seeker's Blog

Re: Sadhguru and the Isha Foundation

happyd, thanks for your response. Of course the Isha people are the same in their personal life - one 7 day course does not a miracle make. And so far, they do seem to realize - for the most part - that they are the same. They think Isha is a good path - but so far they don't seem to think that it is the only way. And a lot of them refuse to give up onions, garlic or caffine. ;)    Of course, I've mostly interacted with people who've taken only Inner Engineering, or just IE and BSP. And haven't been involved for more than a year. Except the teacher, who seemed to be completely brainwashed and parroted Satguru right down to the 'Isn't is so' and 'Please see'.  
 
 We'll see how it goes. I agree with you -  camaradrie is not exclusive to Isha. But it's not a bad thing. And as long as it can be maintained without pressure to get more involved or recruit others, it won't become a bad thing. I guess I'm not too upset at the idea that Isha is in the business of relegion - most relegions seem to be. I feel that as long as what they teach does more good than harm, it's ok. And they can charge as much as people are willing to pay. All the self help people out there do. And isn't this just another repackaged self help program with a litte relegion thrown in to appeal to a slightly different demographic?  In fact, when they talked about the difference between reaction and response, I thought of Stephen Covey. They're fairly easy to see through - and if someone does take them too seriously as a spiritual path, well - buyer beware. I guess maybe that's a naive way to look at it. Specially if they do go the full cult route and people who get sucked in can't get out.
 
I haven't decided yet if I'll go for BSP. I'll see how the next few months go. But if I consider going, i'll probably have more questions for you.

Re: Sadhguru and the Isha Foundation

I attended an Inner Enginnering course a while ago, and decided to google for cults. Came upon this very interesting discussion. I have always been wary of yet fascinated by these kinds of programs. I had never really considered that they could be cults in the sense that I don't expect rational people to give up their lives and move into the ashram or communes, living enslaved in a self created alternate reality. I am usually more wary of them being frauds. Of pretending that they are offering something new or unique, when all they are doing is recycling some oft-repeated philosophies and formulae. I don't want to feel like I have been duped - specially if my money ends up being pocketed by a philandering god-man.

But I decided that for 250 bucks, even if all i heard was a repeat of hindu philosophies and a few pranayams, it wasn't too big a hit to my wallet. And that's basically what I found. There wasn't a single new idea or argument - not even the attempt to prove that vedas contain all the scientific knowledge we are discovering today or will discover in the future. I have heard it all before. The kriaya is not new - it's a combination of well known pranayams. I didn't see anything harmful in it - unless you think Pranayam is harmful.

The desire to keep it a secret is understandable from a - this is the only thing we have to sell so don't give it away for free - veiwpoint. The RIAA doesn't like you to dowload music illegally either. What I disliked strongly was the implied threat that if you did try to teach someone the kriya, you were seriously risking a mental breakdown.  I don't like threats. I had joined the program out of curiosity, and as a way to become more disciplined about pranayam and maybe learn to meditate. So I still didn't see much harm.  But then they started talking about Isha as a path to enlightenment, Isha as a social revolution and about other programs that they offered. I started getting caught up in the enthusiasm. If I could be calmer and more loving, and others could too, then wasn't it a good thing? They asked us to recommend the program to others. Gave us some material to distriubute. Told us it was up to us to make sure the movement took hold in our city. I saw the enthusiam - even fervor - of some of the volunteers. They're all good people. You could even say selfless - they believe in this strongly and are giving of themselves.  There is a feeling of community. These might be nice people to hang out with.

But to recommend this to someone - I started to think about what the program was.  I have a very healthy level of scepticism about these things. I also know a fair bit of hindu mythology and philosopy. I recongnise when ideas are being repackaged and sold as new. So I'm not that easly enthralled by the sales pitch. I had taken this program for a very specific reason  - and while I enjoyed letting myself participate fully in it, I was ultimately going to keep only the parts I felt were useful. But if I recommended it to someone, I would have to first make sure they were similarly equipped. Or I would have to warn them about the things that made me uneasy.

What made me the most uneasy was that some people - specially ameircans - seemed to be getting swept away. I don't know if they too were just caught up in the moment - hopefully that was it. But I began to worry that some people seemed to be buying into the idea of achieving higher conciousness in 3 easy steps and of not questioning and of putting your thinking mind aside. I looked at some of the full time volunteers  who had given up their lives to just work for ISHA and thought - i am mentally prepared for this to be nothing more than a business - but are they? What will happend to them if Satguru is revealed to be a self serving fraud? Some of the signs are there - there is no dialogue, questioing is not encouraged, getting more people to join is strongly encouraged -specially 'influencial' people. And if I recommend this to people, and they end up taking it too serously, how will I feel? I think the basic program could provide some benifit for people looking for an introduction to eastern thought, and to meditation. But don't think I am comfortable recommending this to anyone but people who I know are like me - people who will go in with an open mind and not turn off their brains. It could be a great movement where we are all working together in love and joy towards social programs for education, rural empowerment and the environment. But it could just as easly not be.

Now I'm in a quandry - I am kind of curious about BSP, becuase I think there is still a part of my mind that is thinking - what if this is real? Wouldn't it be an intersting experience?! At the same time I'm worried - it's a fully resediantial program - who knows what's in the food. Plus, what if it's uncomfortable or downright scary? Will I be able to leave? How strong is the group-think? Is there a danger I will begin to get brainwashed? I would like to meet Satguru and see what he's like. What do you think? Is there harm in going for BSP?

I like the people I met through the class so I'm going to continue to go for the monthly (or more frequent!) gatherings. They have good hearts, are very sincere and the conversations are not just about Isha. Let's see if that lasts. Or if I slowly become indoctinated into a cult...