The truth requires no embellishment

Our blog is just an effort by a group of people who have benefitted immensely by Nithyananda’s message and His teachings. Out of disgust, on reading your blog, we wanted to present the truth to the world.

When you have learnt to love yourself and accept life in all it’s auspiciousness, you find joy everywhere and in everything. This is the gift we have received from Nithyananda and it is this bliss we want to share with the world.

From your blog, you seem to be a very sad person projecting all your inner negativities and fooling yourself by thinking you are a “saving-the-world” crusader. Please do not fool yourself thinking that your blog warrants a response from Nithyananda or His mission. They may not even know about your blog.

It is the truth in the statements in our blog, the strength of that truth, the Dharma (that you keep on talking about, but seem to lack completely) in it – that is shaking you.

“The truth, unlike lies, requires no embellishment.”

So we don’t need to rant and rave – all we wanted is to share our experience. We are quite amused that you think it’s some organization's response :)

Fuelling the negativity in you doesn’t impact anybody, but you. Heal yourself and find the joy in life again. And the best solution we can offer is to attend a Life Bliss Program in the center nearest to you. :)

IGNORANCE IS NOT BLISS

To: Nithyananda-cult blogger

I’m posting on this site because you filter almost everything on your site. Do you even realize how many defamatory statements you have made?! You can be subject to criminal and civil penalties for your actions. I have to admit you got balls. You claim to be an insider! You are inside out! The Parallel universe to which you refer is called Hinduism! My God, give it a rest. Just because you don’t get some of our ancient customs, it does not give you the right to distort the truth. Your actions border on hate speech. You are one of many who have attacked the Hindu tradition for centuries and you won’t be the last. Ignorance I can deal with, but your intentional distortion of our culture is being used to defame Paramahamsa Nithyananda. You ask specific questions about his birthday! Who do you think you are? What time were you born? Most of us don’t have a clue. It’s hard to get these records in America and in India, well Good Luck! Such minutia is just not important in India, hence the cultural difference. How Indians perceive things are different.

I’m at the Bidadi Ashram right now for the LBE program. It costs $8000 for three months. My rent at home in the US, for one month, is $2,000+bills+food= around $3,000. So for three months I pay at least $12,000. Uh lets see, $8,000 for three months in the presence of an enlightened master learning yoga, mediation, rituals, chanting etc. and much more vs. $12,000 and none of these things. Clearly this is a no brainier. As far as the living quarters are concerned, they are top notch for Indian standards on the Ashram. However, four and five star resorts are made available for anyone who wants to reside there. Most us of choose to stay on the Ashram. The volunteers and ashramites are so kind and courteous. And yes they do work hard and there is a lot of work to do. As to your claims of sleep deprivation: News flash!: Humans don’t require 8 hours of sleep.

You may have heard somewhere that 8 hours of sleep per night is necessary to be healthful. This just is not so. “In our studies in San Diego, the average adult is actually asleep only between 6 and 6.5 hours a night. Moreover, The Cancer Prevention Study II showed that people who sleep 6.5 to 7.5 hours live a bit longer than people who sleep 8 hours or more. The shorter sleepers lived longer! Even people who slept as little as 3.5 hours lived longer than those who slept 8 hours or more. Certainly, if you get only 6.5 or 7 hours of sleep a night, you are probably sleeping enough.

Studies show that in the range that most Americans sleep (which is 6, 7, or 8 hours or so), there are few discernable differences between people. This may surprise you, but people who sleep 6 hours seem to be at least as happy as people who sleep 8 hours. Moreover, people who sleep 8 hours get just as much work done and are just as rich as people who sleep 6 hours. There may be some tendency for people with the shortest sleep times (5 or 6 hours) to be outgoing and energetic, whereas people with the longest sleep times (9 or 10 hours) seem to be more introverted, imaginative, or perhaps a bit depressed. Notice the surprise! People who sleep less are less depressed!”http://www.brightenyourlife.info/ch8.html

I get an average of five hours asleep here. The first thing we do is Nithya Yoga in th morning and it unlocks the energy that my body requires for the day. And by the way if I need more energy the food here is healthy, abundant and fantastic. The bottom line is that when you are in the presence of an enlightened being his energy flows through you and you don’t require as much from external sources..

As to your accusations of rampant sex on the ashram. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Women and men room separately unless they are married. They are not even permitted to dance with each other. And when you are here, your thoughts on sexual fantasies decrease so people are not even thinking about such things. Nothing could be farther from the truth. This is NOT some hippie nudist paradise. It is a Vedic Hindu monastery.

My experience here is priceless and words cannot even describe the joy and bliss that I feel when I am with Paramahamsa Nithyananda. This is the truth from someone who is inside right now, not inside out.

Work IS meditation. Some don't get it!

Dear Author of Nithyananda-cult.blogspot.com,

You say in your blog nithyananda-cult.blogspot.com that the ashramites work their a***-off and they do not practice any meditation.

And to top it all, you say you are an insider.

Dude, I am surprised you call yourself an insider and are not aware of the daily meditation, yoga, puja/homa, chanting that all ashramites do. I invite you to come in and experience the beautiful ashram lifestyle.

Now, coming to ashramites working hard. Ofcourse working hard is a meditation. Let me enlighten you with the concept. This will also benefit others who have similar doubts.
Physical fatigue layer is the first obstacle to enlightenment. We limit ourselves by thinking, "I can do only this much and not more", and allow a chronic fatigue to set in us.

Let me explain in clearer terms. I know of a few friends of mine before they became ashramites. After entering the ashram, these are their words, “Before I used to slack, laze around and I used to have many moments when I used to feel lonely and lethargic. Now, there is no scope for these negative and lazy thoughts. Every moment is fresh and new. We just keep living every moment intensely. Every single moment is fresh and we just enjoy the process of working however late we stay up. There just seems to be an overflowing energy and no physical tiredness at all.”

Don’t you see how beautifully the master is working on us. We are sattva by nature (pure restful awareness) but we operate either in tamas (unconscious inactivity) or rajas (activity or restlessness).

The Master is tapping our own energy to get us out of tamas. He is like a transformer to convert the rajas to satva and not give anyscope for inactivity or tamas. In this process, every moment looks new; every moment we are working but are not bothered by the final result. We are enjoying every moment without being bogged down by any negative thoughts about the final goal.

Now isn’t that Lord Krishna’s Karma Yoga. Amazing isn’t it? Paramahamsa Nithyananda, through this intense activity by us, is making us Karma Yogis and leading us to living every moment (living enlightenment).

It may have looked like labor or a burden of hard work for you. That is because you probably never enjoyed the work, or did not have the intensity or maybe your connection with the Master was not deep enough for you to flow through the process. To us, serving the master is blissful seva, that we look forward to.

Take an example of any successful person. If they had not considered work as meditation and worked intensely, they would not be what they are.

And don't make your own interpretations of Master's words. If you were really an insider, you would not have misinterpreted and misunderstood the Master's words - they do not need separate meditation. "What is meditation?" If you get a correct answer for that, you can get a correct answer for the master's words.

And why are you trying to be the spokesperson for those working in ashram? They are all blissful. Either come in and experience it yourself and enjoy the blissful activity or just relax - don't misinterpret and miscommunicate.

Incorrect information about Sanyasis on nithyananda-cult.blogspot.com

The authors of nithyananda-cult.blogspot.com say, "Sri Nithyananda has given out perhaps hundreds of sanyasi (monk) initiations to people who are not qualified for it or have obligations in this world that would preclude them from this practice."

“Hundreds of sanyasi initiations..”, Come and count for yourself. Don’t just throw your imaginations in the air.

Firstly, may we know what qualifications you have to decide whether someone is eligible or qualified for sanyasi initiation.? We see that you go on hovering over issues related to relationship problems, divorce and breaking families.

This is completely incorrect information.

In reality, Paramahamsa Nithyananda (or Sri Nithyananda as nithyananda-cult.blogspot.com calls the master) has initiated hundreds of householders into gruhasta ashram (married life) in various ashrams in India. There are over 300 families living blissfully in various ashrams around the world. The main ashram in Bidadi itself has a few gruhastas and all necessary facilities are provided for them to live together as a family. Many are with their children in Ashram. Gurukul facilities are provided for the child to also learn and grow without any compromise. So, please refrain from making comments without validating them.

You call yourself an "insider" and misleading people. Dear insider, we welcome you to really come inside see for yourself. Instead just standing outside and painting your fantasies all over, come inside and see and then tell what you want to tell.

One common question: Why are the courses so highly priced?

Let me tell you something: Courses ARE NOT priced so high. I know there are popular personality development gurus who charge atleast twice or thrice or even more than the course registration amount in Life Bliss Foundation. A three hour talk to a 10-thousand crowd by Deepak Chopra is priced S$ 228 / 188 / 158 / 128 / 88 (courtesy: http://www.singaporesunfestival.com/2009/event-details.php?id=deepaksunday&cat=WELLNESS ).

I have no problems with Deepak Chopra charging atleast S$88 for a three hour talk. But don't say that a S$100 two-day 1st level meditation program - Life Bliss Program 1 (where lunch, tea, juice, snacks etc. are provided) or a S$150 one-day Kalpataru Program with the Master is costly.

Many say, "why is the three month program – life bliss engineering, USD 8000?" People keep asking, "why should it be charged so high. What do they do with all that money?"

Lets do a simple costing, shall we!!

(1) Lodging (incl. accomodation, laundry, house-keeping) = $5400 at $60 for 90 days.
(2) Food (8 to 9 course lunch, dinner, breakfast & snacks) = $1350 at $15 for 90 days.
(3) Local sight seeing = $600 for 3 trips at $200 per trip
(4) Local transportation, miscellaneous = $900 at $10 for 90 days.

Total cost = $8250. Oh! By the way, these are the minimum costs in USD. So if we do simple maths:
Cost = 8250
Sale Price = 8000
Net loss = 250.

First of all the experience of this program is priceless. Being with an enlightened master for 3 months is not a joke. You should come once and see and hear for yourselves from the inner awakening participants. After seeing the kind of facilities, the food, the arrangements etc., the participants say, "USD 8000 is nothing for this course when there are people who charge exorbitantly high for other courses where you can't even think of such deep spiritual experiences."

Actually people who complain about money are not really bothered about money. They are just looking for an excuse for any program. I have seen it many times. Some people who cannot afford it ask for discounts. Money is just a convenient and easy excuse. They simply are not interested and they want to make the other side look bad.

Many people generally thing, "everything should be free." Spiritual knowledge is also a knowledge. When you go to school, you pay fees. Why? So that you learn something there, to help bear the cost of maintenance of the place and the leftover amount can be further used to take that knowledge to more places.

Then why not spiritual knowledge being taught in ashrams or monasteries be charged. They are charged to those people who can afford to give and what they give is used again for those people who cannot afford it. So whatever is got from the society is sent back to the society. Unlike us, who are bound to the comforts of our house or our car, an enlightened master lives like a king with whatever he has because he is not attached to them.

People will argue, "It was free previously."

It was free because there were people supporting it all the time. Enlightened masters' works were always supported by kings previously. Not anymore.

Like I said, money is not a concern at all. It is just an excuse. I have seen people earning pots of money and having 4-5 houses in different parts of the city saying a couple of thousand rupees or a couple of hundred dollars as too high. You really think that is the truth!! These same people spend $2000 on a 7-day Star Cruise in Hawaii or a yoga retreat in Bali.
There are people out there just to criticise. Where is all this money going? I think this is going to be our next post. But let me end by saying, every penny you give is accounted for.

Nithyananda Cult Blog - Total Nonsense!

Recently we bumped into a pathetic blog called http://nithyananda-cult.blogspot.com started by some depressed soul who has lots of time in life. The language used reflects about the author more than anybody he is writing about. It is obvious he is venting out his own negativities through that channel.

Most of the points he has written are not even worth rebutting. We do not want to stoop to that level of writing. However, for the benefit of sincere seekers who may be seeking clarifications on some specific issues, here goes:

>> If Life Bliss Foundation is not for profit organization, than its accounts should be open to public.

Every single cent is accounted for and the whole system is fully transparent. All the Foundations worldover audit their accounts and receipts are issued. The number of activities undertaken and number of people being helped is indication enough that the money given is being used for a noble cause. If details are required, the Foundation would happily provide the same. We are devotees ourselves who have donated enough and have had no issues so far.

>> Which enlightened master would ask his devotees to leave his/her family,change the name and move to the ashram?

I don't know where he got these statistics from. Swamiji NEVER asks anyone to leave the family or change name. Infact, we know of many lovely couples (Gruhastas are very much a part of the Nithyananda order in Ashram) and families intact who are deeply devoted to Swamiji without any issue. You can come and see for yourself. About name change, it has its deep spiritual significance and own sanctity. If we do not understand them, then it's better to keep quiet than to talk. It's a beautiful connection that is established between the Master and disciple through such deep processes. It has the path in it, which constantly guides us. If that didn't happen to you when you got your name, it's really a pity! Maybe you were too caught up with your analysis to allow anything to work on you.

>> And, because of this amazing feat of making 53 people 'enlightened', you, Sri Nithyananda, have became qualified to sit on a 24K gold throne?

Hey mind your language. What a loser! What's your problem whether he sits on a 24K gold throne or a diomond studded one? What do you know about the rich Vedic tradition, where the Master is given that due respect. Anyway, we are not using your money for it. All the money given for specific causes go towards them (like I said you can come and get whatever specific details you're looking for).

>> Do you agree that most people in your ashram get fat by eating too much, poor diet, not exercising, and having many psychological problems like stress, low self-esteem, and a lack of fulfillment and love?

Total crap. I have no words to say. Having been there, done that (doing that rather), I know what a great lifestyle we lead in the Ashram. Early morning Yoga, Meditation and chanting sessions, sattvik diet and blissful seva - what a joy! If you want to experience this lifestyle, you are welcome to come and spend a few days in Ashram before you talk nonsense and invite trouble for yourself. There is a whole bunch of hundreds (if not thousands) of us, leading that life who have only fulfilment and gratitude to the Master. If all these folks were as jobless as you sitting on the blogs, then you would have been bashed up by them. You just saved yourself. Come to Ashram and try talking these things in front of the devotees, you coward!

More in next post...

Perspectives on cults and the Nithyananda blissful cult-ure

From my experiences travelling around the world for many years, and spending time with the "richest people in the world" and the "poorest people in the world' one thing becomes patently obvious. Many of the poorest people are the happiest and many of the wealtiest are the least happy, stressed, worried and searching for something. In fact, the people who live in the most remote parts of the world are the happiest! Two groups in particular stand out for me, the Sherpas in Nepal, and the Inuit in Greenland and the Canadian North. Both these groups live in some of the toughest places on the planet! To spend time with either group in their natural environment is a huge pleasure, they are constantly laughing and joking and cannot be dissuaded from fun! Amazing eh? T Sherpas live between 8-14,000 feet in the Himalayas in a zone of decreasing trees, close to the tree line, where catastrophes such as landslides, snow storms, avalanches, and wild weather are run of the mill hardly a place that is “safe”. The Inuit live above the tree line, in many months of snow and darkness. Contrast this with our wealthy North American population living the “perfect life” that is leading the world in obesity, stress, heart attacks, worry and poor health.

Unfortunately the cult of materialism that most of us have grown up in has blinded us to the deeper truths of life. It is only when I step out of the society and spend time in other cultures, then step back in do I see the blatant brainwashing that is going on through the media, and that we have bought into. Stepping off a plane into the first world from some remote location my senses are bombarded by the advertising world of colours and textures and lures! There are thousands of ads for new products that I must have to look good, feel good or eat. Millions of dollars are spent on designing language and images to capture millions of us into some new purchase. Not only do we agree, we pay money to advertise those same brands on our T shirts! Most unfortnaately, the sad truth is that North Americans work hard so that they can get obese! That to my mind is a cult.

What the Vedic rishis did, and Nithyananda is doing is creating a culture totally free of the blinders of our regular lives. Nithyananda is taking us constantly into a calm state where our perception of life becomes so clear that we are aware of the many games around us and just like the Sherpas and Inuit, do not get caught in the avalanches. In our case one of the avalanches is media bombardment! Instead, I laugh my way though life, undissaded , relaxing into the beauty of being alive.

The futile exercise of judging masters

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa narrates a story where two guys climb up a mango tree with lots of juicy sweet mangoes. One of them settles down on a brach and started to deligently count all the leaves, mangoes, branches and sort them into different categories. He spent his long hours till he got all the statistics. The other, who was obviously the smarter one of the two, just set his hands on a juicy mango and relished every drop of it, coming out completely satisfied!

Does this ring a bell? A living enlightened Master's presence is something to be experienced, not analysed. Because analysis of masters is a wasteful exercise, just like our poor statistics fellow on the mango tree. A Master's presence is too precious a resource for us to waste away by judging and analysing. Not just that, a living enlightened Master is dynamic energy that cannot be put into a box or a frame made of our narrow understanding, ideas and ideologies. They are ever changing, spontaneous and operate from our space beyond logic. So we will get nowhere in this futile exercise.

However, some of our dear friends do not realise this point and spend their long precious hours in writing, analysing, judging masters - glorifying or defaming them for no reason. Firstly, this will not take us anywhere. We are here to grow, evolve and experience the Truth. Secondly, meddling with enlightened masters has major damaging karmic consequences.

Some of the blogs that I bumped into in the recent past like http://guruphiliac.blogspot.com/ or http://nithyananda-cult.blogspot.com/ seem to be (mis)presenting and (mis)quoting incidents, facts and figures with an intention to defame the Masters. Although this doesn't bother us amidst all the blissful happenings in our lives by Swamiji's grace and endless compassion, we are starting this blog for the benefit of those seekers seeking more clarity about the spiritual path in general and the path with Paramahamsa Nithyananda in particular.

You may ask what qualification we have to be starting this. Well, I would say - it doens't matter. It's not our qualification that is important, it's not how long we have been with Swamiji that is important. It doesn't matter whether we are "insiders" or "outsiders" because these words have no base first of all. What matters is our own transformation that has happened (and is happening) in front of our eyes over the last few years after havinng met Swamiji. That carries its own authority. Any theoritical proof about Swamiji's greatness will only generate more words and more arguments. We just want to share our own transformation - only we know the joy, love, gratitude, compassion and contentment that has happened in our lives. This is something that cannot be certified by anyone except the person who has experienced this. The quantum leaps in our lives and many others around me is evidence enough, which talk for themselves about Swamiji. Not thousands, but hundreds of thousands of testimonials filled with tears of gratitude speak for themselves about our great Master - Nithyananda.

More articles addressing specific issues of concerns that have been stirred up in the above mentioned blogs will follow. Please feel free to leave your questions and concerns behind.