Guru - Western Perspective - Notable Scandals and Controversies

Notable Scandals and Controversies

Some notable scandals and controversies regarding gurus or the groups that they founded are:

• The lifestyle of Osho (Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh) with his 93 Rolls Royces at his disposal (though as a gift from his followers), a bioterrorist attack at The Dalles, Oregon by some of his followers, the group's successful effort to take control of the city of Antelope, Oregon, his unusual teachings that contradicted both traditional morality and Hindu norms, the group therapy sessions with little restraints, and the liberal sexual freedom that he promoted.
• The Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway by Aum Shinrikyo founded by the guru Shoko Asahara in Japan.
• Accusations of sexual abuse and false miracles performed by Sathya Sai Baba that resulted in a front page article in the magazine India Today, questions in the British and European parliaments, and critical TV documentaries produced by the BBC and Danish Radio that were aired in the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark and Australia. Sathya Sai Baba dismissed the accusations as the mere "cawing of crows.".
• The Karmapa controversy in which the recognition of the 17th Karmapa of Tibetan Buddhism is contested by candidates having been proposed by different authorities, and there is deep division among followers all over the world, with each side accusing the other of lying and wrongdoing.
• Lama Osel Tendzin (from the Shambhala Buddhism lineage) had unprotected sex with some of his students while he was HIV positive; one of the young men involved later contracted AIDS and died, after passing the infection on to a girlfriend.