SwamiG:

Please clarify a few points.

You said, that you are "self-supported" through a "military stipend."

What kind of military stipend is that?

You also said, "YES there is a non profit..." and you referred to "donations."

Does this mean that you have created a tax-exempt religious nonprofit corporation, which receives those donations?

If so, what is the name of that nonprofit corporation?

Does the nonprofit corporation pay for any of your expenses?

You inferred that you are "a teacher
worthy of...hire."

Does this mean that you are hired and/or charge fees for services?

If so, how does your fee structure work?

Quote
SwamiG
You don't understand
Shaktipat and so it MUST be either drugs or hypnosis ?

SwamiG, with respect, I would genuinely be interested to hear your description of the transmission of Shaktipat.

From the point of view of someone who gives it, precisely how does it work?

For the receiver, does it not involve, for example, the imbibing of ganga or certain mental or emotional preparations such as chanting or focussing on one particular image or idea?

Hello,

My name is John A. Lobur and I am a (recently) tenured professor of Classics (Greek and Latin Language and History) at the University of Mississippi (Oxford). I hold a PhD. in Classical Studies from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and I have recently published a book on the interaction of culture, ideas and power in the transformation of the Roman government from a republican to imperial system.

Here is an online peer review of this book: [bmcr.brynmawr.edu]

First off, I want to offer Rick Ross my sincere appreciation for this website. Some years ago when I started my spiritual journey in earnest, this website and its plethora of information was priceless in weeding out the false teachers and blemished traditions in my search for a teacher. Because of this site alone, I decided to forgo any interest in Kundalini Yoga (Yogi Bhajan) or Swami Chetananda. When I found Guru SwamiG, she was up front about her early involvement with the Holy Order of Mans, and there was excellent information (such as news articles) here on its flawed founder Father Blighton. . . I also knew she had been involved with ISKON (again, great information here). However I decided that her involvement, limited to a short period of time, and her decisions to leave each organization, allayed my initial concerns

I have been a student of Guru SwamiG for about two years now, and I help administer a facebook public profile page dedicated to her. I have more to write but cannot do so immediately as it is in the middle of the day and I have obligations. I will say off the bat that it is easy for those unfamiliar with her organization or tradition to have concerns with what appears to be cult-like attributes. Upon closer scrutiny, however, one would see that the evidence is prima facie only and quite superficial.

I would be happy to answer any questions one might have with regard to this Guru's organization to the best of my ability. My friends, family and colleagues would hardly tell you that I am involved in a cult.

John A. Lobur.

More later

Quote
indiaspark
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9M9Edz0N5M

Take a look at this video to view the insanity that these people are into. Larry is now Rohan !

Try watching this video of "Rohan" on mute while listening to Afroman's "Because i Got High." It's hilarious.

[www.youtube.com]

John A. Lobur:

Thanks for coming here to answer questions.

You have mentioned Swami G's background concerning her involvement with groups called "cults," such as the Holy Order of Mans and ISKCON.

You have cited your educational background.

What is Swami G's educational background?

Did she graduate college?

Does she also have a post-graduate degree?

Please also clarify a few points made by Swami G.

She stated, that she is "self-supported" through a "military stipend."

What kind of military stipend is that?

She also said, "YES there is a non profit..." and also referred to "donations."

Does this mean that there is a Swami G related tax-exempt religious nonprofit corporation, which receives donations?

If so, what is the name of that nonprofit corporation?

Does the nonprofit corporation pay for any of Swami G's expenses and/or afford her any sort of compensation?

She inferred that she is "a teacher
worthy of...hire."

Does this mean that Swami G is hired and/or charge fees for her services?

If so, how does her fee structure work?

Dear rrmoderator,

I will with pleasure do the best I can but I want to make it absolutely clear that I am not hereby answering for Guru Swami G, nor was I asked by her to represent her.

I am doing this on my own.

As far as I know, my Guru's educational background is a college degree. This is an assumption, though I have heard her mention taking classes and she states that she was an Army nurse. If she has a degree, I do not know where from as it did and does not matter to me whether or not she has an academic degree.

As far as I know she does not have a post graduate degree.

Swami G claims that the military stipend referred to is for PTSD incurred as a result of sexual assault in the army.

According to a recent interview, she claims to have wrangled with the military for 20 years in order to get these benefits. . . she mentions these benefits twice and her interactions with the VA twice (unfortunately the video FLV doesn't have a minute and second marker on it or I would cite it that way), first at a little under 1/4 of the way through the interview and second a little over a half way through. She says she wrangled for so long because they had at first thrown her case out because she had also received earlier sexual trauma as a child that could have caused the PTSD.

Here is the interview (#34 on the Buddha at the Gas Pump website).

[batgap.com]

Quote
rrmoderator
Does this mean that there is a Swami G related tax-exempt religious nonprofit corporation, which receives donations?

The monthly donations I have sent (according information on my paypal account) currently go to Zen Way, and prior to August 1 of this year, my personal paypal records show DBA:Zen-Way. I do recall discussion about profit/non-profit status in the ashram and that things are on a non-profit basis.

Quote
rrmoderator
Does the nonprofit corporation pay for any of Swami G's expenses and/or afford her any sort of compensation?

I assume this is the case but I do not know the details. Sometimes on special occasions the students, out of gratitude, independently pool their monies to buy her gifts such as flowers or a small vacation (or recently a little Swarovski crystal). . . I myself have managed the money for these gifts from time to time. In all seriousness the amount of money coming in through donations is, to all reasonable appearances, very small -- I mean there are so few of us that its almost like we're a club -- so for me personally getting concerned about the financial management of the organization never really was an issue. I also independently asked people to contribute to a fund to finance a small ad campaign that I ran on facebook and I kept everyone abreast about the money coming in and how it was spent.

Quote
rrmoderator
She inferred that she is "a teacher
worthy of...hire."

Does this mean that Swami G is hired and/or charge fees for her services?

If so, how does her fee structure work?

Well, Swami G was admonished by her Guru never to charge money for instruction and she told us this point blank up front. In the past it has been clear that not everyone was donating and some of us, upset at all the freeloading, suggested that there might be a monthly fee and that if one could not afford it one could ask to be exempted from it. She absolutely refused to allow even this.

In the past, she used to (sporadically) send out a monthly reminder that if one appreciates the instruction given (and she does provide a good deal of personal instruction), the proper thing to do would be to donate. Upon being asked what an appropriate donation would be, she suggested taking %1 of annual income and donating %10 of that monthly. This was just a rough rule of thumb, and by no means a requirement.

When she stopped sending out the reminder for a while, I often took it upon myself to remind my fellow students that the proper thing to do is donate.

It is well known amongst us that not everyone donates (some have never really donated at all). Some are honestly too impecunious to do so, though there was and probably still is a good deal of freeloading going on too.

I can say from personal experience that Guru Swami G started communicating with me well before I was donating. There has never has been any charge of any kind for anything I received. Though former students have criticized her none have ever alleged that they were charged for anything.

Those who have no interest in exploring Guru Swami G's path can consult her and for this she does ask for a donation (that can be waived due to exigent circumstances or indigence). However this is primarily to weed out flakes and selfish people who want to waste her time. One can find more information about this here: [www.guruswamig.com]

Though this information is somewhat informally presented and restricted to my own personal experience, I do hope it clarifies things to some degree.

Sincerely,

John A. Lobur.

John A. Lobur:

So don't you know if the donations to "Zen-Way" are tax deductible?

Yes, donations to Zen Way are tax deductible.

Quote
rrmoderator
John A. Lobur:

So don't you know if the donations to "Zen-Way" are tax deductible?

You know, damn good question. . . I assume they are but oddly (and very embarrassingly) enough I have never tried to claim them . . . then again when I was Catholic I never deducted my donations to the church either. If you lived in my area I'd gladly let you see my tax returns, even paypal transactions with the ashram.

Wait. I DO know there was an Nonprofit tax number a little while ago because when we were setting up flyers for local meditation groups (which currently appear to be pretty limited in their success) . . . there we go, just found it. . . . quoting from the brochure : Non-Profit Tax ID #20-2740009. I'm not sure if the nonprofit is still under that number.

There have lately been changes in the Ashram structure and I think Ron Fried (Hridaya) is handling contributions now. Things may have been restructured a bit but I'm pretty sure that some time well before late Spring and the beginning of the Summer the nonprofit was in existence. . . But there was talk a little while of getting the nonprofit in proper order now that the structure of the ashram is changing.

I'm not the man with all the answers but this is some of what I know.

John A. Lobur.