Sivananda has made yoga a passive-aggressive chick thing -- in their endless lust for power, women see yoga as an area they can dominate, and Sivananda caters to their delusion. Many women flirt and f*** their way through Sivananda like they do anywhere else. Sexual politics rule. Under Swami Vishnu-Devananda, Sivananda was the top -- now it's become just a certificate factory for low-aiming opportunists and a refuge for whores and scoundrels.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
My Yoga instructor attended the Ashram in Madurai and she is a most beautiful soul. She loved her experience and I am attending in October of this year. So much negativity posted in here. These centers change many lives each year in so many ways. They deserve to be paid for their services. Every Man and Women does. Love and Light. <3
@djJamieNorman Did she have a fun sexual escapade with one of the many horndog acharyas or swamis? Did she observe anybody being abused, manipulated, exploited, and if so did she give a shit? Did she do a thorough auditing of the books and account for into whose pockets the money goes? Hypocritical clucking is not truth telling.
@djJamieNorman Dont listen to the negativity. Sivanada ashrams are very nice place to go and the teachers are awsome. and as for the money thing they talk about these people are wrong. I am going to live and work at the montreal ashram sometime this year. just completed my ttc in july. the ashrams do not make any money. any money that is left over is normally used towards other peoples celebrations. example we had the cavaty there and we hosted 25 thousand ppl. the ashram paid for all the food.
In his day Swami Vishnu-Devananda made sure ashram staff served others and grew spiritually. Now they just serve themselves and become stupider every day. And what about those swamis and acharyas being lead around by their penises, like they are refugees from a parody of the 1960s?
@ashtangayogamysore People attracted to Sivananda these days are not interested in the truth of yoga. They only want to snatch up that certificate after suffering one month on the ashram and then go out and make money with it. The "swamis" and "acharyas" knowing this to be the case are cynical charlatans and abuse their authority for personal material gain and sensual satisfaction. There is no spiritual growth here, only ignorance, hypocrisy, and money making.
I have just one question about this organization: if the swamis and acharyas are supposed to be celibate brahmacharyas, why do so many of them keep having sexual relations with the young female students who come to their ashrams & centers? Ok, another question: if the yoga path as practiced here brings health, joy, and wisdom, why are so many swamis and acharyas in this organization fat, miserable & delusional? What little they know of Hinduism, Vedas, Gita, Sutras is academic/shallow at best.
@aaaavedon " ... sexual relations with the young female students who come to their ashrams & centers?"
Young females, especially blondes (fake or real blonde doesn't matter), who are used to flirting and/or f***ing their way to opportunity will have their usual success here. Look at all that fecund anatomy on display in the compulsory ugly uniforms. How intelligent is it to make people sit on filthy floors in hot sweaty crowded rooms AND wear flimsy white cotton pants while doing so?
@bumpyjjeans A lot of the male swamis and acharyas are total frauds. They hook up with young females right and left among other typical worldly abuses. Anybody blowing the whistle on these clowns is subject to organized tag-team harassment and railroadiing. They've got it down to a science. The IRS needs to investigate the accounts of every staff member and taxable value of room, board, travel, expense accounts, insurance, dependents' benefits, etc.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
Om, I have been blessed by my TTC experience. I found it fairly affordable and ascetic. While some of the presenters were not my style, Swamiji says the paths are many, the truth is one. If you throw enough sprouted mung beans against the wall, some are gonna stick. I would encourage my fellow yogis to practice Satya while debating. Swamiji was a peace activist and helped many people in Israel find peace during a difficult time, earning him many Israeli devotees. Prem <3
@penelopeidacrump Nice passive-aggressive innuendo -- implying that anybody who disagrees with you is lying. Sly wording, the hallmark of Sivananda trash, is not the same as Satya. You must be one of those chicks anointed to give some fat swamiji his nightly foot massage. Mmhmm ...
@penelopeidacrump Serious questions re your comment "Swamiji was a peace activist & helped many people in Israel find peace during a difficult time, earning him many Israeli devotees." If true, did his work for peace in Israel earn him any Palestinian or Israeli Muslim devotees? If not, why not? In your mind are Israelis the same thing as American Jews? If instead of Hindu masters dominating US ashram/center programs, should they be a forum for Jews instead? How about Muslims/Christians?
@penelopeidacrump Good question you got asked about your comment "Swamiji was a peace activist and helped many people in Israel find peace during a difficult time, earning him many Israeli devotees." Did he even meet any Palestinians? Did he go to Gaza? Or did you mean he met many Zionist devotees who support Israel's apartheid/genocide of the Palestinians on the US taxpayer dime?
@pedrozazacca For decent people, speaking out when one witnesses injustice does not require personal injury. You imply that one should act only from self-interest. You sound as benighted as the scoundrel fake "swamis" being discussed.
@pedrozazacca Always the defense of liars and thieves -- "if you don't like it stay away." A true yogi speaks the truth, & prevents his brothers and sisters from being victimized. To say Sivananda compares well to other organizations does not excuse their hilariously obvious hypocrisy. Their one saving grace is that they are so arrogant and self- regarding within their bubble that the fraud is transparent to anybody with half a brain. Btw, caps lock key abuse is the first sign of dementia.
This organization used to be very good. In the past ten years it's become a joke. The "swami" smiling on cue for the camera in this video is an evil little prick. Organized religion is what it is -- misfit opportunists looking for easy sexual opportunities or a meal ticket. Sivananda yoga teacher certification is fast losing any value at all. The foxes are running the hen house.
@funboy7979 I wouldn't trust a yoga teacher certified by Sivananda after 2001 or 2002, unless I knew they had all kinds of other study and practice. Sivananda has become a remedial technical college for nitwits and quick-buck artists, and seems to employ a lot of shady types who can't keep their lingams it in their pants. Grotesque.
These places are full of European and American lunatic children placed in charge to act as ashram cops. Nothing spiritual about it -- mostly they are there to flirt with the more attractive western females hoping to seduce them. They abuse their authority, harassing and humiliating everybody to make themselves look important. They leave yoga life after they move beyond their mid-20s. The swamis are busy with their favorites and aloof to everybody else. Their "lectures" are robotic.
Check out any of their ashram brochures. Year after year you'll see the same old ashram circuit New Age charlatans selling their worthless cosmic debris. Most of the well-paid presenters are Jewish, not Hindu. It would be the same as if a synagogue invited a bunch of pandits in every week to chant from the Vedas & said they they were rabbis chanting from the Talmud.
This organization has become full of sketchy characters & practices since its founder passed on. Really needs a good auditing.
@paulprescott72 I too have noticed the "cultural program" presenters are mostly not yogis and mostly not Hindu. It's like weird vaudeville. Nothing wrong with being Jewish of course, and nothing wrong with identifying a Jew as a Jew. What is wrong is saying you are a Hindu educating about Hinduism when in fact you are Jewish selling Judaism or some theoretical New Age fantasy. Interesting that as soon as someone speaks this truth, somebody jumps up and cries Nazi -- proves the observation.
"I too have noticed the "cultural program" presenters are mostly not yogis and mostly not Hindu. It's like weird vaudeville. Nothing wrong with being Jewish of course, and nothing wrong with identifying a Jew as a Jew. What is wrong is saying you are a Hindu educating about Hinduism when in fact you are Jewish selling Judaism or some theoretical New Age fantasy. Interesting that as soon as someone speaks this truth, somebody jumps up and cries Nazi -- proves the observation."
@paulprescott72 I beg your pardon. What do you mean by fascist, and what do you mean by your implication that such a despised term is appropriate in reference to me? Seriously, don't hide behind scabrous innuendo -- state your point.
@bc9021010001 out of 15.000 yoga teachers that Sivananda has churned out, I can't imagine a higher percentage of Jews in the organisation than any other religion. Secondly, many Israelis (that you call Jews) travel to India. A very high percentage compared to other nationalities. So maybe that is why you think there are more israelis at Sivananda in India. I was at Sivananda London, not a Jew (mostly Germans and Americans). I was at Sivananda Munich, not a Jew.
@paulprescott72 Nice of you to take issue with something I never said. I quite clearly was not speaking of yoga teachers. I was speaking of the presenters hired year after year to perform in their so-called ashram cultural programs and workshops. More Jews than Hindus, more Judaism & New Age esoteria than yoga. What if the tables were turned, & there were a preponderance of Hindus presenting Hinduism in a synagogue where the reasonable expectation would be Judaism -- what would you say?
@bc9021010001 I noticed this too. Looks like the job of booking acts gets passed off to some clueless karma-yogi-for-a-day.
"I was speaking of the presenters hired year after year to perform in their so-called ashram cultural programs and workshops. More Jews than Hindus, more Judaism & New Age esoteria than yoga. What if the tables were turned, & there were a preponderance of Hindus presenting Hinduism in a synagogue where the reasonable expectation would be Judaism -- what would you say?"
@paulprescott72 The guy was talking about workshop presenters. In the US at least Sivananda ashrams sell mostly non-yoga-related stuff -- Learning Annex kind of bullshit -- crystals, past life regression, New Age crap, etc. And yeah, the preponderance of the workshops, predictably, are run by Jews with psych. degrees or sketchy backgrounds, with no connection to yoga or Hinduism. It's really astounding incompetence or transparent fraud on the part of whoever books these speakers.
@paulprescott72 So your supporting evidence is that you can or cannot imagine somebody being Jewish. Makes no sense, but your intent is obviously to call somebody a bigot. I too have wondered why so many Sivananda ashram presentations, besides being astoundingly dull, have nothing to do with yoga or Hinduism. And yeah, in the US most are taught by Jews, who are Americans not Israelis. Not bigoted to question why devout or secular Jews instead of Hindus are teaching in a mandir.
@paulprescott72 You misconstrued/rephrased my comment to falsely make me appear intolerant, so I am compelled to rectify that confusion. I was clearly speaking of cultural program presenters in the US. To reiterate: "... New Age charlatans selling their worthless cosmic debris. Most of the well-paid presenters are Jewish, not Hindu. It would be the same as if a synagogue invited a bunch of pandits in every week to chant from the Vedas & said they they were rabbis chanting from the Talmud."
Eurotrash lounge about here posing for each other and delude themselves into thinking they're learning something spiritual. The fat charlatan "swamis" take their money with a smile, and give them each a piece of paper that says they have magically become a guru. This organization has become a sad joke in this millenium.
@fhafha888 Thoroughly corrupt. Since the mahasamadhi ("death") of Swami Vishnu-Devananda, the good swamis were forced out by the aggressive opportunists, frauds basically, who have ensured the organization has become infested by their sordid minions. Westerners must pay top western retail prices to their Canadian HQ to attend courses in India, where expenses are relatively minuscule. They rake in millions annually -- where is the money going? Certainly not to facilities. Audit needed.
Most courses are expensive. I'm a UK yoga teacher. I'm creating a bunch of tips, tools & templates for yoga teachers (yoga teacher business plan, yoga teacher marketing plan, yoga posters, yoga brochures, lesson plans, yoga stick men) You can view them at my site (click the blue georgewattsvideos to find it). If you're a yoga teacher, I need your help. Could you go to to my site and if there are any resources not listed that you'd like as a yoga teacher, please email me to let me know.
@fhafha888 Expensive?????!!!! Here in Canada its cost about 3000-3500 for a course that is 8 months long and only on weekends... for my ttc course it was 2400 dollars. thats with my accommodations, food, clothes for the course. I spent about 50 bucks at the ashram to do extra activities. if you took a year long course and you drove 20 minutes to the class everytime over the year you would probably spend over 300 in gas money alone.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
dont get impressed buy these strange things. they just want to make money with this old yoga stuff, because they are not creative enough to find something better.
@danielbeasley Non-profit is the most attractive refuge for scoundrels, thieves, impostors, rapists. Non-profits rake in tax-free loot in the millions and barely need to account for any of it. After Sivananda's founder passed on in 1991, the professional vultures descended.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
@bc9021010001 I'm an atheist and a sceptic, and certainly not ready to jump to the defence of people just because they wave their God flags. However, the staff at the Bahamas ashram were perfectly lovely and didn't display any signs of corruption at all. Sure, they wanted money at every turn, but that place doesn't run itself, and it's actually one of the cheapest TTC available considering what you get for your money. Lets direct our anger at 'Faith healers' and their ilk before these guys.
@danielbeasley Lol. Spoken like a true recent recipient of a Sivananda "you are now magically a guru" certificate -- full of presumption, arrogance, delusion. You background checked everybody you encountered, audited all the organization's accounts worldwide did you? While running around in your 1-month teacher training course, sleep-deprived, scribbling assignments, cramming for your exam? While making sure you got the constant approval of anybody with authority, from stooge to schwami?
@danielbeasley They teach the law of karma but do not believe in it. This group is full of selfish, petty losers. Most people who have never heard of yoga are more enlightened than those you will find here.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
@bjocelot Well, I suppose, the bottom line is your outlook. My husband is an investment banker and I don't need to work. I spend about 3 months a year by the ocean all over the world. I have people counsel me and care for me and it makes me feel good. And to me that's worth the money I lay out for it. Honest enough for you? And if I want to pay for that, what's the problem. Why is that worse than having a massage or a sauna?
@danielbeasley Who should we all "direct our anger at," oh trusted, beloved, wise random internet commenter? Actually, I don't see any anger in these comments. Facts are not emotion.
@bjocelot You are going to get the typical passive-aggressive Sivananda turnspeak innuendo treatment now. Speak truth to this organization's hilariously obvious hypocrisy and some snipy little sycophant will imply you are angry, not detached, jealous, confused. Listen to your common sense. when some conniving, self-serving frauds take your money & free labor, then laugh at you. This is why before Shankara, Hinduism in India was supplanted by Buddhism -- embarrassing petty frauds in charge.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
@bjocelot I never claimed to be anything but a person who has actually visited some of these ashrams in question. I hate in when religious people tell us all what to think and what to do. I also think it's unacceptable to go around treading on peoples dreams and the things they enjoy because you don't agree. I just came back from an Ashram actually. I spent the week talking to my old friend who is having a baby and has recently become single. I made her smile again. What did you do this week?
@bc9021010001 "Non-profit is the most attractive refuge for scoundrels, thieves, impostors, rapists. Non-profits rake in tax-free loot in the millions and barely need to account for any of it. After Sivananda's founder passed on in 1991, the professional vultures descended."
One day there may be an accounting. Unfortunately most con artists swoop in, do their damage, and fly away in the night. Sivananda has lost many good people, pushed out by the frauds who come and go. Sad.
Here is something to ponder..., if you ever realize your true self in meditation, you are as innocent as a new born child..., amoung wolves. They say ask what we would do if Christ came back, and everyone has the nails and hammer hidden behind their backs..., lets not be fooled people, samadhi is a terrible thing to happen in one's life time..., stick to the siddhis, it will get you nowhere. Just a playful thought, Hari Om Tat Sat
I went to a Positive Thinking workshop at a Sivananda center, and it changed my life. I used to be a such a negative, pessimistic person, but I now am full of cheerfulness and optimism. I go back every year, whenever I can.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
When I passed the Sivananda Ashram around 8 p.m., I saw poor people sleeping outside. If his holiness Sivananda Ji was materially alive today, those poor people would have got shelter and food. Now the same institution has been occupied by dollar hungry satans. Noone is going to get emancipation by circus hatha yogic practices. Ignorant people are being duped of their money and time. Only way to liberation is Bhakti yoga. Hatha yoga is good only for beautification of the gross body. OM
this looks like fun although I cant help but thinking how these indian yogis are making millions off naive westerners. It's like mass production of sivanada yogis. hey but to each their own!
To be honest, it doesn't seem like you know much about the Sivananda Organization, especially that it is a non-for-profit organization. Their classes and workshops are perhaps the most affordable available these days and are taught by staff of volunteers. It's a great organization, but even the for profit orgs like Bikram provide a service for people. I would rather people spend their money on something that leads to a greater sense of well-being than some transient materialistic indulgence.
The great Swami Sivananda and his superior disciple Vishnu-Devananda would not want their names associated with the bizarre and corrupt cult the organization bearing their names and likenesses has become. Within ten years of Swami Vishnu's death, the governing board and senior staff were supplanted by power-hungry frauds. The ranks are full of those wishing a free ride, hiding from tax authorities, seeking a US visa, or seeing an easy climb one easy rung to the next to where they can embezzle.
thank you..touched my heart..trying so much to follow the five points if swami sivananda..also i love so much swami vishnu devanada..fills my heart with beauty and truth..thank you again for sharing.
WOW!!! Thank you some much for this video! I was very excited to find this video on YouTube. I will be going to this same Ashram for the TTC in October and your video was very helpful and very nicely done. Can you please share your overall experience at the Ashram? Thanks again!
It´s a great video, learn us how to live in peace, harmony and love.
My name is Juan Carlos and I follow the teaching of Shree Gajanan Maharaj, son of Sivananda. I practice Agnihotra since 2001. keep in touch and thank you again, this video fix my day!!!!
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
one more true story,,, i was one of the first 100 in the Vishnu yoga certificate training. i came to realize that Swami knew my every thought. i can remember having lust full thoughts in class regarding a classmate that had the most sexual body.. the second i would have the impure thought, vishnu would look me directly in the eye and shake his head side to side. i have so many stories from my presence with him those yoga gone wild days...
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
Hi Roland,
your story made me laugh! I am sure you must have had great times with Swami Vishnu. I did not have the luck to meet him, but I am very happy that I have been able to have shared his wisdom through his disciples...especially Swami Govindananda.
the chant at 11:41 is from Krishna Das "Namah shivaya" from the album "live on earth". I should update my video with all the music credits...one day when I get the time. Thanks for taking the time to watch my video. Om. Paulp
Had you really been paying attention. You would know i am not the master but a student. Learning from every sunbeam. Every blowing of the wind. From the real masters.
What was the bummer the teacher or you? If you did not go there to learn and open your heart to become less judgemental. Well that was not the teacher not teaching that was the student not being a student.
That is a great video! I have a question, isn't Pink Floyd against teachers, there song's were like the fuel for the Teenage waste land, why did you pick that song in the start of the video, is there a reason? OM
Hi, very good point. The choice of Pink Floyd was exactly for that reason. We had many hours a day of lessons, and this teacher and his lesson were particularly difficult, and it was quite hard not to fall asleep. So the choice of music was a message (which the teacher would not understand) that is lesson was a bummer.
Great Video, the best one I've seen so far on the ashram, TTC experience. Thankyou for posting. Looks beautiful. Om Shanti
umaprince 5 months ago
Sivananda has made yoga a passive-aggressive chick thing -- in their endless lust for power, women see yoga as an area they can dominate, and Sivananda caters to their delusion. Many women flirt and f*** their way through Sivananda like they do anywhere else. Sexual politics rule. Under Swami Vishnu-Devananda, Sivananda was the top -- now it's become just a certificate factory for low-aiming opportunists and a refuge for whores and scoundrels.
bc9021010001 8 months ago 3
This comment has received too many negative votes show
My Yoga instructor attended the Ashram in Madurai and she is a most beautiful soul. She loved her experience and I am attending in October of this year. So much negativity posted in here. These centers change many lives each year in so many ways. They deserve to be paid for their services. Every Man and Women does. Love and Light. <3
djJamieNorman 8 months ago
@djJamieNorman Did she have a fun sexual escapade with one of the many horndog acharyas or swamis? Did she observe anybody being abused, manipulated, exploited, and if so did she give a shit? Did she do a thorough auditing of the books and account for into whose pockets the money goes? Hypocritical clucking is not truth telling.
bc9021010001 8 months ago 4
@djJamieNorman Dont listen to the negativity. Sivanada ashrams are very nice place to go and the teachers are awsome. and as for the money thing they talk about these people are wrong. I am going to live and work at the montreal ashram sometime this year. just completed my ttc in july. the ashrams do not make any money. any money that is left over is normally used towards other peoples celebrations. example we had the cavaty there and we hosted 25 thousand ppl. the ashram paid for all the food.
liveparkouramour 6 months ago
This is where I hope to get my Yoga Teacher Training/RYT after I get done with my RN. Looks epic.
SaintSkyler 8 months ago
In his day Swami Vishnu-Devananda made sure ashram staff served others and grew spiritually. Now they just serve themselves and become stupider every day. And what about those swamis and acharyas being lead around by their penises, like they are refugees from a parody of the 1960s?
bc9021010001 9 months ago 10
There are some good yoga centres in Mysore which provide quality yoga courses at affordable prices. For more details please visit
w w w . ashtangayogamysore. net
ashtangayogamysore 9 months ago
@ashtangayogamysore People attracted to Sivananda these days are not interested in the truth of yoga. They only want to snatch up that certificate after suffering one month on the ashram and then go out and make money with it. The "swamis" and "acharyas" knowing this to be the case are cynical charlatans and abuse their authority for personal material gain and sensual satisfaction. There is no spiritual growth here, only ignorance, hypocrisy, and money making.
bc9021010001 9 months ago 8
I have just one question about this organization: if the swamis and acharyas are supposed to be celibate brahmacharyas, why do so many of them keep having sexual relations with the young female students who come to their ashrams & centers? Ok, another question: if the yoga path as practiced here brings health, joy, and wisdom, why are so many swamis and acharyas in this organization fat, miserable & delusional? What little they know of Hinduism, Vedas, Gita, Sutras is academic/shallow at best.
aaaavedon 10 months ago 12
@aaaavedon " ... sexual relations with the young female students who come to their ashrams & centers?"
Young females, especially blondes (fake or real blonde doesn't matter), who are used to flirting and/or f***ing their way to opportunity will have their usual success here. Look at all that fecund anatomy on display in the compulsory ugly uniforms. How intelligent is it to make people sit on filthy floors in hot sweaty crowded rooms AND wear flimsy white cotton pants while doing so?
bumpyjjeans 9 months ago 15
@bumpyjjeans A lot of the male swamis and acharyas are total frauds. They hook up with young females right and left among other typical worldly abuses. Anybody blowing the whistle on these clowns is subject to organized tag-team harassment and railroadiing. They've got it down to a science. The IRS needs to investigate the accounts of every staff member and taxable value of room, board, travel, expense accounts, insurance, dependents' benefits, etc.
zooooooperdooooooper 9 months ago 13
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Om, I have been blessed by my TTC experience. I found it fairly affordable and ascetic. While some of the presenters were not my style, Swamiji says the paths are many, the truth is one. If you throw enough sprouted mung beans against the wall, some are gonna stick. I would encourage my fellow yogis to practice Satya while debating. Swamiji was a peace activist and helped many people in Israel find peace during a difficult time, earning him many Israeli devotees. Prem <3
penelopeidacrump 10 months ago
@penelopeidacrump Nice passive-aggressive innuendo -- implying that anybody who disagrees with you is lying. Sly wording, the hallmark of Sivananda trash, is not the same as Satya. You must be one of those chicks anointed to give some fat swamiji his nightly foot massage. Mmhmm ...
bumpyjjeans 10 months ago 10
@penelopeidacrump Serious questions re your comment "Swamiji was a peace activist & helped many people in Israel find peace during a difficult time, earning him many Israeli devotees." If true, did his work for peace in Israel earn him any Palestinian or Israeli Muslim devotees? If not, why not? In your mind are Israelis the same thing as American Jews? If instead of Hindu masters dominating US ashram/center programs, should they be a forum for Jews instead? How about Muslims/Christians?
bc9021010001 10 months ago 7
@penelopeidacrump Good question you got asked about your comment "Swamiji was a peace activist and helped many people in Israel find peace during a difficult time, earning him many Israeli devotees." Did he even meet any Palestinians? Did he go to Gaza? Or did you mean he met many Zionist devotees who support Israel's apartheid/genocide of the Palestinians on the US taxpayer dime?
bjocelot 9 months ago 10
SIVANDA IS A DOCTRINE
AND EXPENSIVE
EVERYTHING IS ABOUT MONEY
THEY DONT CARE ABOUT YOU
YOU ONLY HAVE TO FOLLOW THEIR RULES
TRY VIDYA YOGA YOGIS AND YOGINIS
NAMASTE
tsjoukie1 11 months ago 7
This has been flagged as spam show
If you really want to marry an Latino women come to us rockmycity.info
honsusando 1 year ago
its 10,000 for a month as heard with acommodation and food for the TTC course
shailaben 1 year ago
its 10,000 for a month as heard with accomodation and food for the TTC course
shailaben 1 year ago 3
HOW WERE YOU VICTIMIZED?
pedrozazacca 1 year ago
@pedrozazacca How did your caps lock key get stuck?
bc9021010001 1 year ago 12
@pedrozazacca For decent people, speaking out when one witnesses injustice does not require personal injury. You imply that one should act only from self-interest. You sound as benighted as the scoundrel fake "swamis" being discussed.
aaaavedon 1 year ago 15
This has been flagged as spam show
BY THE WAY WHAT MAKES YOU AN AUTORITY..SINCERELY UMA IOMMM
pedrozazacca 1 year ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
BY THE WAY WHAT MAKES YOU AN AUTORITY..SINCERELY UMA IOMMM
pedrozazacca 1 year ago
SERVE LOVE GIVE PURIFY MEDITATE REALIZE..DO GOOD BE GOOD
BE KIND BE COMPASSIONATE., ADAPT, ADJUST, ACCOMMODATE....BEAR
INSULT BEAR INJURY HIGHEST SADHANA...I HAVE BEEN WITH THE
ORGANIZATION SINCE 1968 AND COMPARED TO MANY OTHER
ORGANIZATIONS I BELIEVE THE SIVANANDA IS STILL BOOT CAMP
FOR THOSE WHO NEED TO CLEAN HOUSE...IF YOU DON'T LIKE
IT DON'T GO...IN PEACE AND LOVE UMA OMMM!!!!
pedrozazacca 1 year ago
@pedrozazacca Always the defense of liars and thieves -- "if you don't like it stay away." A true yogi speaks the truth, & prevents his brothers and sisters from being victimized. To say Sivananda compares well to other organizations does not excuse their hilariously obvious hypocrisy. Their one saving grace is that they are so arrogant and self- regarding within their bubble that the fraud is transparent to anybody with half a brain. Btw, caps lock key abuse is the first sign of dementia.
bc9021010001 1 year ago 13
This organization used to be very good. In the past ten years it's become a joke. The "swami" smiling on cue for the camera in this video is an evil little prick. Organized religion is what it is -- misfit opportunists looking for easy sexual opportunities or a meal ticket. Sivananda yoga teacher certification is fast losing any value at all. The foxes are running the hen house.
funboy7979 1 year ago 14
@funboy7979 I wouldn't trust a yoga teacher certified by Sivananda after 2001 or 2002, unless I knew they had all kinds of other study and practice. Sivananda has become a remedial technical college for nitwits and quick-buck artists, and seems to employ a lot of shady types who can't keep their lingams it in their pants. Grotesque.
bc9021010001 1 year ago 13
These places are full of European and American lunatic children placed in charge to act as ashram cops. Nothing spiritual about it -- mostly they are there to flirt with the more attractive western females hoping to seduce them. They abuse their authority, harassing and humiliating everybody to make themselves look important. They leave yoga life after they move beyond their mid-20s. The swamis are busy with their favorites and aloof to everybody else. Their "lectures" are robotic.
aaaavedon 1 year ago 15
Check out any of their ashram brochures. Year after year you'll see the same old ashram circuit New Age charlatans selling their worthless cosmic debris. Most of the well-paid presenters are Jewish, not Hindu. It would be the same as if a synagogue invited a bunch of pandits in every week to chant from the Vedas & said they they were rabbis chanting from the Talmud.
This organization has become full of sketchy characters & practices since its founder passed on. Really needs a good auditing.
bc9021010001 1 year ago 22
This has been flagged as spam show
@bc9021010001, there are not more jews than christians, than hindus that attend or teach....nor fascists that comment here.
paulprescott72 1 year ago
@paulprescott72 I too have noticed the "cultural program" presenters are mostly not yogis and mostly not Hindu. It's like weird vaudeville. Nothing wrong with being Jewish of course, and nothing wrong with identifying a Jew as a Jew. What is wrong is saying you are a Hindu educating about Hinduism when in fact you are Jewish selling Judaism or some theoretical New Age fantasy. Interesting that as soon as someone speaks this truth, somebody jumps up and cries Nazi -- proves the observation.
aaaavedon 1 year ago 13
@aaaavedon ROFL
"I too have noticed the "cultural program" presenters are mostly not yogis and mostly not Hindu. It's like weird vaudeville. Nothing wrong with being Jewish of course, and nothing wrong with identifying a Jew as a Jew. What is wrong is saying you are a Hindu educating about Hinduism when in fact you are Jewish selling Judaism or some theoretical New Age fantasy. Interesting that as soon as someone speaks this truth, somebody jumps up and cries Nazi -- proves the observation."
bumpyjjeans 10 months ago 5
@paulprescott72 I beg your pardon. What do you mean by fascist, and what do you mean by your implication that such a despised term is appropriate in reference to me? Seriously, don't hide behind scabrous innuendo -- state your point.
bc9021010001 1 year ago 16
@bc9021010001 out of 15.000 yoga teachers that Sivananda has churned out, I can't imagine a higher percentage of Jews in the organisation than any other religion. Secondly, many Israelis (that you call Jews) travel to India. A very high percentage compared to other nationalities. So maybe that is why you think there are more israelis at Sivananda in India. I was at Sivananda London, not a Jew (mostly Germans and Americans). I was at Sivananda Munich, not a Jew.
paulprescott72 1 year ago
@paulprescott72 Nice of you to take issue with something I never said. I quite clearly was not speaking of yoga teachers. I was speaking of the presenters hired year after year to perform in their so-called ashram cultural programs and workshops. More Jews than Hindus, more Judaism & New Age esoteria than yoga. What if the tables were turned, & there were a preponderance of Hindus presenting Hinduism in a synagogue where the reasonable expectation would be Judaism -- what would you say?
bc9021010001 1 year ago 8
@bc9021010001 I noticed this too. Looks like the job of booking acts gets passed off to some clueless karma-yogi-for-a-day.
"I was speaking of the presenters hired year after year to perform in their so-called ashram cultural programs and workshops. More Jews than Hindus, more Judaism & New Age esoteria than yoga. What if the tables were turned, & there were a preponderance of Hindus presenting Hinduism in a synagogue where the reasonable expectation would be Judaism -- what would you say?"
bumpyjjeans 10 months ago 3
@paulprescott72 The guy was talking about workshop presenters. In the US at least Sivananda ashrams sell mostly non-yoga-related stuff -- Learning Annex kind of bullshit -- crystals, past life regression, New Age crap, etc. And yeah, the preponderance of the workshops, predictably, are run by Jews with psych. degrees or sketchy backgrounds, with no connection to yoga or Hinduism. It's really astounding incompetence or transparent fraud on the part of whoever books these speakers.
spellHYPOCRISY 1 year ago 7
@paulprescott72 So your supporting evidence is that you can or cannot imagine somebody being Jewish. Makes no sense, but your intent is obviously to call somebody a bigot. I too have wondered why so many Sivananda ashram presentations, besides being astoundingly dull, have nothing to do with yoga or Hinduism. And yeah, in the US most are taught by Jews, who are Americans not Israelis. Not bigoted to question why devout or secular Jews instead of Hindus are teaching in a mandir.
bumpyjjeans 1 year ago 10
@paulprescott72 You misconstrued/rephrased my comment to falsely make me appear intolerant, so I am compelled to rectify that confusion. I was clearly speaking of cultural program presenters in the US. To reiterate: "... New Age charlatans selling their worthless cosmic debris. Most of the well-paid presenters are Jewish, not Hindu. It would be the same as if a synagogue invited a bunch of pandits in every week to chant from the Vedas & said they they were rabbis chanting from the Talmud."
bc9021010001 10 months ago
Eurotrash lounge about here posing for each other and delude themselves into thinking they're learning something spiritual. The fat charlatan "swamis" take their money with a smile, and give them each a piece of paper that says they have magically become a guru. This organization has become a sad joke in this millenium.
bc9021010001 1 year ago 8
@fhafha888: Dont yap for the sake of yapping...
Bh0pali 1 year ago
I have very special memories of this place and all the other Sivanand ashrams - they feel like a place of grace in a cynical world! Go if you can...
chandrikaji 1 year ago
can somebody tell me why the TTC Sivananda is very expensive?
fhafha888 1 year ago 16
@fhafha888 . they are expensive because they like money. Sivananda's organisation is corrupt. Spend your money else where.
paulprescott72 1 year ago 16
@fhafha888 Thoroughly corrupt. Since the mahasamadhi ("death") of Swami Vishnu-Devananda, the good swamis were forced out by the aggressive opportunists, frauds basically, who have ensured the organization has become infested by their sordid minions. Westerners must pay top western retail prices to their Canadian HQ to attend courses in India, where expenses are relatively minuscule. They rake in millions annually -- where is the money going? Certainly not to facilities. Audit needed.
bc9021010001 1 year ago 53
This has been flagged as spam show
Most courses are expensive. I'm a UK yoga teacher. I'm creating a bunch of tips, tools & templates for yoga teachers (yoga teacher business plan, yoga teacher marketing plan, yoga posters, yoga brochures, lesson plans, yoga stick men) You can view them at my site (click the blue georgewattsvideos to find it). If you're a yoga teacher, I need your help. Could you go to to my site and if there are any resources not listed that you'd like as a yoga teacher, please email me to let me know.
georgewattsvideos 1 year ago
@fhafha888 Expensive?????!!!! Here in Canada its cost about 3000-3500 for a course that is 8 months long and only on weekends... for my ttc course it was 2400 dollars. thats with my accommodations, food, clothes for the course. I spent about 50 bucks at the ashram to do extra activities. if you took a year long course and you drove 20 minutes to the class everytime over the year you would probably spend over 300 in gas money alone.
liveparkouramour 6 months ago
Sivananda yoga teacher's course is Best ...good memories of those days...Aum
adityakrishna008 2 years ago
Comment removed
pennypowerbook 2 years ago
i love sivananda- they hold such a special lace in my heart ommmm - i did the ttc in austria many years ago
mevaishnavi 2 years ago 2
This comment has received too many negative votes show
dont get impressed buy these strange things. they just want to make money with this old yoga stuff, because they are not creative enough to find something better.
ruzickaw 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Actually, this Ashram is a not-for-profit organisation. Please don't talk disrespectfully about matters of which you have no knowledge
danielbeasley 2 years ago
@danielbeasley Non-profit is the most attractive refuge for scoundrels, thieves, impostors, rapists. Non-profits rake in tax-free loot in the millions and barely need to account for any of it. After Sivananda's founder passed on in 1991, the professional vultures descended.
bc9021010001 9 months ago 17
This comment has received too many negative votes show
@bc9021010001 I'm an atheist and a sceptic, and certainly not ready to jump to the defence of people just because they wave their God flags. However, the staff at the Bahamas ashram were perfectly lovely and didn't display any signs of corruption at all. Sure, they wanted money at every turn, but that place doesn't run itself, and it's actually one of the cheapest TTC available considering what you get for your money. Lets direct our anger at 'Faith healers' and their ilk before these guys.
danielbeasley 9 months ago
@danielbeasley Lol. Spoken like a true recent recipient of a Sivananda "you are now magically a guru" certificate -- full of presumption, arrogance, delusion. You background checked everybody you encountered, audited all the organization's accounts worldwide did you? While running around in your 1-month teacher training course, sleep-deprived, scribbling assignments, cramming for your exam? While making sure you got the constant approval of anybody with authority, from stooge to schwami?
bc9021010001 9 months ago 8
@danielbeasley They teach the law of karma but do not believe in it. This group is full of selfish, petty losers. Most people who have never heard of yoga are more enlightened than those you will find here.
zooooooperdooooooper 9 months ago 8
@danielbeasley "... the staff at the Bahamas ashram were perfectly lovely and didn't display any signs of corruption at all."
Lol. Con artists work hard to seem "perfectly lovely" and do not "display any signs of corruption at all." That's why they are called con artists.
bjocelot 9 months ago 11
This comment has received too many negative votes show
@bjocelot Well, I suppose, the bottom line is your outlook. My husband is an investment banker and I don't need to work. I spend about 3 months a year by the ocean all over the world. I have people counsel me and care for me and it makes me feel good. And to me that's worth the money I lay out for it. Honest enough for you? And if I want to pay for that, what's the problem. Why is that worse than having a massage or a sauna?
danielbeasley 9 months ago
@danielbeasley Who should we all "direct our anger at," oh trusted, beloved, wise random internet commenter? Actually, I don't see any anger in these comments. Facts are not emotion.
bjocelot 9 months ago 9
@bjocelot You are going to get the typical passive-aggressive Sivananda turnspeak innuendo treatment now. Speak truth to this organization's hilariously obvious hypocrisy and some snipy little sycophant will imply you are angry, not detached, jealous, confused. Listen to your common sense. when some conniving, self-serving frauds take your money & free labor, then laugh at you. This is why before Shankara, Hinduism in India was supplanted by Buddhism -- embarrassing petty frauds in charge.
bumpyjjeans 9 months ago 7
This comment has received too many negative votes show
@bjocelot I never claimed to be anything but a person who has actually visited some of these ashrams in question. I hate in when religious people tell us all what to think and what to do. I also think it's unacceptable to go around treading on peoples dreams and the things they enjoy because you don't agree. I just came back from an Ashram actually. I spent the week talking to my old friend who is having a baby and has recently become single. I made her smile again. What did you do this week?
danielbeasley 9 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@bc9021010001 "Non-profit is the most attractive refuge for scoundrels, thieves, impostors, rapists. Non-profits rake in tax-free loot in the millions and barely need to account for any of it. After Sivananda's founder passed on in 1991, the professional vultures descended."
One day there may be an accounting. Unfortunately most con artists swoop in, do their damage, and fly away in the night. Sivananda has lost many good people, pushed out by the frauds who come and go. Sad.
bjocelot 9 months ago 3
Here is something to ponder..., if you ever realize your true self in meditation, you are as innocent as a new born child..., amoung wolves. They say ask what we would do if Christ came back, and everyone has the nails and hammer hidden behind their backs..., lets not be fooled people, samadhi is a terrible thing to happen in one's life time..., stick to the siddhis, it will get you nowhere. Just a playful thought, Hari Om Tat Sat
Jai666666666 2 years ago
this would be my dream come true.
CoolRaul28 3 years ago
I went to a Positive Thinking workshop at a Sivananda center, and it changed my life. I used to be a such a negative, pessimistic person, but I now am full of cheerfulness and optimism. I go back every year, whenever I can.
bluesman122 3 years ago
@bluesman122 Congratulations. Want a cookie?
bc9021010001 10 months ago 6
This comment has received too many negative votes show
When I passed the Sivananda Ashram around 8 p.m., I saw poor people sleeping outside. If his holiness Sivananda Ji was materially alive today, those poor people would have got shelter and food. Now the same institution has been occupied by dollar hungry satans. Noone is going to get emancipation by circus hatha yogic practices. Ignorant people are being duped of their money and time. Only way to liberation is Bhakti yoga. Hatha yoga is good only for beautification of the gross body. OM
indianrailways 3 years ago
Nice judgment of others you have.
Vedicstar 3 years ago
this looks like fun although I cant help but thinking how these indian yogis are making millions off naive westerners. It's like mass production of sivanada yogis. hey but to each their own!
mayombe2001 3 years ago
To be honest, it doesn't seem like you know much about the Sivananda Organization, especially that it is a non-for-profit organization. Their classes and workshops are perhaps the most affordable available these days and are taught by staff of volunteers. It's a great organization, but even the for profit orgs like Bikram provide a service for people. I would rather people spend their money on something that leads to a greater sense of well-being than some transient materialistic indulgence.
YRivera1 3 years ago
Thanks for posting this video! I just signed up to take the TTC course nov-dec 08 :)
khubba2 3 years ago
it seem you all have an amazing experience there. Thanks for such a great video.
irso 3 years ago
The great Swami Sivananda and his superior disciple Vishnu-Devananda would not want their names associated with the bizarre and corrupt cult the organization bearing their names and likenesses has become. Within ten years of Swami Vishnu's death, the governing board and senior staff were supplanted by power-hungry frauds. The ranks are full of those wishing a free ride, hiding from tax authorities, seeking a US visa, or seeing an easy climb one easy rung to the next to where they can embezzle.
bumpyjjeans 3 years ago 49
Something about Sri Karthikeyan?
Zappfrank 3 years ago
thank you..touched my heart..trying so much to follow the five points if swami sivananda..also i love so much swami vishnu devanada..fills my heart with beauty and truth..thank you again for sharing.
thefatgoose 3 years ago
Om Namah Sivaya
Paulblock5 3 years ago
thanks a lot for this post !!
karinebeng 4 years ago
Thank you for posting this video...om nama sivaya om!
Jai Guru Dev!!!
redmark2007 4 years ago
Hi Paulp,
WOW!!! Thank you some much for this video! I was very excited to find this video on YouTube. I will be going to this same Ashram for the TTC in October and your video was very helpful and very nicely done. Can you please share your overall experience at the Ashram? Thanks again!
Maribel
EmoVideos 4 years ago
Perfect video! I have a yahoo group and members are curious about asram life and this video gives a very good idea of what it is!!!
Thank you for sharing.
ayca1201 4 years ago
HARI OM!!!!, THANKS FROM PERU.
It´s a great video, learn us how to live in peace, harmony and love.
My name is Juan Carlos and I follow the teaching of Shree Gajanan Maharaj, son of Sivananda. I practice Agnihotra since 2001. keep in touch and thank you again, this video fix my day!!!!
...With the bless of Sivanda say good bye!!!
OM SHREE
Juan Carlos.
jcadlerp2006 4 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
one more true story,,, i was one of the first 100 in the Vishnu yoga certificate training. i came to realize that Swami knew my every thought. i can remember having lust full thoughts in class regarding a classmate that had the most sexual body.. the second i would have the impure thought, vishnu would look me directly in the eye and shake his head side to side. i have so many stories from my presence with him those yoga gone wild days...
rolandSullivan 4 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Hi Roland,
your story made me laugh! I am sure you must have had great times with Swami Vishnu. I did not have the luck to meet him, but I am very happy that I have been able to have shared his wisdom through his disciples...especially Swami Govindananda.
Om
Paulp
paulprescott72 4 years ago
PaulP. i know Govindananda well. he is a true noble soul. he invited me to come and be with him at his ashram in india. i will visit him one day.
i will be doing more teaching on u tube or the web... sivananda would have wanted such.
rolandSullivan 4 years ago
@paulprescott72
I knew Govindananda. He is a prize student of Sivananda. He helped me learn Sanskrit.
rudrapriya1 6 months ago
can anyone tell me the music that's been playing on the background? thank you
karishmen 5 years ago
Hi Karishmen.
there are various music artists included in my video, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank and list them:
- Shree Guru Charanam - (Krishna Das)
- Deva Loka - (Drala)
- All I Need - (Air)
- Namah shivaya - (Krishna Das)
- Surya Namaskar (Sun Salute) - (Drala)
- Cherry blossom girl - (Air)
- Sail Away - (David Gray)
Paulp
paulprescott72 5 years ago
What is that chant at 11:41?
dl245 5 years ago
hi there dl245!
the chant at 11:41 is from Krishna Das "Namah shivaya" from the album "live on earth". I should update my video with all the music credits...one day when I get the time. Thanks for taking the time to watch my video. Om. Paulp
paulprescott72 5 years ago
Had you really been paying attention. You would know i am not the master but a student. Learning from every sunbeam. Every blowing of the wind. From the real masters.
ZIGGYGATOR 5 years ago
hari om - tat sat
paulprescott72 5 years ago
Still not learning are you. Open your heart i know there is kind words in there somewhere.
ZIGGYGATOR 5 years ago
yes master!
paulprescott72 5 years ago
What was the bummer the teacher or you? If you did not go there to learn and open your heart to become less judgemental. Well that was not the teacher not teaching that was the student not being a student.
ZIGGYGATOR 5 years ago
ziggygator, don't be so judgmental! hehe!!
paulprescott72 5 years ago
Hari Om! Thanks. Pretty nice video!
rmurali 5 years ago
thanks for this video... amazing!
wladypimentel 5 years ago
oh, thanks. I am glad that you liked it!
paulprescott72 5 years ago
Haribol,
i was in 1998 and 1999 in Rishikesh and meditated a lot of times in Sivananda's Samadhi-shrine in the Ashram beginning at 5 in the morning.
I was always very concentrated as there was always a very sattvic atmosphere and i always feld very light in my head.
Check out Sivananda's writings on www.sivananda.com.
ganjananda 5 years ago
That is a great video! I have a question, isn't Pink Floyd against teachers, there song's were like the fuel for the Teenage waste land, why did you pick that song in the start of the video, is there a reason? OM
Theweb74rent 5 years ago
Hi, very good point. The choice of Pink Floyd was exactly for that reason. We had many hours a day of lessons, and this teacher and his lesson were particularly difficult, and it was quite hard not to fall asleep. So the choice of music was a message (which the teacher would not understand) that is lesson was a bummer.
Thanks for your question!
Paulp
paulprescott72 5 years ago