I was just trying to reach the home page of the Divine Life Society an organization created by Swami Sivananda Saraswati and by mistake entered [www.sivanandadlshq.com] instead of .org. The page I was redirected to was a criticism of Yogaville (hosted by [www.culteducation.com]). Is there any relationship between the two? I've read some of Sivananda's books on Yoga and have never heard anything bad about him. And as far as I know, Yogaville is something completely different (founded by a different swami).
Does anybody have information on this?

pzh

I couldn't find any info on Rick's site. I'll do some checking around. OK, here's what I found:
Many a young aspirant who wishes to tread the path of spirituality, first does so with very many ideas—may be helpful or otherwise—and does not allow himself to be moulded by the Guru. He forms variedly wrong notions as to what spirituality is. He thinks that spirituality is living in seclusion in an Himalayan cave or growing a beard and matted locks or roaming throughout the length and breadth of the land. Anyhow, he retains the individuality in thought and cannot hopefully surrender his ego at the lotus feet of the Guru, which alone can see him well off in the spiritual path.

It's the usual, believe in the leader or you're lost. I'd be very careful.

What is the source of the citation?

They speak about a guru but that's in the usual tone of all the hindu scriptures. Also many times the word Guru references a spiritual entity (a deity) not exactly a living person who collects money and exploits devotees. Moreover, the analog of guru in Japanese tradition is sensei, but I hope that does not imply that martial arts are dangerous and if one practices them, he/she may become part of a cult.

Such references to authority figures, etc can be found almost anywhere, even in the laws and the constitution. So I was rather looking for real cases of something wild going on, as in Yogaville, Integral Yoga ("swamis gone wild").

Hi!
I hope I can help out.
I practiced Sivananda Yoga for more than 8 years and never got drawn into anything cult-like. They are very traditional and a little strict in some ways about their traditions, but my experience was quite mellow and positive. People come and go as they please as far as I can tell.

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cp9999
Hi!
I hope I can help out.
I practiced Sivananda Yoga for more than 8 years and never got drawn into anything cult-like. They are very traditional and a little strict in some ways about their traditions, but my experience was quite mellow and positive. People come and go as they please as far as I can tell.

Did you live in a commune, work for a company etc, not run by the group, etc? What do Sivananda people do for a living and how much money do they have to "tithe" or whatever?

I just took classes, did some volunteer work, and went on a couple of weekend retreats, which are pretty affordable. I actually don't know what people who live in the ashrams do. Some may have outside jobs. Most of the teachers have outside jobs.
When helping out I never felt any pressure to do more or give more than I wanted to. People seemed very respectful of each others' boundaries.
So that is my experience. Of course, it might be different at another level for all I know. But my experieince was positive.

i was there for a month. it was very tuff. the bad thing was they have no days off. thats right work goes on there 7 days aweek.
also morning and evening hatha, pranayam, kirtan and meditation. just enough to blow a beginners circuts. its amazing some people have been there for years. not many though! what are they trying to acomplish with that much yoga? why? if you miss a morning med they will confront you. if you need help, ask yourself am i trying to get better or heal or am i trying to hide. im pretty sure only one meal aday and the place is really rundown. i think it would be better just to go for a couple of days. its intence
vinman

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pzh
I was just trying to reach the home page of the Divine Life Society an organization created by Swami Sivananda Saraswati and by mistake entered [www.sivanandadlshq.com] instead of .org. The page I was redirected to was a criticism of Yogaville (hosted by [www.culteducation.com]). Is there any relationship between the two? I've read some of Sivananda's books on Yoga and have never heard anything bad about him. And as far as I know, Yogaville is something completely different (founded by a different swami).
Does anybody have information on this?

pzh

Yogaville was founded by the late Swami Satchitananda who was from what I heard a sexual preditor to his young female disciples. Satchitananda's guru was Sivananda. In another thread I saw mention of Swami Chinmaya who was also a disciple of Sivananda. Both men split from Sivananda to start their own movements. The only negative thing that I've heard about Sivananda was from the anti-guru UG Krishnamurti who as a teenager studied with him for 7 years, then left because he caught his guru eating spicy pickles when Sivananda told him to stay away from such types of foods. In UG's mind that made his guru seem like a hypocrite. Other than that, I've never heard anything really bad about Sivananda. But to me he's just your average Hindu yoga teacher.

SF /Emeryville CA yogaville is now Takibi Yoga... accidentally went to the site looking for a yoga class last week

..for whatever that's worth..

Swami Sivananda (1887 – 1963), in addition to founding the Divine Life Society, wrote over three hundred books. That is hardly surprising, given his exalted spiritual state:

"I have seen God myself. I have negated name and form, and what remains is Existence-Knowledge-Bliss and nothing else. I behold God everywhere. There is no veil. I am one. There is no duality. I rest in my own self. My bliss is beyond description. The World of dream is gone. I alone exist"—Swami Sivananda, [i:891023ba94]An Autobiography of Sivananda.[/i:891023ba94]

"People consider [Sivananda] to be a Shiva avatar, incarnation"—Satish Chandra Gyan, [i:891023ba94]Sivananda and His Ashram.[/i:891023ba94]

"Swamiji was a phenomenon. He was described as a 'symbol of holiness,' a 'walking, talking God on Earth'"—N. Ananthanarayanan, [i:891023ba94]The Inspiring Life-Story of Swami Sivananda.[/i:891023ba94]

Of course, no "walking, talking God" would grace this planet without promulgating his own skewed set of unsubstantiated beliefs:

"Swami Sivananda has said that every woman whom a man lures into his bed must in some lifetime become his lawful wife"—Swami Sivananda Radha, [i:891023ba94]From the Mating Dance to the Cosmic Dance.[/i:891023ba94]

"The late Swami Sivananda of [Rishikesh], to my mind the most grotesque product of the Hindu Renaissance, advised people to write their 'spiritual diaries'; and in oral instructions, he told Indian and Western disciples to write down how often they masturbated.... [O]r, as one male disciple told me, 'make a list of number of times when you use hand for pleasure, and check it like double book keeping against number of times when you renounced use of hand'"—Agehananda Bharati, [i:891023ba94]The Light at the Center.[/i:891023ba94]

So, nothing to be concerned about there.... :shock: