(See also: I’ve seen negative things about Ananda on the Internet. Are they true?

I’ve heard something about a lawsuit by eight women, accusing Ananda and Swami Kriyananda of sexual misconduct. Are their accusations true?

No, they are not true

There was never a lawsuit against Kriyananda or Ananda by eight women. There was a single lawsuit filed by a former Ananda member, Anne-Marie Bertolucci, who was disgruntled over the failure of her love affair with a married Ananda member.

Initially, Bertolucci accused Kriyananda only of having sexual “designs” on her. She cited a brief (consensual) neck massage incident and the viewing of a movie. Although Kriyananda had been married, Bertolucci also accused him of “fraudulently” holding himself out to be celibate by his continued use of the title, “swami.”

Bertolucci’s allegations of sexual misconduct against Kriyananda enabled her to introduce accusations against Kriyananda by others from the distant past as supporting evidence for her case. Standing alone, these allegations were too old to be the basis of a separate lawsuit.

Kriyananda responded immediately in writing to the accusations, and later published his response in a national magazine. He categorically denied the allegations:

“I have never harassed anyone, sexually or in any other way. It would be contrary to my most basic instincts and principles to go against another person’s free will, which it is my practice to support even at great cost to myself.

“[Our] adversaries have raised the general subject of my status as a celibate, claiming that I have misrepresented myself publicly in order to deceive people. I welcome this charge as an important opportunity to clear the air not for only myself, but for many other spiritual teachers in America who have faced similar charges in recent years.”

For Kriyananda’s complete statement, see Swami Kriyananda: Gurus, Spiritual Authority, and Renunciation.

Kriyananda later stated under oath that he had been involved in a few sexual relationships in the early ‘80s, prior to his marriage in 1985, but these relationships had been fully consensual. After these relationships ended, the women involved remained friendly with Kriyananda, never suggesting they had felt “coerced.” Their stories became very different years later, after they had become involved with SRF.
public figures, andpeople who have done business with Ananda.

Talks by Swami Kriyananda in streaming video.

Yogananda for the World. Complete details of the hundreds of changes made by SRF to Yogananda’s teachings and work since his passing.

An alarming national trend. The politically correct legal and social environment that made the Bertolucci case possible.

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