I agree with you Earthquake,

spiritual practice is not something separate from life - but should be incorporated into life, so there is no boundary where 'practice' ends and life begins.

I think some people might be using spiritual practice and especially non-dual discourse to escape their lives in some way and live 'on a higher plane' or whatever. I think this is a bit misguided!

I think that I have come across a lot of people in non-dual circles who have just become very cold and cut-off from life. Like Old James, they are really more like sociopaths than they are like human beings!!

Well, some have said that in Hindu, Jain and Buddhist India the reason to seek nondual realization is not to engage more deeply in life and the human condition.

Life is not seen as the medium through which a loving creating God delights in and seeks to share our grief, our hope, our delight.

In the Hindu, Jain and Buddhist systems life, the endless cycle of births, craving, death, rebirth is regarded as manufacturing suffering.

Life is a rat race of craving and suffering and the seeker after nondual realization wants out.

It is no accident that concepts of human dignity, care for the poor and oppressed, the quest to improve society, were produced by belief systems that posit just one life to live and that life is good, and improvable.

There are Hindu and Buddhist groups now teaching social justice, but these came about through exposure to Western concepts of social justice.

IMO rigorous adherance to an undiluted doctrine of nondual quest is a departure from the world of craving. Its no accident that practioners and seekers were expected to live and behave like more monks.

That is why we should distrust any teacher of non dualism who is surrounded by attendants, fancy gadgets and shows too much interest in money and young, attractive followers.

Quote
'Corboy'
> Well, some have said that in Hindu, Jain and
> Buddhist India the reason to seek nondual
> realization is not to engage more deeply in life
> and the human condition.

I can only speak for Vedanta, traditional vedanta. Vedanta is not about not engaging more deeply in life. What actually happens for the enlightened person, is that they able to carry on even more fully in life than before. Scripture specifically advises jnani, enlightened people to carry on their duties, roles and responsibilities.

Quote
'Corboy'

>
> Life is not seen as the medium through which a
> loving creating God delights in and seeks to share
> our grief, our hope, our delight.

Vedanta teaches that all namo rupa, name and form, is name and form of Isvara. We can use the term god here. Since god is all that is sharing, grief, hope and delight are all god itself. So it;s not that god diesnt seeks to share any of these thngs, its that all these things are Isvara, as ISvara, god, is all that is.. So ISvara doesnt share with ISvara. This knowledge takes away seperation and difference. It is the vision of vedanta, advaita. Non duality, i guess it can be called. While still seeing the ultilty of dvaita, duality.

There is a very famous equation in vedanta. It is called a mahavakya. 'Mahavakya's is sanskrit for great comtemplation. One is Tat Tvam Asi. Which means you are that. Human is Isvara. All that ones sees is Isvara.

Quote
'Corboy'
>
> In the Hindu, Jain and Buddhist systems life, the
> endless cycle of births, craving, death, rebirth
> is regarded as manufacturing suffering.
>
> Life is a rat race of craving and suffering and
> the seeker after nondual realization wants out.

It is self evident that there is existential angst for humans. The very perceived need for objects outside of oneself, that are beyond what the human organism actually needs to survive, and the emotional and mental unrest when they dont have them, shows this.

What is also self evident is that humanity has a myriad of platforms that present a salve for this.

Quote
'Corboy'

> IMO rigorous adherance to an undiluted doctrine of
> nondual quest is a departure from the world of
> craving. Its no accident that practioners and
> seekers were expected to live and behave like more
> monks.

This is not accurate in regard to traditional vedanta. There are many texts that support the validity of householders. In fact, the ancient Rishis were mainly householders themselves. Vedanta is not for monks. Vedanta is for the whole world, as it belongs to everyone. Monks, teachers in general, merely have a responsibility to teach others. mostly non monks. It's not a conversion type of process. in fact, there is a strong traditional of teachers who remain householders and go back to their lives.

It is very easy to walk away from everything in society and be a monk, yet scripture that is focused on people in worldly life is immense. Arjuna in Bhagavad Gita is one. Another is Shankara speaking in Bhaja Goivindham. Shankara explicitly teaches about the myriad of roles. They are put into perspective just.

:)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/07/2019 09:16AM by earthquake.

In the last two pages of this forum, so far (excepting messages from Heather, which to me form their own special category):

— Corboy has aptly compared the behaviors displayed by Swartz and some other male reachers to that of wild apes,

— Valma has lamented the fact that so many have their “heads in the sand” and cite “lacking proof” as a reason for maintaining an affiliation or allegiance to a teacher some see as evil. (Lacking proof? Swartz has confessed to various types and acts of misogyny, to killing a neighbor’s dog, and publicly professes that he is not responsible for whatever he does or has ever done, even while his own responses to Heather’s charges all but proclaim his guilt. And...)

—Sahara71 mentions the spiritual strangeness of Swartz ridiculing one of his former teachers for helping people.

—Earthquake weighs in strongly on many matters.

—Ziziz, Rick Archer, and Sahara71 combined to weigh in on some of the the aspects of poor, bored, (self-proclaimed as) enlightened, and not responsible for anything at all, ever, no way, uh-uh, forget it, “the devil made me do it! No, change that. god did! James Swartz. (But he’s innocent of drugging and raping Heather, he says, and she’s not real, just a figment, manufactured by a conspiracy of jealous followers of other teachers who are out to get him. Except,lo and behold, then he suddenly remembered her, and even intimate and embarrassing behaviors she exhibited when she was 14 and 15... Really. So according to James she’s not real, but tell her to shut up about what happened or I’ll share what she did when I was 40 and we were hanging out together when she was 14... Really? And some people don’t see “proof,” to repeat, in James Swartz’s own words?)

Many persons, including Heather, have noted that James Swarts claims that only the divine is responsible for whatever he has done and does in his life. Well, to repeat, for James this has included various forms of self-professed and public bullying, mistreatment of adult women, the proud killing of at least one family pet, lying about spiritual texts and their interpretations, as well as the alleged drugging and rapes of at least one underage girl.

Strange as it seems, James Swartz is partly correct here. At the deepest level of spirituality, one comes into contact with the knowingness that everything one does is in accordance with the will of the divine, of That, of “The Absolute,” Of “The Self.” Truly enlightened people live this way, and universally these people never harm anyone else, and are generally peaceful and kind in demeanor and action. What anger does flash in them is short-lived and does not stick. For example, Nisargadatta could yell at someone one minute and then laugh with them two minutes later.

The scary aspect of this on the earthly level is that people who are not enlightened will misuse knowledge of this teaching to justify any behavior. There is even a convicted serial killer in the USA, who is now elderly, in prison, and approaching death, who told an interviewer that he believed in this teaching, so felt no guilt.

This serial killer and James Swartz share the same belief, and do whatever they want accordingly. The difference is that at least the serial killer is not a hypocrite. He never pretended to be something he wasn’t. He never claimed to be enlightened. The serial killer, unlike what is believed of and confessed to by James Swartz, never committed immoral or illegal acts under the guise of being a “Guru” or a “spiritual teacher.”

Hello to Everyone on this forum.

My name is “Heather”. This isn’t my real name, it’s a pseudonym created by Devon Adler who wrote the book “Guru? The Story of Heather”. Devon took my original account of my terrible time with James Swartz, and wrote a story based on my true story. The themes and general events in Devon’s story and my true account are similar but not exactly the same. When my true story went up on Medium.com 2 years ago…I wrote it all myself…as an anonymous “Jane Doe”…it was a cathartic and healing journey to tell my truth. The story was taken down after a while…after Swartz pressured Medium to do so. I decided to stop writing at that time as well…because, although it was constructive & positive to speak my truth…it was also quite triggering…and I had a lot of PTSD symptoms, as memories and flashbacks came with the writing. I also have a seizure disorder which is a result of the PTSD. My seizures became too intense & debilitating during that time when Swartz & I were “fighting” over the internet ethosphere.

During that time, Traveller and Swartz had emailed each other several times. Swartz attempted to gaslight me through those email exchanges. He revealed that he did indeed know me (when previous to that, he announced he had no idea who I was). He threatened to publically tell people of my “sordid” behaviour of that time; he thought he could scare me away from telling the truth of what he did to me. When I first met Swartz I was 14 years old. He interviewed me (and hypnotized me) at length. He found out a great deal about everything in my life: my family, my relationships, my fears, what I felt sad or guilty about. He used that information to control me. At 14, I’d made some regrettable mistakes as most children do! Swartz knew how to manipulate me through my guilt, fears, and anger towards my parents. Two years ago, when he attempted to scare me away with the email threats—he used the exact same gaslight tactics he used when I was a kid. But it doesn’t work on me now, because I’m an adult and I have wisdom and self-knowledge.

I was reticent to write a comment on this forum, because I’m still dealing with issues of safety. I had asked Traveller to post for me, to give me some distance and the safe space to speak my truth. He was kind enough to post & I thank him for that! Thanks Trav!

Now I’m feeling stronger, I’ve been doing a lot of great work in therapy, and I’m ready to post comments for myself.

I’ll be pleased to answer any questions you folks may have, in regards to my terrible experience with Swartz.

I’m very happy that the subject of James Swartz has appeared on this Cult Education website! JS is a conman who has been running a spiritual cult scam for decades. He’s had various groups of people that he’s collected and discarded over time. Each time he presents himself as a spiritual father figure. He creates a “family” of students (and nowadays he teaches people to be his teachers). He runs his gig for as long as the glue holds, then the “family” disbands and he runs away.

His behaviour holds the same pattern. He lures people in by teaching ancient spiritual philosophy and doctrine of Vedanta (his warped and distorted presentation—it’s how he manipulates people); he presents himself as an enlightenment expert; he appeals to people because he says he is not perfect (and none of us feel perfect but we want to be); he engages in criminal and harming behaviour; people begin to smell the stench and realize he isn’t enlightened after all; his criminal behaviour becomes apparent and people start to fall away from the group (or escape in my case); eventually he has to fold up his tent, pack up his wagon and leave town; then he hides somewhere until he figures out a new scheme, and he’s on to find new seekers, his next victims (aka “family”) and start his scam all over again.

He is a textbook con artist. He is also a rapist. I will tell you more details of my story when it seems the appropriate time. Also you can look back on this thread to read my previous comments.

Unfortunately, Swartz has been running his latest scam for some years now. Could be as early as 2010 or earlier. Perhaps some of his current ex-followers can help me figure this part out. But my point is, people have been following Swartz for a while now without knowledge of his previous crimes.

I’ve never met his current wife Sundari/Isabella, and though some people may see her as a perpetrator like Swartz, I would tend to believe she is probably another one of his victims…mind controlled to be a part of his operation. My impression is that in the last 10 years Swartz has put on a more grandfatherly image. He wrote a totally false book about his past, and gives out the message that he admits he made mistakes…he had transgressed…and sure, he is a mystic by “default”, but now he’s become legit and he’s a good person. I’m here to tell you he is not a good person. I believe he is the same as he ever was. I hope people will take a closer look and scrutinize James Swartz. I hope people will examine how they fell onto the path of JS…and what they are truly getting, or giving away in regards to this criminal.

One more thing…Swartz is a sociopath. He cares for no one and believes everyone is an idiot except himself. He laughs at people while he gets away with his utter bullshit. While followers or seekers sit and listen to him talk…he is laughing at you…he can’t believe you’re so stupid you are following his nonsense…he knows he’s full of it…but he gains great pleasure from manipulating people he believes are inferior to himself. I know these things about Swartz from my own personal experience of being manipulated and harmed by him. I also know it from the multitude of things he told us, back in the day, which reflect his absolute distain and disregard for people. He used to tell me and “Sandy” (see earlier comments to know who she is) how everyone is of the “small self”, idiotic, stupid, lazy, and they didn’t know what we know…our “family” was superior to others because we had the knowledge of Self (capital S). Then he would turn around and berate and abuse us! He often told us what stupid, lazy girls we were. He used to embarrass and torment one of our members, Joseph, because he was gay. Joseph struggled with his sexual identity. He loved and relied upon his guru Rama (we used to call him Rama). Joseph took a lot of abuse from Swartz. I would love to tell you the story of that and so much more!!! No doubt about it—Swartz is a sociopath. Don’t be fooled by the image he puts forward…he actually does not care for anyone but himself. I believe he derives pleasure from harming others.

More to come…

Welcome, MynameisHeather.

You have the right to decide how much to disclose.

If anyone shows up demanding information from you, and in
a manner you find aggressive, insensitive, and rude, you have the right
to tell the person to back off.

If you get any private messages (aka 'PMs') that seem weird
or offensive, please report them to Rick Ross immediately.

Make a copy of the offending message and send it to Rick. His PM
information is here:

[forum.culteducation.com]

If anyone uses too many capital letters when typing, that person
is best ignored.

To MynameisHeather and all others interested in this discussion.

If anyone private messages you or wants more about information from you, click on that persons name.

This gives the persons profile, such as how recently they registered, and very important, all the persons previous posts.

Do a quick look at that persons previous posts and decide if this is someone you want to engage with.

If the person has registered recently and has not posted anything, wait and see them prove if they are trustworthy.

Some say they are journalists. You are the under no obligation to respond to them if you do not want to.

If interviewed you should always record that interview yourself.

Thank you corboy for that helpful information :)

I definitely feel safe here at Cult Ed.

Dear MynameisHeather,

thank you so much for sharing part of your life with us. I hope you can find all the support you need to continue to move forward with your life and live it to the fullest.

You are very brave to come forward and I feel strongly that other women who have been subject to abuse by spiritual leaders will take strength from your willingness to share openly what you have been through.

Please do not feel any pressure to disclose anything that will make you feel uncomfortable. You have every right to privacy and respect.

S.

Thank you Sahara71 for your support.

You may know how difficult it can be to speak truth to power...and yet it's so important to speak my truth...important for my healing and my life.

I hope others will find strength to speak their truth. I really appreciate this forum on Cult Education...it's an opportunity to share knowledge and possibly help others to avoid abuse by the man who abused me.

We are all learning. And those of us who have had our power taken away...we are taking it back.