39 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Aziz has a different name now, Anandi or something similar. His closest friend whom he called his soul brother, died, I guess that took a toll on him.

Since we are talking about Madhukar, Isaac etc. I really like the point that another Poonjaji - follower/sastsang teacher is making: The guy who calls himself Ramana and offers Radical Awakening workshops clearly differentiates awakening from full realization and says that Poonjaji himself pointed out that full realization is rare. He basically acknowledges that he himself is not fully realized and the awakening process he offers may not lead people there. I like that, because it validates that there is some value in these direct awakening processes without inventing some image of final realization. It seems that those teachers with behavioural issues and followers who get trapped do not offer these kinds of distinctions.

 
At 4/24/2009 1:04 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dear responders,

Thanks a lot for the link and the sharing of experiences.
I have the feeling Anadi (Aziz) is a serious and genuine teacher who will not easily fall in the guru-traps, I think.

About Isaac I'm still not sure; he appears to be no-nonsense, pointing to direct experience, but, but, there is a certain but...

Madhukar is a complete leading clown of his own circus. When you look at his website pictures how western devotees wash and kiss his feet, decorate him with hunderds of flowers, that's pathetic and misleading. No it's actually perverse, and has nothing to do with Self-realization...
More info and experiences on the topic are very welcome though.
Peace,

J.

 
At 4/25/2009 5:46 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Maybe gurus can guru on you if you just get to know enough of them."

Ha ha ha very funny, but alas, you are very mistaken.... If you know enough of them, you will certainly not have them guru on you...no more, no more..

THE REAL GURU is constantly calling from inside the heart, but people are not listening to their own silence...

 
At 3/24/2019 6:04 PM, Blogger Sat said...

I had been a student of (Aziz and later) Anadi for more than 15 years. His teaching is profound, but he does not live what he speaks. There is too much that he is hiding. A website is in the process of being created. There had been much sexual and psychological abuse.

 
At 3/24/2019 6:05 PM, Blogger Sat said...

I had been a student of (Aziz and later) Anadi for more than 15 years. His teaching is profound, but he does not live what he speaks. There is too much that he is hiding. A website is in the process of being created. There has been much sexual and psychological abuse.

 

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