For those of you who are aware, Swami Muktananda [Baba Muktananda] was the disciple of Bhagavan Nityananda of Ganespuri, and the Guru of Gurumayi.
He is famous for helping to bring Kundalini/Siddha yoga to the West, and was considered a Guru of Gurus. He was no doubt a powerful, charismatic, shakti-filled, intelligent, Guru. And many Eastern and Western Gurus in recent decades were either students of his or Gurumayi.
The problem is, at least it’s a problem for many, allegations surfaced years ago about Muktananda abusing his power and having sex with female devotees, including underage female devotees. As well as financial misconduct, bullying, anger issues, etc. Many left Siddha Yoga as a result, including many inner circle devotees and Swamis. Several so-called Gurus today, carried on but re-invented themselves as lineage holders under Nityananda - conveniently leaving out Muktananda and Gurumayi. Others mention him but do not include him in their lineage tree. And so on. Whatever one’s take on the whole thing, it isn’t a subject that has a lot of neutral opinions. Although it does seem to have many, including current Gurus (one of which I recently had an email exchange with), a tad conflicted and/or confused.
On the one hand, here was this apparent lion of Yogis, overflowing with shakti, able to awaken kundalini in large crowds, oozing love and compassion, Guru to tens of thousands, an acknowledged successor (not the only one imo) to a beloved Nityananda, largely believed to be an Avadhut and great Light of India, great swami renunciate…
And on the other hand, these sexual stories. As well as other stories about having a brutal temper at times, bullying, manipulating, etc
Some people have chosen to ignore the allegations altogether. Others have managed to justify the two extremes. Some aren’t even aware of it. And others, like myself, have long-since taken the position that no matter what his spiritual attainment may have been, it can never justify this kind of behavior.
I wonder what you think about it.
There is plenty to find online if you need to brush up on the subject, or if you are new to this.
What is your reaction?
What is the relation, if any, between spiritual depth and behavior?
Are some things, for example sex and temper ok, while others like rape and murder not?
Where is the line, if any, for you?
Does it mean he could not have been Self-Realizes/Enlightened? Or was he perhaps both a Sage and sexually repressed?
What about those long-time students and Gurus that hail from him?
What about Gurumayi and the Siddha Yoga community that continues to thrive (although less so) today?
All comments, questions are welcome - but please keep things civilized ok.