“What is wrong with this picture” is the first thought
that comes to mind while writing this article refuting the charges
against Swami Kriyananda. The claims leveled against him in no
way resemble the person I have known during my twenty-five years
at Ananda. I have seen no overlap of the two profiles—the
steadfast disciple of a great avatar, versus the unconscionable
monster portrayed by his detractors. No resemblance whatsoever.
The truth remains that Kriyananda has been seriously miscast
in the roles assigned to him by his accusers. Egomaniacal? Womanizing?
Arrogant? Avaricious? I think not, and here’s why.
Any great work, as history reveals, has to struggle through great
opposition in its birthing stage. Yogananda, the avatar for this
age, told Swami repeatedly during their three years together
at the Mt.Washington headquarters that the young monk had a great
work to do. Never did two plus two so clearly equal four, i.e.,
that Ananda World Brotherhood Colonies are the great work
to which he was referring. Or at least a part of it.
End of story? Not quite. We—meaning the people of Ananda—are
struggling for our continued existence in the face of the lawsuits
explained on this website. And a good struggle it’s been.
Although I would never wish this battle on anyone, I am grateful
for the fortitude and joy that have ensued as a result.
There are many areas of dispute by Swami Kriyananda’s detractors
where I could voice my experiences in his defense. I consider
it an honor to defend him because in doing so, I am also defending
the spiritual principles to which he has committed his life:
humility, compassion, courage, and forgiveness. I have never
known Swami to define himself on the merits of his many accomplishments,
but only by the quality of his discipleship to his guru, Paramhansa
Yogananda.
What I have seen, time and time again, is that the flaws people
project onto Swami Kriyananda are the very issues with which
they themselves are struggling. I believe that people who call
him a sexual predator have their own unresolved sexual issues.
His detractors’ claims have been disproved repeatedly to
my satisfaction. I’ve seen Swami treat women, myself included,
with dignified respect. Consistently and without exception.
Years ago during the most painful period of Swami’s degenerative
arthritis, I gave him occasional massage treatments prior to
his hip replacement surgeries. He always treated me graciously
and appropriately. In fact, those times saw some of our best
chats together. The hip bones had deteriorated so severely that
he could hardly bear to walk across the room. His case was the
worst his surgeon reported seeing.
As an example of projected sexual imbalances, I refer you to
my earlier letter about Eric Estep who spearheaded this lawsuit.
I was married to Eric and also physically abused by him. This
man has serious personal conflicts and disturbances on the issues
of women and sexuality—the very claims he encouraged Bertolucci
to file against Swami and Ananda.
Being a sexual predator and having a consensual sexual relationship
are not the same thing. People who confuse the two where Swami
is concerned have been seriously misinformed by the outrageous
propaganda against him. Or they are victims of severe memory
distortion. Kriyananda has denied all allegations of sexual harassment
and I believe him. I note in passing that most, if not all, of
his handful of accusers have close ties to SRF, which has persecuted
Ananda for years.
I personally don’t have a problem that Swami Kriyananda
had several consensual relationships at Ananda. I never heard
him make claims of celibacy or of being someone or something
that he wasn’t. Some people say the title swami means
celibacy; to others like myself, it simply means teacher
and is not an issue.
Another point often overlooked is that Ananda began during the
height of California’s hippie era in the late 1960s. Picture
the make-love-not-war era, a consciousness that made its own
limited way into Ananda. This was the cultural climate that confronted
Swami in the early days of the community. Women reflected these
attitudes in their manner of dress. Clothing, often without undergarments,
was revealing and suggestive, symbolic of the pseudo-freedom
of the times.
Remembering that Yogananda has said that environment is stronger
than will power, just imagine anyone trying to be monastic in
those days. Swami’s support in the form of the SRF monastery
was taken from him through his forced removal from the organization.
It is common knowledge that women seeking to gain a vicarious
sense of power are known to “come on” to leaders of
organizations, even religious leaders. Given these circumstances,
it is not surprising that Swami had relationships. To twist this
fact into calling him a sexual predator, however, is an outright
lie.
There was also Swami Kriyananda’s relationship with Kimberly
Moore in the early 80s. I saw with my own eyes the tenderness
and respect with which he treated her, and the affectionate way
she responded back to him. That an emotionally healthy person
can act differently in public than in private is not a credible
concept—ask any competent psychologist. The loving respect
between Swami and Kimberly was mutual, no matter what she has
since decided to claim were her feelings for him at that time.
One scenario in particular stands out in my memory. Community
members and guests had just enjoyed the weekly Sunday Service
at our Meditation Retreat. Lunch in the Common Dome followed.
Swami and Kimberly were dining together side by side. I happened
to look over just at the time he fed her a spoonful of the meal.
That one gesture, both received and reciprocated with her own
kindness, seemed symbolic of the nurturance between them.
Kimberly was indeed a beautiful person, both inwardly and outwardly.
She and I had a distant, but nonetheless special, friendship
that continued through infrequent letters and Christmas cards
for a time after she left Ananda. From her behavior some years
later, I learned that people are indeed capable of anything.
Choosing to play the victim, her betrayal of Swami in her sworn
legal statement against him reflected pure treachery; I was sickened
to read it.
And on the subject of greed: those who have accused Swami Kriyananda
of avarice, I’ve noticed, are projecting onto him their
own tendencies toward selfish motives. I have observed Swami
receiving checks and monetary gifts at Christmastime and at his
birthday parties. He graciously thanks people and then never
even looks at the amounts. I know I would, at least out of curiosity!
I have seen that he uses these monetary gifts as contributions
to projects for the benefit of others: books, music, community
centers, gardens, museums, etc.
I have never, even once, seen him throw his spiritual weight
around or express a holier-than-thou attitude toward anyone,
regardless of age, color, gender, or even IQ level. He exhibits
neither an air of superiority nor inferiority—both attributes
of egoism. I have never seen him talk down to anyone, myself
included. Rather, he talks up to people, in the sense of holding
them in the Light, reflecting back to them their highest potential.
It is irrelevant to him whether they express it or not.
Paramhansa Yogananda has said that Christ was crucified once
but his teachings have been crucified daily for two thousand
years. And since Ananda is bringing forth what Yogananda called
a new expression of original Christianity, it is not surprising
that Swami Kriyananda and Ananda are being crucified by those
who—to put it kindly—wish we didn’t exist.
Lila Devi lives at Ananda Village. She is the developer
of a line of healing products call Master’s Flower Essences.
She is the author of two books about using these essences to
help people and animals.
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