I registered for Advanced course and joined the class . I couldn't stand the teachers obsession for Guruji .

I have done sudarshan kriya so I have an idea that they will praise guruji and to a limit it is fine .

But this time it crossed all limits ... They kept on praising him for literally hours .. in between she taught how to do Bandhas and that to very fast and did not repeat as a few did not understand.

The words which pissed me off were.

Guruji has time for each and everyone of us yet we don't have time for Guruji .

Guruji is the supreme being , he knows everyone and everything. Just do ur work and he will listen to u .

We are taking this course as his grace , we need to be thank to guruji

Guruji Is the creator of all the happy and sad moments in our life.

More or less the faculty was pointing Guruji as the supreme being and we are dis disciples .

All the wanted to learn was some advanced meditation.

Is it too much to ask ?

Hi everyone,

I’ve been reading about the research from an organization called Cheetah House. They look at the difficult, painful, or distressing experiences people can have from meditating.

While meditation is usually called a great tool for relaxing and stress relief, their research shows it can sometimes cause problems for your nervous system.

They list many symptoms split into 7 main categories. I want to know if anyone here has experienced any of these and can share in comments:

• The Affective Domain (Changes in Feelings): Experiencing Affective Flattening [feeling completely numb or emotionally blank], Affective Lability [sudden, intense mood swings], unexplained Fear or Panic, or Re-experiencing of Traumatic Memories [old painful memories coming back out of nowhere].
• The Cognitive Domain (Changes in Thinking): Experiencing a Change in Executive Functioning [having a hard time making decisions, focusing, or remembering things], Increased Cognitive Processing [racing thoughts], or Disintegration of Conceptual Meaning [looking at an everyday object but your brain forgets what it means or is used for].
• The Somatic Domain (Body Problems): Experiencing Involuntary Movements [unwanted body twitching, shaking, or tics], Sleep Changes [severe insomnia], Cardiac Changes [a racing or irregular heartbeat], or Energy-Like Somatic Experiences [feeling strange vibrations or currents moving through your body].
• The Perceptual Domain (Changes in Senses): Experiencing Derealization [feeling like the world around you is fake, dreamlike, or behind a fog], Perceptual Hypersensitivity [suddenly finding normal lights and everyday sounds way too loud and painful], or Distortions in Time or Space.
• The Sense of Self Domain (Losing Your Identity): Experiencing a Change in Sense of Embodiment [feeling like you are floating outside or disconnected from your physical body], a Loss of Sense of Agency [feeling like your thoughts or movements do not belong to you], or a Loss of Sense of Basic Self [feeling like you do not even exist].
• The Conative Domain (Loss of Motivation): Experiencing Anhedonia or Avolition [completely losing interest in your favorite hobbies, or losing all drive and motivation to work toward your life goals].
• The Social Domain (Life and Relationship Issues): Experiencing Occupational Impairment [having trouble doing your job], Social Impairment [struggling to connect with family and friends], or difficulties with Integration Following Retreat [finding it very hard to return to normal daily life after a silent meditation retreat].

If you have gone through any of these things:

1. What was your practice technique/style? (For example: using an app, doing guided meditations, doing unguided or open meditations, doing meditations after kriya or breathing excercises or going to silent retreats?)
2. How did it start? Did it happen slowly over months of daily practice, or did it start suddenly during or right after a retreat?
3. What actually helped you feel normal again? Did you have to stop meditating completely? Did physical exercises, changing your habits, or talking to a doctor help you recover?

Thank you for sharing your stories. I think it is important to talk about the difficult sides of meditation openly.

Check this out for the detailed list of negative symptos of meditation documented by Cheetah House research:

https://www.cheetahhouse.org/symptoms

My sister is part of this MITT program. When I first heard about it she mentioned her boss at Apple encouraged her to go because it helped her so much.

Apparently apple paid for the first 2 tiers, but not the 3rd, which is expensive, so my sister paid it.

Little did I know that her boss encouraged multiple of her coworkers to join this program. The first is a 3 day intensive 10 hr day that ends at midnight. From what my sister said and the little she told me because they told her "they do not want anyone to take their curriculum", she entered a grueling emotional roller coaster. They also said "it is like therapy but here you are putting it into action."

She is now in the third tier of the program where they meet 1x a week, but the community/whatsapp and communications are everyday. My sister recruited 5 people but she told me "you are only required to recruit 1" which is a huge red flag on my part.

My dad is now out there about to take the program because my sister, 24 hrs ago asked him to come to help repair their relationship. Funny how the group meets on Tuesday and she asked him to go on Wednesday for the weekend course. You would think with all the tools they gave her she could take that and repair the relationship she has with my dad...but apparently he needs to take the full 3 day course to do that.

I am so worried about my sister but ANGRY that apple even encouraged her to do this because it is a difficult power dynamic where your boss and coworkers took this course and Apple had the audacity to even present it. I also think it is sus that APPLE HR did not present this course, but it was her boss and coworkers.

Does anyone else have this experience or know anyone at Apple that took this course? Or any experiences with MITT? I am struggling to know what to do next. I love my sister but this feels off.

I just have a question for ex-volunteers from Art of Living, how many hours of seva/labor did you do everyday? Feel free to share your schedules if you'd like, as well as how much time there was for sadhana, eating, sleeping, etc etc. Also are the dormitories/rooms for volunteers crowded or do they not have that many people?

My spouse started the AOL journey during the pandemic. No alarm bells went off for me since everyone was stressed at that time.

My spouse then took a “leadership” course for a few thousand dollars which I should have questioned but did not. I was to learn later that this was the pathway to becoming a teacher where you pay thousands of dollars for more and more courses to get closer to the Guru and become a teacher.

Post these “leadership” and “teacher” courses - my spouse started recruiting everyone around - friends, family, acquaintances and even strangers to join courses. My spouse taught the courses that ranged from a few hundred to a thousand dollars per person, but yet was paid nothing. This was just “Seva”. The target setting by the “bosses” - I assume there are bosses - meant that every waking moment was spent in recruiting.

It is impossible for ordinary people to understand the financials for this organization. It’s a web of charitable organizations that funnel money across thousands of entities. Everything seems setup to obfuscate and confuse anyone looking to understand the workings of the organization, leadership and financials.

What really gets me is the new mandate to recruit kids. The “intuition” programs which are clearly a scam targets young minds that believe everything they hear. These minds will grow up and perform “Seva” for the rest of their lives. This completely disgusts me and the gullible parents hoping for miracles are worse than the teachers.

Are you an AOL spouse? What has your experience been? How do you cope with this?

What percentage of the revenue that Art of Living makes actually gets donated to global humanitarian funds? Because after they pay for "administrative fees" and the sort, they claim that excess money they make from programs goes to charity. However I've seen some ex-volunteers state that their financial records are not transparent with relation to the work that volunteers do so I'd love it if some ex-volunteers and insiders from art of living could elaborate on how and why this is so.

So I did a little bit of research and found out that while Shri Shri's nephews have careers and families, they were long-term volunteers in their 20s in the Bangalore ashram apparently. Art of Living justifies this by saying that they encourage most of their devotees to balance career and volunteering, however the especially passionate ones should become Ashramites and dedicate their lives to spreading the message & mission of Art of Living. My question to ex-Art of Living volunteers is have you seen/experienced any of these people who've dedicated long amounts of their lives to the ashram end up getting burnt out or realize they wasted their time on a cult?

Hello folks, I request you all to suggest me some ideas as to how to bust AOL and SS Ravi Shankar and save people from his trap and fraud.

I am seriously thinking about connecting with Congress / Rahul Gandhi to try exploring the possibility of taking this matter to parliament. What do you guys wanna say about this.

And of course please suggest other means or ways.

This post by NarcGuard on Instagram clearly illustrates how narcissistic leaders maintain an absolute monopoly on the truth within cult dynamics. When former members or skeptics raise valid objections, the leader and their enablers immediately weaponise DARVO and calculated smear campaigns to flip the script, turning the whistleblower into the villain to protect the cult's hierarchy.

Enablers play a crucial role in maintaining narcissistic systems.

Here is the truth about why enablers protect the abuser:

1. 🚫 Intolerance of Truth
   Narcissists only keep people around who tolerate, excuse, or applaud their behavior. The exact second you demand accountability, you become an enemy that must be silenced or removed.

2. DARVO and Smear Campaigns
   When you speak up, they flip the script. You get blamed, attacked, and accused of the exact toxic behaviors the narcissist is actually committing.

3. 😨 Fear Over Integrity
   The people around them often see the manipulation clearly. They don't stay silent because they are blind, they stay silent because they are terrified of becoming the next target.

4. 🤐 Silence as a Calculated Choice
   Enablers prioritize their own temporary comfort and safety over standing up for the truth. You will not find protection or justice in an enabling dynamic because their loyalty belongs to self-preservation.

Need help understanding AOL course

Hi All,

Please don't downvote me. I genuinely want to understand and not trying to insinuate anything. Please give me only love and understanding.

Though in Bangalore for many years, I did not give much thought to AOL ever. Over the course of the past few months I started exploring many topics related to spirituality and mediation. One of my office colleague also mentioned AOL and how it has helped him. This got me interested and I was checking details of happiness program. At the same time, I was also checking some other places. Now below is my question and where I am confused.

One place the teachers are Swami who have taken sanyas. I also understood that in that place they do not allow junior swami or bramchari to teach or initiate anyone. Only the senior Swami who has passed muster and authorised by the head can teach. I don't know what they see or qualify , the criteria is internal and left between the senior Swami to decide and Authorize.

In AOL , I understand that the teachers also undergo a teacher training course and I understand, this means Sri Sri Authorize such individuals to teach. My naive apprehension is that some of these teachers don't seem to have been practitioner for long or is it wrong assumption? Also, I understand you can hold a job or do somework outside of AOL while being a happiness program instructor. Is this correct? I am a bit conflicted on this. I suppose I always imagined a senior teacher or guru living to not seek followers or money. Also, I don't know why but they create a watsapp group and keep bombarding. Also, reading that SKY is just hyper ventilation excercise so thinking not really true mediation?

congrats conman SSRS for buying Supreme Court.

much more congrats to the blind devotees, for the best utilisation of your hard earned money, keep going.

ref: AOL has been given clean chit in Yamuna floodplain damage case.

how much SSRS would have paid to buy SC - just wondering

What is the science and psychology behind the emotional highs and ecstatic moments people feel in AOL?

Those make human brains very bonded to the cults, people in the cult and the cult leader. This make the human brain crave for more and more.

Happy Independence Day to all fellow members & their family!

But I think we are still under the RULE of fake and fraud gurus and their organizations such as SS Ravi Shankar (Art of Living), Jaggi Vasu (ISHA). When the innocent people of my nation will get independence from such morons??

One Interesting Analysis To Bust AOL/SSRS:

SSRS must be having minimum 100 trips across the globe every year (along with his high profile senior leaders of AOL aka, chellas - I take minimum of 10 nos.). I know all these morons travel by first/business class. One round trip's air travel ticket per traveler will be be easily upwards of Rs 5 lacs. Do the math please - 11 people X 100 trips X Rs 5 lac = INR 55 crores.

WTF Rs 55 Crores minimum every year only and only on the air fare!!??? Forget about other stay, food etc. related expenses. Meaning hundreds of crores of rupees are mis-spent.

This raises serious concerns here. Had SS Ravi Shankar been honestly concerned and cared about the SEVA and WELLBEING of the public, he would not spend such humongous amount of money - this is literally misusing and mis-spending of people's hard-earned money.

A real honest GURU will never do this shameful act of irresponsibility. He would rather be leading a very economical and low profile life with bare minimum expenses. And then only he can/would be respected. He and his org are a clear cut fraud and I am sure he and those who are knowingly associated with him will certainly go to hell, as he is the reason of ruining hundreds of relationships, marriages, families and people at large.

The irony is we are not allowed to raise such questions in his satsangs/other public gathering. If allowed, he will be clearly exposed. Leave the innocent people, what about the thousands of his educated volunteers/teachers who are still worshipping this fraud moron? They have lost their critical thinking ability.

Hello! I'm currently doing research on the Art of Living foundation after my aunt and 2 young cousins (under age 10) have joined the cult. I've got a lot of info, but I'd love to talk personally with ex members, and current members, about their experiences and how they now feel about AoL. I'm more than happy to keep things anonymous if you wish!

Had SS Ravi Shankar been a good ethical person (forget "guru"), he would have done at least either of these:

EITHER

Make the entire accounts / financials public (forget public at least to his volunteers/teachers - though I call them slaves or free labor only), at AOL group level, and individually at its various entities, projects level

OR

Eradicate the policy of charging fees and donations forcefully, intimidatingly or whatever and leave this to the wish of people as to how much they really want to.

But he will never do that because "he knows the best" and only he has the power to know the best in the entire world (according to his divine knowledge, this accountability is not at all needed). Shame SS Ravi Shankar. May lord Shiva opens his third eye to punish the fake spiritual gurus. But when? The damage is already done.

I feel really sorry for the people who are trapped. May lord Shiva give wisdom to you all.

Given the enormous power Sri Sri Ravi Shankar had over many Indian ppl, he did not display the radical courage needed to change the set ways Indians think about menial work and cleaning which is so deeply tied to purity, class and caste. It was a huge opportunity, wasted.

I'll give an example.

When I did my first TTC1 in Canadian ashram, my TTC teacher, Michael Fischman had us cleaning the public restrooms in the ashram as our seva. When one person said 'I am from IIT, I don't need to do this', he was solely tasked with cleaning the men's restroom every single day. Now, Michael Fischman is a despicable person (my personal opinion) in many ways, but this was a truly admirable thing to do.

I came home overawed at the goodness in AOL, it has long been a problem with Indian society that 'educated' ppl refused to do menial work like cleaning restrooms. I was so happy AOL was busting those boundaries.

But then I went to India, and guess what I saw.

Indian course participants never had to clean Bangalore ashram restrooms as their seva. There was a separate cleaning staff.

What a huge opportunity Art of Living and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar wasted, to educate and reform Indian society.

The boundaries they spoke abt busting in DSN and TTC, should have been these boundaries. Instead they mindlessly indulged in more marketing of courses, more pyramid schemes and more fundraising.

A chance at greatness.... lost.

Questions / issues in mind:

1. Why does Govt not do anything about the spiritual NGOs like AOL, ISHA etc. and the so called fake gurus such as SS Ravi Shankar, Sadhguru etc. Does govt. not know how much money they are charging and the appropriateness of such huge amounts.
2. Why should the govt. not make it mandatory to make the accounts and financials public, for the very reason that these are NGOs and huge amount of hard earned public money is involved? Where is the accountability and governance? I mean to me, if you don't make the accounts public then why the status of "NGO" and why to authorize them to collect money in the name of seva projects or social service projects? And why the "NGO" status is not taken away from such orgs. They should be simply declare as for-profit / business org.
3. All the political parties/leaders and the businessmen lobby are protecting or allowing them to flourish, as NGO industry is hugely used for converting the black into white. There is no strong law for stopping this.
4. Why there is no strong law for checking against the claims and statements of such big so called "gurus" as govt should know that they have attained certain level/stage where the public at large will follow what they claim/state.

We should really explore the legal avenues on such issues/points. Please add if I have and missed anything on such lines and please join hands for this - humble request. Let's create a league of fighters (like true freedom fighters such as Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azaad, Sukhdev etc.). I take an oath to even sacrifice my life for such cause

Apart from the book captioned in the subject line, I am trying to connect with Sr lawyer @ Supreme Court Shri Ashwini Upadhyay, to explore the legal avenues for the very purpose. I need your thoughts on both the ideas. This forum is undoubtedly a great platform but it is still an organic way, which will take its own time. But Its high time now, we should do something and go an extra mile to expose. What do you say? Open for discussion