Dear James,
I was relieved to read your satsang discussion on Robert Harrison and his Facebook group. I’ve never had direct dealings with him or been in his group, having as I do ambivalent feelings about social media, and Zuckerberg in particular. However I do have a friend who has voiced a number of concerns regarding his conduct, setting off a number of red flags as far as I am concerned. I was curious to hear what you thought on the matter.
Vedanta is a true blessing and while it is wonderful to have available forums to discuss and support one’s study, it seems that even something as minor as chairing an online group can confer a certain power and status which may then be open to abuse. My friend had nothing but good things to say about Robert initially, finding him to be a friendly, kind and open individual and by all accounts a helpful teacher. Sadly over time I began to hear things that disturbed me somewhat. This involved Robert asking some of his followers for money on ‘loan’, which he promised to pay back, but evidently has not. More worryingly my friend and someone else I know revealed that Robert clearly has not got the sex vasana quite in check, as he has been making sexual advances to certain students and sending unwanted nude photographs. Of course, even he must realize this to be inappropriate behavior for a teacher and he has evidently tried to keep these women quiet by intimidation and the threat of swift removal from the group. He also would seem to still have a violent temper quite incongruous with being a Vedanta teacher as demonstrated by allegedly getting into a public fight.
I do not know the extent of what has been happening. But it raised a number of red flags and I feel it is highly inappropriate behavior for one professing to be a Vedanta teacher. In spite of telling me this, my friend does not think it necessary to take action and seems to have no intention of leaving the group. Why I do not know. It almost reminds me of the way Trump supporters are able to justify his most egregious of behaviors because they have painted such a saintly and lofty image of him in their minds.
Again, I don’t know Robert so this is all second hand information. I have nothing against him but I am concerned for my friend and any others that might be getting taken advantage of for sex or money. Spiritual seekers can be in a vulnerable position when it comes to the power dynamic of guru and disciple.
Anon
Dear Anon,
Thanks for your email. Someone else sent me a link to a very slick blog written by Robert. On the surface it looks like “I was lost and now I’m found” sinner-to-saint blog in which he tries to be honest about his criminal “past,” with the idea of convincing readers that he has rehabilitated himself to such a point that he is now your heroic intrepid crime fighter out to save the world.
If we had had that information when he appealed to us we would not have touched him with a barge pole. To cover up the extent of his criminality he admitted to assaulting his ex-wife’s boyfriend who he claimed didn’t want to let him have access to his children. In short he played the victim. And we thought he must come from an impoverished background, alcoholic mom and pop, etc. felt compassion for him and so we helped him. It could not have been further from the truth. Here’s a synopsis of the blog sent by one of our readers. It’s a real eye-opener. The link to the blog itself is below. It speaks for itself. It’s actually shocking and pretty clear that even leopards that have been “washed in the blood of the Lamb” don’t change their spots. He’s a dangerous predator.
Here is the synopsis I mentioned.
”I had my first ‘contact’ with the police when i was 9 years old. One half of a ‘duo’ whom decided to burn some waste which lead to a paint business being burned to the ground, estimated loss approx. £1,000,000. A terrible outcome which undoubtedly affected many people.
Things were relatively quiet for the next few years, until around the age of 14. Through sheer stupidity on the greatest scale, i set about creating a situation in which, despite the best efforts by my parents, they were forced to bring social services into my life. It is one of the darkest moments in my troubled life. Not only because of the carnage that would follow for many years, but also for the betrayal I gave to my parents, the hurt i cause them.
Within one year of being within the ‘Care System’, I was moved into the ‘Criminal Justice System’. This took the form of a psuedo-borstal type facility for very young children. Children from the ages of perhaps 9-17. From there, things moved in a linear fashion rapidly. Each institution i was in i mixed with more hardened criminals, leant more aspects of crime. By the time i was 20 i had been in every prison in Northern Ireland. Living alongside, and often with, some of the most dangerous people ever to break the law.
For the next 7 years i continued to care not one bit about the Criminal Justice System, be it the police, courts, prison. They weren’t even as important to be classed as an ‘inconvenience’. To lose my freedom merely gave me a chance to relax, sleep well at night knowing no-one was going to kick my door in, and most importantly, learn new crimes & network with like minded people.
.My own criminal records spanning a thirteen year career in serious criminal offences, ranging from serious assaults, armed robberies, rioting, threats to kill, among other things. That’s not including the criminal offences that are not to be tried on indictment (crown court). Offenses such as common assault, AOABH (assault occasioning actual bodily harm), and even some ABH’s if i was lucky enough to get them De-scheduled (moved from crown court to magistrates).
During those 13 years, the portions in which i was out of prison, I was involved in many crimes. Crimes ranging from driving offences to thefts, from armed robberies to serious assaults such as GBH with Intent involving gang fights. Both covert & overt surveillance were used on me as a matter of course. A photo of me was centre place on police intelligence boards in local stations, and the police had the SOP (standard operating procedure) of having to report my whereabouts every time they saw me, for, as they told me “in case a crime is committed nearby to where you are”. Being from Northern Ireland, and a highly visible criminal in my locality, it wasn’t surprising i came into regular contact with various terrorist groups over there.
My sisters didn’t break the law. Yet I broke it constantly, in a most sadistic way. I have around 165 convictions. Ranging from car theft, armed robbery, serious assaults – sometimes involving knives, etc, rioting, fraud, burglary of commercial premises. I got prosecuted for GBH with Intent.
https://combatingcrime.wordpress.com/
Anon: What are your thoughts on this? What is the dharma of such a situation? What should Robert be willing to do, and his students?
James: What else can a normal person think except that this person is completely adharmic? What he should do is obvious but he is not going to do the right thing. He’s a criminal. They think differently. They are lazy and don’t want to work. They are arrogant and think normal people are suckers. They like violence and know that good honest people can be easily intimidated. With all the discretionary income sloshing around the world economy and people so lacking in common sense, crime is having a field day.
From one point of view he’s a pig in shit but not really. He’s constantly on edge, living in dread, waiting for the shoe to drop, which it will sooner or later. The law of karma is a moral law and, like the wheels of man’s justice, sometimes turns slowly, but it is inexorable. He’s the mirror opposite of a spiritual person. Someone who claims what he claims is compassionate, dispassionate and has nothing to gain by breaking God’s laws. He’s a complete fraud and it is really shocking that it takes people so long to see it. We weren’t completely taken in but we give people the benefit of the doubt in general. In the Gita Krishna says, “Even a sinner, rightly resolved, is to be respected.” I feel that it’s better for me to be trusting and open and get burned now and then than to always be guarded and suspicious of people. I write Robert almost every day using the carrot and the stick to push him in the right direction because I know that the hurt rebellious sadistic little boy has stolen the limelight from the pure and noble “thumb-sized person in the heart” to quote the Katha Upanishad. I sincerely hope that he will see the light once more and continue on with is quest in a sincere humble manner.
Love,
James
