I get correspondence every day from people who know the Swami.
Here is one:
Hi Frank,
Here are some creepy videos that show what a traumatizing narcissist Shoemaker is.
One is with Natacha; creepy. He also says he has healed people. It sounds like practicing medicine without a license.
Shoemaker has made his Instagram private, and here is a link to Instagram sites that may belong to Leiko Coyle.ade his Instagram private, and here is a link to Instagram sites that may belong to Leiko Coyle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp12pXX2AF0
Shoemaker says he heals people for free
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiJpUTSxfO8&list=PLTwap1UcKhadtR02RKmYbsFBV3RpEaB4H&index=68
with Natacha
https://www.picuki.com/search/leikocoyle
This last one is interesting.
youtube.com/watch?v=Ck6XJ6ahj9A&list=PLTwap1UcKhadtR02RKmYbsFBV3RpEaB4H&index=61
The Swami appears with his devotee Heather George.
It is from an interview given on May 13, 2017. He discusses the future of the Movement Center in Portland.
There is a lamentable “Poor me, when Rudi died, I was responsible for everyone” statement.
And a sad admission that too many fake yoga teachers are out there. So much so that this poor Swami can’t make a go of it in Portland.
“Swamiji has talked about the possibility of selling the Ashram building and possibly moving the community elsewhere. In this interview, we discuss the prospects with him.”
In the interview the Swami shows his mastery of the run-on sentence.
“I created the ashram first of all when I first started teaching and making an ashram I did so because you know it was what Rudi directed me to do and I felt strongly that this was the pathway through which I can grow my relationship with Rudi and express to him my gratitude and respect you know so I made the ashram.
I made a bunch of ashrams albeit not very big ones and then Rudy passed away. I did not have even 15 minutes to consider what that meant to me or experience what that felt like because I instantly had his family and 500 of his students tap-dancing on my head and so I went forward to you know continue to teach and build the ashram as an expression of my gratitude for the doors that Rudi had opened for me in my life and my deep respect and appreciation for him so and I felt like if I did it with pure devotion in love it would grow and be whatever it was and you know I mean we live in an outstandingly beautiful place being there’s no the Movement Center is in Portland is phenomenal l we have this amazing place here. It’s incredible you know and at the same time it’s not clear to me you know what the future of this whole situation is and it is my responsibility before I get to be 80 or 90 and I am too old to actually deal with it to do something here that is you know to shift our community in ways that are sustainable and maybe staying in Portland is not sustainable.”
He needed something more sustainable. So he sold the Movement Center for $8 million. Ditched all the old and poor devotees who were with him. And moved to Gold Beach to buy this modest oceanfront sustainable little palace.
For more an Rudi, an article about him appeared in the Yoga Journal July-August 1985.
“Your work really begins when you release struggle. To let go of struggle initiates a change of vibration within you. This change puts you in touch with the flow of Life itself, which is essentially what you are. To cultivate your awareness of this flow is your real work.” -Swami Chetanananda.
Though the great guru and tantrika Swami has deftly veered from the public’s eye, some of his followers can still be seen. And enjoyed.
A Sterling Character
A gent named Michael Stirling has a big hand in the affairs of the Swami.
A Disciple of the Swami’s
This gent says he is a disciple of Swami Chetanananda. His name is Romarishi Siddha Nath. He has not gone dark on Instagram and he does not look like the strangling type.
Romarishi Siddha Nath
Roma appears to give credence to the story of Babaji.
Babaji is a character in Paramanhansa Yoganandas’ Autobiography of a Yogi. Babaji is supposed to be more than 1000 years old.
Here is one story in the book:
THE TEST OF OBEDIENCE AND TRUST IN THE GURU
BABAJI’S SACRED CIRCLE was disturbed by the arrival of a stranger. He had climbed with astonishing skill to the nearly inaccessible ledge near the guru’s camp.
“Sir, you must be the great Babaji.”
The man’s face was lit with inexpressible reverence. “For months I have pursued a ceaseless search for you among these forbidding crags. I implore you to accept me as a disciple.”
When the great guru made no response, the man pointed to the rock-lined chasm below the ledge. “If you refuse me, I will jump from this mountain. Life has no further value if I cannot win your guidance to the Divine.”
“Jump then,” Babaji said unemotionally. “I cannot accept you in your present state of development.”
The man immediately hurled himself over the cliff. Babaji instructed the shocked disciples to fetch the stranger’s body. After they had returned with the mangled form, the master placed his hand on the dead man. Lo! he opened his eyes and prostrated himself humbly before the omnipotent guru.
“You are now ready for discipleship.” Babaji beamed lovingly on his resurrected chela. “You have courageously passed a difficult test.[5] Death shall not touch you again; now you are one of our immortal flock.”
Then he spoke his usual words of departure, “Dera danda uthao”; the whole group vanished from the mountain.
[5] FOOTNOTE: The test concerned obedience. When the illumined master said: “Jump,” the man obeyed. Had he hesitated, he would have disproved his assertion that he considered his life worthless without Babaji’s guidance. Had he hesitated, he would have revealed that he lacked complete trust in the guru. Therefore, though drastic and unusual, the test was a perfect one in the circumstances.
Paramahansa Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi, “Babaji, Yogi-Christ of Modern India”
Obedience
Yes, obedience is what these gurus teach. This may explain what happened to Natacha when she jumped off a bridge. Only she was not restored to whole.
There is a deep seated desire to worship gurus and maybe some are worthy of veneration.
But one thing is certain. It is not hard to play guru and tell people what they want to hear – even if it means destroying them.
Here is someone that Roma and his companion Tara seem to think is a worthy enlightened one.
Trauma bonding
https://youtu.be/7tPaTyy1zgM
SO GOOD. thank you for sharing
Time to be brave. FR and law enforcement can protect you. Stop living in fear of sharon and retaliation. He can’t retaliate from prison.
He’ll off himself before he goes to prison claiming it was time for him to enter samadhi & his work here is done. He will remain the unchallenged victim & you will ever be known/guilted/written into history by his obedient flock as the cause of his death.
dead works for me.
“To let go of struggle initiates a change of vibration within you”
There’s a certain variety of fool who is drawn to this kind of mystical claptrap like flies to shit.
“Vibration”. “Chi energy”. “Karma”. What utter bullshit. These imbeciles are just begging to be exploited. “Drop trou and bend over for the Swami, acolytes.”
forgive me Frank, but i’m having technical difficulties with this post. I can’t zoom in on the photos or the articles.
I like to read everything and look at all the photos of Salamiji and his complicit cronies.I see someone made the Yoga International article available.
In my next article, I will try better to make everything easier to view.
Thank you, Frank. I can read the post about this guy just fine now.
Do you have any idea what Romarishi Siddhar Nath’s american name is/was?
He says he was in the Bloomington ashram in the mid 70s.
“Within each of us there is Unimaginable Possibility.”
-Swami Chetanananda
“The only preventative measure one can take is to live irregularly.”
-Adolf Hitler
I got out. You can get out. You are not alone. https://www.igotout.org/resources
Are you a rape victim? Have you spoken with law enforcement?
https://youtube.com/shorts/RD2kd04g5M0?feature=share
https://youtu.be/7tPaTyy1zgM
If you want to actually read the yoga journal posted here about sex & gurus:
http://openbuddhism.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Kornfield-Sex-Lives-of-the-Gurus-1985.pdf
Understanding love-bombing and why it’s a problem:
https://youtu.be/h0Sv90ZKsXg
Thank you anon, that was an informative video.
it hit the nail on the head, didn’t it? He’s a wonderful therapist.
Victims of J. Michael Shoemaker are coming forward and talking to Frank Parlato and posting comments on his articles. One of these victims posted that s/he had tried to contact the Portland Police and according to this person, “No one seems to want to Listen”. Nathan Wollstein of the Portland Police did listen to me, he has spent hours learning about cults and gaining knowledge to recognize cultic abuse and to prepare to interview victims of Shoemaker. I am grateful for his help. I first contacted Portland Police in May of 2019 and Detective Wollstein contacted me in October of 2019. Detective Nathan Wollstein, 503-545-3482, Nathan.Wollstein@portlandoregon.gov
During those intervening months I contacted every local, county, state and federal resource I could regarding the activities of this dangerous and damaging group that J. Michael Shoemaker leads. I got plenty of eye rolls, lots of “there, there” and from the county human services social workers I was told we can’t intervene because none of the people at the Movement Center were their clients! Cultic abuse is very difficult to explain.
Traumatizing narcissists like Shoemaker take full advantage of this. Our laws don’t recognize coercive control and most people in social service and law enforcement laugh politely at brain washing and cults. There were no bars on the windows of the Movement Center. The prison was created through entrapment using classic cultic techniques of love bombing, fraudulent recruiting, rhythmic chanting, gaslighting, thought stopping, disrupted sleep, constant activity, destroying boundaries, normalizing abuse within the group and planting phobias and fear.
My loved one was hospitalized in Aug. 2019. She was driven to the hospital from the Movement Center by Drew Carlson. She was admitted and was given a diagnosis of xxxxxx even though she told the medical team that she was being abused and was afraid to return to her residence. No one at the hospital reported her abuse even though licensed providers are mandatory reports.
I came to help as soon as the hospital social worker called me. I learned about what had been done to my loved one and I insisted that her case be reviewed and that an abuse report be filed. This took many phone calls and many hours of conversation. I had to advocate for my loved one. Most victims leaving Shoemaker’s cult will not have someone to advocate for them since a cruel cult technique is to cut family members off from their loved ones.
From May until Oct. 3, 2019 no one in law enforcement responded to my calls. Like fingernails on a black board, I insisted that someone listen to what was going on at the Movement Center. Finally, Detective Wollstein called me to talk about abuses at the Movement Center.
My loved one was unable to discuss her abuse. She was suffering from her abuse and the trauma it caused. She is still suffering from this trauma. Shoemaker predicts that “students” who leave him will go insane. Pinky said as much in her testimony from over 50 years ago. Other “students” have also reported that Shoemaker claims they will all be subject to ill fates if they leave. Even now we are reading threats from Shoemaker’s flying monkeys that “karma” will get us if we continue. This is classic cult conditioning and again, every traumatizing narcissistic cult leader uses the same old cookie cutter techniques.
This state of terror and trauma is called “post-cult adjustment”. This is a condition that most of the people fleeing from J. Michael Shoemaker will have as they approach law enforcement to present their testimony of the horrors that they have endured as members of a high demand, high control group. According to cult specialists (Singer and Lalich, Cults in our Midst, 1995) people leaving cults will experience: depression, feelings of loss, guilt, regret, lack of self-esteem, lack of self-confidence, self-blaming, memory loss, dissociation or “floating”, mistrust of others, may be unable to make and express opinions. As these victims emerge from their abuses, they will be disoriented, they will be traumatized. If they now understand that their guru (Shoemaker, aka Swami Chetanananda), who they may have been “following” for decades is a liar and an abuser, their world will be falling apart. They may be homeless, they may be separated from their families, they may not have an income. They may be desperate. They will need help, empathy, and support.
Fortunately in Portland there are many resources to help survivors of cultic abuse. Dr. Ken Garrett and Dr. Margaret Eichler are both cult survivors, knowledgeable about Shoemaker and living in Portland. They offer services to people who are leaving cults. Kent Burtner, who lives close to Portland, is a cult exit counselor with experience in providing services to ex-members of the cult led by Shoemaker. Ashlen HIlliard, a former member of a high control group, also living in the Portland area offers services. The Spiritual Abuse Form for Education, SAFE, offers group meet ups for former cult members. All of these resources are available to law enforcement and to those leaving or wishing to leave.
Please contact one or more of these cult experts for help. When you are ready you can also discuss how to approach law enforcement. Detective Nathan Wollstein is approachable, knowledge and anxious to be of help. You can reach him at: 503-545-3482, Nathan.Wollstein@portlandorgegon.gov
Portland Area Resources:
Kent Burtner, 503-475-3429, wkburtner@aol.com
Dr. Margaret Eichler, 503-956-7398, https://www.dr-meichler.com/about/
About Dr. Margaret Eichler – Resonance Counseling & Consultation LLC
Dr. Margaret Eichler, PhD. Resonance Counseling 503-956-7398 resonancecounseling@msn.com 834 SW St. Clair Ave. Portland, OR 97205
http://www.dr-meichler.com
Dr. Ken Garrett, 503-762-9941 https://www.gracechurchportland.org/ken-garret/
Pastor Ken – Grace Church Portland
http://www.gracechurchportland.org
This is the result of reporting abuse in the cult that Ken Garrett was part of
https://www.oregonlive.com/clackamascounty/2015/04/happy_valley_pastor_mike_spero_1.html
Happy Valley Pastor Mike Sperou convicted of child sex abuse, sentenced to 20 years in prison – oregonlive.com
A Multnomah County jury of six women and six men convicted Pastor Mike Sperou earlier Thursday on three counts of first-degree sexual penetration of a person under the age of 12. The jury …
http://www.oregonlive.com
Ashlen Hilliard,
https://peopleleavecults.com/index.html?fbclid=IwAR01Ih0en9Gar6k9nsGkWJZneOJxs5rDGTpRIUO7jBC9Mlikj4A0k_sDfzQ
PLC – Support for Cult Victims
PLC offers recovery, support, and intervention for victims of cults and coercive control.
peopleleavecults.com
SAFE, Spiritual Abuse Forum for Education
https://www.facebook.com/SpiritualAbuseForumPDX
Spiritual Abuse Forum for Education – Home | Facebook
Spiritual Abuse Forum for Education. 507 likes · 2 talking about this. We are a relaxed, open community that gathers to for support, education, and…
http://www.facebook.com
https://www.safeportland.org/?fbclid=IwAR1QyAmUxltxJfXh1LLBwGHglcL11FQnWypq3YlcNg0Ho9tjU_8vaH51tRU
SAFE Portland
Details: 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm, July 8th at the McMenamins Kennedy School (“Community Room” ) located at5736 NE 33rd Ave, Portland, OR 97211 . The Spiritual Abuse Forum for Education is a regular meetup in Portland, Oregon for those who have left or are considering leaving high-demand religious groups, and for those with friends and loved ones who are members of such groups.
http://www.safeportland.org
safemeetup.pnw@gmail.com
Please, get help in working through your abuse and trauma, please find ways to put words to your abuse, talk to a cult exit specialist, call Detective Wollstein, 503-545-3487, Nathan.Wollstein@portlandoregon.gov, when you are ready. There are many who can help and support you.