Sauce and Game

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Kriyananda

Avoid Hallelu-hypocricy

Is getting destroyed really and truly a blessing? . . . Here is a quote by swami Kriyananda, a direct disciple of Yogananda. he claims it is, in an American newspaper, the Palo Alto Weekly Online Edition, 28 February 1996. "These Americans . . .":

"If (God) wants to destroy me, it is not destruction. It is a blessing." [Link]

Is that so? A blessing for whom - abused women? For the world? Do not think or talk like that for self-defence or otherwise.
Yoga goes for unifications. Sex unions form parts of unifications at large.
One of Yogananda's teachings is "God is the Sole Doer". Try it if you have "mal-sex", or fart in the elevator, saying, "God did it!" It may not work very well.

Four Are Not Two

Kriyananda also tells,

Master [Yogananda] himself said that he did not touch the feet of saints except his own master and his father. He was trying to make the point that devotion should be one-pointed.
I believe that the time is coming soon when we, as disciples of Master, will need that strength of devotion." [Kriyananda in "The Avatar, part 2" [Link]

This is not correct, for Yogananda writes he bowed down and touched the feet of Ram Gopal too - one more than Kriyananda mentions:

At dawn Ram Gopal gave me rock candies . . . After touching the saint's feet . . . I reached Tarakeswar . . . I made a . . . pilgrimage to the famous shrine, and prostrated myself fully before the altar. The round stone" - [Autobiography ch 13.]

He touched the feet of Mahandranath Gupta (master Mahasaya) as well:

I fell moaning to the floor . . . I clutched his feet . . . "Holy sir, your intercession! Ask divine Mother if I find any favour in her sight!" [Autobiography, ch 9]

Yogananda was more of a prostrator and clutcher than Kriyananda tells. "Four are not two", and nobody should be trusted for untrue statements. Discard them well somehow. Look with suspicion of those who cannot be telling the truth.

Divine Conduct?

Some say "God" and mean "Divine Mother and Kali" by it. Yogananda often did. [Psy 21, 26]. "Mother . . . leave me in ignorance no longer," he said too [Ak 260].

A Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu, once said: "Heaven is not partial, it sides only with the good man". Impartiality helps against gross bias, such ignorance. Now for some more interesting material about Kriyananda.
Kriyananda once served as the vice-president of SRF, till he was expelled by a unanimous vote of the SRF board of Directors. It appears the reasons were many. It had been reported to SRF that Kriyananda had repeatedly violated his monastic vows of celibacy and obedience when travelling around India with two young nuns. Kriyananda was deported by the Indian government in 1962, and was denied an entrance visa for ten years after that. There was some added unethical conduct too, in SRF's opinion. You can read about all the details that Ananda Network have come up with here: [Link].

"Man is supposed to get something out of this life. (. . .) Make [some] effort beyond obvious necessity," said Yogananda [Ak 257, 255].

Back in the U.S.A, and expelled from SRF, Kriyananda started and headed the alternative community Ananda Sangha in Nevada City, California. He has written extensively about his expulsion from SRF, denying misconduct and complaining about how unfairly he was mistreated, claiming he was unjustly railroaded out of SRF because of an internal power struggle based on pettiness and jealousy. He claims that he was, then and now, the victim of a conspiracy. In retrospect, he also sees his expulsion from SRF as divinely ordained -
Be that as it may, as the head of Ananda this formerly wed monk was found guilty in a court trial of having had, on occasion, "consensual sexual relationships with several women".
You can learn to maximise boons and minimise lossed through filtering and bulwarking activities, and spending concerns and efforts according to plans in decent, fit directions. Bulwarking well is fit too, and good performance. Still, individual success is not guaranteed, and you have to consider things on your own. Sound education helps.
Verdicts against Ananda Sangha and Kriyananda:

"Evidence . . . (and) documents . . . place Kriyananda clearly within the profile of clergy sex offenders (and) of the multiple repeat offender who deliberately seeks vulnerable women to exploit for his own sexual gratification." - The Reverend Pamela Cooper-White [Link]

After a 3 month trial, the jury awarded the plaintiff 1.6 million dollars in compensatory and punitive damages and found Kriyananda guilty of despicable and reprehensible conduct and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and of fraudulently representing himself as a swami, a celibate monk, to gain women's trust in order to seduce and sexually use them.
After the trial, Kriyananda fled to Italy, writes anandainfo. To the degree what happened in court was just, it helps very little for the man or women involved to think back and mull over it. The best strategy is perhaps to get through with the defamation and look ahead. Along such a road, it is tough to sum up hard-won lessons alone, hoping that interesting life lessons may come to light thereby. It is better to get an idea of such lessons by learning from others. Schooling is for that, among other things, and proverbs. and much else. It does not ruin you, and may be entertaining too.
In the case referred to, the judge uttered such as:

This minister misrepresented himself as celibate, holy, and having only her best interests at heart, and thus betrayed her trust as an initiate in his religious organization."

The Reverend Pamela Cooper-White did not like sexually tinged "mismanagement" either. Now for details about:

"Cult-like demands for community conformity, loyalty and devotion to the leader, justified by references to the obedience to the Swami in Hindu tradition together with veiled threats of retaliation, abandonment or ostracism if followers questioned questioned Kriyananda's authority. By taking the title "Swami, and by linking himself as the spiritual successor to the famous Hindu, Yogananda and claiming to be Yogananda's psychic "channel" from beyond the grave, Walters/Kriyananda elevated himself to the position of ultimate spiritual authority very close to being an incarnation of God Himself. Additional layers of authority were added".
"The ministers (1) created a bogus climate of safety, trust, and promises of spiritual and personal growth and enhancement of well-being; (2) singled out women to perform perform sexual services for them, in a pattern of sexually predatory behavior; (3) when confronted, threatened the victim with exposure and shaming in the community, and (4) consistently used the rationale of 'blaming the victim" turning the responsibility for the sexual behavior back on her and confusing her with their insistence that she was at least consenting, and . . . herself."
"Blaming the victim . . . is a very common pattern in cases of pastoral sexual misconduct, reinforced by myths and stereotypes portraying all male pastors as innocent sitting ducks".
It shows up that there may arise amorous feeling between counsellors and counselled persons.
The star status of Kriyananda, and linking him to a highly respected avatar as a spiritual heir, eased exploitations from narcissistic cravings and she surely saw a drive towards more than reasonable control and power over others. (section 20).
Alleged victims found themselves exhausted, at least emotionally, tipped off balance into despair and feelings of futility into habituated compliance. (from section 21)
She speaks of violated trust and lost attachment to the church in question. (sections 25 and 26) [Link]

Cooper-White signed such statements under the penalty of perjury. Well, well. Appointed experts tend to disagree among themselves. This appointed expert did not seem sympathetic to the needs of men, contrary to the lyrics of James Brown: "This is a man's world, this is a man's world /But it wouldn't be nothing, nothing without a woman or a girl". And there is a useful Chinese proverb for some cases: "It is not certain that the one who cries the loudest is in the right."
I refer from some allegedly best sources and add comments, like "Someone who matters, has sound outlets over and over."

The seemingly simple human body . . . I sometimes think God could have made a few improvements." - Yogananda [Ak 251]

In the "seemingly simple" case of Kriyananda, in 2006, because of his "service to the spiritual future of humanity", he was nominated and accepted as a Creative Member of the Club of Budapest. And in August, 2007, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the National InterFaith Council at the Wadsworth Theater in Los Angeles. [Wikipedia, sv. "Kriyananda"]
Yogananda further: "In this complex world our lives are nothing but plays [Srg 43]."
And "An ounce of luck is better than a pound of wisdom [French, Fp 81]".

Literature
Ak: Yogananda, Paramahansa. Man's Eternal Quest. 2nd ed. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1982.
Fp: Mertvago, Peter. Dictionary of 1000 French Proverbs. New York: Hippocrene Books, 1996.
Psy: Dasgupta, Sailendra. Paramhansa Swami Yogananda: Life-portrait and Reminiscences. Portland: Yoga Niketan. 2006. Online pdf. www.yoganiketan.net
Srg: Yogananda, Paramahansa. The Science of Religion. 2nd ed. Los Angeles: Self-Realization Fellowship, 1982.

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