1st Time Here – Leaving Siddha Yoga

If this is your first time to this site, it is easy to get overwhelmed. There is much new information and while you will likely want to read everthing here, the question remains, where do I start? Here are links to some of the documents that highlight the abuses and lies in Siddha Yoga. They will open in a new window and are listed in chronological order.

  The Secret Life of Swami Muktananda article by William Rodarmor, The CoEvolution Quarterly; Winter 1983.

O Guru, Guru, Guru article by Lis Harris, New Yorker; November 14, 1994. This is the single most important published piece that explains the problems of Siddha Yoga. (When this issue was printed, the ashram bought as many copies of it as they could find, in Sullivan County. They were all burned. Why? Who were they really trying to protect? Many public libraries around the US have had their copies of this issue destroyed.)

Dorel Lavie describes Muktananda’s sexual abuse from the time she was 16.  Posted January 2020

  In March of 2003, Joan Radha Bridges came forward on the exSY chat group and told the story of how she was sexually molested by Swami Muktananda. You can read Joan’s story at the exSY chat group, or read it by pressing HERE.

The story of Alison Cliatt, her experience of abuse by Siddha Yoga teacher Ram Butler. Written in April, 2003. Press HERE.

Open Letter: “This letter is from a group of people who have left Siddha Yoga and who were, at one time, very deeply involved with its activities.” (1995)

A Personal Story of SYDA Involvement “After many years of involvement and dedication to Siddha Yoga, I find that I can no longer “honor my own self” and live an ethical life without leaving what I now understand to be a destructive cult.” (Aug 96)

The History of Siddha Yoga; by Pendragon Sep 1997

Update from Swami Abhayananda – Stan Trout (Oct 99)

The Larger Perspective (April 2003): An anonymous e-mail received by Dan Shaw from a man claiming deep insider knowledge.   Further very important testimony about abuse and corruption in Siddha Yoga.

“Traumatic Abuse in Cults – A Psychoanalytic Perspective” by Daniel Shaw.