[Wow .. What a pleasant surprise! Reading through Quora yesterday found someone who has elaborated on something I had touched upon - controversies related to Isha. Not just that, it has some of my blog posts also referenced!! Am replicating the Quora article here.]
As recently as July 2017, it has been categorically proven in the Chennai High Court that there is no encroachment of forest land by Isha Foundation. But I doubt if the lies spread by vested interests are to stop here - I see too much ignorance from common public and too much money being spent in spreading this lie online!
Source:
https://www.quora.com/Are-the-allegations-on-Sadguru-Jaggi-Vasudev-true/answer/Raj-Vuppaladhadiam
OK. I will try to list the allegations and corresponding answers that I see as logically fit, backing with facts and proofs that I found, unlike some other 'opinions' listed here.
The really impatient readers can go through the short answers and be happy with it (or unhappy as you please)! Long answers for some of the questions are given down below.
(1) Sadhguru killed his wife
Short answer: No, he did not. A case was registered 7 months after she died and it was later dismissed as baseless upon finding no proofs.
(2) Isha Yoga center established shiva linga but claim it is not religious
Short answer: A linga is an ellipsoid form. Ellipsoids cannot be claimed as a religious form. Such lingas / ellipsoids have been found almost all over the world.
(3) He has a helicopter for his own use.
Short answer: Nobody knows who owns such a chopper! He sometimes get to use a chopper. It is not out of the donations given by volunteers for Isha social projects though.
(4) Isha foundation has hacked into e-mail ID’s of bloggers, who blog against Sadhguru
Short answer: One of the most ridiculous and laughable allegations, especially since it is not backed with any facts or proofs whatsoever! Just as ridiculous as my claim that anti-Isha people hacked into my FB account because I supported Isha. There is no long answer for this. I cannot fight with perceptions people have.
(5) More than 1500 people are initiated into Brahmacharya whereas his daughter was married. How is this justified?
Short answer: First off, only 200 odd monks are there in Isha Yoga Center initiated into Brahmacharya. Just as those who question that, Sadhguru himself has no right to initiate his daughter into Brahmacharya if she wants to marry. Sadhguru himself has conducted hundreds of marriages for other people in the Isha Yoga Center also. So, it is basically people’s choice!
(6) Sadhguru betrayed Rishi Prabhakar
Short answer: It is one person's opinion versus another person's opinion. There are no facts to prove it this way or that way. I will still provide a long answer for this.
(7) Promotes Multi-level marketing
Short answer: I would love to see Isha foundation actually be able to do that! Somebody should suggest to them about it. By the way, whoever said this gave no proofs for it. Again a perception, not worth fighting against.
(8) Deforestation done by Isha Yoga Center / Isha Yoga center occupying forest land / Isha Yoga center being cause of elephant deaths
Short answer: TN Forest department has cleared that there was no deforestation done by Isha Center and that it is not in elephant corridor. I would rather go with their statement than somebody else who claims otherwise.
(9) Isha Yoga center has illegal constructions of more than 40,000 square feet
Short answer: This is probably the only legitimate concern if there is any. There was a case file in the Chennai high court on this matter. The government has confirmed the approvals for all pending buildings in the Isha Yoga Center. So, this is no longer a legitimate case (This update is recent, as of July 2017).
(10) Local tribal authorities at Velliangiri hill has filed a petition at Madras HC
Short answer: There was a private group created in February 2017 called "Velliangiri tribal protection society" with the exclusive aim of defaming Isha Yoga Center by hook or crook. They filed a case in the Chennai High Court that the AdiYogi statue was built without approvals. The case is under hearing and will be concluded in due course. If there is strength in the case, the verdict will come out accordingly. A dummy organization created in Feb 2017 cannot claim to be a tribal authority within a month :) Also, Isha Foundation has clearly published records showing Government approvals obtained for making the AdiYogi Shiva Statue.
(11) ‘Poovulagin Nanbargal’ has requested for interim ban for Mahashivarathri celebrations at Isha Yoga centre
Short answer: This organization has always been against Indian cultural festivals and troubling Isha Foundation from long. The court has pushed off the hearing and the Mahashivarathri celebrations did happen well in 2017. For the last 3 to 4 years, they have tried to interrupt such celebrations and have been dismissed by the courts every time for lack of any basis. (Sometimes makes me wonder why this Poovulagin Nanbargal group targets only Indian cultural festivals! Am not sure what else they have really done as an organization for the society.)
(12) Modi came for Isha's Mahashivarathri celebrations!!
Short answer: This is not even an allegation. It is a complaint and that has to be taken to the PM Office of India, if anything. Also, there is no right for anyone to question Mr.Modi for visiting a Shiva statue! Now, he has not visited Tamilnadu earlier for political reasons probably! He in fact had visited Ms.Jayalalitha when she was down, visited Chennai during 2015 floods before the state CM did and even had visited Chennai for Ms.Jayalalitha’s death. Still, people may have grudge against Modi not supporting JalliKattu issue openly. That doesn't mean anything though to be taken against Isha Foundation. Most of the people who allege this should get a life and take their grievances with the State Government.
(13) Sadhguru does black magic
Short answer: This is not even a good, laughable joke. The persons claiming so give no proofs, just some opinions and random statements. Whether black magic exists and if somebody can do black magic or not is a very subjective matter. So, am not going to deal with such illogical stuff here.
(14) Sadhguru was arrested for selling narcotics in 1970
Short answer: Second most ridiculous allegation because he would have been 13 years of age in 1970 and has been proven to be in high school as per the school records! There are no proofs shown (as usual) by those allege this. These are just fiction created by people who want to grab the lands that Isha Foundation is on now.
Now that, I have dismissed most of them, let's look at the long answers for the real questions.
(1) Sadhguru killed his wife
No, he did not! Sadhguru’s wife, Vijaykumari, attained Mahasamadhi in the year 1997. In the yogic culture, "Mahasamadhi" is an act of intentionally and consciously leaving your body. The Oriental culture has seen many Tibetan, Hindu and Zen Masters such a this graceful exit from this world. This is seen as the ultimate and a feat that requires utmost dedication and determination in one's yoga Sadhana. It is saddening that such a person is not looked upon with reverence for this feat.
About 7 months after the death, the New Indian Express newspaper reported in August that a case had been filed in the Bangalore police station against Sadhguru, accusing him of causing the death of his wife. The case was transferred to the Coimbatore Police. However, 8 months later, a news report notes that the case was closed after investigation by police, who found no wrongdoing and concluded that there was no case for further investigation.A case of murder or similar accusations being closed as having no evidence either means the case was closed because of “pressure”, or the case was opened because of “pressure.” Which is the case here? It is hard to find any “hard” evidence because of the very nature of such “pressure”. However, the New Indian Express and the Tamil magazine Nakeeran noted that the local DMK MLA – DMK is one of the political parties in Tamil Nadu – had assured that “Jaggi would be put in jail.” (this is translated from Tamil).That gives a possible clue. Probably the case was opened upon pressure. For the police to close a case in a few months citing no evidence, despite pressure from the local MLA, probably means there wasn’t even a shred to pick up and make a case out of. This is conjecture of course, but I think this makes it reasonably clear that there was some pressure for them to forcibly file and make a case out of it.
For more details in this case, am referring to someone who has obviously done a lot of research on this topic:
Some other intellectuals claim that Sadhguru fled to the USA to escape prosecution. I am surprised to hear such arguments because he is very much in India for last several years now and no action has been taken yet!
There are those who claim that the case was dismissed because he was a godman. People should remember that he was just a yoga teacher who had taught hardly 1000 meditators probably in 1997. He was not even popular outside Coimbatore area. So, just this knowledge rubbishes that claim.
(2) Isha Yoga center established shiva linga while claiming to be non-religious
A linga is an ellipsoid form. Ellipsoids cannot be claimed a religious form. The science and logic of creating a linga is given in detail here:
The incredible thing is that Linga form is found not just in India but all over the world. In Africa, there are terracotta lingas used for occult purposes. In Greece there is a temple with a linga known as the “Navel of the Earth.”
One more link for those interested in knowing more:
If you are really scientifically inclined, go through these links for understanding how energy is linked to the phenomenon of ellipsoid form:
So, this was a science well understood by the ancients which we are just waking up to.
Just because the form of linga was extensively used in Hindu culture, it does not belong to a religion alone. A form is a form afterall! It’s like claiming iPhone belongs to Christianity because Steve Jobs was a baptised Christian.
(3) He has a helicopter for his own use
Nobody knows who owns it! Neither those who raise it as an issue nor I. He sometimes get to use a helicopter. Even I have seen it in photos and videos. But one has to note that as a Non-Government Organization, they are subject to as strict as a Income Tax regulation audit as any other. So, one thing that can be ruled out is that it is illegal to own one and has been bought illegally.
If the problem people have is with him using a luxury vehicle, here is an answer to such people.
- Why do you use a smartphone when you can use a basic fixed line telephone with manual keypad?
- Why do you use a toothbrush when you can use a neem twig which is more effective and eco friendly?
- Why do you use a more faster laptop or computer when anyways the five year old laptop or computer does the job for you?
- Why do you want a faster motorbike when the old one is perfectly in good shape?
Most of your answers will align towards changing needs, being more efficient, being more effective, being faster, being available 24x7, being able to have more free time to attend to more aspects of life, being able to have time for your own self, being more comfortable and all.
Don't you think travelling through a faster car or chopper is not sensible then? You probably think spiritual gurus can close their eyes and manifest where ever they want to be. Or for the sake of austerity they should travel in a local train or bus. But then do you think it aligns to any of the stuff in above paragraph? No.
By the way, Sadhguru drives a bullock cart with the same aplomb as he drives his bike or his car or a chopper for that matter. All this said and done if you look at his contribution to the world, you won't be asking this question. He is 60 right now (born in 1957) and very young people like you and me will find it extremely difficult to work for 18-20hrs a day. But he does that day after day after day, sleeping hardly 3 to 4 hours per day. He meets 1000s of people everyday. There are no off days for gurus like him. When he is travelling, it gets even more hectic. There are people who assist him on these visits and feel exhausted after one such trip. He just goes on to make another trip!
Sharing by a volunteer who joined him on one such recent trip: Journey with the Divine – A Volunteer Shares - The Isha Blog
From farmers to CEOs, saints to scientists, youngsters to senior citizens, he meets all these people to inspire them to do something for the society, to spread happiness and of course for collecting donations to the innumerable social projects started by Isha Foundation. Some of the social project achievements are:
- 7200 kids studying in 9 Isha Vidhya schools across TN and Andhra Pradesh. 5000+ kids are studying in Scholarship. Rest on subsidized academic fees.
- Over 30,000 children in Government schools provided additional learning support every year for last 5 years. Additional teachers employed to coach the children. Now more schools are getting added to that list: Isha Vidhya to extend support to 3,000 govt. schools in Chittoor
- Over 3 crore tree saplings planted through Project Green Hands (PGH). PGH claims over 60% tree survival rate. But even considering the standard 25% survival rate that many other claim, it still comes to a staggering 75 Lakh trees surviving.
- Over 1000 farmers grouped in & around Coimbatore as a farming society and helped in training for organic farming and also given saplings for their farms.
- Conducting rural olympics called Isha Gramotsavam with over 10,000 participants and 880 teams competing in a league manner initially and culminating in a final event on a specific day. Thousands of villagers have come out of drug and alcohol addiction in Tamilnadu alone due to these game events. Can one even imagine the effort required for conducting such an event, year after year?
- There are at least 9 mobile clinics that operate through the year that has done medical treatment to over 50,000 people every year. Regular health check camps, Eye check camps, Dental check camps are conducted free for the villages
All this is apart from the millions of people who have done Isha Yoga programs and have experienced physical & mental benefits out of it!
He recently met with the students of IIT Delhi. Here is a video of that:
Here is a video of him talking to journalist Arnab Goswami couple of days before that:
So, instead of asking why Sadhguru is travelling in a particular bike or car or plane, I suggest we can ask what we can do to make our society a better place to live and assist with that.
(4) More than 1500 people are initiated into Brahmacharya whereas his daughter was married. How is this justified?
First off, only 200 odd monks are initiated into Brahmacharya by Isha Foundation. There are over 1500 people who are either part-time volunteers or full-time volunteers at the Isha Yoga Center.
Over 2 million people have done Isha Yoga programs since its inception till 2017. Don't trust me - search for "isha total volunteers" in Google and you will be redirected to the relevant link automatically.
Objectively, we are talking about 0.0001% of those who have done the Isha yoga programs!
Though, this looks very insignificant, it is not so for anybody who has a family member that became a monk! Trust me, I know it first-hand.
There was a case filed against Isha Yoga Center initiating two ladies into Brahmacharya and holding them by force against their will. The Chennai High Court has dismissed the case. Noting that as of now no material is on record to believe that they are under illegal detention in the Isha Yoga Centre, the Bench said, “ Prima facie, we are satisfied that they are staying on their own wish, and hence no relief can be granted as prayed in the petition.”
A very close friend of mine too is a monk now with Isha Foundation. There was lot of resistance in his family at that time when he decided to take monkhood in 2007–2008. My wife and I used to counter his family members saying they would like to appreciate Vivekananda's wisdom, would love a Vivekananda to come from the neighbouring house, just not from their home! However, to their credit, his family has made peace after seeing him truly happy with the path he has chosen. They keep visiting him at the Isha yoga center and vice-versa.
Just as those who question how can somebody be initiated into Brahmacharya, Sadhguru himself has no right to initiate his daughter into Brahmacharya if she wants to marry!
Sadhguru has conducted hundreds of marriages at the Isha Yoga Center. If interested, anybody can apply with them for the same too! If anybody is interested in taking up monkhood, they can for sure apply for that too with Isha Foundation. I am sure Sadhguru would have no issue initiating them also if they satisfy the conditions. I have written a couple of Quora answers already in this regards here:
(5) Sadhguru betrayed Rishi Prabhakar
There is no allegation or fraud here. It is one person's opinion versus another person's opinion. There are no facts to prove it this way or that way. As I said earlier, let's talk about facts and no point in quibbing about opinions.
The source comes from one Mr.Ravi. Rishi Prabhakar (who expired in 2014) never himself said anything about Sadhguru. However, Rishi Prabhakar’s disciple Ravi (who is a Guru himself) did go on record about this and wrote the following in a blog comment in 2007:
“The arguments and counter arguments about Jaggi and his life are interesting. One fact I wish to share is we both got trained by Guruji Rishi Prabhakar in the years 1984-86. We both took SSY teachers training together in Gommatagiiri near Mysore. We did SSY classes together and we started the Hyderabad center of Rishi Samskruti Vidya Kendra under Guruji. Then he was sent by Guruji Rishi Prabhakar to Coimbatore to start center there. There he slowly left the organization and started his own. He renamed himself as Sadguru Jaggi Vasudev and became popular. His Guru Rishi Prabhakar will not claim him to be his student as Jaggi has not lived up to his word. There is no secrecy in these matters. Jaggi himself will accept it (I still believe he is truthful). I have not contacted him so far after he left Guruji Rishi Prabhakar."
Apart from Raviji’s statement, there is no other factual proof one can find online. If you want to know more details, there is someone who has done some direct research with the involved people and has documented it here: Sadhguru and Rishi Prabhakar: a curious connection!
The author of the article has concluded it well:
"After enlightenment, Sadhguru taught yoga on his own for a while. Then he decided to join with other organizations. In this phase, I am reasonably certain that Sadhguru was involved with SSY, possibly as a teacher. We need more factual details to establish the story entirely here. But it is possible that Sadhguru went to Coimbatore on SSY related work and recognized his connection with that place. This is when Sadhguru started cutting off from SSY to be on his own again with his Sahaja Stithi Yoga. So this is the possible story and there is nothing fraudulent here as some critics allege. I conclude that blaming Sadhguru for his Rishi Prabhakar connection is entirely baseless."
I am not going to go into more details because it is a futile exercise, trying to prove anything against opinions. His email communication with Ravi ji is more enlightening:
"Just continue your sadhana. Be thankful to whoever had offered it. Keep offering your best wherever you are and enjoy life as it comes. There is no one who is a Guru or Sadguru, it is his/her disciples who make it. If it is authentic or he is genuine or your belief is true, matters not from his/her context. You give value to such things and so it matters to you."
(6) Deforestation done by Isha Yoga Center / Isha Yoga center occupying forest land / Isha Yoga center being cause of elephant deaths
Who is the authority on forests? Isn't it the TN Govt administration departments? If they, including the forest and the land registration departments both say Isha's lands are legally acquired patta lands, why should we continue to believe contrary claims? Just because a patta land is near forest, it does not become forest area automatically!
But if someone wants to know the truth, Isha Foundation has published the rebuttal already on their blog with clear proofs that they are not in a forest area or in an elephant corridor!
Isha Foundation causing deaths of elephants is another big lie. Take the statistics of Elephant-Human conflict with the TN Govt administration departments and see how many have been in the area Isha is. Even take a wider circle of a few KM radius. You will still find nothing.
Similarly there were claims recently that for the AdiYogi Shiva statue that Isha Yoga Center established recently, they had cut down lot of trees. All big BS, considering that Google Earth images of that land show no trees for over 10 years of private possession till Isha Foundation acquired the land for Shiva statue. The video proof is here:
For more details refer:
Edit 1:
(7) Isha Yoga center has illegal constructions of more than 40,000 square feet
This is probably the only legitimate concern if there is any.
Obviously Isha Foundation started as a small group of meditators in a small area. Today they have expanded into a much larger organization. Now, people have to think why such group would expand unless many people started seeing the value of Isha Yoga in their lives. Millions of Isha meditators around the world can vouch for the health and mental benefits they have got through Isha yoga.
When hundreds of people have to live in an area, they would obviously need houses and buildings! So, they have purchased nearby patta land legally and constructed buildings. I have given the proofs earlier that this is legally acquired land and not forest area occupied.
There is an open court case about one or two buildings for which some NOC has to be produced from 1 department. This is to be done by the Isha Foundation in the court of law. If the court does not find merit in waiting longer or find their justification insufficient, they would obviously take the necessary course of action!
Phew .. that was a very long answer, but something long pending for me too since I did not have either the time or energy to do collate all information before!
Edit 1:
In a landmark move in July 2017, the State Government of Tamilnadu has confirmed that the buildings in Isha Yoga Center have been with proper approvals.
Thank you for reading till this point. Hope you have also visited the links and references I have provided. You really deserve an applause for patience! :)
Source:
https://www.quora.com/Are-the-allegations-on-Sadguru-Jaggi-Vasudev-true/answer/Raj-Vuppaladhadiam
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