wow. the sex-with-the guru game. this is an intelligent discussion by people on all sides who are having their hearts' broken. thank you for posting this.
I just found another relevant reference to Gangaji and Eli, written by a skeptic who reluctantly attended one of their satsangs at the urging of a friend who is a devotee. Here it is:
Word on the street was, Eli Jaxon-Bear had stepped away the Leela Foundation shortly after his affair with a student came to light. However, he's back in action again:
I don't know if Gangaji is running a cult or not, but she certainly does cultish things. She is on public access TV here nearly every day. I found out that she encourages her followers to buy her dvd's and request that they be shown on their local public access stations. I live in an area where there's practically a yoga center on every block. One of Gangaji's pals, Andrew Cohen, has his compound nearby. All the programs I've seen are from around 2003. I wind up watching them sometimes because it comes on right after Democracy Now.
I find Gangaji's style very peculiar. She speaks through clenched teeth like an aristocratic woman who is trying to avoid getting wrinkles by preventing herself from smiling or frowning. I catch myself staring at her mouth for most of the program. It just looks so strange. There's also that forced expression of bliss (or constipation?) so many of those guru types seem to cultivate. Gangaji usually invites some audience member up to speak with her. I remember one episode in particular where a thirtyish woman came up. Gangaji took her hand and the woman began talking about her problems. I don't recall the problems or what Gangaji had to say up to that point. What I do remember is that the woman replied to Gangaji - "I'm trying to grasp what you are saying." Gangaji seized on that - "Grasp. Why do you need to grasp?" and on and on and on about the bad selfish grasping ego this unfortunate woman possessed. All she had done was tell Gangaji that she couldn't make sense of Gangaji's obtuse gobbledy-gook. And yet the woman was grateful - grateful to be attacked! Or maybe just being polite since she was in front of an audience? Anyway, the whole interchange was sickening.
And yeah - on Gangaji's website, it looks as though she's doing satsangs with Eli again. I've never seen him and I don't want to.
I wonder if there's a way to get her show off of my public access?