r/SadhguruTruth

What is the science and psychology behind the emotional highs and ecstatic experiences that some cult processes evoke?

They tend to make human brains addicted to those highs and crave for more and more forming an unbreakable bond with the cult, its people and the cult leader. Pls share your perspective and thoughts.

I finished Sadhanapada, and did 2 years of daily practice. Last year, I was doing 4-5 hours of practices (including sitting in Devi / Dhyanalinga temples). Something strange happened, I was not feeling well , I felt unbalanced emotionally and I was getting anxious very often, and tense for very small things. I also had blissful moments, but when I was getting tense, I just told myself all my life will go like this and I cannot do anything about it. Something drawed me to visit some monasteries, then I read a book called: "The Gurus, the Young man, and Elder Paisios". After this book I felt the need to choose between orthodox and yoga, I could not stay in between anymore. I quit my practices one month ago and I feel things are getting slowly back to normal, and I am so grateful for that. Being not hyperaware of everything and coming back to reading Psalms and prayers is so nice and I feel the protection of something higher that took me off that path.

So I just wanted to investigate the Exploitative Practices (specifically the labor practices) at IYC and hear from some ex-volunteers regarding what their testimonies are on this. For starters, what I know is that volunteers work for free, and the money generated goes to the overall revenue of IYC, as well as Sadhguru's/Jaggi's personal bank account (also provides marketing for Radhe Jaggi's business and money probably goes to her bank account as well). I've done some research on this and here are my arguments and evidence for Jaggi and IYC exploiting the labor of volunteers:

-They profit off of the free labor provided by volunteers/devotees, net assets in U.S. branch of IYC alone is like $191mil - their annual profit in '24 was $32mil if you take off operational expenses (lowered thanks to voluntary slave labor)

-Sadhguru has at least $30mil in his bank account that he can spend on his leisure (real estate, cars, etc etc) - devotees claim cars were given as gifts from wealthy people but they were probably also bought by Jaggi himself.

-Radhe's business has been marketed and promoted by IYC, clearly Sadhguru is using his business to promote his daughter's business

-According to BeScofield article, a former accountant for IYC (back in 2010 I believe) said that all the money in profits that IYC made was directly wired back into the bank accounts of Jaggi and Radhe.

-Keep in mind Jaggi himself has said he is not a fan of donating his money and sees donation as insignificant (giant money hoarder)

Feel free to add more arguments and evidence for Jaggi and IYC exploiting the labor of volunteers below in the comments.

I am interested in hearing from former Isha Yoga Center (IYC) volunteers regarding their views on the Dhyanalinga.

Specifically, IYC claims that the Dhyanalinga has all 7 chakras fully aligned and charged at maximum potential. As someone looking at this critically from a marketing and organizational perspective, I would love to know:

Did your views on these consecrated spaces change during or after your time volunteering?

How do you view these spiritual claims now?

My intent is to explore different viewpoints from people who were actually inside the ecosystem. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

I'm looking for perspective from people who have spent a lot of time around other Isha followers or have left it.

For context, I am not from Isha. I've visited the Dhyanalinga many times because I enjoyed the space, and I did Inner Engineering because my partner wanted me to. I don't particularly resonate with Sadhguru's teachings myself. My primary practice is Vipassana and it feels more aligned with my being. So eventhough I learnt IE, I wasn’t motivated enough to practice it.

My partner however has a much deeper connection with Isha. She has the altar, the photos and everything Isha in her wardrobe. She used to have a rigorous practice until recently.

She has always spoken about a long term dream of eventually settling at the ashram. 

We're both in our 30s and we've been in a relationship for two years now, and until recently I believed we would somehow find a way to build a shared life together during this period. I imagined living together at some point, travelling together, creating a home, and then adapting our lives around our responsibilities.

Lately, though I'm beginning to question whether we've actually been imagining the same future.

When I talk about travel or other things I'd love us to experience together, she often refers to them as "your dreams" rather than something we might build together. The only thing she refers to as her dream is being in the Ashram because it is a place that’s harmonious and people stick to their values as opposed to the chaos of the outside world. I am not convinced by this but I want to accept her beliefs too. She would like me to live there with her but I don’t see myself living in any ashram leave alone Isha. This isn’t an immediate choice we have to make but it keeps coming up more and more in conversations as something we are not aligned with.

My question isn't whether Isha is good or bad. 

I'm trying to understand something more specific.

For people who have been deeply involved with Isha:

• Would we be able to sustain a relationship if she goes ahead to live there? - I know this is personal but share your thoughts. 
• Have any of you successfully built a long term partnership with someone who has chosen to live at the ashram?

P.S. The reason I am posting here is also because I know people who are still in Isha who when asked say very fairytale ish things like - If anything you will have a better partner or Who better to take care of your partner than Sadhguru. These responses scare me more. I want perspective from the other side too to balance it out.