THE FBI IS INVESTIGATING A WORLDWIDE CULT THAT RUNS YOGA AND MEDITATION COURSES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00806R000100010007-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 2, 2010
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: August 27, 1982
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/09/02 : CIA-RDP90-00806R000100010007-2
United Press International's
August 27, 19821
LOS ALTOS HILLS, Califj
'- The FBI is investigating a worldwide cult that runs yoga and meditation
courses throughout the country on suspicion it is a foreign-based terrorist
organization Involved in bombings and murders, it was reported.
The Ananda Marga Ye"--i ociety, which operates medical clinics, nursery
schools and feeding programs for the poor at many of its 38 U.S centers,
including one in secluded Los Altos Hills, just 40 miles south of San Francisco,
Is suspected of leaving a trail of blood and tears around the world, the San
Jose Mercury reported In a recent edition.
A Gestapo-like branch of the cult has attacked political enemies with bombs,.
knives and grenades both in the U.S. and overseas, the newspaper quoted law
enforcement agencies as saying. Three bystanders were killed in one Australian
incident.
The State Department has identified paramilitary training camps run by the
Anada Marga in India, and the FBI is investigating reports that the group runs
similar operations in the U.S., according to the report.
Cult members have stabbed victims in Los Angeles and Washington D.C., and
firebombed a New York airline office, CIA and FBI documents show. Overseas,
pto'havehijackings
Ananda Marga has been tied toassassination
murderedna Boulder,
Swedish police are seeking a cult member believed
Colo. man formerly associated with the oroup.
But it said the cult's guru, Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, known to his followers asp
'Baba,'' or "Father, " 'has spent seven years in an Indian jail on charges he
murdered six disloyal priests.
Ananda Marga denies taking part in any violence, and many of its members are
cblivious to the allegations. the newspaper said.
The verdict was overturned in 1978 and he was released.
Meanwhile, seven cultists -- one in the U.S. -- had burned themselves to
death In protest of his Imprisonment.
The State Department, fearing Sarkar's presence might lead to more violence,
has prohibited him from entering the United States, the newspaper reported.
To most of his followers, Sarkar is a ''god" and the teachings of Ananda
Marga are "a miracle."
But Nawal Kishore, a former high-ranking monk, wrote in 1975 that Sarkar is
" a perverted megalomaniac' whose " murder squads " tied disloyal members to
trees and fatally stabbed them.
''It became a frequent practice for the Anandamurti (Sarkar) , sitting on a
chair with a rod in his hand, to chastise errant (monks), all of them stripped'
naked," Kishore wrote. ''He used to cane them one by one mercilessly ...," the
Mercury quoted lpshore as writing.
Homosexual activity and human skulls are part of the cult's foreign rituals,
according to a CIA report, the newspaper said. One former member said his
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trainer in America carried two skulls in bowling bags.
''It is a fact that, under the guise of spiritual practices, Sarkar and his
associates have been indulging in quite heinous crimes,'' a CIA document was
quoted.
Ananda Marga claims a worldwide following of 3 million members in 30
countries, with 20,000 disciples In the United States, but the State Department
counters with its own estimates of only 400,000 members worldwide, with 5,000 of
them in this country.
Cult critics say the Ananda Marga intentionally keeps a low profile in the
U.S., running health food stores, daycare centers and yoga centers that double
as training grounds for new members, in an effort to raise money and increase,
membership for overseas terrorist activities.
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