"Everyone is tainted who is not informed"

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I asked Lucas why she thought her story had met with silence. Her insights are informed by being a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, along with decades of therapy and activism.

“Senior male Ashtanga teachers have told me that Jois was a father figure for them,” she said via Skype.

“In a dysfunctional family, if you’re not in, you’re out. In wealthy dysfunctional families, all the children are bought off. The silence is paid.

“I think it can be the same in the yoga world: there’s a legacy of power and that power governs people’s livelihoods.

“If the brother who sees the father inappropriately touching his daughter stands up to the father, he’s going to lose his inheritance.

“The guru is dead, but everyone is still silent. Nobody wants to taint the minds of the new people coming in.

“Whereas it’s really the opposite: everyone is tainted who is not informed.”

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Four former employees of Jivamukti who wished to remain anonymous said that other former employees and students have been prohibited from commenting on the school’s culture through non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) they have been invited to sign in exchange for cash payments or tuition refunds. These sources worked at the company between 2001 and 2016, which suggests that the agreements have been a common Jivamukti management practice. They said that NDAs are used to smooth over student grievances against teachers, or teacher’s grievances against management.

“It is very disappointing to realize that Jivamukti applies fear politics and silencing methods under the flag of spiritual anarchism, activism, and veganism,” one source wrote via email.

“NDAs create an oppressive environment in which there is no space for open discussion or critical thinking.”

Another source wrote that “there is a subtle, but very strong atmosphere of internal silencing from the management at Jivamukti.”

“It encourages self-censoring amongst its employees. Even in teachers’ meetings — a supposedly open forum to discuss problems — we didn’t bring up our concerns about power abuses. Things were discussed in a roundabout way, wrapped in spiritual platitudes.”

Gannon and Life did not respond to a request for comment.

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RW
More than 20 years ago I was a therapist at a community mental health centre that provided treatment to women who experienced sexual abuse. I remember one woman who came to see me after being assaulted by Jois in India. She reached out to the yoga community in North America and was silenced and ostracized. This has been going on for a long time. Thanks for writing so well about this issue.
Like · Reply · 16 · Jun 2, 2016 7:57pm

DB
The silencing was comman. When I was first made aware of the absues prepretraded by Jois everyone made excuses for him and many pretended that they didn't happen becuase they didn't see them happening with thier own eyes. I had an incident with Lino M. one of Jois's main teachers, when I talked about it in my community, same thing happned to me. The other male teachers just wanted to pretend that it was OK for Lino to stick his finger in my butt. He was showing me where my moola bandha was! I guess it's never too late to talk about this stuff. It still makes me mad to know that my own community supported this abuse and thought I was being overly sensitive.
Like · Reply · 14 · Jun 5, 2016 5:46am

EB
DBi thank you for your bravery.

I was sexually molested by one Jivamukti teacher after a class he was teaching, when I least expected it. I was shocked that he did it and I did not do anything to provoke his behavior. I later realized that he caculated his moves and approached me when I was in an area where no one could easily see what he was doing. (My reactions after yoga class are usually slower than usual and I felt he took advantage of that situation.) When I realized (to my horror) that he was actually fondling me, I forcefully told him to stop, but I still was very upset that...See More
Like · Reply · 8 · Jun 5, 2016 9:55am · Edited

RW
DB I think we have alot of stories to tell each other about some of the behaviour in the yoga community. Spiritual communities of every kind are given a 'free pass' for stuff that is far from deserving of a free pass. Its important to give voice, create understanding and underscore credibility to experiences some of us may have had with teachers like Jois or others. Otherwise, like you, we blame ourselves or say we are too sensitive.

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Matthew Remski ·
Experimental U
Thank you for reading, Debra. If you word-search this page, you'll find that I specifically avoided using the word "cult". Same holds true for the first article. My phrase here was "culture of silence", and that's fair when interviewing 17 former employees who won't go on record, not to mention the culture of silence pervading similar cases -- which half of this article was about. I don't think JYS meets the standard criteria for a cult, except perhaps for its inner circle, but that's totally speculative. For many, however, it is definitely an immersive and totalizing experience, orbiting a vertical charismatic power structure.

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BG
Debra Devi, Holly's complaint refutes your contention in paragraph one about consensual relationships among consenting adults, according to NY State law, and according to the context of their relationship at that time. There are other sticky issues that would not exonerate Jivamukti had the case gone to trial. Additionally, word on the street is that while Jivamukti is insured for $100K the $50K figure is inaccurate.

Jivamukti's record is not as untarnished as you think. They have been sued before.

The notion that the school is on notice and will be extra careful in the future, is the same thing they have said numerous times before when dealing with a number of serious complaints that have been brought to their attention. However this is merely lip service as that is their way of falsely pacifying people. These are the same false assurances that have saved them in the past because the complainers believed these false assurances and end up doing nothing. Jivamukti also has a history of heavily intimidating those who are brave enough to complain, until they get discouraged and go away. This process of intimidation is quite unyogic.

Jivamukti's culture of seemingly benign "see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil," has evolved into the unbenign "notice no evil." The result of this has been two fold: people censor themselves and are discouraged from making complaints, especially if they know that Jivamukti's process of handling their complaints is, in reality, no better than having their concerns disgarded in a circular file. This has happened a number of times.

In fact, Holly's lawsuit has marked the first time they have not been able to successfully shut people up. The reality is they will do nothing of substance to address serious concerns unless and until they are sued because these problems have been endemic at Jivamukti.

RK ·
Tucson, Arizona
Thank you for this article. The yoga community white-washing egregious behaviors by teachers and gurus needs to end. I have seen it again and again and have been on the receiving end of psychological abuse. I am happy to know that you are writing a book about this!
Like · Reply · 1 · Jun 20, 2016 7:36pm