Now that I am embarking on the INNER ENGINEERING course of Sadhguru after visiting the ISHA INSTITUTE OF INNER SCIENCES in Tennessee. I decided to check out any criticism of him by putting the following question on QUORA:
Why is Sadhguru criticized for enjoying his freedoms to engage in big projects when he has already gone through those earlier stages of hardships as his followers?
I was presented with a list of 17 criticisms of Sadhguru by TheWhistleBlower. Apparently, she has followed Jaggi for 6 years, watched his each and every video, read all his books and had accepted him as her Guru wholeheartedly. Now she has changed her mind from being Sadhguru’s follower to a person who is telling the “truths” about Sadhguru by raising questions in minds of others through Quora. This reversal in her thinking is quite fascinating to me.
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Criticisms
Anyway, here is a list of her criticism and my fresh, honest responses to them:
1. He gets criticised for never wearing a set of his designer clothes twice when he calls himself “conscious”. One of the 3R of environment is REUSE. but have you ever seen him wearing the same Kurta twice? How is his own lifestyle doing any good to environment? On the contrary it is causing harm to the environment. Then what’s the use of “Save Soil”?
Your first point of criticism has to be the most important one, so, I shall take that up first. I think Sadhguru is doing this for media appearance purposes to promote his spiritual tools. This is important because Sadhguru is promoting powerful spiritual tools on a very large scale. This is benefitting the society. Compared to that, wearing designer clothes (like celebrities do), is hardly an outness. This criticism is taking an absolutist viewpoint; but nothing in this universe is absolute. To me, this criticism appears to be an ALTERED IMPORTANCE.
2. He gets criticised for collecting money for Cauvery calling when courts have ordered him to stop any such collection immediately. Where did the money go? Any clues? Isn’t he answerable to the people from whom collected the money? Before that he came up with another project.
On point 2 criticism, you have not provided proper data. Can you please provide link to the court order, and details of the complaint. Otherwise, it looks like you are creating a mystery.
3. Jaggi gets criticised for his forceful collection of fees which he calls “donations”. Donations can’t be compulsory. Many police complaints are made against him for this. One of those [sample of complaint provided]…
This complaint seems more like a “buyer’s remorse.” Apparently, the person received the services they donated for, but she was not satisfied with it. There is persuasion for more donations but I don’t see a “forceful collection of fees,” as you claim. Sadhguru is not the first person to use the modern business model to sell his spiritual tools. I have been studying Scientology that uses modern business model much more aggressively. Nothing can be done about it as long as no laws are being violated. The people seeking spiritual services simply have to be more aware. If people don’t like ISHA’s services, they will simply stay way. That will hurt ISHA. So it all balances out.
4. He gets criticised for selling products illegally. Though there are many, let me just give you an example of Kailash Teerth. He is selling water for Rs. 10,000 per 500 ml. Such edibles, consumables must have FSSAI certificate, right? [An example provided]…
As long as Sadhguru is selling a genuine product, it is simply a matter of supply and demand. The product will be priced at what the market can bear with some profit to ISHA to fund its projects. It doesn’t look like a product that requires official certification as it occurs naturally.
5. He gets criticised for being non vegetarian when he preaches vegetarianism. What hypocrisy! [An article provided]…
That is an anomaly as you put it. But the article supplied by you quotes Sadhguru as saying, “For me, food is food, there is nothing religious about it. And my sense is we can eat anything that our system can take in naturally.” So, I doubt if Sadhguru preaches strict vegetarianism. You may be putting your own bias here.
6. He gets criticised for claiming to be interacting with Aliens and calling them to a human body. When he kept a bowl of water on that body, the water started boiling, he says [A video provided]…
Unless Sadhguru is being untruthful, which I don’t think he is, it seems that he encountered a phenomenon that he is struggling to find an explanation for. The experiment that he is talking about happened at quite a height (Mansarovar lake?) where pressure is low and water boils at a much lower temperature. Sadhguru admits that he does not have a complete explanation as he does not understand the phenomenon. The problem appears to be with gullible people, which you cannot blame Sadhguru for.
7. He gets criticised for playing with the minds of innocent followers who go to him in the hope of eternal peace/ enlightenment etc. He thinks, he can control someone’s death by “pegging them down” and uses them as “manure”. Manure!!! [A reference provided]… Why didn’t he keep his own wife as such “manure”?
According to my understanding it takes hard work, undertaken over a long time, to attain enlightenment and peace. People who think that they can attain enlightenment easily without putting much effort are sadly mistaken. Cheap hope is offered by fake Guru’s. Does Sadhguru offer cheap hope? My impression is that he does not. Here Sadhguru is using the word “manure” jokingly than the way you are interpreting it. As I see from the quote that you have provided, Sadhguru is not using this word derogatorily. So, I shall attribute this criticism to your misunderstanding or bias.
8. Jaggi gets criticised for destroying a tribe for his cement mansion called Isha. You can see some real govt docs, court orders, police complaints here [An article provided]… Even if you don’t like NewsLaundry, you can trust the govt documents. Can’t you?
Obviously, there is a conflict here in determining the optimum benefit to Man with the development of the area where ISHA foundation now exists. Benefit to elephants or nature also depends on the ultimate benefit to Man. This determination has to be made by the government responsible for that area. Rules are made by the government for this purpose. These rules can also be modified and enforced retroactively by the government depending on their determination. Obviously, some people feel that rules were violated by Isha Foundation in developing that area for Foundation’s purposes. The government must now decide if the area was harmed or benefitted because of that development. If there is overall benefit then the development should be approved and the rules should be adjusted accordingly. If not, then the development should be reversed, and stricter rules established for that area. Apparently, Sadhguru’s efforts to benefit Man have been recognized at the highest levels of the government. Sadhguru was awarded Padma Vibhushan by the President of India. This is no small feat. So, the issue is with the government to settle any conflict that still remains.
9. He gets criticised for his laughable and cheap quality Pseudoscience. This one everyone agrees. Even his followers say, he shouldn’t do this.
This claim appears to be false, looking at ISHA Foundation’s success and Sadhguru’s popularity.
10. He gets criticised for his fraud of evading taxes by calling all the incoming money “donations”. These “donations” are not voluntary, please note. [An article provided]…
This is the same criticism levied against Scientology organizations as well. The rule is: Organizations that are working for general public good are exempt from taxes, because they are doing the work of the government. So, this would be tax evasion only if Sadhguru’s ISHA foundation is working for purposes other than general public good. Some people disagree and others agree with the general good that ISHA Foundation is doing. So, once again, the government has to determine this point.
11. He gets criticised for being a prime suspect in his wife’s murder case but still “managing” the system to fly to US and return only after the case is closed.
My answer to Has Sadhguru killed his wife? [A link provided]…
This is definitely an unresolved issue for many because it is crossing into the mystical domain of Mahasamadhi. We have materialistic suspicions up against mystic explanations. Resolution cannot occur unless Mahasamadhi is proven to be a hoax (a win for materialism), or it is also explained scientifically (a win for everybody). Sadhguru doesn’t appear to be a danger to the society. Instead, he appears to be doing a lot of good compared to most others. He has wonderful relationship with his daughter.
12. He gets criticised for selling yantras, beads etc for unacceptable prices in the name of “spirituality”. When did spirituality and seeking become devotion and blind belief? [An example provided]…
Sadhguru is meeting a demand and charging for it per the modern business model. The products are faith based. The proceeds are apparently going towards projects for public good. There is nothing wrong with any of this. There may be suspicions of fraud and use of money for personal benefit in a fraudulent manner, but such suspicions are baseless unless there is evidence to back them up.
13. Jaggi gets criticised for showing some laughable experiments on the stage and calling it “miracles”. Haven’t you seen his miracles of venom consumption, solidifying mercury etc?
This is just what it is. Personally, I don’t believe in miracles. I always look for scientific explanations. But there are people who believe in miracles and are fascinated by them. A case can be made for Sadhguru exploiting people’s ignorance. But this is promotion for spiritual tools that Sadhguru provides. As long as those spiritual tools are benefitting a majority of people, this can simply be excused as harmless promotion.
14. He gets criticised for talking nonsense about women, their clothes, their life style, menstruation etc. He has a very conservative and orthodox views on women.
Okay, so some people may disagree with Sadhguru’s opinions on certain issues, especially his orthodox views on women. There is freedom in the modern world to explore these issues independently and clarify them for oneself. If such disagreements turn some people against Sadhguru, that is part of life. Sadhguru is going to have certain opposition for sure.
15. He is criticised for hating other religions. Because the basis of spirituality is oneness. He can’t take it easily though. Watch on YouTube how intolerant he is of other religions and their practices.
On this point, one should always go for clarity rather than hate. I would expect Sadhguru to do the same. For all I know, Sadhguru promotes clarity.
16. He gets criticised a lot for his stolen “wisdom” from Osho, Buddha and many other Yogis. He uses their quotes, lectures directly without even giving them any credit. How do we know that jaggi is copying these yogis? Because he unknowingly copies Osho’s mistakes too. Osho later had accepted and corrected the mistakes in his speech.
In the field of Science, later scientists build up on the research of earlier scientists. There is nothing wrong with this. In case of spirituality, most of the fundamental discoveries were already made in the Vedas. Later efforts are mainly to clarify and explain those discoveries more lucidly. So, the credit goes to those unknown Rishis who contributed to the Vedas. But you are right that any individual contributions to bring clarity should also be acknowledged. And this applies to crediting later clarifications to those who made them.
17. Jaggi gets criticised for his arrogant and humiliating behavior when he is confronted with some unpleasant question or criticism. If he is enlightened, atleast he should be able to keep calm instead of attacking the questioner personally, right?
I think that there are degrees of enlightenment. There is nothing absolute about enlightenment. Often, even a guru is publicly put into situations when he must defend himself. So this criticism must be evaluated on a case by case basis. Any generality would indicate a bias.
[Comment on my question] About his hardship in early life, who has seen that? He himself says, he was a businessman and a builder. His father was a doctor. How is that hardship? What exactly you are asking about when you say “hardship”?
My reference to “hardships” is mainly about following a strict spiritual discipline necessary to seeking enlightenment. I have no reason to doubt that Sadhguru himself followed the strict discipline that he is asking his devotees to follow. Besides, it is a choice for people to follow the life style that Sadhguru is recommending. Compare that to the alternatives, which are available in the society.
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I believe that something personal happened to TheWhistleBlower that was drastic, and which turned her off. She is not looking at that incident.
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