Atmananda Cult (was: violinist to perform benefit)
Richard Bennett
wrote:
>In article <rlfoster-110...@newshost.cc.utexas.edu>
>rlfo...@mail.utexas.edu (Robert L. Foster) writes:
>>Corinne Chapelle, a world-renowned violinist, will play benefit concerts
>>at the Sri Atmananda Memorial School Special Events Center
[snip]
>>Tickets may be purchased in advance
>>through the OAVEF (XXX-XXXX) for a $50 or $20 donation (premium reserved
>>or general seating) or at the door for $25.
>Anyone contemplating attending this event should be aware that this
>"educational" organization is in fact a front for recruiting people
>into a cult. It has as much to do with education, real mind-developing
>education, as Scientology has to do with science. If you wouldn't give
>money to Scientology then don't support this group.
Uh-oh. Some people are going to be *very angry* with you for saying this.
As a former member of the Atmananda cult, I can tell you that they don't
like to hear any sort of comparison of their "group" with high-profile
mind-control cults such as the one you mentioned. They much prefer to
think of themselves are serious students of Indian philosophy, following
a teaching which emphasizes reason and evidence over blind faith and
obedience.
Never mind the leader flies into a blind, screaming, rage when he's asked
a question he can't answer; never mind the epidemic rates of divorce,
child abuse, wife-beating, tax fraud, suicide, nervous breakdowns, and
drug use among his followers; never mind routinely deceiving his
followers into believing he has psychic powers by shocking them with
information gained by having others spy on them; never mind the constant
bickering and power-grabbing among his inner circle in India; and never
mind an educational approach resting on a foundation of manipulation,
selective release of information, and downright deception; this is one
of the Good Gurus, after all.
Or so they would have you believe.
>Mr Foster has been a devotee of this cult for 20+ years, so by this
>time knows the leader K. Padmanabha Menon, Gurudev or Sri Adwayananda,
>as he is variously known very well. Perhaps he could tell us a little
>about what Mr Menon does with the hundreds of thousands of dollars he
>receives from his followers every year?
I doubt that Robert has a clue what happens to the money, as this is not
his department. He's the lead recruiter in Austin, and a damn good one
at that. He recruited me right out of the philosophy department at UT
in 1970, and must be in line for a Gold Star by now. But you see, Robert
is not very well liked by the inner circle in India - there's that nasty
issue of his sexual preference, and strict attitiude toward those sorts
of things on the part of the present guru. He won't even let people with
children born "out of wedlock" come to the compound in Kerala - even
those whose children were fathered by high-profile novelists. But
suffice it to say, the guru, his family, his Malakkara school, and his
software business in Cochin are comfortable, and that his life-style is,
by Indian standards, quite elegant. He's waited on hand and foot
by a splendid cadre of American and French disciples and their children,
some of whom have enjoyed the splendor of his radiance for twenty years
and more. Granted, the children, some of whom are pushing 25 and 30,
have never known the stress and strain of Western life, not to mention
University education, but they are a happy lot, with hardly a care in the
world. Except for retaining their purity, that is, so as to be allowed
the privilege of touching His Blessed Lotus Feet, which generally implies
staying clear of menstruating females and other untouchables from the
village.
But these are things the limited Western mind can't really appreciate.
>Or how about the psychological pressure he puts on people who wise up and
>want to leave the compound in Cochin, India?
You mean like having the teenage children remain in India while their
mothers take brief trips to the US to see their husbands? Why, there's
no manipulation involved in this - the parents are perfectly free to stay
away from the Heavenly Mansion of Anandavadi, in Malakkara, Kerala. OK,
so a few ladies have divorced husbands who wanted out, and insist on
remaining at Anadavadi with the children, what's the big deal? Dad can
still write letters and visit whenever he wants, can't he? As long as he
doesn't speak out against the cult, that is. Some folks would say this
is a fair bargain.
Not.
>Or the martial arts and weapons training all the men are encouraged
>(ordered?) to take?
Oh, that's nothing. Just a brief little folly when the Naxelites were
raiding rich people's homes in the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu and
chopping them up with axes. That's long since ceased to be an issue,
and now the security at the compound is handled by a squadron of armed
Gurkhas and a few of the young boys. Atmananda himself was a policeman
in the employ of the British colonial authorities before turning to
spirituality in, let's see, the late 40's (wasn't that about the time
the British left...hmmm) and was very keen on security. Just being
prudent, that's all.
>Or the problems he's had with the Indian tax authorities, including a
>police raid?
My, this is a low blow. Do you suppose that people should pay taxes
on their income, or what? Surely you know that Religious and Educational
enterprises don't have to do that, even if Software businesses do. OK,
so Indian law differs on this, and everybody has to put some into the
communal pot, you don't expect Westerners to support the ragged Indian
government, do you? Why, the very idea! Anyway, thanks to ten years
of Intense Meditation and lots of lobbying in Delhi, a loophole was
allegedly opened in the tax code, so the money taken in the raid was
returned, if not the smuggled goods. But so what?
>Still, Mr Menon is a very powerful man, isn't he? After all, many of
>his followers witnessed the miracle of him changing the features of
>a statue he didn't like just by the power of his mind! Yes, members
>of this "educational foundation" actually believe their leader can
>change features carved in stone by meditation.
This is completely inaccurate. The statue was made of bronze, not stone.
Just because Guru-power can change the expression on the face of Mother's
bronze, is not in any way to imply a belief in miracle powers of any kind.
OK, so there were those reports of faith-healing, life-extension, cancer
removal, and the homeopathic cure for ALS. Nonsense, total nonsense.
People who believe in reincarnation have no need for faith-healing, after
all. Why even make such claims? Beats me, ask Robert.
But you seem to be saying that people who would commit their children to
the care of the Atmananda cult had better proceed in with caution, if not
circumspection. You aren't the first to suggest this, actually.
Writer Arthur Koestler's book "The Lotus and the Robot" (Macmillan, 1961)
describes a meeting with Atmananda, conducted while the author was
searching about in India and Japan for spirtitual wisdom. For Koestler,
the profound contradictions in the Atmananda teaching were too hard to
swallow:
"The misplaced concreteness and dogmatic rigidity of his teaching acted
as a screen. On the other hand, some of his devotees whom I met in
Bombay and Trivandrum undeniably derived a spiritual benefit from his
courses. Peter, for instance, and the young Brazilian in the garden,
had that quality of stillness and inner peace which I envied.
"To some extent his influence could be explained by the nature of his
message, which satisfied both mystic yearnings and the need to be
rationally convinced - 'the world does not really exist, so why worry -
and moreover I can prove it to you by strict logic.' This combination
of mystic assertion and pseudo-rational proof is as old as the world,
but it does not mean that the teacher is a charlatan, for his proof may
rest on bona fide self-delusion - as in Krishna Menon's case it no doubt
did." (page 51)
Self-delusion. Couldn't have said it better myself. So my advice to
those considering the Atmananda school is this: examine, poke around,
talk to the kids, ask the obvious questions, and don't accept half-baked
answers. This cult is not for everybody, if it's for anybody at all.
Freedom of religion is a wonderful thing, but don't be surprised if the
cult threatens you for expressing your opinion.
RB
--
Richard Bennett Cupertino, CA