Showing posts with label guru. Show all posts
Showing posts with label guru. Show all posts
Saturday, October 11, 2014
!Shut Up! by Dvorah Adler
!Shut Up! An Ancient Mantra for Complete Happiness (The Simple Truth Your Guru, Therapist, AndGrandmother Forgot to Tell You). Dvorah Adler. self-published, 2005. e-book, 133 pps.
https://www.artofliving.org/sri-sri-yoga
https://www.yunusnews.com/how_genuine_is_sri_sri_ravi_shankar
https://answeringaol.blogspot.com/
At first, I didn't know quite what to make of !Shut Up! The words and sentence structure were different from what I had come to expect in most books. But I gave it a careful read anyway.
The essential message is that whining doesn't do one much good. It is better to accept and move on. What we didn't do today we may be able to accomplish tomorrow. So shut up. And then shut up and be happy.
sapphoq reviews says: There is something more to the book than simple advice. !Shut Up! is an Art of Living Foundation book. The Art of Living is a yoga sort of foundation headed up by [a guru by the name of] Sri Sri Ravi Shankar [not the musician by the same name] whose own guru originated transcendental meditation.
I am a non-hindu, non-yoga type, non-guru seeker type of Westerner. I am wary of organizations and foundations which are associated with gurus because of personal reasons involving a once close friend. I hesitate to recommend !Shut Up! although I did enjoy some of the humor in its pages and the message of self-acceptance. Guardedly recommended.
[This e-book was free when I got it].
Friday, October 12, 2012
The Guru Looked Good by Marta Szabo
The Guru Looked Good: A Memoir, Marta Szabo. Woodstock N.Y.: Tinker Street Press, 2009. 344 pps., e-book.
Marta Szabo got herself a guru. Well, two in fact-- one at a time. The first guy was called Natvar. He was abusive. It took seven years to leave him. But she left her boyfriend, apartment, life, and dreams for Natvar's former guru-- the one he himself had before he went bad. She was a woman by the name of Gurumayi and she was associated with a large center in the Catskill Mountains of New York State [which I believe has been since sold] and with one in Ganeshpuri, India. Gurumayi is, as far as I can tell from looking through various Internet sites, the head of the S.Y.D.A. Foundation ®. . And there are bunches of other ashrams around which are also Siddha Yoga ashrams. Unfortunately, the guru Natvar's guru-- Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, the Gurumayi of Szabo's book stands accused of improprieties. Gurumayi Chidvilasanda's guru-- Baba Muktananda-- is dead now but has been similarly accused. These alleged improprieties are documented on such sites as the one put up by Pendragon and now maintained by Daniel Shaw, the introduction being http://leavingsiddhayoga.net/ where a link can be found to more info at http://leavingsiddhayoga.net/frames2.htm . But Szabo's memoir does not go into the accusations as she has some of her own to make.
Szabo spent a decade on staff at the Fallsburg ashram in the Catskills and chronicles how she had put her writing life on hold in exchange for someone else's "I know better how to do your life than you do." Szabo's words on page 341 have the ring of truth:
I began reading books on cults and recognized what
I saw. Over and over, people doing what in their
heart of hearts they didn't completely believe in or
support, but doing it because they thought someone
else knew better. Doing it because they were afraid
to speak up.
sapphoq reviews says: The Guru Looked Good is an excellent book with a crisp writing style that is authentic and clear. Highly recommended to those who are in Siddha Yoga, were in Siddha Yoga, survivors who have left cults, and anyone who is comtemplating "finding a guru." I am looking forward to reading more from Marta Szabo.
Marta Szabo got herself a guru. Well, two in fact-- one at a time. The first guy was called Natvar. He was abusive. It took seven years to leave him. But she left her boyfriend, apartment, life, and dreams for Natvar's former guru-- the one he himself had before he went bad. She was a woman by the name of Gurumayi and she was associated with a large center in the Catskill Mountains of New York State [which I believe has been since sold] and with one in Ganeshpuri, India. Gurumayi is, as far as I can tell from looking through various Internet sites, the head of the S.Y.D.A. Foundation ®. . And there are bunches of other ashrams around which are also Siddha Yoga ashrams. Unfortunately, the guru Natvar's guru-- Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, the Gurumayi of Szabo's book stands accused of improprieties. Gurumayi Chidvilasanda's guru-- Baba Muktananda-- is dead now but has been similarly accused. These alleged improprieties are documented on such sites as the one put up by Pendragon and now maintained by Daniel Shaw, the introduction being http://leavingsiddhayoga.net/ where a link can be found to more info at http://leavingsiddhayoga.net/frames2.htm . But Szabo's memoir does not go into the accusations as she has some of her own to make.
Szabo spent a decade on staff at the Fallsburg ashram in the Catskills and chronicles how she had put her writing life on hold in exchange for someone else's "I know better how to do your life than you do." Szabo's words on page 341 have the ring of truth:
I began reading books on cults and recognized what
I saw. Over and over, people doing what in their
heart of hearts they didn't completely believe in or
support, but doing it because they thought someone
else knew better. Doing it because they were afraid
to speak up.
sapphoq reviews says: The Guru Looked Good is an excellent book with a crisp writing style that is authentic and clear. Highly recommended to those who are in Siddha Yoga, were in Siddha Yoga, survivors who have left cults, and anyone who is comtemplating "finding a guru." I am looking forward to reading more from Marta Szabo.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
The Cult Next Door by Elizabeth R. Burchard and Judith L. Carlone
The Cult Next Door: A True Story of a Suburban Manhattan New Age Cult, Elizabeth R. Burchard and Judith L. Carlone. Bergenfield N.J.: Ace Academics, Inc., 2011. ebook, 345 pps.
Elizabeth R. Burchard grew up in Manhattan. Her parents divorced. Her father was stable but died when Liz was twelve years old. Her mother was whacked out and verbally abused Liz frequently throughout her childhood.
Liz was smart and was in college pursuing her childhood dream of becoming a shrink when she met George Sharkman, a biofeedback technician during the course of his work. He was a charming talker and roped both Liz and her dysfunctional mother in with his words.
He started what is referred to as "The Group," a quasi-therapy group at his home. He had a bunch of women there and a few men, and his two kids and a dog named Ben. He charged the women and the few men forty bucks an hour and his form of therapy devolved into mass marathons and his pick of sex partners. He encouraged everyone to have sex with each other. The author found herself married to a man that she didn't care for. After that broke up, she still stayed in The Group. George Sharkman began to channel "God's Light" but then he began to refer to his own self as God. He started doing a lot of shaking so the group did too. The dog died and George got the group to hang around and sort of hope for the dog's return to life. Ben's decaying maggot-infested corpse was hidden behind the couch and brought out when The Group was in session. The Group was in session as often as George could arrange it-- at forty bucks an hour per participant for as many hours daily as possible, it was worth his while to make it so-- and George also offered individual therapy as he saw fit to add to his income. One day, the Black Dog Cult members were presented with a bunch of pebbles laying on Ben's body and told that Ben had birthed these stones. This started The Group on sucking rocks.
Liz began a photography business as she had become a college dropout and her inheritance from her father went to George Sharkman. She was hoodwinked into taking on George's daughter as a partner and also lived with her for awhile as roommates. She met Judith L. Carlone and Judith's husband. With Judith's gentle questions and friendship, Liz made her escape from all things Sharkman good. Unfortunately, her mother remained behind. George Sharkman died. The dog never was brought back to life. He was returned to his grave near the woods.
sapphoq reviews says: The Cult Next Door shows how easily it is for someone to decide to join a cult. Liz was highly intelligent but she capitulated. Her writing is crisp and she keeps her memoir moving. Highly recommended to any who wish to understand more about how a talkative con guru can seduce folks into joining up.
Elizabeth R. Burchard grew up in Manhattan. Her parents divorced. Her father was stable but died when Liz was twelve years old. Her mother was whacked out and verbally abused Liz frequently throughout her childhood.
Liz was smart and was in college pursuing her childhood dream of becoming a shrink when she met George Sharkman, a biofeedback technician during the course of his work. He was a charming talker and roped both Liz and her dysfunctional mother in with his words.
He started what is referred to as "The Group," a quasi-therapy group at his home. He had a bunch of women there and a few men, and his two kids and a dog named Ben. He charged the women and the few men forty bucks an hour and his form of therapy devolved into mass marathons and his pick of sex partners. He encouraged everyone to have sex with each other. The author found herself married to a man that she didn't care for. After that broke up, she still stayed in The Group. George Sharkman began to channel "God's Light" but then he began to refer to his own self as God. He started doing a lot of shaking so the group did too. The dog died and George got the group to hang around and sort of hope for the dog's return to life. Ben's decaying maggot-infested corpse was hidden behind the couch and brought out when The Group was in session. The Group was in session as often as George could arrange it-- at forty bucks an hour per participant for as many hours daily as possible, it was worth his while to make it so-- and George also offered individual therapy as he saw fit to add to his income. One day, the Black Dog Cult members were presented with a bunch of pebbles laying on Ben's body and told that Ben had birthed these stones. This started The Group on sucking rocks.
Liz began a photography business as she had become a college dropout and her inheritance from her father went to George Sharkman. She was hoodwinked into taking on George's daughter as a partner and also lived with her for awhile as roommates. She met Judith L. Carlone and Judith's husband. With Judith's gentle questions and friendship, Liz made her escape from all things Sharkman good. Unfortunately, her mother remained behind. George Sharkman died. The dog never was brought back to life. He was returned to his grave near the woods.
sapphoq reviews says: The Cult Next Door shows how easily it is for someone to decide to join a cult. Liz was highly intelligent but she capitulated. Her writing is crisp and she keeps her memoir moving. Highly recommended to any who wish to understand more about how a talkative con guru can seduce folks into joining up.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
