Summary of Criticisms Against Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Art of Living

December 10, 2013

NOTICE: As of 22nd February 2014, this blog is closed for commenting. Thank you to everyone for their support over the years.

Finally, the time has come to do what I threatened to do some two or so posts ago, and put this blog to rest once and for all. I’m going to keep the comments section open for a little while longer in case anyone wants to leave feedback about this post itself, in particular if there are any mistakes or omissions which anyone feels need to be included. After some time has past, possibly in the next month or two, the blog will be completely frozen in time and space and there’ll be no way to unfreeze it!

So I want to wrap up by providing a summary of the various issues which have been raised over the years in criticism of many activities of “Sri Sri” Ravi Shankar and his Art of Living organization.

More than anything else, this post is intended to provide an overview as well as an index to the majority of articles which have been published across this and two other blogs which have been started and contributed to by ex-AoL followers over the years.

The three blogs in question are:

Confessions of a Guruholic (aka Klim’s Blog)
Beyond the Art of Living (aka Skywalker’s Blog)
Further Beyond the Art of Living (this blog)

These three blogs are by no means the only blogs containing material critical of RS and AoL, and as such I have made note of other sites below where you can find any further information.

Read this First!

Before diving into any of the main posts below, it is of paramount importance that you understand exactly why these blogs have been created, who they have been created by, and most importantly who these blogs are intended for. The first two points are answered in the posts under the “Overview of these Blogs” below. The third and final point is the most crucial as there is a great deal contained in these blogs which really is not intended for everybody, and as such you really need to determine whether or not you should even be reading these blogs.

So to help you determine whether or not it is a good idea for you to even be reading this blogs, please consider the following:

If you are someone who has never had any dealings with Art of Living but who is carrying out research for example to see if taking an AoL course is for you, or if you are simply curious about AoL, then I would recommend reading at least the first few posts in the “Overview of these Blogs” section, together with the “Personal Experiences” section.

If you are someone who has been with Art of Living for any length of time, are generally happy with your experiences thus far, have never experienced anything too out of place, then I would honestly say to you, proceed no further! Really, these blogs are most likely not for you, and if you read even a little of what is written here, it will most likely make you very upset and may even cause you to become angry. This has certainly been the case with most people in this situation who have visited these blogs historically, so if don’t heed this warning, don’t say I didn’t tell you.

If you are someone who has been with Art of Living for any length of time and have had both positive as well as negative experiences, have seen things which don’t altogether add up and which have made you think deeply about your association with AoL, have found yourself being sucked into becoming a teacher more quickly than you are comfortable with, or have found that AoL is eating away at your time and your life when you don’t want it to, then I would definitely recommend reading at least some of the articles referenced below. Begin with the “Overview of these Blogs” and “Personal Experiences” sections, and if there is anything specific you want to find out more about, scroll down to the other sections to see if your issue has been addressed further down.

If you are someone who has left AoL because you were unhappy with some aspect or other of the organization, and you want to find out more about something in particular or to get an overall understanding of much of what goes on in AoL which isn’t immediately obvious, then hopefully at least one if not more of the articles below may help you in this respect.

If you do end up reading any of the articles on this blog, I would strongly recommend the following to you. When you start reading what is written here, you can very easily get sucked into these blogs and spend a great deal of time here. This in fact is exactly what happened to me. I initially started out with Klim’s blog and spent a great deal of time and energy reading through every post and every comment, and then did the same with Skywalker’s blog. The truth is, I got sucked into reading these, and looking back there I probably didn’t need to spend anywhere near as much time as I eventually did reading these blogs.

What I would say to then is simply when you start reading these blogs, have a very clear purpose in mind as to what exactly it is you want to get out of them. If there is something very specific you want to find out about, then hopefully this post will help you pinpoint it. Whatever it is, once you have achieved that, take what you need to take, and then please move on.

One more time I really need to emphasize this: if you have a good experience with Art of Living so far, these blogs really are not for you. If your situation should ever change in the future and things become disagreeable for you, then and only then should you consider revisiting these blogs.

Overview of these Blogs

The following set of posts provide an overview of the blogs themselves.

The Purpose of These Blogs
The Big Picture: An Overview of the Core Issues in Art of Living
A New Hope
The Prosecutor
What are You Doing Here?

A Special Note About Klim’s Blog

If you visit Klim’s blog you will find a section on the right-hand side labeled “Labels”, which are effectively classifications of different articles on Klim’s blog. Klim was particularly diligent in putting together his blog to make it as easy as possible to find anything specific you might be looking for, a lot more so than either of his successors.

Personal Experiences

A selection of posts relating to personal experiences by various ex-devotees who at one time or other realized that something was amiss in Art of Living:

Klim’s Introduction
The AOL Trance Is Broken
One World Family: Choosing the AoL family over ones own family
I Belong to You: Belongingness Limited to In-Group
Can We Help To Save The Art of Living? (“The Doctor” Introduction)
Is The Art of Living Org. Worth Saving? (Response to Doctor Introdution)
Independent of AOL (Peaceful Warrior)
Blog has been a tipping point for my decision making
Third Day in a Row
Stand Up For Yourself -Or End Up Falling [by freeagaiin]
An ex- AOL teacher shares [by Sincere Seeker]
From A Confused and Sincere AoL Teacher
The Duality is Gone! [by the Observer]
They Told Me Guruji Knows, Guruji Will Fix It – He Didn’t
Reasons Why I Stayed in Art of Living
Why I left Art of Living
Reflections After Leaving Art of Living
Confused – Please Help
Living in Denial in the Comfort of the Cult
Concerned Boyfriend – Please Help
Art of Living: A very UN-spiritual organization
A Deeply Disturbing Story

Brainwashing & Cult Culture

One of the most recurring themes throughout all blogs critical of AoL is that it is an organization which shares many features with what many people refer to as cults, and that it employs what many refer to as brainwashing. A great many articles have been written across all the blogs which go into detail in these areas.

Exposing the AoL Brainwashing Machinery Series

Double-Edged Sword Series

A series of articles looking at how those things which are seemingly of benefit to AoL devotees are also used against them.
Double-Edged Sword – Part 1
Double-Edged Sword – Part 2
Double-Edged Sword – Part 3

Manipulation through “Secret Knowledge”

Secret AOL Knowledge Revealed
The End is Near!
AOL is not the ONLY way, like you are lead to believe.
What is Enlightenment?
How Sri Sri Uses Knowledge to Enslave Devotees
The Price of “The Knowledge”?
Manipulation Through “Knowledge”

Abuse

Abuse Posts on KLIM’s blog
It Is Okay for Victims to feel Victimized
Abused And Discarded
Victims of Rape in Art of Living: We are all Guilty
Triumph of Evil?
How Art of Living gets away with abuse
An Experience For Life: Art Of Living [details of sexual abuse]
How Art of Living Abuses the Vulnerable

Healing

How to Heal the Trauma
Hi! I’d like to talk about Healing
There’s no one way to heal
What IS Spiritual Abuse?

Sudarshan Kriya

Commentaries on the Sudarshan Kriya Notes

Sudarshan Kriya Notes – Part 1
Sudarshan Kriya Notes – Part 2
Sudarshan Kriya Notes – Part 3
So Ham, So Fake

Kriya Tape

Long Kriya – Home Version

Alleged Benefits

Does Kriya Cure AIDS? The Art of Health Orientation TTC
Refuting “Scientific Research” on Sudarshan Kriya

Health and Safety issues concerning the practice of SK

Is Sudarshan Kriya Safe?
Heart Problems Caused By Sudarshan Kriya
Further Evidence of The Dangers of Sudarshan Kriya
An objective participant reasons that Sudarshan Kriya is Hyperventilation
A Better and Safer Alternative to Sudarshan Kriya
How Can a Divine Revelation Be Defective?
Why Teachers are Unqualified to Teach Sudarshan Kriya
Questions Sudarshan Kriya Practitioners Should Ask Themselves
Sudarshan Kriya and Bipolar Disorder
Would You Put Your Life in the Hands of People Like This?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

General Propaganda and Deception

His Holiness penchant for lying and deceiving-Part 1
His Holiness penchant for lying and deceiving-Part 2
Now I Realize That He Only Wants Money
How do I see Ravi Shankar as Unethical?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to head “Supreme Spiritual Council”?
Excellent Response to “Spiritual Council” Post
How can his techniques help in Pakistan, if they can’t help his own devotees?
Bringer of light or Desperate for limelight ?
SriSri’s Petty Deception and Lies…Why every devotee should always question what he says !!!
Psycho
Ravi Shankar: Satguru, or businessman?
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Betrayal of Anna Hazare and India
The Many Faces of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
He Just Lies, and Devotees Innocently Perpetuate His Lies
True History of Sudharsan Kriya

SSRS History

God Moves in Mysterious Ways
A brief account of Sri Sri Ravishankar and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi by Sudarshan

Guru’s Grace

The many claimed AOL miracles – Do they really happen ?
Debunking “Guruji’s Grace” – Part 1
Debunking “Guruji’s Grace” – Part 2
Debunking “Guruji’s Grace” – Part 3

SSRS Educational Qualifications

Sri Sri’s Graduation Certificate: What does it prove?
Why tell all these Lies in the first place?

SSRS and Nobel Peace Prize

A series of articles on how RS himself was behind the initial campaign and every subsequent campaign to persuade the Nobel Committee that he should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Ravi Shankar’s Hankering for the Nobel Peace Price, Part 1
Ravi Shankar’s Hankering for the Nobel Peace Price, Part 2
Ravi Shankar’s Hankering for the Nobel Peace Price, Part 3
Ravi Shankar’s Hankering for the Nobel Peace Price, Part 4
Who Gets the Nobel Peace Prize?

Sri Sri Shooting Incident

Concerning an alleged a “shooting incident” which took place near the Art of Living ashram in Bangalore. According to Art of Living propaganda, Ravi Shankar himself was the alleged target of the what they touted as a an “assassination attempt” on his life. It later turned out to be a farmer firing a warning shot to scare off a dog.

Liar, liar, pants on fire!
Sri Sri Shot At

Legal and other Action Against RS/AoL

PIL filed against Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s ashram for building on tank land
Parents demand Sri Sri’s apology

Various titles and lineage

Detailing how “His Holiness Sri Sri” Ravi Shankar actually gave himself all his titles to boost his public image, as well as invent his own place in an existing Guru lineage which he isn’t actually a part of.
His Holiness titles & Lineage
The Story of Satguru-hood

Biography changing over time, Editing of Wikipedia

Concerning the fact that RS’ biography seems to be continuously changing over time, with “facts” constantly being re-written, both on Art of Living-controlled websites as well as Wikipedia. The latter is being constantly edited and any attempt at adding a “Criticism” section is quickly removed by an AoL devotee monitoring Wikipedia.

See Prosecutor Charge 20
Quick, Read This!
Wikipedia Revisited -1984?
The Beginnings of the Many Fabrications
It was Meant to be this Way
Where are all the relatives ?

AoL Organization

God is Indian, More Precisely Hindu
Art of Living using the Anna movement for its own shameless self-promotion

World Culture Festival

Concerning the World Culture Festival, an event organized by AoL in Berlin’s National Olympic Stadium which took place in 2011. The event was touted by AoL as being of significant importance to the organization, devotees being told that their presence there would in and of itself contribute to world peace. AoL had tried to convince their devotees that the event would be a resounding success, that the 70,000-capacity stadium would be filled. However, the event was attended by a significantly smaller number, with tens of thousands of seats remaining empty as could be seen on footage of the event.

His Holiness Grand Delusions
World Cult-torture Festival
World Culture Festival – Not so good for AoL
World Culture Festival Review

Financial Matters and AoL Controlled Companies

Concerning allegations of financial misappropriation related both to AoL and to any businesses which have been started off the back of AoL. It is a known fact that RS and his family are in control of a number of for-profit businesses including Sumeru Realty, Sumeru Solutions, Inwinex Pharmaceuticals, Sri Sri Ayurveda to name but a few. Many questions have been raised as to where the money to finance these companies came from if not from money raised by AoL allegedly in the name of charity. Similar questions have been raised about where the money came from to pay for the education of RS’ nephews in the states, as well as any properties they own there and elsewhere.

Also included are discussions about the questionable connection between AoL and its “sister” organization, IAHV – the International Association of Human Values.

Sick Money
AOL illegal financial practices
An AOL Old-Timer Speaks: “The magnitude of fraud today amazes me!”
Art of Living – Call it a Corporation not a Foundation
Because Bill Clinton Stayed There Once!
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Guess!
Art of Living is a business – So what’s the big deal?
Business Lessons from the Master
Lies, Damned Lies, and even more Lies
Scammed by Sumeru Realty
Characteristics of a Spiritual Business
It’s About Time
The story of a far(ce)ma-sue-tical business
Money Matters !! Inwinex Pharma and AOL. What is the connection ?
AOL and IAHV. What is the use of having 2 companies ?
How AOL screws around with their devotee’s trust

AoL Courses

Concerning the various AoL courses including Sahaj Samadhi Mediation, Yes!+, DSN and TTC.

Sahaj Samadhi Meditation

Sahaj Samadhi Meditation – guru mantra or guru scam?
“All You Need Is Bills”
The latest Con scheme of SriSri (Sahaj Samadhi TTC)

DSN & TTC

Courses Posts on Klim’s blog
DSN & TTC Posts on KLIM’s Blog
TTC -Ending Up Soulless
Slavery agreement with Ravi Shankar – I shall be a good slave!
My TTC1 Experience
Begging in Bali- A TTC experience

SSY – Sri Sri Yoga

The Choice was between gross and grosser – SSYTTC
SSY- Never Too Late to Earn Money

Lawsuit Against Bloggers

In January 2011, a number of bloggers received notice from Google and Automattic that those companies had been subpoenaed by attorneys in the United States acting on behalf of Art of Living to reveal information about those bloggers which would allow AoL to identify them.

18 months later, with the help of attorney Joshua Koltun, AoL lost the case and were forced to drop all charges. In return, Skywalker agreed to freeze his blog (KLIM had already frozen his in 2010.) AoL were also obliged to pay the attorney fees for the defense, which amounted to $250,000 – again from alleged charity money.

Google Subpoenaed to Reveal Bloggers
The BAoL 10: They’ve done so much for us. Let’s stand by them! URGENT!
I’m being sued by a religious cult.
Time to Fight Back
Blogger Flicks Copyright Claim From Art of Living
Update from Skywalker on the Lawsuit
The Lawsuit is Over … and We Won! (copy on this blog)
The Lawsuit is Over … and We Won! (original)
The Elephant and the Fly – a Final Note (copy on this blog)
The Elephant and the Fly – a Final Note(original)
Joint Statement of AOL vs. Does
The truth cannot be hidden anymore…An Open message to all current AOL teachers
Lawsuit Cost Art of Living at least $250,000

Argentina Incident

Art of Living under Investigation – Alleged Tax Evasion in Argentina
Testimony of journalist Paul Duggan, ex-AOL Volunteer
Argentinians See Right Through RS and AoL’s BS
Ravi is considered a Major Fraud by the Argentinian Public. His character is being used to promote condoms.
The REEL truth behind the Argentina Visit – A Shameless AOL version
Argentenian TV Spoofs on Sri Sri/AOL – Ave-”raging” 25000+ views per day

Feedback from AoL Devotees & Counter-Blogs

Counter Blogs

A number of counter blogs were created by various Art of Living devotees, including at least one senior individual, in response to these blogs critical of SSRS and AoL. However, for the most part these counter-blogs seem to have either died a quick death, or have been very slow in being updated.

Of particular note is the blog entitled “Art of Living Life Stories” which is essentially a “testimonial blog” containing accounts by mostly AoL teachers and also a small handful of volunteers of how AoL and SSRS have changed their lives. What is of interest here is that whilst so much AoL propaganda has claimed that AoL has a presence in 150-160 countries, and around 30 million people have taken the Part 1 course, in the space of 3 years only 61 people have actually provided any testimonials, a surprising figure given theses claims.

Links to counter-blogs:
Art of Living Life Stories
Exposing the Guruholic (Last Update: March 2011)
Art of Living Values (Last Update: September 2010)

Posts about Counter-Blogs

Posts on these blogs in response to the counter-blogs. You might call them counter-counter-posts?

Oh Yes, Time Will Tell
High Overhead or Low Overhead, SriSri and his men can’t agree!
Offer my life to the service of humanity. Really?

Feedback from pro-AoLers

Some feedback from mostly senior persons in the AoL organization.

Disgruntled Swami
SriSri’s PR man on our blog every bit as deceitful as his Master!!
AOL USA president plugging for his book and his master!

A Letter of Concern (by Ann Godwin) and corresponding responses

A letter which was sent to Skywalker by a long-time AoL teacher Ann Godwin criticizing the blogs, which was posted on Skywalker’s blog together with his response. Two subsequent responses are also included.

Original Letter by Ann Godwin
An Ex-Teacher’s Reply to Ann
More Ex-Teachers Reply to Ann
NOTE: After her original letter, we never heard from Ann ever again.

Other Attempts by AoL To Put a Stop to the Blogs

Besides the Lawsuit mentioned above, AoL have tried other tactics to try to put a stop to these blogs, as detailed in the following articles:

JGD, someone is peeing in his pants
Someone Wants to Put a Stop to Us
DISGRUNTLED SWAMIJI speaks up for his Master, again! [Swami Sadyojatha]

The following were written by contributors to these blogs in response to the above attempts by AoL:

Notify the NPP Commission
Let The Freedom Of Speech Roll
Blog Under Three Pronged Attack
Disgruntled President Speaks up for his CEO [Ewald Poeran – Netherlands]

Eng-An

In one email (reproduced and discussed here) circulated by Swami Sadyojatha to a large number of AoL teachers and devotees, he outright named an individual – Eng An – whom he alleged was behind one of the blogs critical of AoL. He also went on to make a great many allegations about her personal life, including revealing details of various medical conditions she allegedly has. The following posts are in response to this email.

Engan, the Person They Named
In Defence of Engan
In Further Defence of Eng An

Posts Addressed to AoL Followers

The following posts contributed to these blogs are addressed directly to AoL followers, and mostly concern promoting critical thinking amongst AoL devotees.

Promoting Increased Critical Reasoning among AOL Followers
General Response to AoL Extremists on This Blog
An Open letter to the AOL Inner Circle who visit this blog
A Message to the Common AOLer: Wake up and Make a Change
Your Blog hurts innocent devotees
Support for “Art of Living Illegally” article and a challenge to AoL devotees
Your Choice: Coercive Persuasion or Critical Thinking
Why the need to proselytize at all?
Questions AOLites should ask themselves
To those who ask for proof
Revealing Questions about Art of Living and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
The Truth Hurts – Part 1
The Truth Hurts – Part 2

Positive Changes in AoL?

AoL Teachers Finally Waking Up and Asking Questions

Foreign Language Blogs and Articles

French

L’Après Art de Vivre

Spanish

A Summary of Art of Living’s Questionable Activities – in Spanish

External Critiques of SSRS and AoL

Articles which have been written by authors who are not associated with any of these blogs, but who nonetheless have had good reason to express their opinions based on dealings they have had with AoL and SSRS.

NZ Herald Journalist sees through Mr Rev Ravi Shankar!
IIT alumni question Ravi Shankar’s credentials
CBI turns the heat on Sri Sri’s medical college in Bangalore
Student who felt cheated after taking Art of Living Course
An Experience For Life: Art Of Living
Critical Article on AoL in the New York Times

Odds and Ends

Miscellaneous articles and links, some of which are quite amusing.

Be Blessed Online!
Marketing, AOL Way!
Sorry, Uma
The Origins and Truth Behind AoL Knowledge and Practices
Be Blessed By SMS!
Amusing Video
A Word About the Tone on This Blog

Other Critical Blogs

Writings by “Invisible Indian”, the latest critic of AoL(see Also links in this post)
Endless, Nameless
Expose The Art of Living (Facebook Group)
The Art of Leaving

Latest Blogs Critical of Art of Living

September 3, 2013

tags: Critical Blogs

by Obi-Wan

For those who are interested, a new blog has arisen in the last few months which contains further articles that are also critical of “Sri Sri” Ravi Shankar and The Art of Living.

Here is a selection of links:

Moving On

May 23, 2013

tags: Moving On

by Obi-Wan

It can’t have escaped anyone’s notice that aside from the series of articles entitled Exposing the AoL Brainwashing Machinery, activity on the blog has been very quiet of late. There are two very good reasons for this.

Firstly, neither myself nor Bloggisatwa really have a great deal of time to dedicate to running the blog, which is in and of itself a fairly time-consuming task. Secondly, we are both in agreement that there isn’t really a great deal more that either of us can say with regards to Art of Living. Everything that ever needed to be said has been covered more than adequately across both KLIM and Skywalker’s blogs, and to some extent within this blog.

When I set this blog up after Skywalker froze his blog in July 2012, one of the main reasons for doing so was that I wanted to get the series of articles on brainwashing in AoL published somewhere, and so this seemed like the best way to go about this. Now that this series is complete, I have very little if anything else to say on this subject, and as such the time has come to finally move on and say goodbye.

And this is exactly what I would like to recommend to everyone who visits these blogs. Simply, to spend as much time as you need reading what you feel is important, and once you are done, move on.

It is so easy to get caught up in much of what is written here, and I have seen this both in myself and in many others who have visited these blogs over the years, both in those who support these blogs and in those who are opposed to them. Whoever you are and whatever your reason for visiting, take what you need and once you’re done, get on with life and live it as best you can. Lingering here really is not good for anyone.

I am busy working on a closing post for the blog which will summarize the main points of what has been contributed to the three blogs since 2009, and which will act as an introduction for new visitors to the blog. This will hopefully be published within the next few weeks.

After this, the blog will be FROZEN for commenting. I will still check the email address in the disclaimer at the top, although this will happen very infrequently, most likely less than once a month.

For those of you who still want to take in the latest gossip surrounding Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and the Art of Living, here are some links to a number of sites which are being updated ongoing at the time of writing.

A number of links to articles written by “Invisible Indian”:

http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/invisibleindian/1155319/ (Topics covered)
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/invisibleindian/1178196/
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/invisibleindian/1179244/
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/invisibleindian/1177085/
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/invisibleindian/1177057/

Russian Translations of posts on the above site:
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/invisibleindian/1177085/
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/invisibleindian/1177057/

The blog of Anup K Nair which contains at least the following posts, if not others:

Of ancient wisdom & fake modern gurus

The Guru & the annoying parrot

https://anupknair.wordpress.com/category/sri-sri-ravi-shankar/

Facebook Groups
https://www.facebook.com/ExposeTheArtOfLiving

And I’m sure you’ll find plenty more if you look hard enough.

I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has ever contributed to these blogs in one form or another. In the first place to Klim, Skywalker and Whistleblower who between started this whole thing and let the cat out of the bag for all to see, to Doctor who ran Skywalker’s blog until it’s freeze, to Peaceful Warrior, Ronin, Sincere Seeker, Independent Observer, Prosecutor, Original and Sincere Seeker, and a whole host of other major contributors to the blogs, and of course my co-moderator on this blog Bloggisatwa. To so many other people who have contributed to these blogs over the years but who I have not mentioned by name, I am sorry but it is only because there are so many of you and I have not been able to remember everyone’s names, a big thanks for all your efforts. And yes, even to those of you who are opposed to what we are doing here, it’s obvious from much of what you wrote that it was far from easy for you to take in what was written here and it is obvious that many of you are really confused about what to believe. I hope that you too will take something useful away with you, whatever it may be.

And now mes amis, real life beckons and not another moment to lose. I bid you all farewell and good luck whatever your respective futures hold!

Peace,

Obi-Wan

Exposing the AoL Brainwashing Machinery – Part 10

May 11, 2013

tags: Brainwashing, Cult Culture, Deceit, Guru's Grace, Secret Knowledge, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Sudarshan Kriya

by Obi-Wan

Links to All Parts

Summary of Articles

Since so much ground has been covered already in this series, I want to conclude firstly by summarizing the various discussion points covered in each of the articles which have already been published as part of this series.

In Part 1 we began by defining Brainwashing as the use of one or more techniques or processes usually involving some degree of manipulation or deception, which are employed to bring about a change in the beliefs of those being brainwashed. The beliefs can be considered to be an Ideology. Successfully administered brainwashing results in the brainwasher effectively controlling both the beliefs of those being brainwashed and also to an extent their actions. The reason for the brainwashing is simply to afford a number of benefits to those who are responsible for the brainwashing, such as financial gains, power and adulation.

We took at detailed look at the AoL Ideology in terms of beliefs about Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Sudarshan Kriya, the AoL organization itself, and any beliefs designed to suspend critical thinking and promote blind faith in the organization and the guru.

We showed several ways in which an AoL devotee can be considered to be an asset of the AoL organization, in particular with regards to the amount of money each devotee brings in to the organization.

In Part 2 we took a detailed look at the ways in which AoL has tried to create an environment which is conducive to brainwashing. We introduced Robert Jay Lifton’s eight conditions which were used to bring about thought reform in Chinese POW camps in the 1950s, and showed how every single one of these is present in AoL.

We noted how the AoL brainwashing machinery is actually mostly made up of the devotees themselves, who are for the most part the ones responsible for spreading the ideology. We further discussed that since AoL are unable to fully control their devotees’ environments (unlike in Chinese POW camps), that outside influences such as the internet are allowing their devotees to see perspectives of AoL that they wouldn’t normally see, that this is causing a major kink in the AoL brainwashing machinery and has over time caused a lot of devotees to break free from their brainwashing and leave AoL.

In Part 3 we began by looking at how an individual’s existing beliefs are to an extent a determining factor as to how much brainwashing needs to take place in order to bring about change in their beliefs. We then began by looking at Robert Cialdini’s Weapons of Influence discussed in his book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.

We looked at the Contrast Principle which tells us that when we compare two items, the way we perceive one item is radically altered by the way we perceive the other. We showed that this was used in AoL mainly to draw a comparison between ones life before AoL and ones life after becoming involved, trying to persuade devotees that AoL had had a marked improvement on their lives, and using this as a springboard to bring other devotees into the AoL fold.

We looked at Reciprocation, which tells us that when someone gives us something of value or shows us a certain kindness, we feel compelled to repay that kindness in some way. More than anything, this technique is used in AoL to persuade devotees into believing that whatever they have received from AoL, such as Sudarshan Kriya or anything else which generally makes them feel good, is of far greater value to the devotee than any money they paid to AoL. As such devotees are made to feel indebted to AoL, and that they need to repay AoL back in some way.

In Part 4 we took a detailed look at the power of Commitment and Consistency, which tells us that once someone has made some sort of commitment, it is very difficult for them to act in some way which contradicts this commitment since they appear to be inconsistent, and this is highly undesirable behavior. We looked at ways in which AoL enforces commitment from its devotees, in particular by asking them to write down their commitments on paper, and to make commitments in front of others.

We also took a detailed look at various studies into Initiation Rites and the effort made by those undergoing those rites, and showed how in so many ways the AoL TTC can be seen as an initiation rite, particularly with regards to the ways in which it is greatly coveted by so many in AoL and how it influences the beliefs of those who undergo the course.

In Part 5 we spent a considerable amount of time looking at the phenomenon of Cognitive Dissonance, a term describing a psychological phenomenon which arises whenever an individual holding a particular belief or set of beliefs is presented with conflicting beliefs, resulting in a conflict in the mind which is experienced as pain. The mind then has to act in one or more ways in order to try to remove the pain caused by this dissonance.

As far as AoL is concerned, a devotee will experience Cognitive Dissonance whenever they are presented with anything which seems to be in conflict with either their perspective of AoL or of RS. This includes nearly everything written across these blogs, but also any experiences which they themselves have in AoL which they find questionable, which are normally experienced as “red flags”.

We listed so many areas in AoL which have resulted in devotees experiencing Cognitive Dissonance, including beliefs about Sudarshan Kriya, TTC, money issues, allegations of various types of abuse, behaviors of senior teachers include RS himself, beliefs about RS having “Guru’s Grace” and the ability to heal, and of course beliefs about RS being enlightened. We also showed how so many of the behaviors seen on the blogs by AoL devotees, and also the need for many devotees to start counter blogs, was directly as a result of Cognitive Dissonance.

But we also looked at how the effects of Cognitive Dissonance could be so devastating that those who had been in the organization for a long time would find it very difficult to leave and would rather continue living a lie than accept many of the things which are wrong with AoL or RS.

In Part 6 we turned our discussion to Social Proof, which states that whenever we need to make some kind of decision in life, we are far more likely to follow the same course that many other people have taken in the same situation. We looked at how the power of Social Proof to influence us is particularly accentuated when we are uncertain about a particular situation, or when those who have been presented with the same situation are similar to us, the similarity being a major influencing factor.

We showed how Social Proof is being used in AoL. For example by quoting large numbers of participants who have allegedly done the Part 1 course worldwide, the number of countries in which AoL has a presence, the hiring of the Olympic Stadium in Berlin which in the end was only filled to a fraction of its full capacity, and the ways in which AoL devotees are encouraged to make a big fuss whenever any AoL “celebrity figure” was coming to town.

In Part 7 we looked at the Liking Principle, which states that we are far more likely to comply with a given request if we know and like the person who is making it. We showed how this principle was manipulated in AoL, including leveraging existing bonds between friends by asking devotees to expend considerable effort in persuading their friends and relatives to join. We also showed how physical appearance was a contributing factor, and how AoL favored better-looking teachers and encouraged them to dress in a particularly congenial manner.

We also showed how many of the processed in various AoL courses were designed to make devotees like each other and the organization even more, for example by giving each other compliments, encouraging regular contact with each other, and encouraging cooperation towards a common goal. We also looked at how conditioning and association could be used to influence people, citing the specific example of AoL’s association with Anna Hazare’s IAC movement and how AoL tried to leverage this association to attract more devotees.

In Part 8 we examined the power of Authority. We began by reciting the findings of the now infamous Milgram Experiment, which demonstrated how individuals reacted to authority in situations where they had to be outright cruel to another human being, and the ways in which that authority effectively overrode their consciences.

We showed how authority in AoL is exploited, in particular by noting how RS is projected as being an enlightened guru, the ultimate authority figure in Hinduism. But we went on to show that RS simply has to show various signs, or symbols, of being enlightened to make people believe this is the case. We showed how his titles (“Sri Sri” or “His Holiness” – both of which he has bestowed upon himself), his appearance (white robes, long hair, beard), Guru stories of his alleged “siddhis” as well as his alleged “Guru’s Grace”, and his purported knowledge of various scriptures are more than adequate to convince the majority of devotees that he is indeed an enlightened guru. We also looked at the way in which the whole AoL organization itself can be viewed as a “hierarchy of authority”, with those lower down surrendering their power to those higher up in the hierarchy, the power moving from devotees to teachers to senior teachers to the AoL “inner circle” and finally to RS and his family.

In Part 9 we examined Cialdini’s final Weapon of Influence, Scarcity, which tells us that the more limited the availability of any given thing that we may desire, the more we come to desire it and hence the greater the influence it can have on us.

We showed a plethora of ways in which Scarcity is exploited in AoL, from marketing certain courses as having limited availability, claiming that certain senior teachers are so busy that people should feel blessed whenever they visit a certain region to give talks, certain knowledge being very special and claiming that it should only be made available to certain people (or that the world isn’t ready yet to receive this knowledge yet), and using it to sell various products such as the Ashtavakra DVDs.

Conclusion

There are many who believe that much of what goes on in Art of Living requires some mystical explanation or other, and I myself even believed this at the time I was associated with the organization. However, as I alluded to at the start of this series of articles, my intention here has been to try to explain most if not all of the things that transpire in AoL from the point of view of psychological manipulation.

Whilst I very much subscribe to the old adage that awareness is curative, I feel even more strongly about the even older and more prevalent adage that prevention is better than the cure. The problem, however, is that most of what is detailed in these articles, and the background research which they are based on, isn’t taught in schools anywhere in the world, at least not to the best of my knowledge. If it were, then most likely people wouldn’t be so quick to fall into organizations like AoL.

If you are looking at becoming involved with AoL, these articles should at least help you decide whether it really is an organization you wish to become involved with.

If you are currently part of AoL but are having any doubts for one reason or another, then these articles may help to highlight the sorts of doubts you are having and explain the reasons why you are having them.

If you have already left AoL but are still trying to understand much of what happened to you during your time with AoL which still still remains a mystery to you, then these articles will hopefully shed a great deal of light on at least some of the things you went through. This in fact was the position I was in when I discovered the background material to these articles, and I found it extremely helpful in my own breakaway from the organization.

In everything I have written here, I have tried to remain as objective as possible and have tried my level best to refrain from any form of judgement. As such I cannot emphasize enough, this really is not about good versus evil, about right versus wrong or anything like that. Rather, it is about highlighting the ways in which people who are associated with AoL end up losing their freedom, surrender their responsibility and power, and lose their ability to think rationally and clearly.

Whilst it might seem obvious to some that these are undesirable things, the sad fact is that some people really don’t want to take responsibility for what they do in life, they don’t want to think for themselves, and would rather happily allow others to tell them what to do and think. And this isn’t just limited to organizations like AoL, it affects so many people on the planet.

It is also a sad fact of life that so many people lie to themselves in order to make themselves feel happy. This again is not limited to just organizations like AoL, it is pandemic. People believe things because they want to believe them, even in spite of evidence to the contrary. What makes this so concerning is that from a psychological perspective, this effectively causes the mind to split into two, one part which believes the lie, and one part which knows that it is actually a lie. In other words these two parts directly contradict each other, and hence disharmony ensues in the mind. If this sounds all too familiar to anyone who has been following this series of articles, it is because this is the exact dynamic which gives rise to Cognitive Dissonance, discussed in Part 5.

As Cialdini remarks throughout his book, it is our natural tendencies and desires which are ultimately exploited by those who wish to manipulate us in some way or other – and of course, our vulnerabilities. And this is exactly what the AoL Brainwashing Machinery takes advantage of.

If there is one thing which everyone who has ever been associated with AoL has in common, it is that every single one of them has one more vulnerabilities of one kind or other. Whatever the nature of their vulnerabilities, for many AoL offers some means of dealing with them, or at the very least it claims to. Whilst in and of itself this is not a bad thing at all, all too often these very same vulnerabilities are used to exploit individuals in the ways which have been detailed in these and other articles across these blogs.

It may sound surprising but without exception everyone who is part of the AoL Brainwashing Machinery is to some extent a victim of it. Everyone from regular devotees, volunteers and teachers all the way up to senior teachers, swamis, rishis, and even its ultimate beneficiaries including of course Ravi Shankar himself and his close family and friends.

The AoL Brainwashing Machinery is designed to keep people under its spell for as long as it can, controlling their thoughts and their day to day activities in whatever ways it can. But very often people see through its cracks. And when they do, they find themselves with one of the most difficult decisions they have to make: to stay with the organization and accept whatever it is they have objection with, or to leave. And for most, the latter is far more difficult than the former as it can mean a great loss. This can be loss of identity, of purpose in life, of friends and community, and of course the loss of the one person whom they felt they loved and trusted and to whom they had surrendered all their power to – Ravi Shankar. And as we all know, the fear of loss can be so overwhelming and even debilitating that we would rather do anything we can to avoid it.

If you are happy living a lie, or are happy to be manipulated and deceived, then that is absolutely fine as long as you are aware of these things.

But if you ever wish to break free of it, know that you can. And know that countless people have done so in the past and will continue to do so in the future, and that it really isn’t as difficult as it seems. Whatever loss you feel you may have to incur, know that you have so much more to gain after you leave – if that is what you really wish to do.

I want to finish by tipping the hat to the late and great comedian and social commentator Bill Hicks. Art of Living is very much like a ride at an amusement park, and when you choose to be part of it you think it’s very real because that’s how powerful our minds are. And just like a ride, it has ups and downs and thrills and spills, and it’s brightly colored and it’s very loud and it’s fun … for a while. But some people who have been on the ride for a long time have seen things which make them think that there is something seriously wrong with it, and they begin to question it. But when they speak out, those who have so much invested in the ride tell them to shut up, accuse them of being negative, of telling lies, of trying to defame and so on and so forth. Because those who have so much invested in the ride want the ride to go on and on and on for ever, and don’t ever want to wake up from it. The problem is, they have forgotten that it’s only a ride, and they believe that the ride is actually real life. Even when they are shown that it is only a ride, they choose not believe it and continue to live the lie. Those who have fully woken up and who have seen it as just a ride have moved on, and have realized that outside of the ride real life awaits. And guess what? They have never felt the need to turn back and get on the ride again. Why not? Because they realize they can have all the thrills and spills and joy and laughter which they’re hearts desire in the real world, outside of the ride. And anyone can make exactly the same choice they made, if they want to. But the trick is, they have to want to in the first place. If the ride is giving you all the fun you want and you have no need to get off it, then stay on it by all means. But if you’ve been on the ride long enough and want to get off it, then you have to realize that if the one thing keeping you on the ride is fear, then you are allowing that fear to control you and prevent you from experiencing real life which lies outside of the ride. And as almost everyone who has gotten off the ride will tell you, real life is so much better than the ride can ever be. In the end, the choice is yours and yours alone to make.

Exposing the AoL Brainwashing Machinery – Part 9

March 2, 2013

tags: Brainwashing, Cult Culture, Deceit, Guru's Grace, Secret Knowledge, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Sudarshan Kriya

by Obi-Wan

In Part 8 of this series we took a look at the power of Authority and how it is used to persuade and manipulate those who are in some way associated with Art of Living. In this part we will look at the last of Cialdini’s Weapon’s of Influence, Scarcity.

Scarcity

The sixth and final of Cialdini’s Weapons of Influence is the Scarcity Principle, which states that the more limited the availability of any given thing, the more we desire it and hence the more influence it can exert over us.

An important variation of this principle occurs when something which is currently available becomes considerably less available, we value it significantly more than if it was already scarce. Another variation of this principle occurs when something is not only scarce, but when additional social demand comes into effect, in other words when we feel that others desire an already scarce resource, then its perceived value increases even more than if there was no competition.

In Art of Living, this principle is used almost exclusively to manipulate existing devotees, as the ways in which it is used cannot readily be applied to those who are effectively outsiders to AoL.

Probably the most innocuous way in which the Scarcity Principle is used in AoL is to try to convince devotees to attend a specific (usually more advanced) course by claiming that is a special course which is rarely taught, or is being taught by a teacher whom “we are very blessed to have with us” since they rarely visit this area and hence we should be grateful. Often a claim is made that “we don’t know when they’ll teach this course again because it’s so rare and special, so you should really attend this time whilst you have the chance”. Whilst in some cases this may be true, more often than not the course is actually taught a lot more regularly than those applying this tactic make out.

Along similar lines, whenever a prominent individual from within the AoL hierarchy visits a particular region, much of the feverishness and fuss which ensues stems from the attitudes of many staunch devotees that this again is an extremely rare opportunity as Swami x or Rishi y is so busy, and rarely has time to visit this area. The last time he was here was many years ago, and we don’t know the next time he will visit. Again, we should feel really blessed by his deciding to honor us with his presence.

Tied in with many of these visits is the idea that Swami x or Rishi y is actually in possession of some “special knowledge” which Guruji himself has instructed him to reveal to us, and which he didn’t feel the world was ready for until now. This tactic was certainly employed by two subsequent visits of a certain well-known AoL “celebrity” in my local area – and both times he gave exactly the same discourses and revealed no special or otherwise secret knowledge.

This overall idea of an organization or individual being in possession of some secret or special knowledge exclusive to them is itself another exploitation of the Scarcity principle. It is used very effectively in AoL, especially as one becomes more deeply involved with the organization. Many promises of secret knowledge being revealed are made to devotees throughout their time with the organization, and it is nearly always done to make them take steps towards going deeper into the organization, taking more advanced courses, and of course sitting TTC.

Even certain talks and courses, especially those with prominent AoL figures, are only open to those who have achieved a certain status within AoL, such as becoming teachers or volunteers. For those who are neither a teacher nor a volunteer, hearing about these talks can give them a good incentive to consider become either a volunteer or a teacher. Especially when they are further told that during these talks “extra special” or secret information will be revealed which can only be revealed to teachers and devotees as they are perceived to be more spiritually evolved and hence ready for this knowledge.

Having attended a number of these closed talks myself, I can reveal that nothing of import is every mentioned in them. In fact, the sole purpose of these talks is to allow those giving the talks to use a level of brainwashing which they could not do so for a wider audience because they don’t already have the foundational levels of brainwashing that teachers and volunteers do. Many things are discussed in these talks which rely on a certain belief system to already exist in those attending, otherwise it simply won’t make any sense.

But the Scarcity principle is also applied to products which AoL sells. More than any other DVD produced by AoL, the Ashtavakra DVD set is promoted and sold using the scarcity principle. In the first place, it is considered to be something which should only be watched by those considering becoming teachers, thus limiting the remit of who should and who should not watch it. Secondly, it is deemed by those who have seen it to contain major life-changing knowledge not to be found anywhere else. Thirdly, its price in the West is astronomical, especially compared to other AoL knowledge DVDs. Pricing something in this manner is actually another means of making devotees value something considerably more than they otherwise would. But the most interesting thing about the Ashtavakra DVDs is the way so many teachers seem to both be highly protective of it, regarding is as something incredibly sacred, and generally reluctant to share their copy with anybody, especially those who they deem to be “unfit” for watching it.

All of these factors combine together to create a mysterious aura around the Ashtavakra DVDs, which increases demand for it and also instills the desire in those devotees to become teachers. These same devotees are usually enticed to attend group sessions where an episode of the DVDs is played followed by a group discussion of what they saw.

Another interesting exploitation of the Scarcity Principle is in limiting the availability of certain key individuals in AoL. At the most basic level this is seen during the Advanced Courses, where Advanced Course teachers are generally made out to be extremely rare individuals who have been specially chosen by RS, singled out from all the masses, to teach this special course. Access to these teachers is usually a lot more limited than access to normal teachers, and this is evident even in trivial matters such as the way these teachers are instructed (this is actually in the teacher’s handbook it would seem) to eat their lunch separately from everyone attending.

As we have already discussed, being singled out by RS or by a senior teacher in AoL usually makes that individual feel very special within the organization. But because it is perceived as such a rare thing, it makes others also believe that this person is someone special, someone who should be respected and even looked up to as an authority.

The availability of RS himself is believed to be extremely limited, so of course many people vie for his attention and covet time with him. And whenever he gives it, they feel they have received something of incredible value.

In Part 10, we will wind down this present series by summarising everything written thus far.

Where are all the relatives ?

January 8, 2013

by bloggisatwa

I have been wondering about this for a while….so if the readers can share their views and experiences on this please ?

A typical South Indian family in the 50s and 60s…..would have 4+ kids. This means Ravi and Banu would have approx 8 (aunts + uncles…4 each on mom and dad’s sides)…and assuming an average of 2 kids per aunt / Uncle…..there are at the very least 16 cousins out there. Is there a family tree OR is it actively discouraged ?

Readers : Have any of you met any one of them ? What are their names ? What do they do ? Where do they live ? How come they do not figure very prominently in the organisation ? I have never seen or heard Banu or Ravi introduce their cousins / Uncles / Aunts to anyone ? This is actually pretty strange for an Indian family let alone a south Indian one.

One thing is for sure, in my decade + with them there were no cousins that I met or heard off. They were definitely not visible.

Maybe it was just me who missed out on them ?

Assuming that these relatives are actually scarce and cannot / will not be visible easily….I have some plausible explanations for this….

1. Maybe they all know the REAL truth of the growing up days and can easily Dispute the REEL truth that the AOL 1st family dishes out.

2. Maybe they are aware of the real timelines (Year of graduation, how much marks ?…BTW South Indian families tend to keep track of the passing marks of all their relatives)

3. Ratnam’s many forays into grey businesses. The many unexplained police raids on their household ?

4. Exposes and real explanations for some of the missing years in Ravi’s staged timeline and stories (Did he really travel with MMY….or was he somewhere else…..?)

All the above is speculative…..however, if I am right….then the 1st family will have a great interest in making sure that they maintain at best a COLD relationship with the rest of the family. AOL will blame it on family jealousy to explain why the rest of the family are not in the AOL movement.

Plus if the cousins do actually come in, they may also become very aware of the all the ill gotten Assets that their illustrious and famous Brother now controls. And south Indian Brahmin families are known to gossip like crazy amongst themselves.

Hmmm…another AOL explanation would be…The rest of the family…. they still have a problem …..they could not see God/Guru in their own cousin / nephew.

Seems like this is definitely worth a ponder.

Victims of Rape in Art of Living: We are all Guilty

January 3, 2013

tags: Abuse, Cult Culture, Rape, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Teachers

by Obi-Wan

by ex aol teacher

Over the years, as a “devotee” and eventually as a teacher, I heard several stories and knew a few victims of rape incidents within the organization. Whether in the West or India, by Western teachers or Indian teachers, including some with religious ranking such as “rishi” or “sri sri”, or board members, female or male victims, often turned out to be events discredited by the “authorities” and lost in time and space. Usually, incidents were known by one or more senior teachers, one or more regular teachers, one or more ashram coordinators, and definitely by “the guru”, though surprisingly, never the police. Of course, one or more senior teachers would be outraged by the event (cuz we always went first to a senior teacher to discuss any discomfort), before even approaching the guru. However, always surprised at the lack of expected action by the guru. And even more, when the guru himself would thereafter promote the abuser, to either advanced course teacher, or Sahaj teacher, or TTC teacher, or DSN teacher, or Rishi, or …… Sadly, often rumours would thereafter start circulating about the victim, “promiscuous”, “likes sex too much”, “slut”, “mentally imbalanced”, “blue star”. Rumours often started by the guru himself.

Definitely clear indications things work upside down in the AoL. Clearly, demonstrating the misogynistic aspect of the guru’s personality, an overall perversion, and the cultic aspect of the movement. Beyond all his talk about love and non-violence, money and publicity spent in organizing “women’s conferences”, etc., clearly, no coherence at all between speech and actions.

The recent incidents in India set me to remember all the rape cases I knew in the organization, victims, abusers. I too was guilty of keeping “the secrets” and by keeping shush, helped promote lies and violence within an organization that allegedly promotes human values. It makes me sick to the stomach to even think the possibility that Sri Sri is now talking about these incidents for further self-promotion and reprimanding Indian society, for what he himself does.

Of course, when I read articles about the protests in India, I understand he is no different than people like MP Abhijit Mukherjee who called women protesting gang rape, “dented and painted women” who go to discos, have little connection with ground realities and are making candlelight vigils fashionable.

Strangely, we were so trapped in the cult, none of us thought of reporting to the police, as any healthy person would do. Such incidents should not be kept indoors, or reported to another abuser, such as “the guru” or another teacher. Such incidents should go straight to the police, to authorities outside of the cult.

It took many years before victims dared to come out of the closet to report rape cases in the Catholic church. Many more before something was actually done, and for the Church to recognize and apologize to the victims. Hopefully it won’t take that much longer for victims to speak up about incidents that occurred within the AoL, for them to understand it is not OK, even if it happens in a “spiritual organization”, and for something to be done. Rape, no matter under what circumstances, where, and by whom, is unacceptable, unjustifiable. It is a crime wherever you see it.

Today when I wonder whether I should speak up, I understand that the vulnerability of the victim is to be respected. There is a reason he/she kept quiet. Mostly fear, mostly shame, mostly brain-washed. The victim him/herself should speak up when he/she is ready … if ever. But no. If it happened to you, know it is not OK, especially within a spiritual organization. You/we were deceived thousand fold. You are not guilty. You did not deserve it. It is not karma. It is an act of crime.

An article published by CNN wrote, “we are all guilty”. Well, yes indeed, we all are. All of us who knew at least one story, one victim, and did not speak up. We are all guilty.

Exposing the AoL Brainwashing Machinery – Part 8

December 3, 2012

tags: Brainwashing, Cult Culture, Deceit, Guru's Grace, Secret Knowledge, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Sudarshan Kriya

by Obi-Wan

In Part 7 we took a look at how the Liking Principle was used in Art of Living. In this part we will look at the power of Authority, which, more than any other technique which is exploited by Art of Living to manipulate followers, is probably the most powerful and also the most disturbing. As such, this is probably one of the most important articles in the series, so please take the time to consider everything written here and reflect on it as much as you can.

Authority

In the early 1960s, Professor Stanley Milgram of Yale University devised a series of social psychology experiments, which have now collectively become known as the Milgram Experiment, designed with one goal in mind: to measure the amount of suffering a test subject was willing to inflict on an innocent person when told to do so by an authority figure.

The experiment involved three individuals, designated the Experimenter, the Teacher and the Learner. The Experimenter and the Teacher were placed in one room, and the Learner in another. The role of the Teacher was to ask the Learner a series of questions. For each question the Learner answered incorrectly, the Experimenter would instruct the Teacher to adminster an electric shock to the Learner – as punishment for answering the question incorrectly. The shocks started out at a relatively low voltage but were increased with each successive incorrect answer.

What made the experiment particularly interesting is that the Teacher was completely unaware of two key factors. Firstly, that there really was no electric shock, that the Learner simply acting in a particular way whenever they received a cue that the shock was being administered. Secondly, that it was the Teacher who was actually being tested in the experiment and not the Learner as they were actually led to believe.

The experiment yielded some very surprising results, especially to the psychologists of that day. Most predicted that a very small percentage of Teachers – who were the true test subjects – would actually administer shocks beyond a certain voltage, or that there would at least be some reaction from the Teacher in response to the Learner crying out in pain and begging them to stop at higher voltage levels. But the shocking reality is that the majority of Teachers continued to obey the instructions of the Experimenter, administering shocks of increasing voltage each time the Learner answered a question incorrectly, in spite of any protests from the Learner.

Why did the Teachers behave in such a blatantly cruel manner? Although many explanations were proposed by psychologists who were familiar with the study at the time, the most suitable explanation and the one for which there is the strongest evidence to support it was provided by Milgram himself. He proposed that human beings are hard-wired in such a way as to unquestioningly obey the instructions of an authority figure.

In the case of the Milgram Experiment, the Teacher felt they had to obey the instructions of the lab-coated Experimenter – the authority figure in this scenario – and no matter what their conscience told them about the amount of pain and suffering they were inflicting on the Learner, they found it extremely difficult to disobey the Experimenter in any way. And many did actually protest to the Experimenter, letting them know that they wanted to end the Experiment at various points, usually in response to screams from the Learner himself, yet when they were told they couldn’t do so they continued until the Experimenter eventually told them they could terminate the experiment – at the highest voltage of shock allowed by the experiment.

The findings of this experiment are absolutely shocking. What they tell us is that not only do we have a psychological tendency to obey an authority figure, but that the authority figure can effectively override whatever our conscience is telling us, and can even override any moral values which we have. Even more worryingly is that once we have accepted an individual as a legitimate authority figure in our lives, obedience to any instructions from that authority figure can become automatic. In other words, we stop thinking and instead simply react to their instructions. This is seriously disturbing, especially when you consider how easily this can be exploited by those who are aware of this principle.

How Authority is exploited in Art of Living

By now it is probably obvious to most of our readers that the Authority Principle is exploited in Art of Living to great effect. The archetypal authority figure in at least Eastern religion is of course the enlightened Guru. But what makes an enlightened Guru especially powerful, and at the same time particularly dangerous, is that they are deemed by their followers to be the ultimate authority figure in their lives, more so than any other authority figure.

In Art of Living, most devotees will sooner or later be led into believing that RS has achieved enlightened status. So many devotees believe that their ultimate goal is to surrender to him, to allow him to control nearly all aspects of their lives, and will follow his instructions unquestioningly – even when they override their own basic moral values.

We have already seen so many examples of devotees on these blogs not only lying to themselves, but accepting the many disturbing lies which RS has told over the years and which have been exposed in these blogs. This is a testament to the power which authority has over individuals who allow themselves to be manipulated by it.

But those who have spent any time in Art of Living and who have listened to various discourses given by RS, or even those who have listened to any interviews with him on Youtube, will have come to realize by now that in actual fact there really is very little substance to RS whatsoever. There are even those who are ardent devotees who will tell you that they regularly fall asleep listening to his discourses, but who believe that the “grace” of the talks somehow enters their minds whilst they are asleep. There is certainly no reason whatsoever to believe that RS is an enlightened Guru, especially as a great deal of evidence uncovered in these blogs would indicaate that he isn’t.

So this really begs the question, how has RS been established as an authority in this manner? The best clue to this mystery can be found in the following passage in Cialdini’s book:

“When in a click, whirr mode, we are often as vulnerable to the symbols of authority as to the substance. There are several kinds of symbols that can reliably trigger our compliance in the absence of the genuine substance of authority. Consequently, they are employed extensively by those compliance professionals who are short on substance. Con artists, for example, drape themselves with the titles, clothes, and trappings of authority.” (Emphasis added)

Whilst trappings aren’t a key factor in this particular case, I have added two further factors which Cialdini does not consider but which are certainly relevant to the discussion of authority with regards to Art of Living. Let us look at each of these things factors in turn.

Title

There are a number of professions that we seem to be predisposed to respect as having a certain amount of authority. One of the best examples is that many people hold doctors to have unquestioning authority at least in the field of medicine, and so whenever we hear that someone has the title of “doctor”, we automatically accord them a certain amount of authority – even if they aren’t medical doctors.

Generally speaking, titles are very difficult to come by and can take years of effort before they are earned. However, individuals who are aware of the power which titles can provide them can and do give themselves titles without having to worry about actually earning them in any appropriate manner. Which is exactly what Ravishankar did.

RS is fully aware of the fact that those who are of a religious bent respect certain titles given to holy men. This is why he gave himself the respective titles of “Sri Sri” and “His Holiness”, the former designed to appeal to those in India, the latter to Westerners. Both titles given entirely for the purpose of establishing Ravishankar as a religious authority, specifically an enlightened Guru. And recall that at no point historically has he ever actually earned any of these titles following any religious system where either of these titles can be given to an individual who is deemed worthy of them.

As he has outright lied about titles which he doesn’t really have, that he is deceiving people in this manner would lead us to believe that in this respect he is behaving as a con artist. For those interested, the article His Holiness Titles & Lineage sheds a great deal of light on these particular issues.

Clothing

In some ways, appropriate clothing is even more powerful a symbol of authority than title. And as with title, it too can very easily be faked.

Con artists regularly dress up as doctors, priests, security guards or even policemen, whatever a given situation demands. And so much research has shown that people find it difficult to resist requests from individuals if they are dressed in what they consider to be appropriate authority attire. Each type of authority figure has a corresponding uniform, and it is the uniform itself which is the symbol of authority.

Although there are many different uniforms which holy men in India are known to wear, the stereotypical holy man is usually seen dressed in a white robe, has long dark hair, and sports a beard. Which is the exact appearance that not only Ravishankar has adopted, but also the various Swamis, Rishis and even a increasing number of male devotees who try to imitate the appearance of their master.

RS’ appearance alone gives him such a powerful aura and status that without it he would not have the same level of authority which he does. Can you imagine how devotees would respond to him if he wore something far more contemporary, say a suit, and had short hair and no beard? The image is almost laughable, however no one can deny that they would not accord him the same respect as they do with his current appearance.

Symbols of Authority specific to Enlightened Gurus

Although Cialdini does not touch upon these things in his book, there are two symbols of authority which are used in Art of Living which are specific to enlightened gurus in particular.

Knowledge
With regards to Ravishankar, one reason many consider him to be an enlightened Guru is that they believe him to have intimate knowledge of Vedic Scriptures. He has certainly given a number of discourses on various scriptures, and in spite of the fact that these discourses themselves carry very little of any substance, this has established RS as an authority on the subject in the minds of many devotees. For those who haven’t even heard his discourses, the knowledge that he has even given these discourses in the first place is enough to make them believe this. By itself this is quite a powerful symbol of authority, however it becomes even more powerful when considered together with both the symbols we have discussed so far, and our next and final symbol of authority.

Siddhis
Unique to enlightened Gurus is the idea that after performing certain spiritual practices for a given length of time, some can attain supernatural powers known as siddhis. Whether or not these actually exist, the fact is that Art of Living devotees are made to believe that RS has attained a number of these so-called siddhis, including the ability to see into the future, to heal people from sickness, and to see into a person’s past and future. That RS possess siddhis usually goes hand in hand with the belief that RS possesses a related mystical power known as Guru’s Grace. These things have been discussed adequately elsewhere on this and other blogs so there is no need to go into any further detail here.

The upshot of all of this is that these symbols of authority are all heavily exploited in Art of Living to make devotees believe that RS is an enlightened Guru, and hence to establish him as an authority in their lives.

Art of Living: A Hierarchy of Authority

Whilst the discussion on authority in Art of Living has thus far mostly been confined to the ways in which Ravishankar has been established as the ultimate authority by convincing followers that he is an enlightened Guru, there is an incredibly powerful yet subtle aspect of the abuse of the Authority Principle in AoL which still needs to be discussed.

At its core, Art of Living is an organization consisting of a large number of members, many of whom take on various assigned roles and responsibilities (whether voluntarily or otherwise), but more importantly each having a particular position within the organization. Whilst the majority of members are simply devotees, a small handful of are teachers, senior teachers, Swamis and Rishis, and those who are at the head of affairs in AoL.

Although there are those who have been convinced that Art of Living is a flat organization where everyone is equal (there are so many teachers who espouse this and it is even mentioned in Guru of Joy) the reality is that like any other organization, Art of Living’s organizational structure is hierarchical. Irrespective of the underlying purpose, all hierarchical organizations have one unique aspect in common: the redistribution of power from those lower down in the hierarchy to those higher up.

Every single business from the smallest shop employing a small handful of employees to the largest multinational employing tens of thousands worldwide operates in this manner. The organization has a particular set of goals, and those who wish to be part of the organization must surrender some power to the organization, usually in the form of labor, in order to help forward the agenda of the organization. In small organizations the head of the organization usually deals with employees directly, but in larger organizations where this becomes too impractical, intermediaries – known as managers – are needed to act on behalf of the head to ensure that the objectives for the company are carried out. Those who surrender their power to the organization are usually given financial rewards in return for their efforts.

This organizational model is also used in Art of Living, with a number of small exceptions. Firstly, as mentioned above, whilst this structure is apparent in nearly all companies, Art of Living deceive their followers by trying to claim that this structure doesn’t even exist, that there is no hierarchy at all.

Secondly, instead of having managers, they have teachers who are supposed to ensure that the vision of RS is carried out. Many in AoL treat teachers with a special reverence, and this is in no small part due to the fact that teachers are portrayed by the AoL Brainwashing Machinery as being somehow specially chosen individuals, above everyone else. And so many devotees treat teachers as authorities, happily surrendering their power to them in so many ways which are asked of them, as if the instruction came from RS himself.

Finally, unlike most companies, the majority of those who are part of the Art of Livng hierarchy do not receive any financial rewards in return for surrendering their power. In fact, many actually contribute financially and do so ongoing because they see it as their duty to do so – or rather they have been brainwashed into believing it is their duty to do so. In terms of any reward for their efforts, they have been conned into believing various things like doing seva is reward enough, that any bad karma they have will be burnt off, or that they will receive more Guru’s Grace in their lives.

These things are what make AoL unique and set it apart from most other organizations. At the core, devotees are conditioned to surrender their power and even money to the organization, and this power feeds from the bottom of the organization upwards. Those at any given position in the hierarchy effectively feed off those below them, and in turn act as a source of food for those above. And so on all the way to the top, to those who are at the head of affairs in AoL culminating with RS himself.

In Part 9 we will look at Scarcity.

Exposing the AoL Brainwashing Machinery – Part 7

November 29, 2012

tags: Brainwashing, Cult Culture, Deceit, Guru's Grace, Secret Knowledge, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Sudarshan Kriya

by Obi-Wan

In Part 6 we took a look at how Social Proof is used to influence the many decisions that devotees make during their time with Art of Living. In this part we take a look at what has come to be known as the Liking Principle.

Liking

The Liking Principle states that we are far more likely to comply with any given request if we know and like the person who is making the request.

In Art of Living there are two ways in which this principle is exploited. Firstly, since the strongest liking bond is usually between existing friends, devotees are often persuaded to turn to their friends in order to ultimately bring more money into AoL. Secondly, the principle can readily be exploited to make devotees and prospective devotees better like Art of Living as an organization as well as other devotees, teachers and of course RS himself. These are described in some detail below.

Leveraging the Existing Bond Between Friends

The most obvious way in which AoL exploits the Liking Principle is simply to ask devotees to persuade their friends to enroll for an entry-level AoL course, such as a Basic/Part 1 or Yes!+ course, or even to attend an Introductory Talk. Since a bond of trust already exists between friends, this is usually far more effective and hence far less time-consuming than asking them to persuade complete strangers.

Whenever a natural or other disaster occurs, Art of Living ask their devotees to raise money to help those who have suffered as a result of the disaster. Devotees usually ask their friends for money, and since the bond of trust is already there, friends who generally are happy to give money to charity will more often than not make some nominal donation towards the given cause. Most people would not want to believe that their friend is raising money which will eventually end up for example financing one of several for-profit companies (for Inwinex Pharmaceuticals, Sumeru Realty, and so on) or to finance the 5-star hotel stays or business class travel for the founder of the alleged charity.

But more than just asking for donations to alleged charitable causes, AoL even asks devotees to canvass for donations for their Art of Living centers! This has happened and probably continues to happen in many places to this day. If devotees want to donate their own money to a local center that is one thing, but asking their friends and colleagues to make a donation? Isn’t this really quite far-fetched?

The Tupperware Party

One very interesting example of exploitation of the Liking Principle that Cialdini describes is the Tupperware party, which involves sales representatives of the Tupperware company approaching particular individuals, almost invariably women, and asking them to host a “party” at their homes and invite all their friends. Whilst it is sold to the friends as a party, and whilst even games are played at the party, it is in actual fact a very cleverly disguised vehicle for selling Tupperware products to the friends of the hostess. In return, the hostess receives a commission of all products sold.

What makes the Tupperware Party so powerful as a sales tool is the fact that the real sales power comes not from the Tupperware Party sales representative but from the hostess herself, or more specifically from the fact that all the guests at the party are already friends with the hostess – and will thus already like her.

The most interesting thing about this is that in an email which was sent out to devotees some time in 2010, and which was posted on Skywalker’s blog under 9 Steps To Organize a Part I Course, Bawa (author of the email) encourages devotees to use this exact tactic to manipulate people to signing up to a Basic / Part 1 course. It is specifically referred to in Step 7 as a “Home Intro Talk”, but in reality is just a variation of the Tupperware party.

As an interesting aside, this would lead us to believe that not only is Bawa well aware of this principle but he is most likely aware of the very same book where it is described – Robert Cialdini’s Influence. This should come as no surprise to anyone by now since, as we have already seen, all the manipulation tactics which have thus far been described in Cialdini’s book are being used to one extent or another in Art of Living. It is most likely then that many of those at the head of affairs in AoL are also familiar with this book and all the various principles of psychological manipulation described therein.

Manipulating Art of Living devotees

As well as persuading devotees to recruit and illicit donations from their existing friends, Art of Living further exploit the Liking Principle by manipulating these same devotees into better liking AoL itself and other devotees. By increasing trust in this way it makes it far easier to sell ongoing courses, events and of course to illicit donations from existing devotees.

There are a number of key factors which affect how the way we like something.

Physical Attractiveness

A great amount of scientific research has shown that we tend to like people more if they are physically attractive. Note that this relates not only to how attractive people are physically, but also to their clothing and general grooming.

I recall one senior teacher who likes to cry whenever he thinks of his beloved master that he thought that RS not only had a beautiful soul but that he was also physically beautiful. Even at the time this seemed like one of the strangest things I had ever heard, but now I realize that he was just implanting the idea that RS was physically attractive in the minds of all those present.

For those who recall there was a very heart-wrenching account on Klim’s blog about a woman who had spent the best part of a small fortune to take the TTC but who at the end overheard the teachers say that they considered her to be too ugly to become a teacher, and then subsequently broke down into tears.

So yes, physical attractiveness is considered an important factor in Art of Living, especially when selecting who can and cannot become a teacher.

One observation which Cialdini makes:

“Because we like attractive people and because we tend to comply with those we like, it makes sense that sales training programs include grooming hints, that fashionable clothiers select their floor staffs from among the good-looking candidates, […]”

It is fair to say that most Art of Living teachers and especially senior teachers are physically attractive. But on top of this, they are actually instructed in TTC to wear certain clothing, light-colored or preferably white, and to completely avoid dark colors, especially black. This is done on purpose – to make them more likeable.

The Halo Effect

That physical attractiveness is a key factor which influences how we like someone is actually due to what has become known as the Halo effect: when one positive characteristic of a person seems to dominate the way that person is viewed by others. Much scientific evidence shows that physical attractiveness is one such characteristic.

Research has shown that we automatically assign certain favorable traits such as talent, kindness, honesty and intelligence to good-looking people. In other words, we psychological associate good-looking with being good. Good-looking people are generally better liked, more persuasive, and seen as possessing better personality traits and intellectual capacities.

Similarity

We tend to like people more if they are similar to us, especially if they hold similar beliefs and opinions, come from a similar background to us (for example geographically or professionally), have similar personality traits or a similar lifestyle to us.

Whilst many similarities can readily be found between Art of Living devotees, the most obvious one is simply that they are members of AoL. Implicit in this is the fact that devotees share many beliefs and opinions, and have many similarities in their lifestyles.

This is actually a huge influencing factor since it greatly increases the chances that devotees will already like each other – even before they know each other. Unless they have had bad experiences, they will believe that they will have a much closer affinity to other AoL devotees than for example to complete strangers.

This built-in likability then makes it far easier for AoL to persuade their devotees to ask other devotees to sit more courses or volunteer to organize them, participate in satsangs, or in short do pretty much anything that they ask for.

Compliments

Whenever we are complimented in any manner and we feel the compliment is genuine, we automatically better like the person who made the compliment.

This is something which is used effectively in AoL once individuals have already become devotees. In the Advanced/Part 2/Art of Silence course, it is one of the first processes that participants have to go through, to learn to give compliments to others as well as to themselves. The take-away from this is that “All praise goes to the divine.”

Devotees are constantly complimented on one thing or another by other devotees and more so by teachers. In fact, as was already touched upon in the section on Reciprocation,
one of the greatest compliments a teacher can give to a devotee is to tell them that they should become a teacher.

More often than not, we have little reason to suspect that we are actually being manipulated when we are being flattered in this manner. We just accept the flattery, believing it to be genuine, and leave ourselves wide open to be exploited by the Liking Principle.

Familiarity through Increased Contact

The more times we come into contact with something, the more familiar we become with it. And research has shown that we like things which are familiar to us. As Cialdini tells us: “Often we don’t realize that our attitude toward something has been influenced by the number of times we have been exposed to it in the past.” Ultimately, the more familiar we are with something, the more we like it and so the more social influence it can have over us.

The following passage taken from Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion is of particular interest to the discussion at hand:

“For example, in one experiment, the faces of several individuals were flashed on a screen so quickly that later on, the subjects who were exposed to the faces in this manner couldn’t recall having seen any of them before. Yet, the more frequently a person’s face was flashed on the screen, the more these subjects came to like that person when they met in a subsequent interaction. And because greater liking leads to greater social influence, these subjects were also more persuaded by the opinion statements of the individuals whose faces had appeared on the screen most frequently.”

The most pertinent example of the way the familiarity aspect of the Liking Principle is exploited in Art of Living is the use of photographs of Ravi Shankar, usually smiling beatifically. These are ever-present at satsangs, on the cover of nearly all AoL books, in some of the more advanced courses, in posters throughout all the ashrams, and most prominently of all in the homes of the more ardent devotees. This is an integral yet somewhat subtle component of the Art of Living Brainwashing Machinery, with the overall purpose being to make devotees like RS a lot more than they would ordinarily, that is, without the use of the photos. As such, this becomes a major contributing factor to the overall influence RS has over his devotees.

Familiarity through Cooperation

Another factor which affects the Liking Principle is cooperation, specifically working together to achieve a common goal.

At the most basic level, there are so many group activities throughout various courses starting with the Basic/Part 1 Course which are designed to create a feeling of mutual cooperation and hence act as a binding agent between devotees. Any group activity, such as handing out flyers, organizing courses and events, and even sitting courses with other individuals all create a feeling of cooperation, and hence increase the chances that those involved will like each other.

But the best example of cooperation in Art of Living is that all devotees are working together for a common goal, to do whatever they can to spread the message of RS to the world, to bring as many people as they can into Art of Living and so to help save them from certain doom. Everyone working tirelessly together, one big happy AoL family, all striving for this common vision.

This really is one of the strongest social forces which keeps people trapped in Art of Living. So many people form such strong bonds with fellow devotees because of this that it becomes extremely difficult to break these bonds should they ever feel they need to. For example when the doubts become too great and they have to leave.

One way out of this particular trap is to realize that outside of Art of Living, one usually has very few if any commonalities with other devotees.

Conditioning and Association

One of the most prominent factors affecting the Liking Principle is the use of conditioning through association, as discovered by Ivan Pavlov. Specifically, it is the association with positive things whilst at the same time avoiding any association with negative things. The association with any given positive thing generally makes the person exploiting the association look more favorable in the eyes of consumers, thus making them more likable and giving them more social influence.

Art of Living are constantly trying to associate themselves with positive things. Whenever any disaster takes place in the world, AoL are quick to respond by telling all their devotees that they have taken some positive action to help the situation. A visit from RS himself to the affected area is usually part of the propaganda machine here.

A key association that AoL often boasts about is that it is affiliated with the United Nations. At the current time of writing the Wikipedia entry for Art of Living states: “The Foundation is working in special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations.” Whilst this may sound impressive on paper, in reality it doesn’t actually amount to very much at all, especially given that there are at least 3,500 NGOs worldwide that share this status (see http://csonet.org/).

Art of Living’s involvement with Anna Hazare’s India Against Corruption movement was actually a brilliant example of exploiting the association aspect of the Liking Principle. Not only did AoL associate themselves with a movement which was considered by many to be very positive, but due to the nature of the cause, they also tried to distance themselves from something very negative: corruption itself. This was an absolute masterstroke of pure genius. Incredibly, this internal email written by François Gautier and sent out to devotees
shows how AoL tried to spin things to look as if they were the major driving force behind the movement.

But it doesn’t end there. Nearly a year on and with the IAC movement seemingly on its last legs and looking extremely unlikely to achieve any of what it set out to, where is AoL now? It looks like they rode the media wave when IAC was in the limelight, but now that it has become unpopular, AoL has all but abandoned the movement and completely distanced themselves from it. See Bringer of Light or Desperate for Limelight for a detailed analysis of this. This link also describes how many of the service projects which Art of Living uses for publicity never really come to fruition.

Even though it has been covered adequately in both this post and across the blogs, the attributing of anything positive in a devotee’s life with their association with AoL and particularly with RS is also another good example of the exploitation of this principle. If a devotee believes that anything good which is happening to them is due to “Guruji’s Grace” in their lives, of course they are going to like RS more – thus opening themselves up to be further exploited by him.

In Part 8, we’ll take a good look at how the power of Authority is exploited in Art of Living.

Exposing the AoL Brainwashing Machinery – Part 6

November 25, 2012

tags: Brainwashing, Cult Culture, Deceit, Guru's Grace, Secret Knowledge, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Sudarshan Kriya

by Obi-Wan

In Part 5 we looked at Cognitive Dissonance and how so many people who have been associated with Art of Living have been afflicted by it both during their time and after they left the organization. In this part we will take a look at how Social Proof is used to manipulate AoL devotees.

Social Proof

The principle of Social Proof states that whenever we are faced with a situation where we need to make some sort of decision, one means we use to help us to determine the best choice we can make is to look at what others have done in the same or similar situation. We tend to regard a particular behavior as being more correct if we see many people exhibiting that same behavior.

In Cialdini’s words:

Like the other weapons of influence, it provides a convenient shortcut for determining how to behave but, at the same time, makes one who uses the shortcut vulnerable to the attacks of profiteers who lie in wait along its path.

Cialdini notes there are two circumstances under which Social Proof becomes particularly effective as a weapon of influence:

Uncertainty: Whenever we are experiencing uncertainty about a situation, we are especially likely to look at how others have acted in the same situation and take a similar action as this helps to remove the uncertainty.
Similarity: In a situation when we need to make any given decision, our tendency to make a particular choice based on the actions of others becomes even greater if those whom we look to in order to help us make our decisions are similar to us in some way or other.

How it is Exploited in Art of Living

The first time we encounter Social Proof is usually during the Basic Course (or for some the Introductory Talk) when we are told that 20-30 million people have taken the course, and that Art of Living has a presence in over 140 – 160 countries. If this many people have done the course worldwide then surely it must be something worth doing, right? Although it is never explicitly stated as such, this is the exact reason why it is even used, because it triggers our response to Social Proof.

All too often we have heard pro-AoLers make comments along the lines of “millions of people are part of AoL” or that “RS has millions of followers around the world, so how can all these people be wrong”? Indeed if millions around the world really did support the organization, then it does seem highly unlikely to devotees that all these people have somehow been wrong in their decision. This gives devotees a great deal of reassurance and makes them believe they have made the correct decision in being part of AoL.

The truth is, no one really knows how many followers AoL/RS really have since we only have the organization’s word for this, and given their history of not only grossly exaggerating numbers (e.g. claiming 70,000 attended the World Culture Festival when we saw with our own eyes that the stadium was at least 3/4 empty) and outright lying, it is extremely unlikely to be anywhere close to the number which they quote. But even if this number were even remotely true, given that the majority of people don’t continue beyond the Basic Course and that we were specifically told that around 2% do continue, this would put the number of followers worldwide at closer to 600,000, a far cry from the millions which many devotees are claiming.

Statements made during AoL talks such as “Art of Living is the largest volunteer-based NGO in the world” (which incidentally is completely untrue) constitute another good example of social proof. If so many people have volunteered their time to work for this organization, then it definitely must be an organization worth volunteering for.

Even hiring the Olympic Stadium in Berlin for the World Culture Festival and claiming that they were going to fill it to its capacity of 70,000+ is yet another example of social proof. It was a manoeuvre designed to try to make people believe that this was a big event and that so many people were going to go. And as we saw, this was another tactic which severely backfired on them.

Another key tactic which Art of Living employs is to try to get as many of its followers to effectively give their “vote of approval” of Art of Living by sharing some account of how it has changed their lives. The more people who give these accounts, the greater the social proof for Art of Living. One notable example of this is the now defunct Art of Living Life Stories blog. Other examples include asking Art of Living devotees to leave a comment supporting a seemingly independently written article in praise of Art of Living, and even an attempt at doctoring the wikipedia entry for RS.

One example taken from Cialdini’s book which is worth noting here concerns the evangelist Billy Graham.

[…] an Arizona State University research team that infiltrated the Billy Graham organization reported on such advance preparations prior to one of his Crusade visits. “By the time Graham arrives in town and makes his altar call, an army of six thousand wait with instructions on when to come forth at varying intervals to create the impression of a spontaneous mass outpouring.”

Don’t Art of Living ask similar requests of their devotees, to give the impression that some event is worth attending?

Similarity
As was noted in the introduction to this section, similarity is a key factor which enhances the overall effect that social proof has on us.

One of the main things which brings people to AoL in the first place is that they are on a spiritual journey of some description, because they are vulnerable in some way, lacking something in their lives and seeking something more fulfilling. And in AoL they will find many others in exactly the same situation as they are. Ordinary, everyday people from all walks of life, many of whom have similar jobs and who come from similar backgrounds. In particular, Hindus will find there are a great many other Hindus in the organization, which is hardly surprising as AoL is steeped heavily in Hinduism.

Uncertainty
Many of us have had doubts during our time in AoL, and these doubts lead to uncertainty about the organization and in particular about RS. Although we’ve already discussed how Art of Living brainwash people to simply drop doubts, another incredibly powerful mechanism working for Art of Living against its devotees who are having doubts is that whenever doubts creep in, they can look around and see that there are seemingly so many other people around them who don’t appear to have the same doubts, who have complete faith in RS and in AoL, and this goes a long way towards allaying any doubts and fears they themselves are having.

This looking around for social proof arising from uncertainty is in fact another means by which devotees can deal with cognitive dissonance, because this uncertainty itself results in cognitive dissonance.

In Part 7, we’ll take a look at the Liking Principle.

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Critical Perspectives on Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and the Art of Living

Read this First!

Overview of these Blogs

A Special Note About Klim’s Blog

Personal Experiences

Brainwashing & Cult Culture

Exposing the AoL Brainwashing Machinery Series

Double-Edged Sword Series

Other Key Brainwashing and Cult Culture Articles

Manipulation through “Secret Knowledge”

Abuse

Healing

Sudarshan Kriya

Commentaries on the Sudarshan Kriya Notes

Kriya Tape

Alleged Benefits

Health and Safety issues concerning the practice of SK

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

General Propaganda and Deception

SSRS History

Guru’s Grace

SSRS Educational Qualifications

SSRS and Nobel Peace Prize

Sri Sri Shooting Incident

Legal and other Action Against RS/AoL

Various titles and lineage

Biography changing over time, Editing of Wikipedia

AoL Organization

World Culture Festival

Financial Matters and AoL Controlled Companies

AoL Courses

Sahaj Samadhi Meditation

DSN & TTC

SSY – Sri Sri Yoga

Lawsuit Against Bloggers

Argentina Incident

Feedback from AoL Devotees & Counter-Blogs

Counter Blogs

Posts about Counter-Blogs

Feedback from pro-AoLers

A Letter of Concern (by Ann Godwin) and corresponding responses

Other Attempts by AoL To Put a Stop to the Blogs

Eng-An

Posts Addressed to AoL Followers

Positive Changes in AoL?

Foreign Language Blogs and Articles

French

Spanish

External Critiques of SSRS and AoL

Odds and Ends

Other Critical Blogs

Links to All Parts

Summary of Articles

Conclusion

Scarcity

Authority

How Authority is exploited in Art of Living

Title

Clothing

Symbols of Authority specific to Enlightened Gurus

Art of Living: A Hierarchy of Authority

Liking

Leveraging the Existing Bond Between Friends

The Tupperware Party

Manipulating Art of Living devotees

Physical Attractiveness

The Halo Effect

Similarity

Compliments

Familiarity through Increased Contact

Familiarity through Cooperation

Conditioning and Association

Social Proof

How it is Exploited in Art of Living

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