| dorwong2000@yahoo.com 2006-07-26, 8:26 am |
| "I could have been brainwashed...think twice before attending
Yogaville..."
The story of a former IYI student that attended the LYT program at
Yogaville
June 20, 2006
By Genna
I recently stayed at Yogaville as a LYT (Living Yoga Trainee) without
doing any research about the place and I was stunned to find the
allegations against Swami Satchidananda and the incident with Catherine
Cheng on your Web site.
When I read about Catherine Cheng, it struck an emotional chord with me
because I too went to Yogaville after taking classes at the Integral
Yoga Institute in New York. I was doing my teacher certification there
and my teachers kept talking about how wonderful Yogaville was. I was
at a spiritually low point in my life and I decided to go to Yogaville
to forget about my everyday problems.
I intended to stay for 6 months, but after only a week, I decided to
leave because I was convinced that the swamis and the people there are
obsessed with guru worship.
I thought that I was there to do mainly yoga and meditation, but I
could not escape the presence of dead Swami Satchidananda no matter how
hard I tried.
I joined Integral Yoga because I was a big fan of Rodney Yee, who is a
very famous yoga teacher. He teaches at IYI San Francisco so naturally,
I called IYI in New York, in hopes of becoming a yogi like him.
>From the beginning, I had reservations about pursuing the spiritual
side, because I come from a strong Christian background, but the IYI
New York teachers assured me that Integral Yoga would not conflict with
my religion because they believe that "Paths are Many but Truth is
One." They spoke fondly of Gurudev (a.k.a.Swami Satchidananda), about
how he met the Pope and other religious leaders, so I felt relieved
that this was in no way going to be a cult.
However, when I got to Yogaville, everything was different.
There are pictures of Gurudev everywhere in Yogaville, even in female
dorm rooms!
At lunch time, were not allowed to speak for 30 minutes because the
senior swami would tell us and lecture us about Gurudev before being
allowed to speak.
On Saturdays, we had the Kirtan, which is devotional chanting to Swami
Satchidananda. When we had to sing praises to "Holy Swami
Satchidananda," I just balked because I was forced to invoke a spirit
other than the Holy Spirit, which to me, is that of Jesus Christ.
My pastor warned me that this would happen and I started to believe it
when I experienced this at the Kirtan. I grew really nervous and the
chanting just really got to me.
I think people around the community knew something was wrong with me
because everyone started coming up to me to ask if I was okay. Then the
senior swamis and the LYT manager pulled me aside to have a serious
talk with me.
When I told them how unhappy I was about this place, they were talking
to me with this really serious look and told me that I was making a big
issue out of nothing and that all my problems could be addressed.
I really wanted to leave at that point, but they were trying to stop me
from leaving and just talking to me incessantly about solving my
problems so I would stay there.
So without talking to any more people, I wrote a note to my supervisor,
the LYT manager. and left Yogaville as quietly as possible. I had to do
it this way because I was afraid that someone was going to stop me.
Had I stayed there any longer, I believe that I could have been
brainwashed to become the kind of person that the swamis wanted me to
be.
I definitely stood out at that place. I was the only Asian there,
beside Dyananda (senior Swami) and I was one of the youngest people
there.
The men there (old in their 50s) are very strange and I think I made a
mistake of befriending someone that I should not have. I decided to
keep in touch with someone that is not a swami but who lives and works
in the community, and he keeps talking about Tantra as a way to
Kundalini. I have no idea what he is talking about and he keeps writing
these long letters to me in which he explains what I need to do to be
more spiritual.
In some shape or form, I think people like me are sucked into believing
that if we do what these people tell us to do, we will be more
spiritual, and therefore, better human beings. And I believe that
Yogaville accomplishes this by constantly reminding people about Swami
Satchidananda, their way of life, and etc. etc.
I can't really explain it fully, you have to be there to experience it
and feel that these people are getting to you by repressing you then
making you believe whatever they want you to believe.
Anyway, I am glad that I have left Yogaville as early as I did. And I
don't know what would have become of me if had I stayed longer.
I remember being told that there is absolutely NO DATING at Yogaville.
After reading the story of Catherine Cheng, I can totally understand
why.
I thank you for publishing her story and that of Swami Satchidananda
for me and the others who should think twice before attending
Yogaville.
Copyright =A9 2006 Rick Ross.
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