scandal

The accusations facing Anusara yoga founder John Friend include suggestions that he heads a Wiccan coven in which he has sex with female members; that he’s had several sexual relationships with married Anusara employees and teachers; that he violated federal regulations regarding employee benefits by suddenly freezing Anusara, Inc.’s pension fund; and finally, that Friend put his employees at legal risk by arranging for them to accept packages of marijuana for his personal use.

Philadelphia DA loses an important witness.

In the last couple of weeks we have been rocked with scandals rooted in some of the worst offenses imaginable: the profanation of sacred trust placed in the protection of children and the disposition of the military dead.

Long’s case was not simply, as you suggest, a “wreck” or a car “accident,” but a case of DUI: Driving/Pastoring under the influence of unchecked power and accountability. This continues to be a historic problem with commercial celebrity preachers, and given your status and peer group, I’m sure you know this all too well.

Why did he do it? Let us count the reasons…

As this article goes to press, a wrongful death claim has just been filed against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia on behalf of the family of Daniel Neill, a former altar boy who committed suicide in 2009 after reporting his sexual abuse by a priest. This is the fifth civil suit to be filed since a grand jury report issued in February.

Papal consultant Edward N. Peters, who is also a professor at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, has stated in no uncertain terms that Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, should be shown no mercy. His offense? Seems that the governor has been shacking up—not with underage boys, mind you, but with his longtime partner, Sandra Lee. And as if that weren’t bad enough, Cuomo also supports same-sex marriage and believes that abortion is a private matter that shouldn’t be regulated by the state.

Students have tried to explain away “fiscal extravagance, alcoholism, cruelty, sex addiction, violence, and even rape” among revered spiritual teachers, says Erik Storlie.

Twenty Zen teachers in the West sent open letters to The Zen Studies Society in New York. With compassion and understanding, their general thrust is to ask that the Society’s former head, Eido Tai Shimano, not be allowed access to students—a strong penalty for a teacher.

Sri Chinmoy wanted to win a Nobel prize, and to be more famous than the Dalai Lama or the Pope. Jayanti Tamm writes a book about what happens when a good guru goes bad.