Who Speaks for Siddha Yoga?
A Book Review of Meditation Revolution

On 22 Nov 99, Siddha Yoga performed a yagna in India for the success of this panel. That Siddha Yoga would even participate in such an event is amazing to me. I have to wonder if Siddha Yoga was looking for scholarly approval or validation. They did fall short and stumble on the issue of Muktananda’s sexual history.

Apparently Swami Durgananda’s piece on the history did originally include some sort of explanation of Muktananda’s sexual issues. Then it was deleted before the book was published but after the book was reviewed and the forward written by Gerald James Larson.

After listening to 5 scholars, Douglas R. Brooks, one of the authors, responds to the many concerns listed by the panelists.

Mr. Larson calls Gurumayi “manipulative” and asks who and how Durgananda’s piece was edited, after he wrote his review. Listen to Brooks respond.

I have looked at the book and remember when it was published. The only new thing in the entire book, is the piece by Durgananda, where for the first time since Nityananda left, SY tries to explain how and why Nityananda came to be Guru and leave. I have to wonder if the whole book is a way to impress us scholarly with their philosophy as a means to justify the fallen one. And of course Durgananda’s only got one side of the story. The O Guru article by Lis Harris, has a much more balanced view of it.

So, why did SY even publish the book? Perhaps they became embarrassed of continued questions by newcomers after being given the secret “gossip initiation of have you heard about the brother?”

The audio files were placed on another web site by a supporter of LSY, due to limited space considerations. If you would like to place copies at other sites and send me the links, I will add them here.

You may order a copy of the tapes by calling 1-800-642-2287 and asking for tape #AR99227AB. The cost is about $22.00 including shipping in the US or you may download them here:

Lola L. Williamson, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Moderator and Francis X. Clooney, Boston College, Panelist are on file fc.wav (16:16 – 954KB). Right Click HERE and save target as.

June McDaniel, College of Charleston, Panelist is on file jm.wav (11:07 – 652KB). Right Click HERE and save target as.

Thomas Coburn, St. Lawrence University, Panelist is on file tc.wav (19:12 – 3.29MB). Right Click HERE and save target as.

Sarah Caldwell, California State University, Chico, Panelist is on file sc.wav (23:38 – 4.05MB). Right Click HERE and save target as.

Jeffrey J. Kripal, Westminster College, Panelist is on file jk.wav (17:07 – 2.94MB). Right Click HERE and save target as.

Douglas R. Brooks, University of Rochester, Respondent (Author) is on file db.wav (25:01 – 4.29MB). Right Click HERE and save target as.

Discussion, part 1 is on file 1.wav (27:38 – 4.74MB). Right Click HERE and save target as. (Gerald James Larson is the first speaker and Douglas Brooks responds).

Discussion, part 2 is on file 2.wav (8:23 – 1.43MB). Right Click HERE and save target as.

31 Dec 99