atlanticgirl

This is my first review on the Actualized.org forum. I really feel compelled to share my honest opinion about this course, and Sadhguru, for those considering this course. A bit of background; I am a long-time spiritual seeker, who began with Vipassana meditation ( Goenka), in 2001. I did many ten-day silent retreats, initially did extremely well, but got burned out and quit vipassana after 14 years. In 2008, I took up Bikram yoga, and today I practice the Ashtanga Primary series. In 2016, I began working with an outstanding nonduality teacher (recently retired) who introduced me to the teachings of Ramana Maharshi and recommended a multi-faceted approach. In less than 16 months, I experienced Nirvakalpi Samadhi. I see myself as having undergone great positive changes, and mental purifications. I experience an inner peace and joy that I would not have thought possible. At this point, it feels like I am sweeping out the corners, so to speak, in dealing with the residual vasanas. I feel it is important to share all this, to give context to my review of the Inner Engineering Course. I took the Inner Engineering Course in April 2018, on the advice of a friend. I had been curious about Kriya yoga. I immediately felt it was increasing my energy. About eight weeks after the course, I went through an incredibly challenging period with an adult child, who was in critical condition in hospital. I was surprised at the degree of mental clarity I had during this crisis. This is the thing I can honestly say has been the most noticeable benefit; increased mental clarity. Also, sleep quality has improved and sleeping on average about an hour less per night. I've been impressed enough with the results of this course, that I am now planning to take another traditional Kriya course, but not with Sadhguru's Isha foundation, for reasons I'll explain later. Sadhguru makes a lot of big claims about the power of this course to change people's lives. From what I have seen, having taken the course and volunteered at two other courses, Sadhguru seems to be attracting a lot of new people to the spiritual path, and I think this is great. I appreciate the fact that Sadhguru understands that a lot of people need to focus on improving their physical and mental health, and this is foundational to spiritual growth. I think this aspect is sorely missing in the Western Buddhist community ( Zen and Vipassana), where the emphasis is all on sitting for long periods. I've recommended the course to eight other people. Half have not kept up their practice, and only one seems to have gotten similar benefits to me. An observation I'd like to share; There is a big difference between Sadhguru, and the Isha Foundation which is run by volunteers. There is definitely an element of fundamentalism/ cultishness among many of the Isha volunteers. I would say the Isha Foundation is at Stage Blue in Spiral Dynamics, whereas I agree with Leo, that Sadhguru is Stage Turquoise. This has been challenging for me to reconcile. However, I am now thinking that Sadhguru is attracting Stage Blue / Orange people into the yogic path, and perhaps the way things are set up, is what these people need. One other issue I'd like to mention. Sadhguru has trained a number of teachers to conduct the Inner Engineering Courses. He is teaching some large numbers of people in big venues, and his trained teachers are teaching perhaps- 40-80 people in various places around the world. If you go to a course offered by one of his trained teachers, all of the Shambhavi Kriya instructions will be presented by videos of Sadhguru. One thing I had a big problem was the fact that the teachers are required to memorize word for word, a one-hour introductory talk at the beginning of the course. It comes across very weird. They are also tightly scripted every time they address the class throughout the course. A number of students I've spoken with find this aspect highly disconcerting. It's as if Sadhguru doesn't trust his own, hand-picked, devoted teachers to speak with their own words - every single word needs to be memorized. Ironically, Sadhguru says he has been invited by the Prime Minister of India to give input on reforming India's education and says a big problem with India's education policies are the emphasis on memorization, rather than real learning! In spite of this 'negative criticism', I really think Sadhguru is doing great things and is a positive force in this world. A few months ago, I found a series of Kriya books on Amazon, by SantataGamana, which I would HIGHLY recommend. I've decided not to keep going with ISHA courses at this point because I would rather pursue a traditional route. I will be getting initiation this coming weekend with Himalayan Yogi Nath Guru. Still, I am grateful for the benefits I have gotten from Shambhavi Kriya.

@lmfao Yes, I agree, he is appealing to huge numbers of people at Stage Blue and Orange. Since education is strongly correlated with evolving to higher stages, I wonder if this will happen over time? Or, will this natural evolution actually be hampered by unquestioned devotion to Sadhguru and the dogmatism in the teachings, similar to the fundamentalism observed in Scientologists?

@Jkris Your question is good. I looked at the link. I like Shinzen Young very much. I’ve spoken to him myself. A number of sources refer to Nirvakalpi Samadhi as the ultimate stage. However, Ramana Maharshi stated that most spiritual seekers stop too soon. He said even once Nirvakalpi has occurred, vasanas would still be present and must be addressed ( with further Self-enquiry). My thoughts about Kriya for myself at this point is that it supports health and vitality, and will provide the energy and focus to address remaining vasanas - which at this point are a small fraction of what they once were. Shinzen Young says “Enlightenment is capable of endless enlargement”. My plan is to dedicate the rest of my life to see how far I can go.

If you haven’t seem them yet, I would highly recommend: The Cosmos Series with Neil Degrasse Tyson, One Strange Rock, and on YouTube, the three part BBC series The Atom. These are all documentaries, which, if you watch all three, you’ll understand more about the universe than the vast majority of people with a university education (unfortunately). I recommend these to spiritual seekers, because they all inspire a sense of AWE of the manifest universe. It’s occurred to me that the emotion of awe is in short supply in humanity, because people are too self-absorbed, or genuinely overwhelmed with problems. Spiritual awakening brings a big increase in the sense of awe.

@Derek White I agree. I would recommend to someone that takes the course and it benefits them, focus on the practice itself, but be cautious about getting involved with the organization. Use some discernment to separate the value and aims of the practice, as opposed to getting swept up in cultishness, which will lead you away from Self-realization, not towards it. i have not visited either of the ashrams. Here I want to point out a contradiction from Sadhguru. On the one hand, he (correctly) says we need to drop ideas about sacred vs profane. Given that, we therefore should be understanding that everything is sacred, not only Sadhguru’s ‘consecrated’ spaces.

@Leo Gura Completely agree.

@Jordan94 Yes, having attended and served many Goenka vipassana courses, I know this to be true. Initially when I started going to Vipassana, it didn’t bother me. But after attending 3-4 courses, and starting to serve, I realized that the amount of control Goenka established ‘to maintain the purity of the teachings’, seemed rigid and counterproductive. It says little about Goenka’s faith in the teachings, when his most senior teachers are not allowed to actually teach a course. These teachers must refer to a manual for scripted answers to every type of question.. If someone were to say ‘I just experienced Nirvakalpi Samadhi, the likely response would be ‘ Return to the technique’. There was a situation years ago in India, where a 10-day vipassana course was about to get underway. Keep in mind that for the majority of people who go to a vipassana retreat, enormous effort must be made to organize oneself to take time from work, arrangements for family duties, etc, etc. In this particular course, there was a local power failure, which meant they couldn’t play the recordings of vipassana instructions. One day passed, then the second day passed, and by the third day, the power still had not been restored. The teacher made the decision to go ahead and teach these students vipassana himself. When Goenka heard news about this later, he was heavily reprimanded. In my opinion, this level of rigidity in a leader or organization is not healthy, nor is it conducive to the main objective, which is Self-realization.

It’s not because of the memorization alone that I’m saying this is a stage blue organization. Keep in mind what stage blue values are about - high priority is given to rules and regulations, authority, conservatism, religion, etc. I got acquainted with many participants and volunteers and so this is why I maintain this is quite predominantly stage blue organization. I’ve been to three IE courses. The first, I was a participant. The second and third I volunteered throughout. The teachers are repeating exactly word for word from a script. And no, some of them grew up in the West and speak perfect English. It was quite disappointing for me to see this, because I realized that Sadhguru is requiring this of his teachers. It seemed to be at odds with the impression I had of him listening to his talks at the UN, etc. I also don’t see how this can be good for the teachers personally.

@Sirius Orion I live in Canada, and have attended courses in two major cities. Having attended in the past many vipassana courses, which are primarily populated by stage green folks, I found the IE courses made from a completely different demographic. About half are from India, the remainder Westerners. Maybe 10-15% of IE participants here are stage green. People at IE courses (compared to Vipassana or Western Zen centres) tend to be much more conservative and religious. I think they are drawn to the courses because of Sadhguru’s immense charisma. As I said, I noticed increased energy, heightening of mental clarity, improved sleep and reduction of sleep needed by about an hour. I’ve been very consistent with my practice, never missing a day. I’ve wondered if my 11 years of intensive yoga practice has made me more receptive to the Shambhavi kriya? It surprises me when people say they have been doing it consistently but NOT seeing changes. Perhaps they should do asanas first for some time? I also think it is critical to do the practice with a positive attitude - not approaching it as a chore to get over with. If you are going to do any spiritual practice a key is to examine motivation. I don’t know anything about the relationship between Sadhguru and Modi.