The curious connection between health food restaurants and cults

Stephanie Weber
The Takeout
April 9, 2020

My favorite breakfast spot in Chicago was Victory’s Banner. It was a quirky, cheerful cafe in Roscoe Village with yellow walls, a diverse waitstaff wearing saris, pictures of an older man weightlifting and smiling on every wall, and sugar packets that had quotes on the back of them like “listen to your heart whispers.” My heart whispers told me to continue eating there, because the French toast with peach butter was truly the best I’ve ever had. I continued to eat there for years despite a mounting list of questions, like: Who exactly was the weightlifting man in all these photographs? Who was telling me, via fortune-cookie-esque sugar packets, to live my best life journey? And why would a restaurant also organize meditation workshops? The answer to all of these questions was Sri Chinmoy, a spiritual guru who promoted healthy living and meditation from the 1960s until his death in 2007. His followers continue to propagate his teachings.

I once asked a server at Victory’s Banner if the owners and staff were part of a religion, and she informed me they were “a meditation group” that offered seminars. “Meditation group” is pretty vague, but to some, that’s exactly what they were. Others would consider them a cult, albeit one that served a great vegetarian brunch with bottomless chai.

When I looked into Sri Chinmoy, I found that his followers operated vegetarian restaurants all over the country. A cursory search on Reddit brings up threads that ask the question, “Is the vegan restaurant near me owned by a cult?” Maybe!

The followers of Sri Chinmoy aren’t the exception; they appear to be the rule. Why would all these self-proclaimed meditation groups own meat-free restaurants? An easy answer is that many such groups adhere to very strict and specific diets. According to the Sri Chinmoy Center’s website, “Vegan and vegetarian diets are often the preferred lifestyle choice of seekers and meditators. The mild qualities of the plant kingdom likewise nourish mild qualities in ourselves, strengthening our simplicity, kindness and oneness with others.” It’s not too far off from what you might have been told by some yogis in your own life.

It’s fair to say that the promotion of vegetarianism and veganism by groups like Sri Chinmoy is at least partially responsible for the health food movement of the 1960s and ’70s. The Hare Krishnas, also founded in the 1960s, are known for having inclusive and free vegetarian dinners on Sundays, but they also run Hare Krishna Food for Life organization which is a nonprofit vegan food relief fund. The Twelve Tribes, which arose in the 1970s, are responsible for The Yellow Deli. All of these groups ran their restaurants to promote what they deem a healthy balance of diet and spirituality.

Perhaps the O.G. of spiritual restaurants was in Los Angeles. In 1969, Jim Baker, aka Father Yod, recruited his followers to open and operate The Source, the nation’s first health food restaurant of any renown that served organic vegetarian food to hippies, locals, tourists, and movie stars. Employees of the restaurant were like family. Literally: they were a cult (and rock band) known as The Source Family. The Source had crossover appeal with the general public; the restaurant was even featured in Annie Hall. It continued to prosper until Baker sold the business in 1974.

In more recent years, the most famous modern example of a cult-run vegetarian restaurant is likely The Loving Hut. Entrepreneur Supreme Master Ching Hai is the mysterious spiritual leader behind The Loving Hut, a vegetarian franchise that boasts over 100 locations around the world and whose locations all have TVs broadcasting Supreme Master TV, a channel owned by Ching Hai that promotes “24 hours of positive news a day.” (This is a bit more forward than the meditation workshops recommended to customers at Victory’s Banner.) The group behind The Loving Hut practices the Quan Yin Method, the Buddhist-based meditation practice and belief system that Supreme Master Ching Hai promotes to followers around the world. Ching Hai is a Vietnamese millionaire who has been growing both her fortune and her following since the 1990s.

Since its peak in 2015, however, some of The Loving Hut’s 140 locations around the world have closed. The Sri Chinmoy restaurant I frequented in Chicago is also now closed—sort of. It reopened in 2018 as Lucy’s Cafe, and while it has the same menu, the new owners informed me they are not affiliated with Sri Chinmoy. They bought the restaurant a few years ago, but they kept the Victory’s Banner menu, which means we can all still enjoy French toast with peach butter. The inspirational sugar packets, however, are long gone.

It’s hard to tell where the Sri Chinmoy–affiliated owners went, or why they sold the business. There was negative press surrounding Sri Chinmoy after his death in 2007, with a former member publishing a book about her experiences in what she deems a controlling cult. But that was ten whole years before the closure of Victory’s Banner. Still, it’s possible that with each damning expose, institutions like Chicago’s brunch cafe and The Loving Hut lose out on interested parties who arrive with an appetite for both pancakes and enlightenment.

Because, after all, these restaurants are operating under a dual business model: they want the restaurant to make money to fund their respective organizations, but they also consider recruitment a metric for their success. With the restaurant industry’s razor-thin margins, the health food is just as much a promotional expense as a moneymaker. I reached out to representatives from these groups and the employees of several spiritually inclined vegetarian restaurants around the country, but they all declined to comment on the particulars of their restaurants. Instead, I’m left with what Sri Chinmoy himself had to say: “We came into the world, not only to eat material food, but also to feed our heart with our aspiration-meal.” My own aspiration is to skip the meditation workshops and order another serving of that peachy French toast.

https://thetakeout.com/sri-chinmoy-and-the-vegetarian-health-food-restaurants-1842726300

Statue of controversial spiritual leader pops up at busy Ottawa street corner

Follower of Sri Chinmoy paying $300 a month to rent parking space for statue

Kimberley Molina

CBC News
August 1, 2017

An Ottawa woman has rented a parking space on a busy street corner in Old Ottawa South to erect a statue to a controversial Indian spiritual leader.

The bronze statue shows Sri Chinmoy meditating and was placed on Sunday at the corner of Bank Street and Belmont Avenue in Old Ottawa South by Pratyaya Hamilton, a follower of Chinmoy's teachings since 1973 and a meditation leader at the Sri Chinmoy Centre.

The statue, gifted to her by a Canadian man who purchased it from a New Zealand artist, has been sitting in Hamilton's home for the last six years. Last fall she put in an application to the federal government to place it on federal land.
Still waiting for city's approval

However, two weeks ago, that request was denied, so Hamilton then put a request with the City of Ottawa to move it into a city park, but didn't want to wait around for their answer expected in the fall.

That led her to the corner of Bank Street and Belmont Avenue and the Majestic Drycleaners and Laundry at the corner.

"All of a sudden, my heart was pulled to this building," she said.

In the early 1970s, a group of Chinmoy's students owned a vegetarian restaurant, a health food store, a bookstore, a craft shop and a printing press on the second floor.

They closed down only five years later, but Hamilton hopes to add a plaque with information about the businesses alongside the statue.
Hamilton paying for spot where statue stands

Chinmoy used to visit Ottawa frequently for different events, including meditations, concerts and university lectures while he was living in the United States and Hamilton said she met him on multiple occasions.

He died in 2007 at the age of 76.

Right now, Hamilton is paying $300 a month to rent a parking space from the business and hopes to either keep the statue at that corner where she's set to install benches on Tuesday or move it to a park with the City of Ottawa's approval.

"We wanted to make it a little peace park where people could sit and reflect on the importance of peace in the world. So we wanted it to be a place of reflection. But now that we have it here, I love it here."
'A dreamer of world peace'

Hamilton described Chinmoy as a meditation teacher and "a dreamer of world peace" and said Chinmoy held meditations at the United Nations in New York for several years after moving there in the 1960s.

"[He] is a great spiritual master. His whole life was dedicated to peace. He was always doing everything to inspire peoples, inspire humanity," she said.

Chinmoy may have been a religious figure to some, but allegations he ran a cult persist 10 years after his death.

One of his former followers, musician Carlos Santana, had a public falling out with Chinmoy.

In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2000, Santana compared living under the leader's rules to living at an American military college.

"There was always this competition in how much we could do to prove our devotion — who could sleep the least and still function, because you were working so hard, how many miles could you run," he told the magazine.
'A lot of people called it a cult'

That experience does not surprise Stephen Kent, a professor at the University of Alberta who specializes in alternative and controversial religions.

He's been following the controversy surrounding Chinmoy since the 1980s and has spoken to people who used to be followers.

"A lot of people called it a cult. One of the indications that it had cult characteristics is the way it responded to critics. Cults can not assimilate or handle criticism from outsiders, especially if the outsider is a former member. These people are considered evil, they're trying to destroy God's work. Consequently, former members who speak out, from this group and others, can be afraid. They can be afraid of retaliation," he said.

And he's not surprised a statue of the guru has been erected in Ottawa to immortalize their leader.

"It's a highly dramatic and longstanding ode to a leader whose members think he was a spiritual inspiration to them, indeed an inspiration to the world. It's just that, for people who are able to look at the group objectively, his contributions to world peace become highly problematic, in part because of how he ran his own group," he said.
One complaint so far

Hamilton disputes the idea Chinmoy's group is a cult and said she's never heard that those allegations.

"Any great man has critics. What is a cult? It's not a cult. It's a meditation centre. He was well respected the world over. I just would disagree with that vehemently," said Hamilton.

After learning about the statue from CBC Ottawa, the City of Ottawa sent a bylaw officer to the site.

By Tuesday afternoon, there had been one complaint.

"It was investigated and no violations were found," Jerrod Riley, a bylaw review specialist wrote in a statement.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/sri-chinmoy-controversial-figure-statue-ottawa-old-ottawa-south-1.4229703

CultNEWS101 Articles: 12/14/2016 (Polish Conference, Napoleon Hill, Self-help, Tvind, Humana, People-to-People, Shinchonji, Korea, Jehovah'sWitnesses, legal, LGBT, Mormonism, LDS Church, Sri Chinmoy, Narcissism, James Arthur Ray)

Polish Conference, Napoleon Hill, Self-help, Tvind, Humana, People-to-People, Shinchonji, Korea, Jehovah's Witnesses, legal, LGBT, Mormonism, LDS Church, Sri Chinmoy, Narcissism, James Arthur Ray

In Stalowa Wola began a 4-day international conference on sects.

"For Stalowa KUL for four consecutive days, scientists from three continents, several countries will talk about how to prevent sects.The conference involved experts on the subject, among others, Japan, Canada, the United States, Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Austria, Finland, Denmark, Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine and Polish. The conference will be workshops and panel sessions. Faculty of Law and of Social Sciences KUL in Stalowa Wola, co-organizer of the conference cultic American International Studies Association (internaszynal Keltika Stadis asosjejszyn) based in Florida. Marta Górecka"

http://www.leliwa.pl/news/show/stalowa_wola__przez_cztery_dni_naukowo_o_sektach

The Untold Story of Napoleon Hill, the Greatest Self-help Scammer of All Time

"Napoleon Hill is the most famous conman you’ve probably never heard of. Born into poverty in rural Virginia at the end of the 19th century, Hill went on to write one of the most successful self-help books of the 20th century: Think and Grow Rich. In fact, he helped invent the genre. But it’s the untold story of Hill’s fraudulent business practices and membership in a New York cult that makes him so fascinating."

http://www.cultnews101.com/2016/12/the-untold-story-of-napoleon-hill.html

Denmark’s UFF-Humana Gives Nearly Nothing to Africa

"A dossier on the Tvind Teachers Group. Are Humana People-to-People, Planet Aid, the Gaia Movement and DAPP siphoning off cash through tax havens? Is it a cult?"

http://www.tvindalert.com/uff-humana-nearly-nothing-to-africa/

Churches warned of 'deceptive cult' linked to South Korea infiltrating congregations

"The Church of England has issued a formal alert to almost 500 parishes in London about the activities of the group known as Parachristo.... understood to be linked to a controversial South Korean group known as Shinchonji (SCJ) – or the “New Heaven and New Earth” church (NHNE) – whose founder Man-Hee Lee is referred to as God’s “advocate”."

http://www.cultnews101.com/2016/12/exclusive-churches-warned-of-deceptive.html

How Jehovah’s Witnesses leaders hide child abuse secrets at all costs

"The leadership of the Jehovah’s Witnesses has boldly defied court orders to turn over the names and whereabouts of alleged child sexual abusers across the United States."

http://www.cultnews101.com/2016/12/how-jehovahs-witnesses-leaders-hide.html

Tara was abused by the man she was taught to trust most — now she wants justice

"The Royal Commission, which this week turned its attention to the Jehovah’s Witness organisation.

On Monday, the royal commission found that children were not adequately protected from the risk of sexual abuse in the Jehovah’s Witnesses."

http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/true-stories/tara-was-abused-by-the-man-she-was-taught-to-trust-most-now-she-wants-justice/news-story/50cf9dbf12e650ec22b9157e65e12db2

Secrets of the Watchtower

"We begin in San Diego, where Trey meets an attorney trying to get access to a Jehovah’s Witnesses database containing the names and whereabouts of likely thousands of accused child abusers within the organization – living freely in communities across the U.S."

"Later in the hour, we hear from a victim who tells us how the threat of being banished from their communities keeps members from reporting abuse."

https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/secrets-of-the-watchtower/

LGBT activist plans ad blitz targeting Mormon church’s tax-exempt status

"A prominent gay-rights activist and former U.S. presidential candidate hopes to build "the biggest, loudest and most comprehensive" legal case ever mounted for revoking the tax-exempt status of the Mormon church."

"He alleges LDS Church involvement in opposing same-sex marriage initiatives in as many as 26 states and the use of Mormon meetinghouses for political organizing."

http://www.sltrib.com/home/4690644-155/lgbt-activist-plans-ad-blitz-targeting

Indian spiritual guru Sri Chinmoy's birth anniversary cake sets Guinness record in the US

"A new Guinness World Record has been set in the US for most candles on a birthday cake - where a staggering 72,585 candles were lit on the occasion of late Indian spiritual leader Sri Chinmoy's 85th birth anniversary.

Chinmoy Kumar Ghose, better known as Sri Chinmoy, taught meditation in the West after moving to New York City in 1964."

http://www.cultnews101.com/2016/12/indian-spiritual-guru-sri-chinmoy-birth.html

Self Inflation and Contagious Narcissism - Joseph Szimhart 

"After watching CNN’s two-hour, December 4, 2016 documentary on the rise and fall motivational speaker James Arthur Ray, I came away from it with a sense of appreciation for good film making as well as a sullen gut reaction to the horror of three people dying in one of Ray’s over-crowded, very expensive, “spiritual warrior,” sweat lodge challenges. The sweat lodge scam was one of his best personal income ventures."

http://www.cultnews101.com/2016/12/self-inflation-and-contagious-narcissism.html

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Indian spiritual guru Sri Chinmoy's birth anniversary cake sets Guinness record in the US

Times of India
December 7, 2016

A staggering 72,585 candles were lit on the occasion of late Indian spiritual leader Sri Chinmoy's 85th birth anniversary

Chinmoy Kumar Ghose taught meditation in the West after moving to New York City in 1964

The previous record was achieved in California in April, with a total of 50,151 candles

NEW YORK: A new Guinness World Record has been set in the US for most candles on a birthday cake - where a staggering 72,585 candles were lit on the occasion of late Indian spiritual leader Sri Chinmoy's 85th birth anniversary.
Chinmoy Kumar Ghose, better known as Sri Chinmoy, taught meditation in the West after moving to New York City in 1964.

Taking place at the Sri Chinmoy Centre in New York, a team of 100 people worked together to make the cake, individually place each candle and then light them with 60 blowtorches.

The candles remained burning for about 40 seconds, ensuring that the previous record went up in flames.
The sponge cake was filled with vanilla mousse and created in the shape of a huge rectangle measuring 80.5 feet long and two feet wide.
There were far too many candles for anyone to blow out in the traditional manner, so the candles were put out with carbon dioxide fire extinguishers to ensure that the dessert was still edible afterwards.

The wax was then scraped off and the party tucked into the enormous cake.
The previous record for the most lit candles on a cake was achieved by Mike's Hard Lemonade in California in April, with a total of 50,151 candles.

http://m.timesofindia.com/nri/us-canada-news/Indian-spiritual-guru-Sri-Chinmoy-birth-anniversary-cake-sets-Guinness-record-in-the-US/articleshow/55849558.cms

Former ‘Disciples’ of Sri Chinmoy draw ire, by continuing stories about abuse

MARY MURPHY
PIX II
FEBRUARY 24, 2016

JAMAICA, Queens— When Sri Chinmoy—founder of a global spiritual group—died in Jamaica, Queens, in 2007, his devoted followers hoped they could continue his work in peace. But it hasn’t worked out that way, largely because a network of former disciples won’t stop talking about their experiences with his organization.

54 year old Anne Carlton of Willow, New York—a small enclave near Woodstock—told us, “It completely changed the formation of my mind—to join as a young adult.”

Carlton was 19 when she left her hometown of Greenwich, Connecticut in 1981, to stay with the group in Queens. She was there for twenty years, with brief departures when she met a boyfriend.

Carlton told us she worked for a time at the group’s restaurant on 164th Street and eventually got a job with the United Nations, where Sri Chinmoy—who was born in East Bengal—had a lot of connections.

Chinmoy’s real name was Chinmoy Kumar Ghose. He positioned himself as an international peace leader, with centers in sixty countries.

He received many awards, sought to break world records, and met with the likes of Mikhail Gorbachev, Mother Teresa, and Pope John Paul the Second.

Carlton recalled she was celibate for ten years, at the guru’s urging, but that changed when she was 29, and Chinmoy invited her to a concert on the West Coast that she paid for.

She said that’s when a female disciple handed her a piece of paper and told her, “Guru wants you to go to his room.”

Carlton remembered, “We weren’t allowed to look men in the eye. We weren’t allowed to marry, we weren’t allowed to have children.”

She recalled the guru asking her if she would “surrender” to him. She said she responded, “Yes, I will surrender,” with her hands clasped in prayer.

“I didn’t get it,” Carlton said, and she then quotes the guru saying, “Take off your clothes.”

Carlton told PIX 11 she’s telling her story on television for the first time, although she’s been writing about it on the Internet for years.

We met Carlton, after another, former Sri Chinmoy disciple contacted us a couple of weeks ago.

The former disciple was reacting to a story PIX11 did about a mysterious, female drifter who was moving all over the southeastern United States.

A Facebook group seeking missing persons thought the homeless traveler was very possibly a missing Queens woman who vanished 21 years ago.

Her image was plastered on an 18-wheeler that was driving on I-95 from state to state.

But it turned out the woman’s name is Diane Cardone, a one-time disciple of Sri Chinmoy.

PIX11 wanted to find out more about Diane Cardone’s involvement with the group, so we visited the section of Jamaica Hills, Queens where the guru used to live—and where his followers still run a group of stores on Parsons Boulevard.

We met Saroja Douglas, who was born in Sweden, walking the late guru’s dog on 149thStreet, where he died at home.

Douglas told us she’s been with the group for 43 years and is now retired from her job at the United Nations.

Douglas defended the late leader from allegations of improper behavior.

“I know that he absolutely never abused anybody in any way.”

Douglas praised Chinmoy’s healing ways. “He wanted to teach people they have to go deep within and bring out their good qualities.”

Other former disciples were featured in PIX 11’s first report, and the current leadership of Sri Chinmoy was upset we were taking a look at the present-day group.

What follows is a statement from the organization to PIX 11:

Our founder and teacher, Sri Chinmoy, led a life of the utmost purity and integrity. Any statements or suggestions that he acted wrongly or improperly during his lifetime are categorically false and completely baseless.We very deeply regret that it appears that some individuals are engaged in defamation of him.We stand against any and all such allegations of wrongdoing as absolutely false and without any substance whatsoever."

The Sri Chinmoy Centre is [a] small global community of several thousand followers which is represented in over 50 countries. We sponsor charity runs, free meditation classes, free concerts and have a humanitarian organization that works in Africa and Asia. Our members all work in the world, many as professionals and artists or running small businesses. The Centre does not have large buildings or valuable assets in its name and does not impose a tithe on its members. We live simply and in plain sight. We must ask why we are being singled out by the media for negative, lurid and false coverage.

http://pix11.com/2016/02/24/former-disciples-of-sri-chinmoy-draw-ire-by-continuing-stories-about-abuse/

Updated: Representative of peace movement responsible for Chinmoy statue to return to Malta

Helena Grech
Malta Independent Online
January 19, 2016

 

The Sliema local council debated the Sri Chinmoy statue this evening, following the controversy after it's installation on the promenade.

The council revealed that a representative from the peace movement responsible for the statue's installation will again come to Malta in a few weeks time to explain why they chose to install the statue, following criticism in the media. The Council will wait until that time before taking any decision on the statue, or, should government decide to take some form of action, the council would bow its head.

The debate saw councillors argue that they had assumed, considering so many prominent people were meant to attend the unveiling, that research on the man would have been done. Some councillors said they require further proof that Chinmoy was indeed a bad person. One councillor in particular came out heavily against the statue, arguing that the statue should be removed immediately.

Earlier today, Sliema mayor Anthony Chircop today said that had he known that so much controversy would have erupted following the installation of the Sri Chinmoy statue on the promenade, he would have never accepted to have the monument in the locality.

The statue was unveiled last Thursday during a ceremony which marked the end of an international peace initiative called the Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run. The ceremony was attended by President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca and the Speaker of the House Anglu Farrugia.

Chinmoy was a self-professed guru with a following of thousands of people in the United States and India. He preached meditation, physical fitness, celibacy and a number of other principles which he felt would lead to the ultimate goal of self-realisation and inner peace.

He was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize and the United Nations celebrated his life’s work after he died in October 2007.

Many however believe the man to have been a cult-leader, living off the tithe from his followers. A large number of accusations emerged later in Chinmoy’s life relating to fraud and sexual abuse. Media reports said that he owned a number of properties and took advantage of some female followers within his organisation in spite of preaching celibacy, and also arranged marriages between followers.

Speaking with The Malta Independent, Mr Chircop explained that once the government had received the Sri Chinmoy members so whole-heartedly, the council did not think to research the group or the man. He added that the council assumed, as anybody would, that the President of Malta and the Speaker of the highest institution in Malta, being Parliament, would have done all the necessary checks before receiving the group.

Asked about why the monument was placed in Sliema, and how it was approved, Mr Chircop said that it was proposed to the council as a monument to peace, and that the council had been misled because it had not been told that the monument was dedicated to Sri Chinmoy himself.

Sliema local councillor Pierre Portelli backed up this information, telling this newsroom that the council had not objected to the proposal for the monument because it was presented to them as a monument to peace, during a 6 January council meeting.

He said that the area was chosen on the side of the Sliema promenade which has relatively less traffic, a lot of room and would cause the least inconvenience to the residents of the area.

Mr Portelli went one step further and took the personal initiative to set up an online petition to gauge how the Sliema residents feel about the monument.

“In less than two days, over 350 people signed the petition online, which is a good indication that people are objecting to the monument,” said Mr Portelli.

In 1996, a plaque was placed in Sliema in honour of Sri Chinmoy and his message, after he was made an ambassador for peace in Malta. It would seem that Sliema was again the chosen locality 20 years later simply because this is where the first Sri Chinmoy celebration took place.

http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2016-01-19/local-news/Sliema-local-council-led-to-believe-monument-was-for-peace-not-to-celebrate-cult-leader-6736151964

Representative of peace movement responsible for…Updated: Representative of peace movement responsible for Chinmoy statue to return to Malta

Helena Grech

Malta Independent

January 19, 2016

The Sliema local council debated the Sri Chinmoy statue this evening, following the controversy after it's installation on the promenade.

The council revealed that a representative from the peace movement responsible for the statue's installation will again come to Malta in a few weeks time to explain why they chose to install the statue, following criticism in the media. The Council will wait until that time before taking any decision on the statue, or, should government decide to take some form of action, the council would bow its head.

The debate saw councillors argue that they had assumed, considering so many prominent people were meant to attend the unveiling, that research on the man would have been done. Some councillors said they require further proof that Chinmoy was indeed a bad person. One councillor in particular came out heavily against the statue, arguing that the statue should be removed immediately.

Earlier today, Sliema mayor Anthony Chircop today said that had he known that so much controversy would have erupted following the installation of the Sri Chinmoy statue on the promenade, he would have never accepted to have the monument in the locality.

The statue was unveiled last Thursday during a ceremony which marked the end of an international peace initiative called the Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run. The ceremony was attended by President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca and the Speaker of the House Anglu Farrugia.

Chinmoy was a self-professed guru with a following of thousands of people in the United States and India. He preached meditation, physical fitness, celibacy and a number of other principles which he felt would lead to the ultimate goal of self-realisation and inner peace.

He was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize and the United Nations celebrated his life’s work after he died in October 2007.

Many however believe the man to have been a cult-leader, living off the tithe from his followers. A large number of accusations emerged later in Chinmoy’s life relating to fraud and sexual abuse. Media reports said that he owned a number of properties and took advantage of some female followers within his organisation in spite of preaching celibacy, and also arranged marriages between followers.

Speaking with The Malta Independent, Mr Chircop explained that once the government had received the Sri Chinmoy members so whole-heartedly, the council did not think to research the group or the man. He added that the council assumed, as anybody would, that the President of Malta and the Speaker of the highest institution in Malta, being Parliament, would have done all the necessary checks before receiving the group.

Asked about why the monument was placed in Sliema, and how it was approved, Mr Chircop said that it was proposed to the council as a monument to peace, and that the council had been misled because it had not been told that the monument was dedicated to Sri Chinmoy himself.

Sliema local councillor Pierre Portelli backed up this information, telling this newsroom that the council had not objected to the proposal for the monument because it was presented to them as a monument to peace, during a 6 January council meeting.

He said that the area was chosen on the side of the Sliema promenade which has relatively less traffic, a lot of room and would cause the least inconvenience to the residents of the area.

Mr Portelli went one step further and took the personal initiative to set up an online petition to gauge how the Sliema residents feel about the monument.

“In less than two days, over 350 people signed the petition online, which is a good indication that people are objecting to the monument,” said Mr Portelli.

In 1996, a plaque was placed in Sliema in honour of Sri Chinmoy and his message, after he was made an ambassador for peace in Malta. It would seem that Sliema was again the chosen locality 20 years later simply because this is where the first Sri Chinmoy celebration took place.


http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2016-01-19/local-news/Sliema-local-council-led-to-believe-monument-was-for-peace-not-to-celebrate-cult-leader-6736151964

EX-FOLLOWERS RIP ‘SLEAZY’ SRI

Alex Ginsberg
May 23, 2004

Charges of sexual exploitation are being leveled against a Queens-based guru who has presided over a worldwide spiritual empire for nearly 40 years, The Post has learned.

The 72-year-old Chinmoy Kumar Ghose – Sri Chinmoy to the faithful – moved to the quiet Briarwood neighborhood from India in 1964 and has since preached a philosophy of celibacy, vegetarianism and meditation to thousands.

His followers – estimated to be up to 4,000 worldwide – are not asked to replace their religious beliefs with his because Ghose preaches that all established religions are a manifestation of God.

The reclusive guru claims that on one occasion he lifted more than 7,000 pounds with one arm and says he has mastered 25 musical instruments.

But some of his longtime members – who are encouraged to paint their houses baby blue – are attacking the guru’s upright image through a series of damning posts to an online discussion board.

Anne Carlton, a former member for 20 years, told The Post Ghose summoned her for sexual encounters over two extended periods – one in 1991 and another in 1996.

Then, in 2000, Ghose called her at work and told her to have sex with another female disciple while he watched.

“I had never kissed a woman or touched a woman,” Carlton said.

“It was not something I fantasized about . . . My mind was completely blown. It was so hard for me, but not only did I do it but I acted happy about it.”

At least two other women have posted similar sexcapade testimonials – one claiming she became pregnant by Ghose, who paid for her to have an abortion in the early 1980s.

That woman, who did not want to be identified, confirmed to The Post that the testimony online was hers and was accurate.

Alex Zwarenstein, who served as one of Ghose’s official photographers until 1989, told The Post he airbrushed photographs to exaggerate the guru’s weightlifting ability – one of the key components of his image.

“He knew I was an artist,” Zwarenstein said. “He called me over to his house and he said, ‘You see that I’ve lifted this but the picture isn’t clear enough. Could you make it so that it looks like it’s a bit higher?’ “

Rudra Tamm, a member of the group since 1968 who served as the organization’s attorney until 2002, said Ghose’s operation is almost entirely cash-driven, with disciples across the world funneling parts of their incomes directly to the guru to support his life and activities.

Tamm said many disciples went into debt just to support the guru and to attend the group’s annual three-month winter trip.

“For a lot of disciples,” said Tamm, “their whole existence is saving enough money to go on the Christmas trip.”

Ghose, who has attracted several celebrities, including Olympic sprinter Carl Lewis and guitarists John McLoughlin and Carlos Santana, owns a house in Florida and four in Queens, including the two-story home on 149th Street where he lives.

The block is adorned with signs that read “Sri Chinmoy Street” – signs never authorized by the city, according to the city Department of Transportation.

There are also about a dozen disciple-owned and disciple-staffed businesses in the Parsons Boulevard area, including two vegetarian restaurants, a carpet store and a barber shop.

A major part of life in the group is athletics, particularly ultra-long running events.

In one particularly grueling project, the self-transcendence marathon, members walk and run around a schoolyard in Jamaica every day for three months, eventually “traveling” 3,100 miles – in honor of the guru’s 1931 birth year.

Ghose denied a request for an in-person interview. A lawyer speaking for the center, Ed Hayes, said that Ghose denied all sexual allegations and maintained he continued to be celibate.

“You’re going to have disgruntled people,” said Hayes. “His [Ghose’s] philosophy attracts many people, and some of them are deeply troubled, some in a sexual way.”

http://nypost.com/2004/05/23/ex-followers-rip-sleazy-sri/