| Revision as of 12:57, 26 February 2021 editNarky Blert (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Page movers417,472 edits Link to DAB page repaired← Previous edit | Revision as of 02:55, 3 May 2021 edit undo75.170.52.187 (talk) her name is Ma Jaya.... it is incorrect to refer to her as Jaya.. it is not a last name personal experience</ref>Next edit → | ||
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| == Early Life and Spiritual Beginnings == | == Early Life and Spiritual Beginnings == | ||
| Jaya was born Joyce Green in ] and grew up in a cellar apartment near ].<ref name=":12">{{Cite web|last=McCoy|first=Terrence|date=2013-05-16|title=Kashi Ashram: Claims of Rape, Child Abuse, and Kidnapping|url=https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/kashi-ashram-claims-of-rape-child-abuse-and-kidnapping-6392115|access-date=2020-02-25|website=Miami New Times}}</ref> Her mother died from cancer when Jaya was thirteen years old. Jaya said that as a young girl she had conversations with unhoused people who lived underneath the ]. The interactions strengthened her desire to serve the needy and ultimately led her to spend more time on Coney Island where she eventually met her future husband, Sal DiFiore. | Ma Jaya was born Joyce Green in ] and grew up in a cellar apartment near ].<ref name=":12">{{Cite web|last=McCoy|first=Terrence|date=2013-05-16|title=Kashi Ashram: Claims of Rape, Child Abuse, and Kidnapping|url=https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/kashi-ashram-claims-of-rape-child-abuse-and-kidnapping-6392115|access-date=2020-02-25|website=Miami New Times}}</ref> Her mother died from cancer when Jaya was thirteen years old. Ma Jaya said that as a young girl she had conversations with unhoused people who lived underneath the ]. The interactions strengthened her desire to serve the needy and ultimately led her to spend more time on Coney Island where she eventually met her future husband, Sal DiFiore. | ||
| Jaya and DiFiore married in 1956 and had three children. Jaya struggled with obesity in her thirties and in 1972 enrolled in a ] weight loss class where she learned a breathing exercise for weight loss. While practicing the breathing exercise at her home, she claimed to have a series of mystical visions of ], ], and ]. After an alleged experience of ], Jaya began meditating on a regular basis and became acquainted with spiritual teacher ] who helped to introduce |
Ma Jaya and DiFiore married in 1956 and had three children. Jaya struggled with obesity in her thirties and in 1972 enrolled in a ] weight loss class where she learned a breathing exercise for weight loss. While practicing the breathing exercise at her home, she claimed to have a series of mystical visions of ], ], and ]. After an alleged experience of ], Jaya began meditating on a regular basis and became acquainted with spiritual teacher ] who helped to introduce her to spiritual seekers in the New York area who became increasingly devoted.<ref name=":12" /> | ||
| ==Kashi Ashram== | ==Kashi Ashram== | ||
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| An affordable living community named By The River was opened in 2009 and included accommodations for forty low-income seniors. By The River was foreclosed in 2013 due to insufficient government funding and a lack of grant funding. | An affordable living community named By The River was opened in 2009 and included accommodations for forty low-income seniors. By The River was foreclosed in 2013 due to insufficient government funding and a lack of grant funding. | ||
| The Kashi Ashram community remains active and includes a retreat center, yoga school and sustainable farm. The retreat was visited by ] after she discovered Jaya's teachings when researching her role for the 2010 movie ]. <ref name=":0" /> | The Kashi Ashram community remains active and includes a retreat center, yoga school and sustainable farm. The retreat was visited by ] after she discovered Ma Jaya's teachings when researching her role for the 2010 movie ]. <ref name=":0" /> | ||
| Virtual ] teacher training and permacutlure courses have been offered only via virtual platforms due to the ongoing ]. | Virtual ] teacher training and permacutlure courses have been offered only via virtual platforms due to the ongoing ]. | ||
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| == Criticism == | == Criticism == | ||
| Jaya faced accusations of emotional and physical abuse, substance use, and the promotion of cult-like practices -- allegations fervently denied by The Kashi Church Foundation. | Ma Jaya faced accusations of emotional and physical abuse, substance use, and the promotion of cult-like practices -- allegations fervently denied by The Kashi Church Foundation. | ||
| American spiritual teacher ] wrote a 1976 ] article entitled "Egg on My Beard" which criticized Ma Jaya's teaching style as "disquieting" and referred to her as "Ms. Big" and an embodiment of the Hindu Goddess ]. Dass asserted that Jaya asked him and other followers to purchase costly gold bracelets and semi precious gemstones for her personal use in ] practices during and after meditation. He went on to narrate an alleged incident in which Jaya, accompanied by a group of her followers, climbed an eighteen story apartment building in ] to gain access to his residence without his permission. | American spiritual teacher ] wrote a 1976 ] article entitled "Egg on My Beard" which criticized Ma Jaya's teaching style as "disquieting" and referred to her as "Ms. Big" and an embodiment of the Hindu Goddess ]. Dass asserted that Jaya asked him and other followers to purchase costly gold bracelets and semi precious gemstones for her personal use in ] practices during and after meditation. He went on to narrate an alleged incident in which Jaya, accompanied by a group of her followers, climbed an eighteen story apartment building in ] to gain access to his residence without his permission. | ||
Revision as of 02:55, 3 May 2021
American spiritual teacher | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
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Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati (May 26, 1940 – April 14, 2012), often shortened to the diminutive form Ma Jaya, was a devotee of Hindu Guru Neem Karoli Baba. As a self-styled spiritual teacher and Jewish-American Guru, Ma Jaya founded Kashi Ashram in Sebastian, Florida in 1976. Jaya's interfaith teachings included a blend of philosophy from Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Islam and other religions. She devoted most of her time to HIV/AIDS activism, hunger alleviation, and writing and painting. Her outspoken and brash demeanor garnered attention from media outlets and created an atmosphere of contempt and adoration.
Early Life and Spiritual Beginnings
Ma Jaya was born Joyce Green in Brooklyn, New York and grew up in a cellar apartment near Brighton Beach. Her mother died from cancer when Jaya was thirteen years old. Ma Jaya said that as a young girl she had conversations with unhoused people who lived underneath the Coney Island Boardwalk. The interactions strengthened her desire to serve the needy and ultimately led her to spend more time on Coney Island where she eventually met her future husband, Sal DiFiore.
Ma Jaya and DiFiore married in 1956 and had three children. Jaya struggled with obesity in her thirties and in 1972 enrolled in a Jack LaLanne weight loss class where she learned a breathing exercise for weight loss. While practicing the breathing exercise at her home, she claimed to have a series of mystical visions of Jesus Christ, Bhagawan Nityananda, and Neem Karoli Baba. After an alleged experience of stigmata, Jaya began meditating on a regular basis and became acquainted with spiritual teacher Hilda Charlton who helped to introduce her to spiritual seekers in the New York area who became increasingly devoted.
Kashi Ashram
Ma Jaya moved to Indian River County, Florida in 1976 where she founded Kashi Ashram. Located on the St. Sebastian River just west of the city of Sebastian, Kashi Ashram attracted a diverse group of students who helped to develop the eighty acre property which at one time had upwards of two hundred residents. With a communal living structure, residents help with maintenance, food preparation, and participation in yoga and meditation practices.
A K-12 primary and secondary education center called The River School (originally The Ranch School) was opened in the early 1980s and closed after graduating its final class in 2005.
An HIV/AIDS education and prevention program named The River Fund was created in 1990 and is still in operation.
An affordable living community named By The River was opened in 2009 and included accommodations for forty low-income seniors. By The River was foreclosed in 2013 due to insufficient government funding and a lack of grant funding.
The Kashi Ashram community remains active and includes a retreat center, yoga school and sustainable farm. The retreat was visited by Julia Roberts after she discovered Ma Jaya's teachings when researching her role for the 2010 movie Eat, Pray, Love.
Virtual yoga teacher training and permacutlure courses have been offered only via virtual platforms due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Satellite branches of Kashi Ashram were also established in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Colorado, Santa Fe, and Atlanta. Kashi Atlanta Ashram was founded in 1999 in the Candler Park neighborhood by Jaya Devi Bhagavati.
Criticism
Ma Jaya faced accusations of emotional and physical abuse, substance use, and the promotion of cult-like practices -- allegations fervently denied by The Kashi Church Foundation.
American spiritual teacher Ram Dass wrote a 1976 Yoga Journal article entitled "Egg on My Beard" which criticized Ma Jaya's teaching style as "disquieting" and referred to her as "Ms. Big" and an embodiment of the Hindu Goddess Kali. Dass asserted that Jaya asked him and other followers to purchase costly gold bracelets and semi precious gemstones for her personal use in grounding practices during and after meditation. He went on to narrate an alleged incident in which Jaya, accompanied by a group of her followers, climbed an eighteen story apartment building in New York City to gain access to his residence without his permission.
Rick Alan Ross, a self-styled cult specialist, referred to Ma Jaya as a "charismatic leader of a potentially destructive cult."
Paul R. Martin, clinical psychologist and founder of Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center described Kashi Ashram as "having all the markings of a cult."
A 1993 People Magazine article entitled "It's not just Waco--Cults rule by paranoia flourish under America" criticized Kashi Ashram.
In 2013, Ma Jaya's youngest daughter sued the Kashi Church Foundation in a Miami court, claiming that in 1981 she was sexually assaulted by a church member after being married to him against her will. Jaya's daughter claimed that on December 10, 1981 she was married to 25-year-old Kevin Brannon so that she could be impregnated to allegedly provide more church members for Ma Jaya. The Kashi Ashram and Brannon deny the sexual assault ever happened.
Ma Jaya is said to have ordered marriages between devotees who "barely knew each other," although most seemed to consent - according to follower Lyn Deadmore writing in her journal in 1981. A spokesperson for Kashi Ashram denies these arranged marriages occurred.
1989 and 2001 court filings alleged that Jaya manipulated followers into giving her custody of their children.
Publications and Artwork
Ma Jaya authored a number of publications including Deep and Simple Wisdom: Spiritual Teachings of Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati, The 11 Karmic Spaces: Choosing Freedom from the Patterns That Bind You and, The River. Jaya was an accomplished artist and primarily used acrylic on canvas to depict complex scenes involving Hindu deities and abstract storytelling that illustrated scenes of Universal spiritual wisdom.
Death
Ma Jaya died of pancreatic cancer on April 13, 2012 at her home in Kashi Ashram. A memorial service was held in her honor at Kashi Ashram on May 26, 2012.
Honours and Affiliations
According to the Kashi foundation, Ma Jaya was widely recognized for her work and was a recipient of many awards and honors. However, many of these awards are unverifiable.
- Recipient, Interfaith Visionary Award, 2010 from the Temple of Understanding.
- Recipient of Humanitarian Service Award 2007 from the Gandhi Foundation.
- Recipient of title Mata Maha Mandaleshwar from the Ma Yoga Shakti Mission
- Recipient of the Interparliamentary Paradigm of Peace Award.
- Recipient of the United Foundation for AIDS Award.
- Recipient of the Universal Way Award.
- Inducted into the Martin Luther King Jr. Board of Preachers, Morehouse College.
Ma Jaya had many affiliations with various international organisations, including:
- Trustee Emeritus of the Council for the Parliament of the World's Religions
- Advisory Board Member of Equal Partners in Faith
- Advisory Board Member of the Institute on Religion and Public Policy
- Advisory Board Member of the Gardner's Syndrome Association
- Delegate to the United Religions Initiative
- Member of the Board of Directors of the AIDS care organization Project Response
- Member of the Parliament's General Assembly.
References
- ^ Kirley, James. "Ma Jaya Bhagavati, spiritual leader of Kashi, dead at 71". TCPalm.com. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - "Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati | Profile Biography". Lgbtq religious archives. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ McCoy, Terrence (2013-05-16). "Kashi Ashram: Claims of Rape, Child Abuse, and Kidnapping". Miami New Times. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
- "Internationally Known Spiritual Leader Ma Jaya Dies at 71 at Kashi Ashram". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - Clark, Josh (May 6, 2007). "Inside the Ashram, One of Atlanta's hottest trends raises questions of cultish behavior—but does the label fit?". The Sunday Paper. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - Hustead, Jayne (15 June 2002). "Psychologist: Kashi has all the makings of a cult". Palm Beach Post. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - https://wwrn.org/articles/13457/
- Ashram, Kashi. "Internationally Known Spiritual Leader Ma Jaya Dies at 71 at Kashi Ashram". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2020-02-25.