Spiritual quest and hard coin: the secrets of the world of Rama Yoga and its leader – Guru Jagat

The Rama Yoga Institute opened in Los Angeles in 2013 and immediately became a cult place for many representatives of the city's elite. People in white clothes hurried to their guru's classes, and then sat under rainbow flags, swaying to the hypnotic mantras performed by the White Sun group. The musical group included rama yoga mentors Hari Jivan Khalsa (Harijiwan Khalsa) and Gurujas Khalsa (Gurujas Khalsa). Among the Hollywood housewives and aspiring actresses who followed rama yoga were future stars: Alisha Keys, Kate Hudson and Kelly Rutherford.

The students sat among crystals and photos of Guru Yogi Bhajan, who introduced Americans to kundalini yoga in the late 60s, and Guru Jagat, the founder of the Rama Yoga Institute. She has gained worldwide fame, but recently the facts about the dark affairs of the mentor of the RA MA Institute have been surfacing more and more often.

In the early 2010s, the esoteric practice of Bhajan, in which Sikh mantras and tantric theories were used during practices with poses and yoga techniques, was at the peak of popularity. Many celebrities, including Russell Brand, Demi Moore and Jennifer Aniston, were fond of it. When meditation became mainstream, influencers began to earn millions, and Guru Jagat appeared in the world of kundalini yoga. At first, the mentor gained popularity in the Yoga West community, where she called herself the new incarnation of Yoga Bhajan. The RA MA Center was a place of fashionable people, goods and concepts that began to fill the sphere of healthy lifestyle, and Jagat was its superstar.

A woman in white sat on a stage decorated with crystals and plants, against the background of a huge gong. It was made for the rock band Van Halen. Jama dressed quite strangely, complementing the mystical image with large earrings and sunglasses. This woman won the hearts of her followers with humor and charisma, talking about enlightenment and transformation in a modern manner, with the use of fashionable words. Sometimes her "sermons" lasted up to 45 minutes.

Jagat said that there is nothing wrong with wanting to be rich and look good. The guru claimed that it was kundalini yoga that would help achieve this, and conducted meditations that would help attract finance and well-being. She urged the students to "destroy the inner patriarchy" and study " the science of yoga about sex." The mentor offered a set of physical exercises in which repetitive movements were alternated with voice and breathing techniques. After such classes, some followers left the audience in a state of euphoria.

After attracting social networks and connections in Hollywood, Jagat soon became one of the most famous personalities in the field of healthy lifestyle and turned her business into a small business empire. In addition to traveling around the world with seminars and trainings, she launched the RA MA TV channel, where everyone could view a digital library of kundalini yoga videos and attend classes online for just $ 18 (about 1400 rubles) per month. Guru has opened studios in Boulder, New York and Majorca, founded the RA MA Records label and the Reality Riffing podcast, as well as two clothing lines.

Despite the fame and huge popularity, over the past year and a half, Jagat's reputation has been damaged. She was accused of spiritual violence, insulting employees and improper use of financial resources. Most of the complaints became known to the general public after the appearance of the @ramawrong account on Instagram in July 2020. There, the guru's victims shared their personal stories and communicated.

Disgruntled ex-members of the RA MA society say that it was like a cult. Mentors demanded complete dedication, and students donated more and more time, energy, effort and money to the organization. It is said that the center was run not only by Jagat, but also by her spiritual teacher Hari Jivan. In the early 2000s, he spent a year and a half in prison for involving Yogi Bhajan in telemarketing schemes. Jagat constantly consulted with her mentor on business issues. The guru of Rama yoga used her personal influence to "process" the audience, captivating them with destructive ideologies that promoted her own goals.

Guru Jagat was born in Colorado. Her real name is Katie Griggs. Since childhood, the girl dreamed of becoming a rock star, but after participating in the cult of Osho and ashtanga yoga, she found herself in kundalini yoga, taking the position of a leader here. Her mentor Yogi Bhajan owned a huge fortune, which was estimated at billions of dollars. He died in 2004, and the facts about his unclean business transactions are still surfacing. Jagat defended her teacher and posted video messages on her personal Instagram page, despite Bhajan's accusations of various crimes, including rape and child abuse.

There is a lot of money in the field of yoga in the United States. In 2020, the turnover amounted to $ 11.9 billion (about 816 billion rubles). The popularity of meditation practices continues to increase along with the number of spiritual leaders similar to Jagat.

Former students of the mentor say that the most devoted followers strictly followed her instructions. She told me what to eat, how to sleep and who to meet. In the practice of Yoga Bhajan, a vegetarian diet and periodic cleansing of the body were prescribed. The debilitating regime of malnutrition and lack of sleep led to the fact that people lost the ability to reason and became victims of the manipulations of the Jagat.

The system created in the community was aimed at protecting its participants from the influence of the outside world. There were strict restrictions on visiting doctors and psychiatrists. Instead, the members of the organization were recommended to devote more time to meditation. Some followers of the mentor even adopted new spiritual names, which could be purchased on the RA MA website for $ 40 (about 3000 rubles). Students were encouraged to become new personalities, devoting themselves to rama yoga.

Employees who worked at the Jagat center complained about the small salary and its delays. They spent from 50 to 80 hours a week at work and were often subjected to insults from the management.

Despite the fact that the guru often delayed paying for studio rent, she always wore designer outfits and did not wear one and the same clothes twice. Jagat led a luxurious lifestyle, she spent huge sums on herself, which came from investors. In addition, the mentor earned thousands of dollars by conducting classes and seminars. Business partners have repeatedly sued her, demanding to return the money invested in her project, but all attempts to bring the guru to justice ended in failure.

An important role in the promotion of the cult of Jagat was played by the admiring comments of famous actors about her in the press. Her brand of "white spirituality", taken from Sikhism, was becoming more and more popular. The guru distorted and modified various aspects of Eastern faiths, adapting them to her own views. The leader of RA MA often spoke about reptiles and aliens in her sermons, but the main topic of the direction is still the conspiracy theory. She urged her followers not to trust the government, Western medicine, the media and factual data. At the beginning of the pandemic, the RA MA organization opposed vaccination. The studios had to be closed, but Jagat began traveling with performances in different states and began uploading more and more content to social networks.

Now the guru studios are open again. Jagat is planning to publish a book and is working on creating a rama yoga university. They say that she bought a plot near Los Angeles, where she is going to build a "RA MA Ranch". On the society's website, she is called a "prayer book" and is urged not to believe gossip that denigrates her name. Nevertheless, there are more and more former followers of the mentor who talk about how she used the favor of celebrities and the devotion of fans for her material interests.

Undoubtedly, Kathy Griggs-guru Jagat-has become one of the brightest personalities in the world of spiritual movements. However, such leaders simply rob their fans, promising to improve well-being, health and give the soul real freedom. Western capitalism is gradually turning yoga into a system of siphoning off money and exploiting gullible people who are looking for the path to truth and inner harmony.

Meanwhile, an Indian yogi doctor helps to improve your health and pump up your abs with laughter. He believes that he can cure all diseases with humor.