title taken from “High Life” by Machel Montano
Is Machel’s friend Sadhguru a godman or a conman?
We released our second episode of Season 6 of the Rant and Rave podcast. In this episode we talk about Machel Montano and Indian super yogi Sadhguru’s campaign to “Save the Soil.” The campaign has already resulted in six Caribbean nations (Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, Guyana, and Barbados) signing the Memorandum of Understanding and pledging to adopt long-term policy to safeguard soil and promote ecologically-friendly initiatives. We RANT about what this means for Caribbean tourism, the economy, and what we can do to reverse the climate crisis.
What we didn’t cover is the question “Who is Sadhguru?”
The international yogi superstar has been rubbing elbows with celebrities like Will Smith, Mike Tyson, and Matthew McConaughey. The conversations ranged from gaining deeper relationships with family to ending global racism. So who is the man that these celebs are revering… and should they?
Jaggi Vasudev, better known as Sadhguru, is a 64-year-old yogi from India who has spent the last 24 years dedicated to raising human consciousness, and fostering global harmony through individual transformation. His innovative style of yoga, known as isha, and his environmental work led to his creation of his Isha Foundation. The foundation allowed him to promote harmony within the self and harmony with one’s environment… and launch a television series “In Conversation with a Mystic.” The series put him in close proximity to prominent personalities and allowed him to increase his popularity.
So why are some people raising an eyebrow at Sadhguru and the Isha Foundation?
The 150-acre Isha Foundation campus that features 112ft idol - I mean statue of Adiyogi, was allegedly built in violation of Hill Area Conservation Authority rules and involved cutting down trees, forcing elephants from a nearby sanctuary into settlements where they ruined crops— and attacked villagers! Sadhguru and his foundation have said they got permission to build on about 32,855 sq metres from the local panchayat, but the rural body doesn’t have the power to authorise construction in areas under HACA.
The accusation had a major impact on the yogi’s ability to get funding as many organizations wanted no association with the controversial campus. So how do they make their money? Well, that leads me to the next criticism of the Isha Foundation.
Is the yogi business lucrative?
“Isha Foundation Inc, which is registered in the United States, showed a net income of Rs 56.43 crore [approx. $7.4M USD] in 2018, as per Internal Revenue Service records. Of this, it says, about Rs 35.81 crore [approx. $4.7M USD] came from donations. There are no public records of the foundation’s revenues in India but it claims that donations – or "contributions", as it prefers to describe such transactions – account for a considerable chunk. Only there’s evidence that at least some of the donations aren’t so.” (Newslaundry.com)
Basically, the foundation remains under the radar by reporting “earnings” as “donations.” Sadhguru also receives payment for his speaking engagements and exclusive retreats. It costs up to Rs 50 lakh (approx. $65,000 USD) per person to go on a 13-day trip to Kailash Mansarovar with him. I’m definitely in the wrong business.
Despite the inquiries into funding for Sadhguru’s foundation and his motorcycling, celebrity glad-handing lifestyle, the yogi has managed to do some good by raising awareness about the soil erosion crisis.
“Soil is the biggest ecosystem on the planet. We’re poisoning it with agricultural chemicals and losing it through erosion. Less and less food can be grown as this degradation continues, yet human populations still grow” ~ Jane Goodall.
Deepak Chopra, Rosario Dawson, the Dalai Lama, and even dancehall legend Sean Paul have lent their voices to Sadghuru’s cause. The Save the Soil movement aims to increase organic matter in soil to a minimum of 3%, which will lead to better quality foods, herbs, and holistic medicine.
For those of us relying on bush tea and ginger to combat the next variant, we may want to find out more about this Save the Soil movement.
Listen to the full episode of “THE RETURN: Climate Consciousness” on Apple or Spotify.
