The Good, Bad, and the Ugly: 'Swami' Nithyananda's Healer-Sticks Get Devotees Stuck in His Cult's Bad Karma Distributorship
Hi there, Sri Nithyananda. We had quite a few readers interested to know about what actually happens with your healer's initiation and what happens when one of your followers actually does some healing. Do you mind, Sri Nithyananda, if we talk about this? "Wrrrak!" Boy, that was curt. We don't even need a Gruntanese translator to inform us that you're displeased. OK, Sri Nithyananda. If you don't want to hear us, you may cover your ears.
The Good
But, actually, Sri Nithyananda, it isn't all bad news for you and your cult. You, Sri Nithyananda, actually do some good by 'encouraging' your followers to heal. In fact, one of our contributors used to be one of your healing enthusiast. You name, this person was healing it. Mom's arthritis, a friend's back, a sick tree, snails. If it moved, it got your 'branded' energy. We're surprised, Sri Nithyananda, that this person didn't get arrested for groping while doing your 'service'. During this healer-energy process, this healer's hands would warm up like cooking burners waiting for the skillet. So, there's something going on. What is it?
The Bad
But, wait, 'Swami' Nithyananda, there's more to the story here. Yes, those were the good things about your healing initiation, but now we need to tell the other side of the story, 'the bad'. Sorry. Sri Nithyananda, you mention several times that this is the Parashakti Energy, but then you make it sound like this is also your private energy as if you were the controlling shareholder for Parashakti Energy Utilities, Inc. For instance, Sri Nithyananda, you often refer to this as 'your energy'. And, the instructions for the 'Ananda Gandha' meditation is to focus on your 'smiling' face and let the energy start to flow. Then to drop your form. OK, we give you credit to say 'drop your form', but why use your 'smiling face' to begin with? If you truly don't want your followers to be attached to you, then why even say that? As you know, there's lots of followers who are attached to you, your form, your mala (rosary), your paduka (feet), your picture and so on. You seem to encourage this behavior as we have pointed out in earlier blog posts. Sri Nithyananda, you claim to control this energy as if the seekers never saw electricity before, so they come to your house and see your electric outlet and think that this energy comes only from you. That they now have to get your permission and a very long extension chord before they can 'hook up' and 'connect' to 'your' energy. These seekers seem ignorant of the powerful electric grid and the cables that go directly to your house from a much more powerful and Divine source.
'Paramahamsa' Nithyananda, how were you able to do this? You, know, claim a monopoly on something that you didn't even own. Oh, yes, we remember now, you, Sri Nithyananda, at your programs, you loved to tell about that story during your nine-years, we mean now six-years (actually just four-and-a-half-years) of wandering that concurred simultaneously with your stay at the Ramakrishna Mission. In that story you talked about your 'First Miracle of Healing' as written in your book, The Formless in Form, p. 44 2004. You, Sri Nithyananda, talked about hitching a ride in a roughshod army truck. The truck hit a bump and the sudden jerk caused you, Sri Nithyananda, to experience a sudden spasm (quite unlike the sudden spasm that your room-service ladies experience from another type of jerk). Anyway, the army doctor wanted to place your lower body in a caste (sometimes we have the same sentiment), but you refused. All you needed to do was place your hand on your back, and the meditate. Then you said that you went to of all places another Ramakrishna Mutt in Hardiwar (PDF Pamphlet: Yet to be Discovered, 2003, p. 49) and had your back X-rayed. And, sure enough, presto. Your back was healed, although you, Sri Nithyananda, claimed that the doctor at the Ramakrishna Mutt, could still see the fracture. Funny, 'Swami' Nithyananda, that you later made no mention that you had your back X-rayed at a Ramakrishna Mutt in Hardiwar. Your later stories just sort of dropped this whole Ramakrishna Mutt thing out. Is there a pattern here? [Note to readers: View blog post called "Paramahamsa Nithyananda Wanders in the Ramakrishna Mission for Five (5) Years"]
And, then 'Swami' Nithyananda, you then talk about how you tried 10,000 keys to open up this channel and you figured out how to do it, and you, Sri Nithyananda, can do it instantly for anyone who's willing to plunk down $150.00 and give up another day of their life to be with you and your enthusiastic followers. Yes, this is called the 'Healer's Initiation', that only you can initiate or even take back on a moment's notice. You know, Sri Nithyananda, this is a pretty good deal. You always have these 'Healer's Initiations' right after your big expensive two-day weekend programs. So, you catch all the new people while they are still fresh and mesmerized by you. And, since the Monday after a program is a 'down' day that usually means that you will travel to another city later that afternoon, why not capture the newly dedicated crowd for a few hours and collect another $5,000.00 cash? Just too easy. And, since you always hold the venue in some place that is not going to have an expense associated with it, this is just pure profit. OK, Sri Nithyananda, we know that you sometimes still have these initiations in a hotel, but not to worry. You usually stick the expense of hotels, food, and that sort of thing to your city coordinators. After all, its up to the city coordinators to find sucker, oh, we mean devotees willing to show their servitude to you by picking up the tabs and sundry expenses. Otherwise, it isn't worth having that city as part of your circuit. Didn't you once say this about the Bay Area, you know, San Jose, when the city coordinator dared to even ask for you to pick up some of the expenses because it was draining that person's savings? Yes, Sri Nithyananda, you sure know how to scam, we mean show people what true spiritual practice is all about.
However, the real worth, in the eyes of the newly initiated healers, is not the trinkets, but he opening of the 'Ananda Gandha' (the portion around their solar plexus). That is priceless, and the rest of the stuff, Master Card can take care of it. Yes, this is the true value of your Healer's Initiation. You, Sri Nithyananda, make it very clear that it is only you who can open this channel up and you can easily take it back. (OK, technically, you say that the Parashakti Energy flow could still happen if you, Sri Nithyananda, take back the ability to heal, but the ability to heal, is fully in your control.) Then after practicing one of the meditations, you, Sri Nithyananda, have the healers-to-be come up one-by-one, and you click your fingers near their solar plexus and say something like, "Go and heal."
Hey, Sri Nithyananda, we hate to blurt out your business secrets, but really, do you do anything special when you snap your fingers and say "Go and heal"? We have found, Sri Nithyananda, that anyone who does the meditations on a regular basis is going to be able to channel the Parashakti Energy, and be able to transmit it as 'healing' energy through their hands if they care to do so. Anyone can do this whether they even heard of you or not. And, we would like to remind you that this is the Parashakti Energy, that is the Divine Mother's Energy, or the Universal Energy, and it is something that even you, 'Paramahamsa' Nithyananda, cannot place a trademark symbol on. In short, this does not belong to you, so don't try to sell it as if it did.
OK, Sri Nithyananda, maybe we were too rough on you. We could say that someone could give you the benefit of the doubt and if someone didn't pay, excuse me, we mean to say donate that $150.00 and go for some ritual with an 'enlightened' healing master, then that person probably wouldn't value the benefits of the meditation or even do any of the meditations on a regular basis. Your healing initiation, Sri Nithyananda is like passing out skyhooks and telling potential swimmers that they need them in order to float. Maybe with those spiritual skyhooks, they will now have the confidence to swim. Yes, that is the dirty secret of modern society. So, maybe there is some merit in your charging, oops, required donation and your empty ritual. Fair enough.
But, wait, there, Sri Nithyananda. You give the newly initiated healers all of these regulations and say that they are now initiated in your order. Wow, Sri Nithyananda, so you do something empty and worthless, and then you trap these people. It's like you are now licensing those vary same skyhooks! Does that make you a sky crook? You, Sri Nithyananda, tell your newly initiated following that they now have to wear your bracelet that has your name on it, your mala (rosary) that has your picture on it, set up a healer's room by hanging your oversized picture in a prominent place, meditate on your smiling face, etc., etc., etc. Sri Nithyananda, you have tricked these people to join your cult! They are now in your trap and bonded to your physical body. And, wait, Sri Nithyananda, you have all these rules that if they don't follow, then their ability to heal is taken away. One of these rules is if the have any non-vegetarian food, then they have to stop healing immediately until they see you again. Now, Sri Nithyananda, we agree, that people should not eat non-vegetarian food. But, in modern society, this is really hard not to accidentally come up against now and then. Why Sri Nithyananda, we once saw you chomping on some pizza at the airport in New Jersey in September 2004. Did the cheese on that pizza have vegetarian or microbiological rennet? [Rennet is the enzymes from the stomach-linings of calves that is used in cheese to help it coagulate or become hard and firm. Rennet is definitely non-vegetarian, and is found in most cheese.] If that cheese did not have vegetarian rennet, then you, Sri Nithyananda, had non-vegetarian right before our eyes. Likewise, you even offered several pizzas to the San Jose devotees in March 2005. Are you sure that had vegetarian rennet? One of your devotees even asked you if this cheese had animal or vegetarian rennet in it, and you said, "That you will take care of it." Even in your ashram in Los Angeles, Duarte, California to be exact, yogurt with gelatin in it was floating around. [Gelatin is made from cow or pig hooves (feet) unless it is made from seaweed.] We remember even one ashramite purchased, then hid the boxes that had the ingredients printed on it of some frozen pies that had egg in them. Just be 'unclutched', we were told. So, Sri Nithyananda, we see that people, with the best of intentions to remain vegetarian, can on rare occasion accidentally have non-vegetarian food. It is nearly impossible to avoid. But, you, Sri Nithyananda, make a big deal out of this, and tell these people to stop healing until they have seen you and re-taken 'Healer's Initiation'. Why Sri Nithyananda, you seem to found a way to have total control over people's behavior and set their whole lives so they are pointing directly to you. Yes, this is spiritual dependency or just a plain old cult trap.
Yes, Sri Nithyananda, you heard us right Cult Trap. That is exactly what you operate. You see, Sri Nithyananda, in order to become a healer and de facto 'initiated' by you into your cult, the follower must be willing to share your 'proprietary' energy with anyone. That's OK, but they also must wear your mala (rosary) with your picture, your bracelet, have your big picture prominently displayed, recite your 'corrupted' mantra, etc. in order to channel 'your' energy. How nice. 'Swami' Nithyananda, it looks like the scooping up the easy cash after a program is sweet, but your real gain is locking in devotees that are now 'programmed' just to broadcast your message. And, as these 'programmed' messengers are now feeling that tingly sensation on their hands, they are thinking that all of this is nothing but a miracle from you. And, as your initiated healers are sharing 'your' proprietary energy with their friends, family, other cult members, and referrals, these 'receivers' of your proprietary healing energy are going to hear nothing but how 'Divine' you are and how you changed their lives, etc. That's quite a scam, there, Sri Nithyananda. Imagine this. Desperate and sick people are going to hear nothing but infomercials and testimonials about you, 'Paramahamsa' Nithyananda, and you only. It's almost like right out of the Amway Quixtar 'lock-them-in' strategy playbook. With this marketing strategy, you, Sri Nithyananda, will be sure to fill up your expensive workshop the next time you come to town. Great marketing techniques. You sure know how to hone in your business senses while whoring up the Divine Energy.
And as an extra benefit, a benefit to you, Sri Nithyananda, is that with each initiated healer, you can now claim their house as a healing center or just plain Nithyananda Center. Is that how you, Sri Nithyananda, can boast on your website all those 'Nithya Centers' just by doing some healer initiations. Why that makes you, Sri Nithyananda, sound almost as big as your ego.
But, wait, Sri Nithyananda. Someone reminded us to say that since mid 2007, you usually just initiate new followers to be self-healers. That is they are initiated only to heal themselves and no one else. Yes, Sri Nithyananda, that's a coy move. You still get these people to part with their cash and get them to be committed just to you by wearing all your accessories that say "Hey, I'm part of the Cult of 'Paramahamsa' Nithyananda." And, with just a little nudge, they be attending all your expensive programs and doing work, work, work in the name of service. But, as I'm sure you know better, all these people are attracted to you for your 'easy' enlightenment. You, know, Sri Nithyananda, the mantra for these folks is "Swami will take care", which really means to them, "I don't have to do anything." Yes, this works great in getting lazy seekers to part with their cash and eventually sucked in to doing hours of slavery, but when it comes to channeling the Parashakti Energy, they really need to do the meditations daily. We have seen, Sri Nithyananda, right at your own ashram, how rare it is for anyone in your Order to actually do a meditation. Yeah, we know, they all are suppose to do the 'Nithya Dhyan' meditation in the morning, but we really can't blame them for skipping it after being up working for you until 3:00 a.m. So, to actually have that tingly sensation and warm healing palms brimming with the Parashakti Energy, someone needs to do these meditations daily. Otherwise, your healers are going to look like the fools they really are when they go to heal someone and no one feels anything.
Yes, Sri Nithyananda, you want people to have a good experience the first time they get your mass marketing and experience 'your' energy. Later, after they are totally brainwashed, then you can roll out the empty promises and then blame them for not having them fulfilled. But, for their first encounter, they really need a healer that can deliver the sensation. So, you're right there, 'Swami' Nithyananda. Make sure you have a dedicated person who meditates and is completely loyal to you before you 'initiate' that person as a healer. Otherwise, just regulate them to being a 'self-healer'. No harm in that.
There's more good news, Sri Nithyananda, to just half-initiating your healers. In addition to not wrecking your market, but still locking in your clients, you, 'Paramahamsa' Nithyananda, don't have to worry about any lawsuits. We know the word 'lawsuit' just terrifies you. Sri Nithyananda, we agree that it is much more fun to give than receive. In your case, you don't give anything; you just threaten. What are we up to now, 88 days since you, 'Swami' Nithyananda, first threaten us? How the years go by...
The Really Ugly
'Paramahamsa' Nithyananda. Yoo-Hoo! Darn, he's falling into samadhi again. Just when we're about to get to the best part. Maybe he's faking it. Sri Nithyananda, can you hear me? In case you can, do you remember how you, Sri Nithyananda, told everyone that using 'your proprietary' energy to heal someone has zero risk of collecting karma? Are you sure about that? Our research has different findings. In fact, one loyal reader wrote this:
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 10:48 PMNicely put, there, balabalan; thanks! Hear that, Sri Nithyananda? He's still faking his samadhi. Anyway, we do agree with 'balabalan', and we also believe that Jaggi Vasudev of Isha Foundation is working hard to elevate spiritual seekers and that he does Divine work. He's good man in a bad neighborhood, and there's lots of criminal types that would love to discredit him and loot his ashram. So, we respect Jaggi Vasudev's words, and we fully agree with them.
balabalan said...
Following is the opinion of Jaggi Vasudev of Isha foundation:
Physical existence is always happening between cause and effect. Suppose there is an infection, the cause is external, say bacteria. Now there is an effect : infection. So you are trying to take away the cause by taking antibiotics. You kill the cause with medication because it is external to you.
With other diseases that are not externally caused, the cause is so much deeper compared to an infection. For this type of disease to manifest, there is an imbalance or a malfunction in the energy-body, which manifests itself in the physical or mental body.
Now with something like pranic healing-or any kind of healing for that matter-you'r only appeasing the effect. With a little control or mastery over your own energies, you are able to put a screen between the cause and the effect. So the effect dies out, but the cause stays buried.
As far as nature and life energy is concerned the effect was only its way of telling you that there is a cause, a disturbance of energy, inside of you. Let us say you have asthma and i just remove it today. Without asthma, when you still have the same kind of energy in you, you may become some other calamity in a moment. The disease may not be there, but you could et into an accident.
Your asthma was only an indication of a deeper disturbance. This is because your energies arestill in the same situation, but the effect was removed. So it will take effect in a deeper or more acute form to inform you again. This whole activbity of trying to heal somebody is, in some way, trying to play God-trying to manipulate energvies in an improper way.
Unless you are able to take the very source of the disease from the other person into yourself, real healing is not possible. That will have a big impact on the system, and it is not to be done unless it is for certain specific purposes.
Healers of all kinds are ruling the roose worldwide right now. Big healing melas are being held on Marina Beach and other public places. But if you want to heal people, why don't you go to where the sick people are? If you have got cosmic energy in your hands, why don't you walk through all the hospitals in the world and ruin their business?
To be honest, Sri Nithyananda, we really don't know the full extent to karma, disease, and healing. We do know that people fall ill for various reasons. Some fall ill because they came in contact by chance to some rogue bacteria, bug, radiation, etc. Some fall ill because the have neglected their bodies. Some fall ill because they vata, pitta, and kapha (aruyvedic elements) are out-of-synch. Some fall ill because the energy through their chakras are restricted. And, some fall ill because of some past actions in this life or perhaps a former life. And, then there's a combination of all these factors.
Our contact with low key enlightened masters who are experts in healing people say that the act of healing is a very risky action. These enlightened people usually have to absorb the illness or karma and get sick themselves for several days as they take on and then 'burn it off' the disease or its cause. In the case of some severe illnesses, the enlightened healer cannot fully burn off the karma. In some incidents, the enlightened healer would need to make a decision of taking rebirth again just to rid someone of the disease and the bad karma that caused that disease in this lifetime.
Although this might seem cruel that someone has to go through a disease or go through some other suffering, that is the Divine Law. We're not in the position to question it, but we should at least understand it. Most people, and ourselves included, see that healing is something good. Therefore, we initially perceive if someone can heal another person and take away the pain, that is doing a good act. And, perhaps on the physical level, that is correct. But, what if the person who has the disease did something in the past and the law was given that this person had to 'go through that' in this life, but the healer used Divine energy and intervened? Divine Law says you might get some or all of that suffering to yourself. Using a different analogy, what if someone was suffering through a class at school with a difficult subject and with a strict teacher. You can see that student is just miserable. You get a job as a school administrator and fudge the student's record and voila! That student is able to get out of the class. So, the suffering ended? What if that student needed that knowledge to go forward with his or her education, but now since you abused your position and intervened, that person is 'stuck' and will have to retake the class in another lifetime. The lesson was not learned, because you intervened. A different analogy could be made if someone went to prison and you helped them break out. Not only did the person not learn the lesson, that also puts you on the wrong side of the law too. Yes, in our hearts, we want to help everybody heal. But when Divine Energy, someone also needs to have access to the Divine Knowledge in order to know when it should be applied. Just because someone 'can' doesn't mean that someone 'should'.
Our point is that everyone should have compassion to those that are suffering, but be careful in your ways of intervening. Channeling Divine Energy to counter Divine Law is an unknown that could have great consequences to the healer. The enlightened healers, that we spoken to, really try to discourage us regular folks from healing. It's not like they are interested in having the 'market' to themselves. These enlightened healers are aware of the karma that healers can collect as these newly anointed newbie healers practice their skill. They are interested in both the wellbeing of the sick and the healer. Sri Nithyananda, on the other hand, exploits people's desire to help others become healed. Eager followers see this chance to become 'healers' as being a Divine service. It seems to us that Sri Nithyananda then locks these followers into his franchise without giving a second thought about the karma they can collect. Sri Nithyananda doesn't seem very concerned about his own karma that he is collecting to say nothing of the karma that his followers are collecting. He just uses his followers and every opportunity available to build his worldly empire at the expense of everything else. We feel that this is horribly wrong.
For the record, we don't exactly want to discourage anyone from doing Divine healing, but we do want them to be aware that there is definitely a strong probability that a healer can collect unwanted karma from the act of healing. Yes, healing is not always a karma-free activity. We also want to stress our views that we feel that it is best to always have compassion toward anyone who is sick. Although the illness *might* be from karma, to blame the disease and justify it on the sick person as being that person's fault and then just to walk away is heartless. We recommend that seekers use prayers, modern medicine, Ayurveda, Chinese herbs, herbalist, etc. before attempting to intervene through healing energy. The methods that work on the physical level, do not conflict with Divine Laws and the Divine stratum, so no bad karma gets transferred. With prayers, someone is only requested the Divine to intervene for them, but this person is not actually doing the intervention, so prayer is a very safe method too. (We honestly don't know about acupuncture, but we'll look it up. For now, we'll assume that it is 'karma-transfer-free' healing.) When all else fails, a little compassion goes a long ways.
'Swami' Nithyananda, why are you putting your followers who have trusted you so much in such a dangerous place? Sri Nithyananda? Are you listening? Sorry to say, Sri Nithyananda, but it looks like you care very little about your own future and well-being, that other people's future and karma are just stepping stones to build your empire. Is this correct? After all, Sri Nithyananda, we caught you lying on from everything from your timeline, your birth date, your wandering, etc. Do you think that you are now believed when you say to your initiated healers, that the act of healing doesn't collect karma?
Yes, 'Swami' Nithyananda, we are a little disappointed in you. We see that your healing initiation is empty, the Parashakti Energy isn't yours, you use this energy to rope in and bind people to worship just you, and then you manipulate the misuse of this energy to recruit other potential victims. But, the worst thing of all, is that your victims who placed so much trust in you are getting screwed by collecting lots of unwanted karma. Nice.
Lord Krishna says:So, Sri Nithyananda, we know you know better. Yet, you still go and cultivate graveyard energy and practice dark tantric rituals. As disappointed as we are with you, we really don't want to see you destined to be a ghost for thousands of years to come. It is not too late.
Demigod-worshippers go to the demigods.
Ancestor-worshippers go to the ancestors.
Those who utilize ghosts, go to the ghosts.
And my devotees go to me (and are not born again).
(9.25)
And, Sri Nithyananda, who we really have compassion for is all of your devotees that are following you with love and trust right down the same hole. You are just using them and wasting their lives and souls. If you, 'Swami' Nithyananda, really can't save yourself, at least don't let your followers go down the same drain. Stop this nonsense!
Did you hear us? When are you, 'Paramahamsa' Nithyananda, going to end this drama? Sri Nithyananda, are you listening?
Follow your dharma. Use your common sense. Listen to your inner-conscience, and follow the Truth. Come out of this trap, and escape from this fake and fraudulent cult.
