Unmasking Sadhguru's Legacy of Deception

• Sadhguru's biography reveals decades of fraud and abusive tactics designed to break down followers and build an empire worth hundreds of millions.
• The swami that Sadhguru alleges died from mahasamadhi and inspired his wife to die in the same fashion died from fasting. The story was widely known at the time and covered in the press.
• Sadhguru sells access to the "Divine Feminine" with products costing as much as tens of thousands of dollars. He also tells followers that by donating 7% of their annual income to him, they will attain spiritual growth faster.
• He used the name and location of a real yogi alive in the 1980s and 1990s and incorporated it into a fabricated past life tale from 120 years ago.
• He claims to have never read any of the yoga texts or studied with anyone, yet he studied with Rishi Prabhakar and stole his entire yoga system. He also borrows heavily from Osho and Krishnamurti.
• "Sadhguru wanted to know if there were any books on how Hitler hypnotized people," a former staff member said.
• He claims to have superpowers like X-ray vision and to have miraculously healed people. He's also used bizarre hypnotic and psychic powers on his students. Sadhguru said, “I can blow your head off just by touching your spine.”

Be Scofield is a prominent cult reporter who exposed Love Has Won which led to the hit HBO series. She is the author of Hunting Lucifer: One Reporter's Search for Cults and Demons. Her work is cited by the NY Times, Rolling Stone, People, Netflix, and more.

SEE PART I: Inside Sadhguru's Cult Empire

By BE SCOFIELD

7/6/25

In the 2010 biography of Sadhguru, More Than a Life, a female devotee named Bharathi tells the author that the families and friends of his earliest followers were convinced they were the "victims of some kind of black magic." They couldn't understand their zealous dedication to one man. "All of us were in the grip of some kind of collective madness," Bharathi told the biographer. The families even wondered if Sadhguru had laced the food with drugs. Speaking of the first 90-day retreat in 1994 called the Wholeness Program, Bharathi said it was a relief for them to leave their families behind for a while. "We never thought of the outcome. Just being around the master was enough." 

Those early disciples became the most loyal and dedicated to Sadhguru, a man who had convinced them he was a realized spiritual master. "If Jesus were on earth, this is how it would feel," a devotee at the time named Indira told the biographer. Many would come to abandon their ordinary lives and families in service to their guru. They'd pave the way for the Isha Yoga Foundation to become a global multi-million-dollar enterprise, dedicating countless hours of free labor.

More Than A Life describes the conditions of that pivotal 90-day Wholeness Program. A charitable reading suggests it was a challenging spiritual experience designed to elicit awakening. To the cult-trained eye, the account suggests it was a calculated attempt to break down his followers to create subservient disciples. The description reads more like a Korean War POW camp than a spiritual retreat.

According to the biography, the 50 or so participants were required to do 15 hours a day of intense meditation, fitness, and yoga practices. "He made it clear that these were practices that could only be pursued in the presence of a master and in a controlled atmosphere," the biography states. The day started at 5 a.m. and lasted until midnight with only a two-hour break at 4 p.m. "There was to be no contact with the outside world whatsoever," More Than a Life states.

"It was a body-breaking schedule. We never got more than four hours of sleep. But it was also psychologically and emotionally breaking."

All participants slept and practiced in the same one-room hut with a thatched roof. It downpoured for much of the retreat. "The floor was slushy and patchy with fungus," More Than a Life states. "Insects and snakes seemed to keep appearing." Intense winds blew through the structure, nearly ripping the roof off. "The cheerless monotony of the diet, for one, began to slowly wear them down." They received gruel as their food, which was described as "dreary." The beds were "eaten up from the bottom by termites."

After a week, Sadhguru moved the entire retreat to the forest in the Velliangiri Hills for four days so repairs could happen. They "camped" on a large, wet, and slippery rock next to a waterfall that required them to be "vigilant all night." The rock wasn't big enough for everyone, however. Some stood all night. One slept in a snake-infested cave. Many were "soaked to the bone" from the rain.

The mix of sleep deprivation, intensive mystical states, and poor nutrition kept people in a trance-like state. The result was a highly charged spiritual atmosphere centered on one person: Sadhguru. "There were a few times when we felt we were actually living on his presence," a man named Kiran told the biographer. "I felt drunk most of the time," Srinivas said. "I'm not sure I even heard all that Jaggi was saying. I was just absorbing the energy of the place and the place was absolutely saturated with it." Kiran echoed the experience. "Each time I entered the meditation hut, the energy levels there would hit me, my eyes would close, and I'd feel absolutely intoxicated." Bharathi felt the same. "The energy was almost solid," she stated. "I needed to come out of it sometimes; it was so overbearing. It didn't allow one a moment of peace or rest."

At one point Sadhguru demanded a lengthy period of silence while participants continued their intensive practices. "The indefinite period of silence began to wear on the participants' nerves," the biography states. It says a man named Suman remembered feeling "bewildered" and "disoriented." Sadhguru posted a schedule of the daily routines each morning. Suman told the biographer that it was a "body-breaking schedule," saying they "never got more than four hours of sleep." He added that it was "psychologically and emotionally breaking" as well. "I didn't understand what was going on," he told the biographer. "I felt confused, angry, and resistant."

Similar to other abusive gurus, Sadhguru transitioned from charming to icy. "As the program progressed, he seemed to bear little resemblance to the warm friend and mentor the participants had known," More Than a Life states. "There were no smiles, no friendly inquiries after their well-being. His manner was grim, focused, and forbidding; his speech was curt; and his very presence disturbing." The book goes on to say that those who had hung closely around him "now shrank" from him. "Suddenly, he was a stranger." The biography states, "It was at this point that Jaggi unleashed the guru within him."

Participants didn't know what to make of him anymore. "Being with him was unsettling, but being without him was terrifying," Kiran said. "He was no longer a person, just an ageless presence. And that hall witnessed some scenes that no mortal can imagine."

These accounts align with current allegations from ex-devotees who recently spoke out against Sadhguru's abusive ways. They've alleged patterns of calculating and abusive behavior, including being sexually coercive. They allege that he charms people initially but later becomes cruel and vindictive. "Sadhguru wanted to know if there were any books on how Hitler hypnotized people," a former close staff member of Sadhguru's told me.

Inside Sadhguru’s Cult Empire

Over a dozen former members are speaking out against Sadhguru’s misconduct.

The Guru MagazineBe Scofield

"I had always known the charming side of him," Suman told the biographer. "There was now great difficulty in accepting the other side. He could be curt and wouldn't think twice about cutting you down to size in public." He described Sadhguru as having a "totally different personality," saying he "rarely came to see" them. "We suddenly saw him just the way he was," Kiran stated. "This was the core, we realized with all the social niceties peeled off--raw, intense, molten."

"Being with him was unsettling, but being without him was terrifying."

After a snake entered the hut, several devotees broke silence in a panic. "Jaggi emerged, carried the snake out, and dropped it in the wild," the biography states. It says he looked like a "thundercloud" upon his return, filled with anger. "He asked those who had broken the silence to identify themselves. Half of the class warily raised their hands." He then made them turn east and excluded them from the advanced practices. "The master seemed more unforgiving and relentless than ever. The unease grew. It was a period of deep turmoil for those who had been excluded." For those who were ostracized, Sadhguru left them with a cold rejoinder. "Nature has its own way of choosing. Those who are not entitled to something drop out by themselves."

The Retreat Was a Ploy to Build His Temple

As the intensity of the retreat deepened, participants began having "sharp and persistent visions." Others saw ghosts and had "vivid and horrific" dreams. Sadhguru explained to them that the container he had built was now filled with "disembodied beings" that were "naturally drawn" to the presence of an enlightened being since he "represented the possibility of liberation," the biography states. "They want to dissolve this karma so they don't have to be born again," Sadhguru told them. "So they are attracted to my presence, which has a certain significance."

Soon, the true intent behind Sadhguru's indoctrination efforts became clear. He entranced the suggestible participants with tales of his past lives as a master teacher. He told them Bharathi was a male disciple of his in a previous life and that he had "imposed a certain dimension of energy" on her. "As a result, Bharathi was born with two pingalas (the solar or masculine dimension)," the biography states. "This ensured that her life remained uncluttered by emotional entanglements, enabling her to enter into the spiritual life with minimal impediment."

Then Sadhguru mentioned the core of the whole enterprise: the Dhyanalinga. "The only reason for his return in this lifetime, he said, was the Dhyanalinga," the biography states. "Time was short, and his only dream was to fulfill his master's mission." The book says this moment was the first time he mentioned having had a guru. "Guru implied a lineage, a tradition, which, in the Indian spiritual context, also means credibility." He shared a tale of a previous life where he lived as an enlightened Shivayogi. His "guru," Palani Swami, had bestowed "self-realization" upon him but had also imposed a mission. It was a mission that had been thwarted in several lifetimes. But now he was as determined as ever to establish a sacred structure he called the Dhyanalinga.

Sadhguru then told his followers he wanted them to build this temple for him, much to their dismay. "This was someone who had spoken against going to temples, and now he was proposing to build one!" Bharathi told the biographer. "You taught us that it is not about looking in buildings of stone and mud; that it's about looking within," his wife, Vijji, said to him. Others suggested building a school or hospital instead. He refuted them. "It was yet another unsettling moment, a moment of deep inner conflict, one that pointed all over again to the fact that the man they thought they knew wasn't quite what he seemed to be," the biography states. "His restless, fluid, liminal presence was bewildering, even threatening."

"Sadhguru wanted to know if there were any books on how Hitler hypnotized people."

"He reminded us that he wasn't going to live beyond the age of 42," Bharathi told the biographer. "Time was ticking away. We had to make it happen." Despite still being a devotee, she told the biographer he was a "huge schemer." She said they began to slowly realize that this "entire Wholeness Program was not just about establishing an ashram." It was about "something more, much more." Remarkably, Sadhguru claimed that those on this retreat had their life purposes "inextricably linked to his own." Three months later he told them, "Same place, same people, same work," suggesting they had all reunited from previous lives where they had worked on the same mission.

Sadhguru had manufactured a sense of urgency amongst his followers as well as fostered a sense of dependency upon himself. A former monk said such behavior was common. "It's always 'The time is now!' 'Don’t wait!' The same tactics MLMs use," he told me. "When I joined Isha, it was always, 'You better join this program with Sadhguru; it’s the last time he’s conducting it himself,' and he proceeded to conduct it for the next 15 years." Rajneesh, also known as Osho, used similar tactics. One example was in 1984 when he urged his followers worldwide to attend their annual festival to see him, telling everyone he may soon die.

From Jaggi to Sadhguru

"Others graze sheep; this one will graze human beings," a clairvoyant said of Jaggi Vasudev upon his birth. He was asked to "cast the horoscope of the newborn," according to the biography. Jaggi was born in Mysore on September 3rd, 1957, making him a Virgo. The fortune-teller even conferred his own name on the baby: Jagadish, meaning 'the lord of the universe.'

As a young boy, he's described as having a "cheerful disregard for authority," along with high energy, insatiable curiosity, and a lively imagination. Sadhguru was a troublemaker who frequently skipped school. He'd pull off the most "hair-raising stunts" without concern for his physical safety. "Does nothing scare you whatsoever?" his parents asked him. He was aloof and unafraid. "Tales of his misdemeanors are legion," the biography states. When skipping school, he'd spend hours in a tree daydreaming. At times he'd disappear from home for "days on end."

"I could stare at a leaf or a glass of water endlessly," Sadhguru told the biographer. "I could stare at the darkness all night." His father was so concerned about his "vacant" son that he thought he might need psychiatric help. As a schoolboy, he was preoccupied with death, visiting the local graveyards in the middle of the night frequently. He even once attempted suicide by downing an entire bottle of barbiturates, curious about what happens after death.

Like the hugging saint Amma, the early years of Sadhguru contain stories of supernatural powers and heightened perceptions. He told the biographer that he had X-ray vision by the age of five. He claimed to be able to see people naked and later see them as "puffs of air," which were their karmic energy bodies. When he'd stare at someone, "the person would disintegrate and become just like a ghostlike form," he said. "Then all that was left was patterns." Sadhguru also claims to miraculously have survived two bites from a cobra with no medical intervention as a boy. His supposed heightened sense of smell saved him from immediate danger more than once while in the forest.

His supernatural powers disappeared at the age of 15 and returned at the age of 25. “If I look at a woman, I can dissect her, see kidney, liver, spleen, the insides, if I want to," Sadhguru says in More Than a Life. "I can also look at her for who she is right now.”

Sadhguru would go on to graduate from Mysore University with a degree in English literature. Like his earlier education, he was mostly absent from college. His passion for motorcycles grew during this time. After graduating, he started a poultry farm, which grew to become successful. "He single-handedly built the cages for 3,200 birds, his hands bleeding from the effort," the biography states. "He lived on bananas for days on end to save money." He then opened a construction business called Buildaids with a friend who was a civil engineer. It too became profitable in its five-year span.

On September 23rd, 1982, everything would change for the 25-year-old Jaggi Vasudev. A fateful motorcycle trip to Chamundi Hill began the transformation from ordinary man to enlightened superstar.

"I was just sitting on this particular rock," Sadhguru said of the experience. "I had my eyes open, not even closed. I thought it was about ten minutes, but something began to happen to me. All my life I had thought, this is me. Suddenly, I did not know which was me and which was not me. The air that I was breathing, the rock on which I was sitting, the atmosphere around me, everything had become me." What he believed to be only minutes actually lasted five hours. He found himself flooded in tears. He said he was "drenched with a completely new kind of blissfulness." Sadhguru later stated, "Enlightenment is not an achievement." He continued. "It's more like a homecoming. An absolute coming home—that's enlightenment." Over the years, his accounts of the day and time of his enlightenment would differ significantly.

He now had one pillar of his mythical origin story, one that he'd exploit for decades for financial and personal gain. Next, he needed a system through which to sell spirituality.

Sadhguru's Secret Teachers

Sadhguru has long claimed to have attained his spiritual wisdom through a mystical process, not from any books or teachers. “I’ve neither read the Gita, nor the Vedas, nor the Upanishads, not even the Yoga Sutra,” he has stated. “I’ve never studied anything. I have never studied with anybody.” 

Despite having never read the core texts, Sadhguru somehow has built the largest yoga school in the world. One could only imagine the fallout if the most prominent Christian in the world had revealed he never read the Bible. Sadhguru did read things like Osho’s commentaries on the yogic texts, however. He also studied yoga with Rishi Prabhakar and went to group study sessions about Krishnamurti when he was young. He doesn’t credit any of these influences in his teachings. 

Rishi Prabhakar

According to the "official" story in More Than A Life, Sadhguru first encountered yoga at the age of 12 through an old swami named Malladihalli Sri Raghavendra. He then allegedly practiced yoga asana daily for the next twelve years without missing a day. Meanwhile, he claimed Malladihalli was doing 4,000 yoga sequences of Surya Namaskar every day. It's unclear if Sadhguru ever met him or to what extent he learned yoga from him. But we do know about the yoga teacher he's kept secret from the world.

In 1984, Sadhguru traveled to Gommatagiri, about 20 miles from Mysore, and enrolled in a teacher training with a yoga guru named Rishi Prabhakar. According to a fellow student who spoke with Newslaundry, Sadhguru had "no previous association" with yoga. Another student told the news outlet, "Jaggi and I learned Siddha Samadhi Yoga (SSY) from Rishi Prabhakar together...in 1984." It was here that he learned the foundations of yoga, not from Malladihalli Swami. "He was also close to Guruji," a student said of Sadhguru's relationship with Prabhakar.

Sadhguru spent the next several years teaching Prabhakar's SSY yoga system in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Mysore. Around 1989 Prabhakar sent him to Coimbatore to open a center. "But he suddenly broke off with him and started teaching yoga in Coimbatore," a student who had also trained with Prabhakar said. Sadhguru rebranded Prabhakar's yoga courses as his own, initially calling it Sahaja Stithi Yoga, also SSY. "Whatever Sadhguru teaches has been taken from Rishi Prabhakar’s courses," a man who did the training with them told Newslaundry. "The same program content of Rishi Prabhakar is today printed in Jaggi’s so-called bestselling book, Inner Engineering for Wellbeing, with some changes," says a former Isha Yoga monk.

In 1974 Prabhakar started Siddha Samadhi Yoga (SSY), designed to "improve health and well-being" and "unlock ancient Vedic science." He had studied with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Switzerland and took Werner Ehrhard's controversial EST course in 1980. He incorporated aspects of both of these into SSY. Maharishi was the proverbial kingpin of spiritual capitalism, exploiting millions with fake offerings like "yogic flying." EST was one of the original Large Group Awareness Trainings (LGAT), which have been widely criticized.

What was Prabhakar's central thesis? He got an MBA in Ontario, Canada, and "realized that management starts from self," his bio reads. This just happens to be one of Sadhguru's central theses as well. "Inner management" is the foundation of many of his teachings, from the underlying meaning of life to his key to "leadership excellence." Sadhguru has a DVD program and an ebook called Inner Management.

Sadhguru mimicked Prabhakar's style and form as a guru, following suit and opening his own charitable organizations, schools, and ashrams around the world just as his secret mentor had. Sadhguru named his school for kids “Samskriti,” which just so happens to be the same name as Rishi Prabhakar’s school. Prabhakar started the "Clean India Campaign," whereas Sadhguru started the "Save Soil Campaign," both of which were large-scale environmental causes.

Sadhguru also stole many of his core yoga teachings from Prabhakar without giving any credit. Remarkably, Prabhakar is never mentioned in Sadhguru's biography, More Than a Life, and Sadhguru has never mentioned his name.

Prabhakar taught a 4-day meditation course called Bhava Samadhi Training (BST), while Sadhguru has a 4-day meditation course called Bhava Spandana (BSP). Both are large group awareness trainings (LGATs) based on EST designed to evoke intense emotional releases. Those who have attended Sadhguru's BSP call it a "controlled breakdown wrapped in spiritual packaging." Others say it is "emotional theater" that puts people in a high-demand environment to foster dependency on Sadhguru and upsell them on more programs. Many say the volunteers running the events staged "screaming, crying, and dramatic catharsis" to elicit strong reactions from participants.

Sadhguru took his Shakti Chalana Kriya from Prabhakar as well. Prabhakar originally called it Pranayama, as did Sadhguru for the first fifteen years that he taught it. Around 2005, Sadhguru changed the name and incorporated it into his broader shoonya meditation, which Prabhakar had taken directly from Transcendental Meditation. Shoonya is a 15-minute process of “non-doing” using a mantra, and TM is a 20-minute process of non-doing using a mantra.

Prabhakar's Advanced Meditation Course (AMC) is nearly identical to Sadhguru's Samyama course. Both programs, known as "silence" programs, span approximately the same number of days. And Sadhguru's core teachings from Inner Engineering stem from Prabhakar's 14 Sessions of Sidha Samadhi Yoga, such as rules, responsibility, and happiness.

Osho and Krishnamurti

Sadhguru's other "secret" teachers include Krishnamurti and Osho. Sadhguru's "enlightenment day" was on the fall equinox, September 23, 1982. Coincidentally, Osho's "enlightenment day" also occurred on an equinox, except it was spring. Sadhguru told a senior monk that he once visited an Osho facility in the early 1990s. And he may have seen Osho speak in person when younger. 

According to ex-followers, Sadhguru read Osho heavily and borrowed from him. Sadhguru often says, "Don’t believe me, don’t disbelieve me," whereas Osho says, "I have not told you to believe it; I have not told you to disbelieve it." Sadhguru said, “Psychologists only study sick people,” which Osho originally said.

Both Osho and Sadhguru became “enlightened" on an equinox.

One way to determine that Sadhguru uses Osho’s teachings is by noting that he has shared several stories containing a unique error made only by Osho. Osho once mistakenly talked about Aristotle meeting Heraclitus, but they lived 100 years apart. Sadhguru repeated the story with the same two names. On another occasion, Sadhguru combined the stories of two individuals into a single name, Svethakethu, exactly as Osho did.

Osho once talked about a woman who was close with Krishnamurti. This woman had personally told a story to Osho about a time when she went to purchase a necktie with Krishnamurti. Sadhguru tells the same story of this woman and Krishnamurti. Another example is both Osho and Sadhguru talking about a specific rosebud experiment conducted in the De la Warr Laboratories. Sadhguru asserts that the mind has the power to cure "seventy percent of ailments." Osho stated, “Seventy percent of diseases are mind-oriented.”

In a talk, Sadhguru mentions having attended a weekly study group on Krishnamurti's work when he was younger. They watched videos of his talks and discussed his philosophy. "He's a brilliant speaker," Sadhguru says of him in the talk. Krishnamurti's ideas of education "really gripped" him. He had such an impact on Sadhguru that he decided to send his daughter to one of Krishnamurti's schools in India instead of an elite private school. Sadhguru discusses the difference between intelligence and information in an identical manner to how Krishnamurti did. He also took the idea of a "perfect world teacher" from Krishnamurti's story and weaved it into his bizarre prophetic backstory.

Despite his claim to have "never studied anything" and to have "never studied with anyone," it's clear Sadhguru has.

A Humble and Hypnotic Beginning

In the mid-1980s, Sadhguru traveled India teaching Rishi Prabhakar's yoga system. A fellow student told Newslaundry that Sadhguru was one of the "finest teachers" of the style. He offered his classes for free, surviving off the income from renting his poultry farm, and he claims that any donations he received were given to charity.

“In 1989, however, he wasn’t Sadhguru yet," More Than a Life states. "Just a young man in faded jeans and a T-shirt, with a beard, long hair, and his fair share of charm. But things were happening around him, things no one quite understood.” Sadhguru's hypnotic charisma and free offerings led to a loyal following. “The classes grew more frequent and rapidly more popular."

Sadhguru taught his first class in Coimbatore in 1989, according to the biography. He taught only a few yoga poses, while much of the class content focused on breathwork, bandhas, kriyas, and meditation. By then he had broken away from Prabhakar's yoga lineage and rebranded to Sahaja Stithi Yoga. He kept the content, however, and in 1990 he offered the Bhava Spandana Program (BSP) for the first time. It was the Large Group Awareness Training that Prabhakar developed out of his experience with EST. "The program was far too emotionally charged and volatile for Bharathi’s taste," the biography states. "She wasn’t quite sure why intense emotion had to translate itself into such ear-splitting decibel levels." Bharathi said, "Everyone was weeping and laughing," and she "couldn’t see why." One participant described it as an "emotional high." Ex-followers have criticized the training as a "controlled breakdown wrapped in spiritual packaging."

In 1991, Sadhguru offered the Samyama advanced meditation program for the first time. It consisted of seven days of intense meditation and silence. This was Prabhakar's Advanced Meditation Course (AMC) repackaged under a new name. Like the BSP program, the "results were volatile," according to the biography. "As energy levels rose, participants discovered the strangest things happening," More Than a Life states. "Some were overwhelmed by memories of incidents they had never actually lived out in their lives. Others found themselves laughing like hyenas, mewing like cats, hissing and slithering around the hall like snakes, leaping out of their seats standing on their heads." One man ended up in Sadhguru's lap. "When they emerged from the program, it was with a sense of having been laundered and utterly wrung out.”

Sadhguru's hypnotic control over his students was apparent. “She was aware of feeling ‘helplessly drawn’ towards him,” More Than a Life states of Bharathi. "I don’t know why, but I knew I could trust my life to him." After just the first day of training with Sadhguru, Indira noted everything seemed bizarre. "Even my home seemed strange to me," the biography reports. "My husband and my job seemed alien. I was so disconnected. The only switch that was on was my connection with Jaggi." On the fourth day of the training, she approached Sadhguru. "Before I could say a word, he said, 'I know what’s happening with you. Just relax.' He knew me instinctively, and strangely, I trusted him right away.”

“I can blow your head off just by touching your spine.” - Sadhguru

"If you just allow it, his energies invade your inside and go on a rampage to destroy that which is called ‘you’ and reveal the actuality that you are," Bharathi states. "In my case, the invasion happened despite my resistance." She says Sadhguru once entered her body, and she felt it as an intense tremor. "I would say that this was my first real glimpse of Sadhguru’s energy and reality." Sadhguru had become "indispensable to their lives," the biography states. "When meditators from Karnataka visited Coimbatore, they were amazed at the spell Jaggi seemed to have cast over his Coimbatore flock.”

Students reported a range of bizarre events around their master. Several described leaving their bodies during his events. Others reported Sadhguru knowing psychic things about their lives or him being in their presence when he wasn't physically there. On one occasion, Sadhguru asked Bharathi for a glass of water. He told her to drink it when she brought it to him. "I drank the water," she said. "But I had no sensation of drinking it. I was swallowing it, but my thirst wasn't quenched. It was a strange experience. That’s when he said, quite matter-of-factly, 'It’s going into me. I’m drinking it.”’ The biography reports that Indira had a similar experience.

In 1992, Sadhguru started the Isha Foundation. His efforts were expanding quickly. Students were reporting dramatic transformations, including healing from physical and psychological ailments. Just prior to the start of his new organization, Sadhguru had launched his first course for training yoga teachers. Eight students signed up for the 21-day program. Soon, a few of the students would drop their conventional jobs and travel full-time to teach Sahaja Sthithi Yoga. The name translates as "natural state." A 2002 archived website claims his yoga system could heal a range of chronic conditions, enhance memory, and improve the "ability to concentrate almost 100% in a few weeks of practice." It describes him as a "Living Master."

"Who was this young man who broke up homes and families? What was the spell he had cast over these people?"

The group purchased 13 acres of land near the Velliangiri Mountains in 1994. It's located in west Tamil Nadu near the border with Kerala. “The place seemed inaccessible and wild, notoriously frequented by elephants and bears, and human traffic in the area was known to cease after sunset,” More Than a Life states. Mountains and thick forest surrounded the property. "Jaggi's instruction was terse: buy it." An ex-follower told me Sadhguru's students pooled together their finances and collected donations to make the purchase.

Soon, they constructed a large makeshift hut. “And so by 1994, there was a rudimentary ashram, a cohesive and fiercely committed core group of meditators, and a young Isha yoga movement that was gradually beginning to make its presence felt in Tamil Nadu state," the biography states. Many in Coimbatore began wondering who this new guru was. "Who was this young man who broke up homes and families?" More Than a Life states. "What was the spell he had cast over these people? Was there something more sinister and manipulative to the yoga he propounded than met the eye?”

By this point in Sadhguru's evolution, he had deeply entranced his students. He then persuaded them to enroll in the 90-day Wholeness Program, which resembled a prison camp more than spiritual training. It was here that "Sadhguru" was born. More Than a Life describes how, after the first month of the training, he went for a walk wearing track pants and returned in a white loincloth and a turban.

Those who watched him stride in and take his seat could see that he was a different person entirely. The experiences of the past month had been hair-raising enough. But nothing had quite prepared them for this sight. It was then that one of the participants spontaneously addressed him as ‘Sadhguru’. Jaggi acknowledged this title. ‘I am not your Jaggi any more,’ he said quietly. ‘I am Sadhguru.’ The confirmation seemed superfluous. The remoteness of his bearing was apparent. While some of them had been disturbed and upset at the loss of a friend, they now realized they had received more than they had ever anticipated. The man before them was more than a mystic and yogi; he was a master, a guru. Raja remembers how he and Vijji had gone up to him and curiously touched his headgear. ‘Vijji tried to remove the turban. But he just turned and gave us a look. That’s all it took. We backed off immediately.

This theatrical performance solidified Sadhguru's significance in the minds of his followers. If the previous magical spells and hypnotic charm hadn't fully indoctrinated his followers, the "body-breaking" schedule of the Wholeness Program was the final mechanism.

“The Wholeness Program had changed an accessible friend and guide into an impersonal figure, a forbidding persona,” the biography states. Sadhguru's theatrical performance had solidified his godlike significance in the minds of his followers. He tells them 99% of a student's spiritual path is surrendering to him. “If you have given yourself for one moment, I can clearly say that I will see through you,” he's stated. “When I say your guru has become your dharma, that means he has become everything. Your breath is decided by him. The way your blood flows is decided by him.” Just one moment with him can change everything. “If you manage to sit with me for one moment totally, your mukti [liberation] is guaranteed."

“The Wholeness Program had changed an accessible friend and guide into an impersonal figure, a forbidding persona."

After enduring 3 months of sleep deprivation, intense mystical states, and a rigorous schedule, his followers were thoroughly brainwashed. "In many ways those 90 days became the foundation for the Isha Foundation to grow," Sadhguru later stated. He primed them as servants, preparing them to construct his Dhyanalinga. He also devised a more thorough method to exploit his students: convince them to abandon their livelihoods and serve him 24/7. "The purpose of the Wholeness Program was essentially to indoctrinate some people into becoming monks to serve him," a former monk of ten years named Rajesh told me.

"Some were dumbfounded," More Than a Life states about Sadhguru setting up a brahmacharya spiritual order. Nine people joined at first. "Here is a man with such a seemingly prodigious appetite for life, one whose approach to spirituality is life-affirming and celebratory. Why on earth would he urge others to adopt a life of austerity and self-denial? It seemed totally out of character."

Brahmacharya was a codeword for free labor, Rajesh told me. "We worked for no money every single day," he said. Monks had no distractions to pull them away from building Sadhguru's empire. "It seemed like a way of being with him, and there was nothing else I wanted more," a follower said at the time. Sadhguru's years of fostering dependency upon himself now translated into eager disciples willing to become servants just to be with him.

The Truth About Sadhguru's Past Lives

One of the things Sadhguru revealed to his students during the Wholeness Program was his mysterious past lives. Unwilling to acknowledge Rishi Prabhakar as his guru, he came up with a guru in a past life and a fanciful tale of being chosen to fulfill an ancient prophecy to become the perfect world teacher.

Sadhguru claims that 400 years ago, he was a snake charmer named Bilva, who devoted himself to Shiva. "Our mantra, 'Shambho,' comes from that era," he states. Bilva was bitten by a cobra but paid close attention to his last breaths. "From that breath-watching, which happened for just a few minutes, a new spiritual process began which changed that person’s future in so many ways."

In his next life, Sadhguru was born as Shivayogi, a wandering sadhu who mastered yogic powers. He claims his guru, Palani Swami, touched him with a stick, which conferred spiritual realization upon him. It also bestowed upon him the mission to create the Dhyanalinga. It was the energy of a "perfect world teacher," a process that began thousands of years ago by Sunira, a yogi who lived thousands of years ago. He didn't complete the project in his lifetime but prophesied that someone from "the green hills of the South" would. Sadhguru just so happened to be from Southern India. And Palani Swami just happened to die in the Velliangiri hills where Sadhguru built his ashram.

Sadhguru claims the term Dhyanalinga is mentioned in the Rig Veda, but an in-depth search using AI reveals it's never used. It's a term he made up by combining "Dhyana," meaning meditation, with "Linga," meaning a symbol associated with Shiva. Even Isha later distanced themselves from Sadhguru's earlier claim, stating, "Though it has always existed in the yogic lore, there is no reference to a Dhyanalinga in the scriptures." There's no evidence that the term existed in yogic lore, however.

He was born again in 1876 as Sadhguru Sri Brahma, another yogi who tried to establish the Dhyanalinga. He faced social opposition, however, and temporarily inhabited the body of a man named Balayogi Sadananda from Vajreshwari. He was a child saint who had attained enlightenment at the age of 11 and lived in samadhi until his death at 26. “Sadhguru Sri Brahma immediately took hold of this Bala yogi’s body and tried to fulfill his purpose through it," he writes in Mystic Musings.

This is where Sadhguru's story unravels. "In those days I spent a lot of time traveling in my car, so I put that picture there to remind myself not to get angry," Sadhguru said of a photo of Balayogi Sadananda. The problem, however, is that the photo in his car is of a Balayogi Sadananda from Vajreshwari that is still alive today. He was born in 1957. Sadhguru claims he had become Balayogi Sadananda in the early 1900s, however. Thus, he took the name and location of a yogi who was around in the 1980s and 1990s and implanted him into a fabricated tale about his past life.

In addition to his own past lives, he roped others into his fanciful stories. When Sadhguru was Sri Brahma in his past life, Vijji was his sister. He told Bharathi that they had shared a past life together as well. He pointed to a birthmark she had and said it was from a snakebite she had gotten during that lifetime. He told his followers that they had all rejoined him in this lifetime to continue the work they had done in previous lifetimes.

How Sadhguru Fabricated Vijji's Mahasamadhi

In 1990, Sadhguru's wife, Vijji, gave birth to their daughter, Radhe. Vijji worked at a bank in Bangalore, wanting the financial independence that a steady job ensured. The impact of Sadhguru's switch to authoritarian guru was heavy on her. "She missed the earlier life with her husband before he took up this mission," More Than a Life states. Sadhguru made the seven-hour trek between Coimbatore and Bangalore frequently. He'd also travel the region to teach, taking Radhe with him on his adventures.

In 1997, Vijji died at their home in the ashram. Sadhguru claims she attained enlightenment, or mahasamadhi. Despite repeated requests from her family not to cremate or move her body until they arrived in the coming hours, Sadhguru burned Vijji's corpse quickly. A woman named Karishma had dinner with Vijji the night before she died. She was an early disciple of Sadhguru and stayed with him for decades until breaking away. She told me Vijji had asked her to keep her schedule free in two days so they could shop. She never mentioned anything about attaining mahasamadhi the next day.

According to More Than a Life, the official story is that Vijji was meditating with other followers and collapsed. "In a moment, [Sadhguru] was by her side," the biography states. "He worked ceaselessly on her chakras, while the others looked on. An hour later, Sadhguru looked up. His eyes were wet. 'She's gone,' he said. 'She left through her anahata.'"

Even if this story were true, it shows Sadhguru never called for a medic or ambulance and instead worked on her chakras for an hour as she lay dying. And then he somehow knew that she "left" through her heart chakra.

Karishma told me there was no group meditation. She said that Sadhguru was home alone with Vijji. Karishma arrived on the scene later that evening and saw Vijji lying there dead. "She said there was a sheet with vomit as well, and they had cleaned the place," one witness had told Karishma.

Karishma said that Sadhguru and his close members fabricated a story that Vijji had been in a group meditation when she died. “This is what we are going to say so there won’t be any problems,” she told me they said. "Say we were all meditating, and that’s how she died." The first version was told to the police officer eight months later, which is found in the police report. He spoke with followers, and they told him 13 people had been meditating with Vijji. Sadhguru and Isha have now embellished this claim, stating that hundreds were present when Vijji died. "Vijayakumari attained Mahasamadhi in the presence of hundreds of people," Isha says in one post. They repeat the claim in another.

Sadhguru claims Vijji had been obsessed with dying through enlightenment or mahasamadhi ever since they visited a seclusive guru named Swami Nirmalananda. "He decided to shed his body and announced that he would attain mahasamadhi," Sadhguru states. "There was a big ruckus all around," Sadhguru writes. "The rationalist society of Karnataka filed a case against him, saying that this man is going to commit suicide, so they put two constables in the ashram."

There is a major hole in Sadhguru's story, however. Everyone at the time knew the swami was dying of fasting, not mahasamadhi. Hinduism Today reported in 1997 after his death that a letter he wrote had "calmly announced the 73-year-old swami’s intent to undergo prayopavesha, self-willed death by fasting." They continued by stating, "Swami’s intent had been known for some time, and the local authorities had even posted police at the ashram to prevent what they regarded as an unlawful act of suicide."

The article reports that a "steady stream of visitors came to dissuade swami" from his fast to the death. In Mysore and Bangalore, critics even called his action a publicity stunt. "A year earlier a Calcutta journalist wrote about Swamiji’s intent," Hinduism Today reported. The police had originally planned to take him to the hospital and force-feed him.

The only one pushing the narrative that Swami Nirmalananda died from mahasamadhi was Sadhguru. It was a story he entirely concocted to help explain away his wife's death.

During one visit, Sadhguru claims to have been discussing mahasamadhi with the swami, and Vijji supposedly broke down. "As she was listening to this, she just burst into tears," Sadhguru says in the biography. "She just cried and cried." He claims she told him on the way home she too wanted to attain mahasamadhi. "I want to leave like he is," she allegedly told him. "I am really serious. You must help me." Sadhguru claims that Vijji then "often" raised the subject of mahasamadhi with him. He says the 33-year-old and mother of a beautiful daughter was "determined" to die.

Karishma told me Vijji stated that Sadhguru had prompted her to mention mahasamadhi several times in the past before her death. Mahasamadhi was entirely Sadhguru's idea, something he had impressed upon her.

More Than a Life claims Sadhguru and Vijji visited the swami again in December 1996, the month before his death. "He seemed physically weak, and it was clear the day of mahasamadhi was not far," the biography states. At that point, it was widely known that the swami had stopped eating to attain prayopavesha, not mahasamadhi. And when Sadhguru acknowledges the surrounding ruckus, he would have known, like everyone else, it was caused by his fasting to death.

The biography repeats Sadhguru's lie despite acknowledging the letter the swami wrote announcing his prayopavesa to fast to the death. "His announcement of his mahasamadhi had provoked a controversy," the biography states. There was never an announcement of his mahasamadhi, however. Again, as Hinduism Today reported on the announcement, the letter stated his "intent to undergo prayopavesha, self-willed death by fasting." The police were planning to take him to a hospital and force-feed him. Even the swami's gravestone says prayopavesha on it.

Sadhguru's decades-long lie about the cause of Swami Nirmalananda's death has served his purpose. The swami died on January 10th, 1997. Vijji died just two weeks later on January 23rd. Sadhguru then used the swami's supposed mahasamadhi to explain Vijji's death.

He even repeats the same fabricated claim in the new edition of his book, Death. "We have seen Mahasamadhis of two people whom we knew and who were dear to us," he writes. "One was Swami Nirmalananda, whom I knew for a long time, and the other was Vijji, my beloved wife." He further acknowledges that he was aware of the surrounding drama regarding Swami dying. But the surrounding drama was because the swami was fasting to death and not attaining mahasamadhi. Everyone knew the truth at the time. "The news had appeared in the press too," Sadhguru writes. "By then these so-called rationalists in Karnataka had started a big press campaign against him. They said this man was going to commit suicide and was trying to glorify himself with all kinds of nonsense. They wanted the government to prevent the suicide and all that. They even got two police constables posted in the ashram to prevent this." It was widely known the police had planned to take him to a hospital so he could be force-fed food.

People have also accused Sadhguru of verbally and physically abusing Vijji. In the police report, Vijji's father also talks about affairs she told him Sadhguru was having.

The Bizarre Birth of the Dhyanalinga

One of the strangest chapters in Sadhguru's history is the creation of the Dhyanalinga. In his previous lifetimes, Sadhguru had not succeeded in fulfilling his mission to restore the Dhyanalinga. But now he was determined.

Sadhguru persuaded Bharathi and Vijji to form an energetic triangle with him, essential for the creation of the divine Dhyanalinga. “In June 1996, Sadhguru initiated Vijji and Bharathi into a process of intense practice—one that involved a blurring of boundaries between them on the energy level,” More Than a Life states. He described the exercise as a "high-risk" process. “The idea was to create a triangle of their energies: Vijji and Bharathi were to be the two points and Sadhguru the apex.” Vijji was the female energy, Bharathi was the male energy, and Sadhguru was the androgynous. He claims to have "fixed" their energy in their previous lifetimes to prepare for this process.

Sadhguru claimed the Dhyanalinga would have seven chakras infused within it, a rare accomplishment. They had to "lock" in each chakra into the 13-ft-tall granite ellipsoid. Instead of meditating to energize the throat chakra, or vishuddhi, Sadhguru used the spirit of a deceased yogi. "He was a disembodied being, looking for dissolution," Sadhguru said. "We used a coconut in a certain way to trap this being and do what we had to do. He was being willingly trapped, not unwillingly. Once he realized how he was going to be used, he was more than willing. So we actually trapped this yogi, made him into pure energy, and put him in the vishuddhi chakra. He became a part of the Dhyanalinga.” Sadhguru "destroyed his individuality and merged him into the Dhyanalinga."

Using a coconut to trap a ghost and transfer it into an ellipsoid structure may seem bizarre to the average reader. But it happened more than once. Rajesh, the former monk, told me Sadhguru once also trapped a female monk's soul in coconuts after she died. "We were burying the coconuts around the ashram at midnight," he told me. He stated that Sadhguru persuaded the monks that burial could result in negative consequences for their souls. "The monks had to sign documents saying when we died, the ashram gets our body," Rajesh said. He told me that Sadhguru said their energies would merge with the ashram upon cremation or a similar occurrence.

Despite the strange rituals, the Dhyanalinga was of the utmost importance, according to Sadhguru. He claimed it was a "doorway to enlightenment" and "liberation for all of humankind." He said the Dhyanalinga is the "highest possible being sitting there all the time" and claimed there was "no difference" between himself and the Dhyanalinga. The site is a marketing cash cow for Sadhguru, bringing in scores of people from all over the world eager to become enlightened.

The process required intense meditation and focus on the part of Vijji and Bharathi; often that would extend through the night. As for Sadhguru's role, he was aware of the dangers. “There was every possibility that I could lose my body at that moment,” he stated. After the final consecration practice, during which monks were meditating while facing the Dhyanalinga, Sadhguru collapsed. “The residents watched as a team of brahmacharis carried his inert body out to the car. He seemed alive, but only just.”

"The consecration of the Dhyanalingam was completed on June 25th," an archived version of Isha's website stated in 1999. Despite the setback of Vijji's death in 1997, they managed to finish the project. "Such a powerful creation is possible only by the divine grace of Sadhguru. The powerful energies around it have the quality of curing diseases and leads to well-being, prosperity and gives an opportunity to move into higher joyous states of being."

Building An Empire

Through the mid-to-late 90s, Sadhguru slowly grew his yoga empire. The archived website from 1999 stated they offered "all aspects of yoga for physical, mental, and spiritual needs under one roof." The biography page said, "Jaggi is an enlightened being," and spoke of miracles. "Medically hopeless cases have been completely cured in his presence." It also claimed, "There have been many instances where people have seen and experienced him in two different places at the same time."

"Medically hopeless cases have been completely cured in his presence."

By the time of Sadhguru's rise, he had a plethora of self-made gurus to borrow from. Osho, Yogi Bhajan, Prabhupada, Muktananda, Satchidananda, and Maharishi had captured the minds of millions. Each targeted the West for new recruits. Sadhguru followed suit, first arriving in the U.S. in 1997 in search of disciples. He rented Unitarian churches and community centers, giving talks or teaching his 13-day Sahaja Sthithi Yoga program. "Dayton Welcomes a Yoga Guru from India," one event page stated.

His growth mirrored the advent of the internet, a technology old-school gurus could only have dreamed of. A new era of transmitting ideas had arrived. The New York Times went online in 1996. Soon news outlets were reaching millions globally. It was much easier to spread a message that could change the world. Just as the printing press had empowered Christians to access and interpret the Bible, the internet helped democratize an individual's spiritual life.

Sadguru capitalized on the tech boom, launching his first website in 1998. Isha posted their first video on the newly formed YouTube platform in 2006, titled "Sadhguru's address at Isha Fest." Twitter, Reddit, and Facebook also emerged around 2005, all technologies that online gurus would exploit in the coming years.

With books like The Secret in 2006, spiritual seekers believed more than ever that they could create their own reality. As America shifted to "spiritual but not religious," Sadhguru's syncretic blend of new age ideas, yoga, and self-help attracted many followers. He published seven new age-themed books in the millennial decade alone, alongside blockbusters such as Eckhart Tolle's The Power of Now. His 2001 book Encounter the Enlightened was similar to Tolle's: a question-and-answer format on topics like meditation, the nature of the self, and spiritual awakening.

Sadhguru got his first real boost through a spiritual advice column he took over in 2004. The Chennai-based Ananda Vikatan magazine had found success with a column called "Mind, Relax Please," first written by Swami Sukhabodhananda in 1997 and then again in 2003. The audience seamlessly transferred to Sadhguru when he took over the column. "It's how Jaggi Vasudev realized that media exposure would bring him popularity," said Savukku Shankar.

In 1996, Sadhguru launched a magazine called Forest Flower. In 2007 he published the Tamil version and by then was seeking another sphere of influence: the political realm. Sadhguru asked one of his followers, a senior journalist named A. Kamaraj, to introduce him to the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, M. Karunanidhi. Kamaraj convinced him to come to an Isha event in 2007. Karunanidhi spoke at the tree-planting ceremony, saying the world would be a better place if they followed Sadhguru's ideas. His access to Karunanidhi and his DMK party, which Sadhguru intentionally courted, paved the way for his meteoric influence in India.

The following year, in 2008, Sadhguru began hosting a TV show on the Tamil entertainment channel Star Vijay. Reminiscent of Oprah's Super Soul Sunday, Sadhguru sat down with celebrities, famous musicians, actors, and acclaimed authors. They discussed spiritual, cultural, and political issues. Two years later, Sadhguru launched his own TV show, "In Conversation with the Mystic," with a similar format.

Selling God

Central to the rise of Sadhguru's empire is his exploitation of the divine by selling access to it through himself and products. The U.S. wing alone generated over $30 million in profits in 2023, making him the epitome of spiritual capitalism. These funds have allowed him to greatly expand his ashram in India, much of which was built illegally without permits and permissions.

In October 2024, Sadhguru attracted criticism for selling photos of his feet for $100. The sales page says the photo is “a powerful medium to strengthen your connection with Sadhguru.” He also sells impressions of his feet for $1000. "Bring Sadhguru’s presence home with a Sadhguru Sannidhi pada yantra," Isha Foundation stated in an Instagram post. The 2 ft x 2 ft yantras are crafted from stone, brass, or mercury and have impressions of his feet on them. The yantra "creates a powerful energy within one’s home that significantly enhances one’s progress on the spiritual path," according to Sadhguru.

"The intimate physical touch with Devi will change your energy system in such a way that Devi’s Grace will function within you, bringing about a profound transformation of Life."

"Bring Devi Home," says one of Sadhguru's websites promoting the Linga Bhairavi Yantra. "A Linga Bhairavi Yantra in your home or workspace allows you to physically come in touch with the Devi." The "special" price for this yantra at $800 is only available to those who sign up for the two-day sadhana workshop, which costs $5,750. He claims this Bhairavi Yantra is the "ultimate manifestation of the divine feminine."

The special Avingha Yantra pricing is $1,100 when you sign up for the Avingha Yantra Sadhana weekend for $8,600. "The Avighna Yantra creates a powerful presence of Devi and consecrates the home or office, enabling all to bask in her Grace," his site states. "The [Avingha] sadhana helps to lubricate your actions with Devi’s Grace, so that you can enhance your business and personal or spiritual life to its full potential."

Two ex-followers told me they spent $18,000 on similar yantras sold by Sadhguru. They supposedly act "like antennas to the main source of energy, which is the main temple in the India ashram," Rajesh, the former monk, told me. “The Sannidhi has a miraculous impact on the internal and external well-being of all who come within its sphere,” Sadhguru claims.

For $3,333, you can also purchase access to the divine feminine from Sadhguru through the Bhairavi Mukha, a 20-inch copper plate. It is "an overpowering presence of the divine feminine," the sales page states. "It’s an opportunity for every devotee to connect with Devi through this powerful form and experience her Grace." Other similar products sell for the same price.

Selling "consecrated" products is one of Sadhguru's key tactics. Supposedly blessed by his or the gods' energy, these items command a higher price. A small consecrated gold pendant costs $1,777. Other consecrated pendants range from $199 to $1,555. He also sells a consecrated Rudraksha bead for $395. You can purchase them elsewhere for $1 to $50. A gold snake ring will set you back as much as $1,900. "This consecrated gold snake ring brings stability to the body and foundational support for your sadhana," the page states. "Simple yet profoundly effective, it’s your companion for opening to higher possibilities." The "Ambiance of Grace" gift set, consisting of a small oil lamp and a mini Dhyanalinga Yantra, costs $444.

Sadhguru sells a 2.5 ft tall consecrated aluminum statue of Adiyogi for $10,000. "Each statue is consecrated to create a certain reverberation in your home or office," the sales page states. "The statue will be a powerful reminder of the higher possibilities within a human being and orient oneself towards that goal."

His online shop, Isha Life, sells everything from shampoo, incense, herbal jams, and skincare products to backpacks, bangles, and bracelets.

In 2012 Sadhguru began a program to pull even more wealth from his followers. Participants of the Ishanga tithe are expected to donate 7% of their annual income to him. Like much of his other efforts, the language he uses plays on people's spiritual idealism and fosters dependency upon himself. He promotes the Ishanga 7% tithe as a way to have him as a "partner" in your life. "Sadhguru says the act of giving creates a space within you, allowing Grace to enter your life," the sales page states. "Grace acts as a lubricant, reducing friction and enriching every aspect of life." Sadhguru further promotes the idea that there will be a "protective layer" and "unseen force" around those who tithe. The sales page quotes him as saying, "Blessed are those who know the nourishment of the Master's lap."

In a remarkable video on the Ishanga tithe page titled "Establish a Bond of Grace with Sadhguru," he tells a group of followers that with 7% less income, they will be better able to achieve spiritual growth. "This is not about me taking your 7%," he says to the audience. "Do I look so incompetent that I have to sit and collect 7% tax from you? I'm not made like that. If I want, I will make what I want." He then claims Ishanga is a teaching tool. "If you reduce it at least by 7%, we can do something else with you," he says. "This is a simple device for you to breach the boundary of what is me and what is mine. A simple device to breach the boundaries of who you are so that something far bigger than you becomes a part of your life."

He tells a group of followers that with 7% less income, they will be better able to achieve spiritual growth.

"The foundation also makes considerable sums selling 'spiritual' jaunts," reports Newslaundry in its 3-part investigation into Sadhguru. To travel with him on the 13-day Kailash sojourn to the Himalayas, it costs $58,000 US dollars. Other trips range from $3,000 to $7,000 but only include a one-time meeting with Sadhguru. Isha's annual Mahashivratri festival brings in tens of millions of dollars. Some spend thousands on tickets to the 4-day festival, which sees an in-person attendance of over 100,000. Millions tune into the livestream.

A Modern Messiah

"We thought we were working to help raise consciousness, but all we were doing was working to make Sadhguru and Radhe rich," an ex-staff member told me. Others have complained that when purchasing items or programs from Isha, they are given donation receipts. This tactic allows Sadhguru to avoid paying sales tax.

In addition to exploiting people financially with overpriced spiritual trips and consecrated jewelry, Sadhguru has exploited the labor of tens of thousands of idealistic seekers in pursuit of his grandiose vision. Volunteers run much of his empire, working countless hours while he profits tens of millions.

“They ask you to give up everything," a woman who lived in the Tennessee ashram told me. "If you open your mouth or criticize them, they’ll throw you out.” She was required to work 7 days a week and between 12 and 16 hours a day for no pay. "You have to jump through so many hoops just to get a personal day, so many permissions just to leave. Every minute of your day is controlled. There are people spying on you. There's no room to do your own thing." She described a chaotic environment in which people held multiple jobs, including working in the kitchen, marketing, gardening, and setting up events. Furthermore, she said there was a culture of secrecy and silence.

She claims that Aparna, a leader in the Tennessee ashram, gaslit her when she complained. “Why do you think you’re getting burned out?” Aparna said to her. "She put it back on me and said to write five things as an awareness exercise." She furthermore claimed that Aparna would yell at and bully her.

“I’m really nasty," Sadhguru told her. "I'm a really nasty guru.” She told me he was verbally abusive. "He yelled at me until I broke down in tears.” She said she had originally gotten very close to him. “He’s such a bully. The closer you get to him, you realize he’s such a bully. He’ll bark at you.”

"He yelled at me until I broke down in tears.”

The same pattern was there from Sadhguru's early days. “The regimen that unfolded was more grueling than it had ever been," More Than a Life states about Sadhguru's first yoga teachers. "Three classes of three hours each were held each day by a single teacher. A class was held within every sixty kilometers, covering the entire state of Tamil Nadu. Each program was for thirteen days." Raja spoke of the daunting hours. "There were nights we got only two to three hours of sleep. And sometimes when there were four programs in immediate succession, I wouldn’t come home for two months at a time.” The yoga teachers were not paid.

Sadhguru continued to foster dependence upon himself as he grew his empire. In his 2010 Anaadhi course, he required participants to stare at photos of himself before they went to bed. "We had to stare at a photo of Sadhguru for 15 minutes so the yantra will work in our dreams," an attendee told me. "And we couldn't blink." In the evening, there'd be meditations to induce dependency. "There'd be guided hypnotic meditations," he told me. "'Now you see your master; the light is coming out of his forehead into yours,' they would say."

During the Inner Engineering course, a large photo of Sadhguru is brought in front of the participants on "initiation" day. It is adorned with many flowers, and students are encouraged to make offerings to it. The 20 or so participants then engage in the Mahamudra Kriya, which consists of trance-inducing exercises such as holotropic breathing, chanting, energy locks, and nostril breathing.

The attendee said the Anaadhi training was largely a ploy to get free labor to build the ashram. "They're keeping you exhausted," he said of the required work at the center. "By the end of the day, you're dead. We all had a 6-inch mattress. Everyone was in the same hall." Sadhguru created a highly controlled environment for the 90-day training. Students woke up at 4 a.m., and the day would often go past 11 p.m. Bathroom breaks were not allowed aside from scheduled times. Food was minimal. "People lost a lot of weight," he told me.

Sadhguru's ruthless methods have led Isha Yoga to have at least $154 million in assets, with a large international footprint. He's now the most powerful and influential spiritual guru in the world. And he is currently massively expanding his operations in Tennessee, in what amounts to a small city. They are building an 18-hole golf course, 10,000 residential units to host 25,000 people, a hotel, a K-12 private school, retail spaces, a convention center, and restaurants. "He believes he is going to save the world," Rajesh told me.

READ PART I: Inside Sadhguru's Cult Empire