So, explain to me, please, how an older spiritual teacher of much sexual experience, though extolling celibacy, is not being manipulative in seducing the daughter of one of his students when she is barely seventeen.

Surely he is taking advantage of his lofty spiritual position and the power differential for his own sexual gratification--despite preaching celibacy for the faithful?

Yes, it was manipulative of him, even though he didn't manage to seduce her. The post that started this thread was also an act of manipulation and apparently a successful one judging by how you are now calling Kassila a sexual predator, a term usually understood to mean rapist or child molester.

I find it amazing how many people are so eager to swallow these kinds of smear attacks hook, line and sinker. The guy likes yoga and sex and now his reputation is ruined, cool story bro! Feel free to hang around and wait for some juicier tales of actual abuse or something.

pred·a·tor /Noun

1. An animal that naturally preys on others.
2. A rapacious, exploitative person or group.


I don't think that Kassila has much of a reputation to defend, even from you if you're honest.

About the juicier tales, I've already heard them--they are mostly about the enormous amounts of money that Amma 'the hugging saint' raises and doesn't spend on charitable works.
A bit like Sai Baba.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/19/2011 02:14PM by Stoic.

Perhaps this would explain Amma's saintly silence on the question of Kassila and his unspiritual pursuits:

[en.wikipedia.org]


'Sreeni Pattathanam, the Kerala-based head of the Indian Rationalist Association, wrote Matha Amritanandamayi: Sacred Stories and Realities, a controversial critique first published in 1985. He claims that all the miracles of Sudhamani are bogus, and that there have been many suspicious deaths in and around her ashram, which need police investigation. The research work contains elaborate references to court records, newspaper reports and quotations from well-known literary figures, including statements from devotees and residents of the Math close relatives and an interview with Amritanandamayi herself.

In 2004, the Math demanded prosecution of the author and persuaded the government to act. The state government sanctioned prosecution of Pattathanam, the owner of the publishing company, and the printer of the book. The order followed directions from the Kerala High Court to the Home Department for considering an application by a devotee and resident of the Mata Amritanandamayi Ashram, T.K. Ajan, to criminally prosecute the three, based on criticisms found in the book.

The order ultimately received international attention, and was rescinded after criticism by Humanists, Rationalists, writers, and the Communist Party.'

These gurus sure don't respond well to criticism.

For additional info, both pro and con, go to India Mike's Travel Forum, put Amma in the search slot and read what comes up.

A couple of people mentioned the food was not good and that the ashram put heavy emphasis on work.

This person is pulling in boatloads of money, getting people to donate labor to her, pay to stay at the ashrams.

The least that Momma Amma can do is feed her devotees properly.

[www.indiamike.com]

Quote
Subudhinath
This post is full of lies and deceptions, even to the extent that it could be illegal by Finnish law.

Subudhinath, have you some kind of relationship with either Taavi Kassila, his lawyer or the Amma group? The whole Finnish law issue is a bluff, as are the dishonest claims by the international Amma organization that Kassila is only a mere volunteer.

You surely know that if you ask anyone in Finland “who is the leader of the Finnish Amma organization?” then Taavi Kassila's name is the immediately mentioned. Regardless of whether Amma HQ conveniently and suddenly claim that Kassila has no official position, Kassila is still the undisputed public face of Amma in Finland. Kassila has always represented and hosted Amma at her Finnish events. Kassila is quoted in nearly every media interview about Amma.

The Amma organization recently started deleting all references to Kassila's role in their organization on the Finnish amma.fi website. They also took offline Kassila's media interviews and PDF files related to his activities within the Amma group. They also deleted references which prove Kassila's position and status inside the Finnish and international Amma organization, including that Kassila is (or now supposedly was): Honorary Chairman and official PR and media contact of Suomen Amma-Keskus R.Y. (Ammacenter Finland), an official expert instructor of Amma IAM (Integrated Amrita Meditation) Technique in Finland and course organizer Amma's Indian HQ ashram where he has a lifelong right to reside. This information was deleted sometime after the July 17th, 2011 and possibly at the about the same time when the Amma organization conspired to hide Kassila's true status.

The international Amma organization is conspiratorial in covering-up Kassila's recognized relationship. In their unsigned dissembling statement, which they post only in Finnish, they try to reduce Kassila's position to that of an unknown and lowly volunteer. Kassila, who has made a film about Amma, recruited Finland’s former Minister of Culture and Miss Finland, Tanja Karpela, and has, according to his media interview, paid a substantial amount of money to the Amma ashram so that he can live and eat there "for free" for the rest of his life.

Your attempt at introducing fear and paralysis into this discussion by inexpertly pointing to Finnish law is noted.

Your weak examples below reveal a desperate attempt to hide the psychological and physical damage and sex abuse being done by Taavi Kassila who used the guise of being a long-time respected spiritual leader within the Amma organization. Amma leaders must have known about Kassila's fake celibacy, sex life and sexual predator behavior because it has been long known in several spiritual circles.

Quote
Subudhinath
* "Rishi" is just a spiritual name given to him, no-one considers him to be a holy man.

"Rishi" is a reserved honorific title in Hindu society. It is not simply a name. If Amma has given Taavi Kassila the title "Rishi" as a name then she has committed religious fraud. It would be a fraud similar to someone who uses the reserved title "Medical Doctor" as a name.

Kassila is actively promoting the myth that he is a holy man through his unremitting PR which makes repeated references to his supposed spiritual sacrifices and understanding of yoga.

Quote
Subudhinath
* He did not manage to get the 17 year old girl to have sex with him, according to her story.

The feeling when reading her story is that this young girl, Karoliina Hallenberg, was clearly shocked and traumatized for many years as if she had been sexually violated. Kassila tried to take advantage of her young age, naivety and weakness for his own selfish sexual gratification. Kassila persistently tried to seduce her on many other occasions despite her clear refusal.

Karoliina reports a classic case of stalking and sexual grooming by Kassila from when she was 16 years old which is disturbingly reminiscent of pedophile behavior. She testified that Kassila is a dangerous combination of “abuse and spirituality”.

The facts are that Kassila had known Karoliina Hallenberg since she was a little girl because he was a trusted and respected visitor to her family home. Later, as a 16 year old girl Karoliina Hallenberg had visited, with her mother, the spiritual center where Kassila was a leading teacher. Kassila invited her to visit him alone dissembling that it would be “nice to talk without your mother present”.

Kassila also went to girl's home when she was alone and barely 17 years old with the silly and false “excuse” of bringing an “Amma video … but having completely different intentions”. She was shocked when Taavi Kassila who is several decades older than her and who publicly claimed to be celibate and a “big yogi” tried to seduce her to have sex.

Karoliina Hallenberg has risked and suffered threats of legal action and social stigmatization to save other women from Taavi Kassila's sexual predations by bravely publishing her eye witness testimony and name on the
Apostle of Love blog about Taavi Kassila's abuses of power, sex and love

Quote
Subudhinath
* A clarification: Kassila's lawyer is indeed involved in the organisation, as a lawyer she does not represent them

How do you know?

Are you claiming that Kassila's lawyer, Kirsi Pettersson, has never given any legal advice to the Amma organization?

Quote
Subudhinath
* There's no doubt that he has migrated to India, however he visits Finland quite often.

Define "migrated". Kassila is frequently not in India. Has Kassila given up his Finnish passport? Do you know how many days Kassila resides in Finland and India each year?

Quote
Subudhinath
Just like you I hope that his position within Amma's organisation gets questioned, but I really dislike the unjust way in which you picture Amma's organization. It's still to soon to tell how well they're handling the situation.

You seem willing to fight for a group which hides sexual predators.

What is your opinion of the statement from the International Ammachi organization published on your forum?

Do you agree with their false claim that Taavi Kassila has no status within both their HQ ashram and Amma Finland organization?

Are you satisfied that they do not even refer to Taavi Kassila's shameful sexual behavior?

What are your feelings about their dishonest and desperate attempt to delete all references to Taavi Kassila from amma.fi?

Anyone can discover this fact, at the moment, by following the evidence via Google's cache as explained on this thread: "Amma Amritanandamayi Org Erase Evidence to Sex Abuser Taavi Kassila"

You write under the name "Subudhinath". Can you prove that you are Simon Rönnqvist, the owner of the Finnish jooga.meditaatio.fi forum, by posting about your comment here on your forum? If you are Simon then I am surprised at your lack of objectivity.

Kassila supporter 'white magic woman' claimed today that Kassila had just returned from a long America tour with Ammachi. The implication is that Kassila's sexual offenses are acceptable in Amma's eyes because Amma knows about the trouble that Kassila has caused her image and thereby her moneymaking mission.

'white magic woman' runs PR, together with others, for Kassila on several forums in an attempt to divert attention away from Kassila's sex abuse activities and away from the Amma organization's ethical responsibility.

Several points worth noting from 'white magic woman' who presumably uses magic to distract from the issues:

1. Amma and her handlers support sex abuser Taavi Kassila
2. Kassila still has an important role in Amma's organization
3. Kassila has been allowed to travel with Amma in USA after the sex scandal broke
4. Kassila has access to vulnerable women all over the States and the world
5. 'white magic woman' emphasizes that Kassila is engaged in spiritual activities when he has actually been busy with legal and PR issues for himself
6. Kassila returned to Finland and not to India which is supposed to be his actual home

'white magic woman' dates do not add up, the Amma North America Tour finished 2 weeks ago. What has Taavi Kassila been doing and why have the timings been obscured?

Hello everybody.

I have known this guy for a long time and have been also to ashram and I am a follower of Amma also (or should I say i follow my inner voice mostly nowadays). I read this article and found a need to write a little myself. I am not a friend of his but these I know for sure.

- Taavi has always had an eye for beautiful women. He has always preached celibacy, turning down sensual pleasures etc. (just like amma teaches) and I have always wondered, "why is he teaching something, he obviously doesn´t agree?

- Taavi likes very much media attention. He paid a lot of money to become a renunciate in ashram, so that he could go straight away to TV-programs in Finland to say everybody he is now a monk in ashram and that he has basically renounced everything wordly...

- Although he says, he lives in India, he usually lives many months a year in Finland. He does usually couple group trips to ashram (amritapuri) and probably earns a bit with these trips. He goes to tv-shows at this time to tell everybody he is a selibate monk also. He also publishes one book every year and promotes them at this time.

- In ashram every renunciate usually does minimum 6 hours selfless service or seva for the ashram. He does only little, he mostly writes his own yoga books and says that it is "seva". You can imagine how it feels for other renunciates, as they have to do the "dirty work".

- Taavi is a celebrity in Finland and has always done very much (up to now) good PR work for Amma, that is why people are now very angry with him and desperately try to hide away these sad stories to protect Amma.

- Amma adviced Taavi to get a lawyer, but he cannot afford for a lawyer, so he must find one for free (just a guess), that is why he has to use a friend amma-lawyer?!? Strange thing allthough, that Amma wants a courtcase if it will only do more damage for him and for her? Is there some hidden wisdom in it?

- Although he might be a bogus man, who lives a doublelives (one is yoga rishi, the other only women know...), he is not a predator. He is probably now very unhappy old sex maniac exposed. Just like many celebritys everywhere, women flock around him also... He just has to play the holy man-role and always some new chick comes along from yoga courses, facebook etc. He is not a violent predator and many times I have heard from women, that he has a lot of charisma. It is very sad, that he has used Amma for his purposes. He should have chosen some tantric guru and preached tantra yoga. People say, that Amma knows everybodys thoughts, then why did She take him as a renunciate to her ashram? To teach a lesson maybe...

ps. I found it funny, that Google translates Taavi Kassila as Winky Kassila. I think it would be more funny, if he should be called as "Kinky Kassila!"

"I know Taavi personally",

Thank you for your direct observations of Taavi Kassila's sexual behavior and relationship to the Amma organization. You are the first Amma devotee to admit that there is a problem and not brush it under the carpet.

Supporters of Amma and Taavi Kassila are attacking the female victims, threatening legal action and distracting from the real issues and damages.
Karoliina Hallenberg wrote and knows that Kassila is "dangerous" because he sexually preyed on her as a teenager.

- Taavi Kassila does not simply chase women, whilst pretending to be a celibate who spreads a vision of Amma as the mother of all people, but he harasses, exploits, seduces, deceives and damages.
- Taavi Kassila knowingly spreads sexual disease, the kind which can never eliminated, to young women which could damage their chances of having babies and damage the fetus in the womb.
- Unlike Taavi Kassila, who hides his genital herpes and multiple sexual conquests, those Taavi Kassila-infected women will be limited to partners who already have the herpes virus or they will risk infecting their lover for life.
- Some of Kassila's victims may not know that they carry a sexual disease which lives inside the spinal cord.
- Taavi Kassila takes no blame and accepts no responsibility for his irresponsible actions but instead angrily blames, shames and insults the women who he has exploited because they complain when they have been hurt by him.
- Taavi Kassila's abuse of trust has damaged women emotionally, psychologically and physically. His uncaring and selfish actions have caused several crises of faith.
- Taavi spread a false understanding of spirituality which will now be copied by other alpha males and create a culture of female victimization
- Taavi Kassila's action are evil, dark and reprehensible and should never be supported or covered up.

Taavi Kassila is the exact opposite of what a spiritual leader should be. Taavi is vain, self-serving, egotistical and materialistic. Kassila was a bankrupt who became successful by linking himself to famous women. including actress Satu Silva, ex-Miss Finland and former Minister Tanja Karpela and Guru Amma Amritanandamayi. Kassila uses women and throws them away when they no longer benefit his desires.

Taavi's false representation as a renunciate and a celibate is a deliberate lie to Amma, Amma devotees, Kassila's readership, audiences, the media and women who he has stalked or exploited. Kassila has used the renunciate image to deceive and calculatingly win the trust of women. Taavi has repeatedly fooled the mother into allowing him physical access to their teenage daughters in his yoga classes. Kassila is a correctly labeled as a predator because he compulsively stalks young women and teenage girls for sex.

Kassila is a sex addict, he has problems and issues with his sexual drive and preferences. He is unable to form a stable, loving relationship with a woman of his own age. Taavi resorts to lies, subterfuges and threats to hide his sexual compulsions.

Amma's order that Taavi should get a lawyer is bad advice. The female victims should be supported and not threatened. Amma is protecting her image and telling Taavi to go to war on the critics. This aggressive Amma-led action is not new. Amma's lawyers tried to suppress a book about Amma, and her followers attacked a local community with iron bars. Amma's actions are not loving or compassionate towards the victims. The Amma organization has accepted no responsibility and taken no visible action against Taavi except a sneaky cover-up of his connection to Amma by secretly deleting every mention of Taavi Kassila's name from amma.fi.

Taavi Kassila is the public face of Amma in Finland, anyone who tries to deny it is being deceptive. Finns are laughing laughing at Suomen Amma-keskus ry. When the Äiti Amritanandamayi Hugging Saint show next comes to Vantaa Energia Areena on October, 15-16 it is recommended that Ammachi prevent Taavi Kassila from exercising his sexual compulsions. MTV3, Helsingin Sanomat, Iltalehti.fi, YLE TV, Helsinki Times and other media channels will surely be watching hypocritical "Winky" Kassila's behavior and 7 päivää may want to show a video of the former film director sleeping alone in his hotel room. There have been other lying "renunciates" like
Swami Paramhamsa Nityananda whose sex tapes rocked India.

Forum Humanum and other venues which promote Taavi Kassila stop supporting his sex quest to manipulate more women and expose his pretense at being a spiritual leader.

Rishi Taavi Kassila has stopped his website, rishi.fi, a few years ago. It demonstrated, as "I know Taavi personally " noted, that Taavi has not given up Finland to live permanently in Amma's ashram as a humble renunciate.

It should not surprise you to know that Kinky Kassila has been seen using his yoga celebrity image to chase young girls at a party of tantra group, MISA, whose international sex trade activities have been subject to criminal charges in Romania and India. The Finnish branch, Natha tantra, was the subject of an YLE TV MOT investigation by Riikka Kaihovaara MOT: Tantrakultin pimeä puoli with blog comments Synninpäästö joogallee. When you add to this fact that Taavi bought prostitutes in Russia and Estonia then you start to realize that Kassila is out of control.

But just when will Amma and the Finnish groups which give support to Taavi Kassila's vain glory path of destruction drop the axe on his sexually and morally dangerous activities?