I was just flipping the channels and encountered a broadcast of the woman who goes by the name Gangaji. I have to admit I found her charismatic and attractive, and much of what she was saying struck me as wise, or at least interesting. I liked the fact that the audience would often laugh at things she said, and she seemed to be able to be self-deprecating. Apparently her HQ is near where I live, and it would be easy for me to attend a meeting.

That said, there are strong warning bells going off around the whole idea of looking into this further. The same thing that attracted me to her on the broadcast -- the loving way she would hold the hand and sweetly look into the eyes of people who came to the stage to converse with her -- struck me as probably too good to be true. The people who came to talk with her on stage about their spiritual conundrums seemed too worshipful of her. She seemed to discourage this somewhat, which was a plus, but still they all seemed to look at her a little too reverentially.

I'm a fairly lonely person in a difficult time in my life, looking for meaningful emotional connections, which most likely makes me vulnerable to stumbling into cultish traps, if this is one. Usually I can smell them a mile off, as they are usually imbecilic and simplistic in their analysis of the world. This woman's chat seemed a lot more sophisticated than the run-of-the-mill new age goofballs that I'm familiar with, as she seemed to encourage free thought. Can anyone here fill me in on what they know about this person and her Foundation? Is this a cult, a group of misguided flakes, or a genuine group of spiritual thinkers with minds of their own?

See [www.culteducation.com]

Gangaji spent a short time in India. I don't remember what her former name was - can probably search for it online. She took the name Gangaji either while in India, or upon returning.

She returned from her short sojourn in India as an "enlightened being. " She teaches others not to follow teachers, but to listen to their inner guidance. Her presence is staged with calming music, dim lights, incense and devotional prayers. She used to be active in Marin County, California. I don't know her current base.

Many who left other cultish groups turn to Gangaji, saying "she's the anti-teacher teacher" "She tells people to listen inside themselves and not follow her alone."
Meanwhile, those same followers return repeatedly to sit at her feet, travel with her for spiritual retreats, and place her pictures on home altars.
Her words seem to be the same as other New Agey self-help teachers.
I met her at a party once, held by one of her followers.
Gangaji wouldn't speak with me, however, when I said hello.
(Maybe I wasn't spacey enough?)

Just my observations from being acquainted with a few of her followers.

Thanks very much for the thoughts. They echo some of the things I noticed in the TV show. Namely that she did seem to encourage free thought, etc., but that there was a definite "cult of personality" being acted out nonetheless by her followers, who when they spoke with her talked about how they bought plane tickets from far off places to come see her and be healed of their emotional turmoil. This seemed at odds with what she was saying overtly. I also noticed on her website that the price for seeing her in person seems a lot higher than I would expect from someone who is selflessly seeking to enlighten. Her ticket prices are on the level of a Rolling Stones concert, while I can see other authors speak anywhere from free to $20 at local reading events. If she really wanted just to get the message out, why the high prices to see her in person? Again it seems to speak of a "cult of personality" type deal, where the privilege of seeing her in person is exalted through the prices one must pay to experience it.

I suppose in the end what appealed to me on seeing the show was she seemed to express emotional closeness to her followers through holding their hands and looking into their eyes as they spoke. That probably says more about my desire for a nice girlfriend than any desire for a guru.

Thanks again for the feedback, Toni!

Gangaji comes from the Advaita tradition of self-inquiry. Advaita (non-duality) is a branch of the Vedanta school of Hinduism. Advaita was started by Ramana Maharshi and H.W. Poonja (also knowns as Poonjaji or Papaji. Poonja was also Andrew Cohen's guru.

I have seen Gangaji 3 times. The first time was in 1997 or 98 (my first Advaita experience) and I was not impressed at all, to say the least. She was OK, but I didn't like the whole money vibe. After her satsang, they showed a slick fundraising video that was just so blatant and cheesy that people were laughing during the screening.

I've seen her twice since then (2001 and 2004). Both times she appeared with her husband, Eli Jaxon-Bear, who's also an Advaita teacher. I liked her better that time because there was no fundraising pitch and I enjoyed the interplay between the two of them. Also, I was more used to Advaita satsangs (teaching meetings) at that point.

I still believe in Advaita's basic tenets, but I'm really over most of the American and European satsang teachers, because inevitably a guru-like following starts to develop around them.

Quote
Toni

Many who left other cultish groups turn to Gangaji, saying "she's the anti-teacher teacher" "She tells people to listen inside themselves and not follow her alone."
Meanwhile, those same followers return repeatedly to sit at her feet, travel with her for spiritual retreats, and place her pictures on home altars.

This is exactly what I've said in previous threads. I don't think there's anything inherently dangerous or bad about the Advaita philosophy or the teachers themselves. The problem is that many people come to Advaita from a Guru path (mostly ex-Gurumayi/Syda Yoga people), where they are used to treating the guru with abject devotion. Consciously or unconsciously, they start to treat the Advaita teachers the way they treated their guru, and that's when the problems start.

These teachers have supposedly had a spiritual awakening where their personality/egos dissolved, yet when people start to treat them like they're better, wiser and more spiritually advanced than the rest of us, they start to develop attitudes. They also play favorites, even though they're supposed to love everyone unconditionally.

I've googled "gangaji" and I'm happily surprised that there's very little dirt on herself and her organization. This is particularly remarkable since she has quite a loyal following and an apparently rather well run and well-oiled organization that has made a rather successful cottage industry out of marketing her teachings.

I've never seen her live, I don't consider myself "spacey", I go into events like this with an open mind and a healthy skepticism and I am planning on attending one of her weekend retreats in the Fall.

My bottom line is that for as long as self-styled gurus do not claim to be the only avenue to enlightenment, do not charge exorbitant fees to attend their events, fund-raise to build monuments as a testament to themselves or actively encourage a sycophantic dependency from their devotees, then whatever their human failings are, if their message rings true and points to the "Truth" of ourselves, then what could be the harm in becoming enthusiastic followers of what they say?

Arnel

I saw her on tv years ago and really liked her. She was teaching something I needed to learn at the time. I have since learned that one of the primary no-no's with satsang is that you don't share it with or in any way try to convert others. I met a guy who was so thrilled that I'd asked him if he'd heard of it because even his best friends didn't know about it. He said you are taught to never bring it up unless someone asks you about it first. I tend to want to credit, right off, any group that doesn't focus on bringing others "over".

But given that, isn't Gangaji violating that in a big way by televising her satsang?

Regardless I get a good vibe from her. Her inner peace seems truly genuine and I like the joy that seems to bubble up when she sees someone get something for the first time.

Quote
livingthequestions
I have since learned that one of the primary no-no's with satsang is that you don't share it with or in any way try to convert others. I met a guy who was so thrilled that I'd asked him if he'd heard of it because even his best friends didn't know about it. He said you are taught to never bring it up unless someone asks you about it first. I tend to want to credit, right off, any group that doesn't focus on bringing others "over".

I've never heard of that "rule" before and I've been to see many satsang teachers.

Quote
avesraggiana
I've googled "gangaji" and I'm happily surprised that there's very little dirt on herself and her organization.

Looks like we spoke too soon:
[home.comcast.net]

[guruphiliac.blogspot.com]