Is Sahaja Yoga Good or Bad?

In 1995 I posted a message to Usenet trying to find some answers. Some of the replies I got expressed mild disbelief that anyone would relate this to SY, some pointed out that proscription of suicide is a tenet of SY. Others were neutral and more analytical or philosophical. Yet others were negative towards SY, or even asked me whether SY would be good for them (like I knew).

But all replies unvariably showed compassion and a feeling of sorrow for what has befallen my brother. Not a single reply questioned what I have written, and although some people perceived my writing as an attack on SY, none labeled me as a "foe" or "negator" of SY. A rather intelligent discussion started amongst holders of opposing opinions.

Later, in July 1997, Simon M came forward and wrote an article that was quite openly against SY. He concluded with

"Please feel free to pass this information on to anybody that might be interested or might benefit.

Feel free to write with your own Sahaja Yoga horror stories or questions."

Later on I had an ongoing discussion with Simon. This and other correspondence regarding SY that I received made me think that there may be general interest in this subject. Having the technical resources at hand, I was prompted to start a mailing list that discusses SY openly.

Is Sahaja Yoga a cult or not? This checklist may give you some food for thought. Even if you believe that Sahaja Yoga is the best thing on earth, please read it, for it may help you keep an open mind.

There are indications that Sahaja Yoga puts itself above common law. Indeed, it is in constant touch with the Divine, why should it care?

I'm becoming interested in examining the material (non-spiritual) effects (and claimed effects) of SY. For now, only a few references are available.

A Mailing List about Sri Mataji's Sahaja Yoga

The archives of the list from 4 Nov 1997 to 13 Apr 1998 are available as a 500kb text file in Unix mailbox format (all messages are simply concatenated, a line starting with "From" indicates the start of a new message). I will provide the archive as separate web pages in hyperlinked form, as soon as I get around to it (which unfortunately won't happen for another month).

My goal is to have a fair medium where everyone has a chance of expressing their opinion on the subject. I'd like to add some references to "official" SY pages here, so if you'd like, please send me a few.

List Policies

1. Anyone can subscribe to the list.
2. I will not give out the list of subscribers to anyone.
3. Anyone can post to the list, even non-subscribers.
4. Anonymous posting is allowed. If you don't post anonymously, everyone on the list will know your address. One anonymous remailer that you could use is Replay. Or see Bacard's page on privacy.
5. The list traffic will be archived, and the archives will be made publicly available on the web. If you don't want your writing to be made public, send email to me, not to the list. However, an author can always request that his/her writing be removed from public view, for whatever reason, including writing that's quoted in a response.
6. Only quote from an article the bare minimum that's enough to indicate what you are replying to. People have read the original posting, don't make them read it twice.
7. I reserve the right to remove a posting from the archives if I find that it's it's off-topic, if it's a commercial advertisement, if it exposes information that a third party has sent to the poster in confidence (private email is sent in confidence unless indicated otherwise), or if I find it unacceptable for any other reason. I will notify the author if possible, and I will hear arguments for keeping the article.
8. I reserve the right to deny posting privileges to a person if they regularly send bad articles as described in the previous item. I will hear their case and will re-allow submission if they promise to behave.
9. No flaming please. Differences of opinion are highly valued, personal attacks are undesirable.
10. This policy can be amended as needed. I am open to suggestions for improvement. I reserve the right for final decision upon any conflicts, but I will try my best to act fairly.