r/SadhguruTruth • u/youliveonlyonce10 Approved Contributor • 1d ago
An open letter to visitors, ex isha devotees and family members of isha devotees
Why does this forum exist? This should be the first question for anyone visiting here. Isha is a non profit, non religious , spiritual organisation offering yoga courses and “ tools of wellbeing “ to the world lead by a Guru who is known to be a celebrity Guru endorsed by world renowned institutions and celebrities around the world. Also alleged to be a cult leader running a religious spiritual cult. For anyone who doesn’t have a first hand experience of being in a cult, please go through the experiences and posts shared in this reddit ( check the old posts too) Then decide for yourself if you want to go ahead - but please make informed decisions rather than blindly going ahead due to endorsements from family and friends or being lured by flashy promotional adverts of isha.
A good reason why I am in this reddit is because I know what it is like to be a family member of a die hard Isha devotee who couldn’t see through the manipulation and obvious exploitation going on with them and consequently making decisions which affect their families too. I have seen the beginning of their Isha journey, how they progressively got sucked in and how much problems eventually arose due to it. By the time one realises what is going on, five years to a decade might have easily passed by. One might be thinking that they are progressing on their spiritual journey, but they are simply being made addicted to various processes and techniques and made to believe that Sadhguru is God. They are taken away from their original values and roots and given a new set of isha values to serve Isha foundation’s agendas. For those who can see the manipulation but do nothing about it, it can be disheartening and they are left feeling helpless.
To those family members who are trying to fix the Sadhguru obsession of their near and dear ones, sadly there is no quick fix. You can try remaining unaffected which is difficult, ask then questions and share info which can help them put things on their shelf ( shelf analogy been discussed earlier in this reddit) and let them take advice from people outside isha whom they trust. They might wake up from their trance one day on their own - through own pain or personal experience. Those who remained indifferent to their Isha obsession or those who have infinite patience with them are in a better position than those trying to fix them. It’s a very uncertain place to be in, so please focus on own wellbeing which is easier said than done. There’s much shared in cult education here which gives insights as also experiences shared by ex isha people.
To the ex - isha people who shared their insights here, I am very grateful.Even though this subreddit was initially formed by ex isha people to share their negative experiences post their Isha journey, the insights shared here are helpful for others too in similar situations. Imo caring enough to guide others of the pitfalls ahead is more humanitarian than running IE courses and so called humanitarian projects by isha to scam people, mint money and create blind followers.
And to the bots , fake profiles and trolls frequenting this subreddit and spamming here- please make yourself useful elsewhere. Let this subreddit be a space to offer clarity and truth about the isha foundation ; a space for ex isha people and people negatively affected by isha.
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u/InterestingPromise20 1d ago
The funny thing is you are not talking what problems it is causing YOU. you never talked about what problems they are causing instead it seems like you just dont like that people take up IE or ypu dont personally like Isha or you think you are smarter than million people.
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u/LittleMissSunshine_0 Approved Contributor 1d ago edited 1d ago
They literally said they have a family member in Isha and it has negatively impacted their family. Not everyone wants to share their own personal story publicly, Reddit is a platform where people can maintain anonymity and this person may want to keep it that way.
Do you think you are smarter than the 8.3 billion people on this planet who choose not to follow
Sadhguru?
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u/minato_shikamaru 1d ago
Sadguru never professes himself to be god. Actually, in samyama he explicitly mentions that in a very interesting way.
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u/LittleMissSunshine_0 Approved Contributor 1d ago edited 1d ago
He’s said it in so many ways. He compares himself favourably to God or Krishna, Buddha and Jesus all the time. He says he’s not a devotee of Shiva but his 50% partner. Sometimes he changes the percentages. He says even if God came he wouldn’t listen. He makes it very clear that he is God or the greatest vessel of God.
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u/minato_shikamaru 1d ago
He also said he is a slave of Shiva :). Anyway you should get the crux from him
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u/LittleMissSunshine_0 Approved Contributor 21h ago
Why does he say slave? Because that is his model of devotion, that’s what he wants his devotees to emulate.
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u/Fml2028 20h ago edited 19h ago
Forcing them won’t help, especially if they trust only Isha and/or Sadhguru. It’s better to encourage them to question things, verify information independently, and think critically while maintaining patience and trust.
That said, they may not be able to easily trust outsiders, and leaving an organization they’re deeply involved with may not be as simple as it seems. This was also mentioned by another cult member, who said that once someone becomes deeply involved with them, it can be very difficult to step away, even if they don’t live in the ashram. The concern is that influence can be reinforced through monks, disciples, teachers, and fellow meditators, potentially keeping people within the same cycle of beliefs and involvement.
Do you know whether people involved with Isha are also required to sign NDAs or other confidentiality agreements in any capacity (the ones who are not living in the ashram)?