The only person to receive a full refund for a “sacred stone” from Sadhguru and Isha Foundation is a Swedish woman with roots in India. Jeya Balu had to fight hard to return the stone that cost her over 5500 US dollars, and she succeeded with the help of a Muslim, a Christian, a Hindu, an atheist, and a police officer. NewsVoice interviewed Jeya in 2015. This is her story.
Interview and text by T. Sassersson with Jeya Balu. Artikeln finns på svenska
It all started in the 1980s when Jeya Balu, born in India, was looking for her biological roots. Jeya had moved to Sweden as an adopted child, and DN reported in several full-page articles on her journey back to her former homeland, where she was reunited with her father and mother. There were two trips to India and several reports in the Swedish Daily News (Dagens Nyheter, DN.se).
More: Video interview in Swedish
In the autumn of 2014, Jeya decided to find her spiritual roots. She travelled alone to the spiritual organization Isha Foundation, which she had followed online for some time. She was fascinated by the spiritual leader’s wisdom. Called Sadhguru, he lived like a movie star in a self-built community near the city of Coimbatore in southern India.
Jeya Balu describes how she became enchanted by Sadhguru and his entourage of followers. She even ordered a sacred stone at a price that, at today’s exchange rate (March 2015), is equivalent to over 5500 dollars. The final bill reached over 8200 dollars when the shipping cost was added.
The 165-kilogram “sacred stone” was to be initiated during a mass ceremony in a giant hall filled with around 200 Westerners, most of whom had ordered the large 5500-dollar “sacred” stone. They had paid in cash or by bank card.
Everything was tax-free for the Isha Foundation, and the total tax-free income for a single ceremony was around 12 million SEK, not including administrative fees for the shipping of all the stones, fees that also partly meant income for the organization.
Sadhguru created Devi Linga
When Sadhguru initiated all 200 stones from his podium with secret whispers, Jeya woke up from mass hypnosis. The spell was lifted. She says the movement has no spirituality, at least not with Sadhguru and his entourage.
The spiritual leader is a clever salesman who regularly dupes Westerners, as Jeya Balu believes today.
“Sadhguru skapade sin egen gud kallad Devi Linga i form av ett ägg med tio armar och han säger att Isha Foundation är religöst obunden! Folk hypnotiseras att dyrka och ge pengar till hans gud. Man ska lägga sig på marken på magen med pannan mot marken och underkasta sig”, säger Jeya.
All purchases were counted as “donations”
Now, liberation from the organization began, and the work was done to recover over 5500 USD, but it was not easy. Jeya’s spiritual journey had begun because her inner strength was being tested. Would she be able to do something no one else had, to get back the money she had paid with her ICA card?
The way out was lined with the exercise of power, corrupt authorities, and loyal and manipulative followers of Sadhguru. Warnings against defying the Isha Foundation did not help the situation. In the Indian media, there are reports of followers who have tried to leave sects but have been found buried in the ground.
She found that the movement was unwilling to have the magic stone returned. There was a lot of resistance, which was not helped by the fact that the movement partly bought the regional police.
Jeya realized that all services and products purchased in the area were paid for as donations. This means that nothing could be returned. “The marketing is, therefore, false,” says Jeya. You buy a product for a fixed price, but when you want to exercise your right of return, the money is considered forfeited as a donation. There are no open purchases here.
“Many Indians have the perception that he is an elaborate, smart, money-grubbing control freak who has been mass-hypnotizing people in the West and also Indians for many years to obey him blindly. He is not as fine, good and spiritual a master as he wants to appear.
All devotees wore a copper snake ring on their left finger to prove they were “married” to the Master Sadhguru. For me, it was all about money, selling courses, lectures, yantra ceremonies, items, books and DVDs, and dipping into their sacred waters. It’s a bit of a Disneyworld feeling in there,” says Jeya Balu.
Jeya escaped on a motorcycle
A friend advised her that the only way to leave the fenced-in sect, constantly watched by guards and various inspectors, was to leave everything in her room, claiming that she was going on an errand to town. The escape on a motorcycle was successful, leaving only the clothes on her body and her wallet.
Meaningful coincidences
When she arrived in the city of Coimbatore, a series of meaningful encounters took place that resulted in her being helped by Sadiq, a Muslim shopkeeper and aid worker; Sunderjii, a famous Indian film star and Hindu; Socrates, a Christian celebrity lawyer; and Stahlin, an atheist and friend of the other three men.
With a fearless and uncorrupted police chief, they took Jeya to the Isha Foundation to negotiate after she reported the movement to the police. The four men volunteered their services for free. For them, it was about honesty and pride in helping a vulnerable person.
The group’s strength meant that Jeya eventually won without prosecution. She got her money back but was given just over 5500 dollars in cash and had to take it in a bag.
The Indian Hindu Times wrote about the Swede in an article titled “Woman withdraws complaint against the foundation.”
Today, Jeya Balu lives safely in Sweden. She hopes that her experience will serve as a warning to other Swedes considering surrendering to sects with dubious marketing methods and vague offers of happiness.