!1: Now is the time Cartwheels in a Sari: A Memoir of Growing Up Cult Order Today!
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Sep 08, 2010 20:00:26
In this colorful, eye-opening memoir, Jayanti Tamm offers an unforgettable glimpse into the hidden world of growing up “cult” in mainstream America. Through Jayanti’s fascinating story–the first book to chronicle Sri Chinmoy–she unmasks a leader who convinces thousands of disciples to follow him, scores of nations to dedicate monuments to him, and throngs of celebrities (Sting, Pope John Paul II, Nelson Mandela) to extol him.
When the short, bald man in flowing robes prophesizes Jayanti to be the “Chosen One,” her life is forever entwined with the charismatic guru Sri Chinmoy, who declares himself a living god. A god who performs sit-ups and push-ups in front of thousands as holy ritual, protects himself with a platoon of bodyguards, and bans books, TV, and sex. Jayanti’s unusual and increasingly bizarre childhood is spent shuttling between the ashram in Queens, New York, and her family’s outpost as “Connecticut missionaries.” On the path to enlightenment decreed by Guru, Jayanti scrubs animal cages in his illegal basement zoo, cheerleads as he weight lifts an elephant in her front yard, and trails him around the world as he pursues celebrities such as Princess Diana and Mother Teresa.
But, when her need for enlightenment is derailed by her need for boys, Jayanti risks losing everything that she has ever known, including the person that she was ordained to be. With tenderness, insight, and humor, Jayanti explores the triumphs and trauma of an insider who longs to be an outsider, her hard-won decision to finally break free, and the unique challenges she confronts as she builds a new life.
!1: Best Buy Cartwheels in a Sari: A Memoir of Growing Up Cult is the fascinating autobiography of Jayanti Tamm's life as the chosen one of Sri Chinmoy. Until age 25, she and her entire family's life surrounded and revolved around Chinmoy and they were amongst the closest in his inner circle. In the book, Tamm writes in often raw detail about her life amongst the `Guru'.
Tamm's parents were early followers of Chinmoy, and her father ultimately became his legal counsel. Her parents joined Chinmoy in the 1970's when Eastern philosophies were becoming ubiquitous. The United States became a haven for various gurus, yogis and other spiritual teachers; from Werner Erhard's est to Chinmoy and more.
It was a long road that led to Tamm's dismay with Chinmoy, but much of it has to do with his duplicitous nature, involving publicity stunts and charades around weightlifting. In the book, Tamm writes that the stunts where Chinmoy would seemingly lift elephants, airplanes, and other massive weights were simply done via a weight-balancing device that created the illusion that Chinmoy was lifting the items. In truth, Chinmoy did little and the device barely moved. His followers were oblivious to that, and the scam is one that James Randi could have exposed in a matter of moments.
As part of his goal of creating a larger than life image, Chinmoy's followers claim that he had written 1,500 books, 115,000 poems and 20,000 songs, created 200,000 paintings and had given almost 800 peace concerts. All of that is part of the superpower myths of a guru, which was done to facilitate the representation of Chinmoy as a near deity.
Tamm writes at length how Chinmoy was obsessed with getting endorsements from politicians and celebrities. What is odd is that most politicians, entertainers and celebrities know nothing about spirituality. Chinmoy's obsession with such endorsements was clearly contradictory to what he has advocating.
Tamm was ultimately ejected from Chinmoy's inner circle a few times, in which she repeatedly begged for the Guru's forgiveness and return to his organization. That worked, but when she hit age 25, the division was so significant that she was expelled from the organization, her family forced to cease all contact with her; which in part lead to a suicide attempt. She obviously did not succeed, and did find a way back to a normal life. Ultimately, it is not clear if Tamm found self-fulfillment due to Chinmoy or in spite of him.
While Cartwheels in a Sari depicts Chinmoy as a charlatan, Tamm's writing is mature enough in that she is able to acknowledge that some of those who were searching for their own enlightenment did find it with Chinmoy. She writes that as for Sri Chinmoy himself, it took years before she finally understood that the reason she had a new and richly fulfilling life was because of him. It is that underlying tension between the good Chinmoy and the charlatan that permeates the book.
Yet even with that understanding and compassion, the final chapter of the book reads like that of Luther's posting on the Wittenberg door. Tamm writes that Chinmoy turned far too many of his followers into dependent, mindless, children. Chinmoy, while talking of highly abstract concepts of love, devotion and surrender, never created a formal system or set of moral in which his devotees could follow. She writes that he gave them no ethics, philosophy or ideas that they could integrate; rather they were left with myriad monotonous aphorisms and poems. Devotees simple become Chinmoy figurines.
Tamm's story is a strike against cults and personality figures. Chinmoy exhibited the classic signs of a cult leader, claiming hat enlightenment is his own, the inability to take criticism, acts of omnipotence with no accountability, a focus on enlightenment itself rather than teaching the path leading to it, does not practice what is preached, and much more.
The final chapter details Tamm's suicide attempt, as she felt that the entire Chinmoy experience created an empty space within her, leading to a false life in which nothing around her seemed to be true. It was at that point she saw her Guru, like the emperor, wore no clothes. Since Chinmoy was her weltanschauung, when she was kicked out of Chinmoy's sect, she felt she was left with nothing.
Tam admits her mea culpa in that she clearly broke the sect's rules. But she is incredulous in that Chinmoy could so easily expel long-term devotees such as herself as though they were expendable. In addition, all current family members had to cease any connection with such fallen figures.
Cartwheels in a Sari: A Memoir of Growing Up Cult is compelling story, one of finding one's own identity, self-redemption, and more, and definitely worth a read.
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