Namamste One and All,

I am a psychiatric doctor by profession, who has worked with many different kinds of people in my life.

There are a few things I would like to clarify about the current accusations against Shri Nithyananda Swamiji.

I believe that in any situation, we can only go by our own experience and understanding.
In the past 2.5 years, I have met Shri Nithyananda Swamiji a few times on different occasions. I cannot strictly call myself a devotee of Shri Swamiji, but I was strongly convinced of his authenticity and commitment towards the society. Recently, I heard that there are some accusations against him, saying that he has hypnotized large groups of young men and women and forcibly kept them in his ashram.

As a professional, I can assure those concerned that it is not possible to hypnotize a large group of people for so many months, or even years! Those who are staying with Nithyananda have obviously received and are receiving some real benefits from him. This includes his healing successes, which certainly cannot be explained away as hypnotism.

Moreover, I have interacted with some of the people in his ashram, and they appear to be balanced and intelligent individuals in sound mental health. I did not detect anything unusual in their behavior, nor did I have occasion to doubt their commitment towards Shri Swamiji and his mission.

There is no doubt that Shri Swamiji’s teachings and meditations can help society from many modern ills like stress and depression. For our own sake, let us ignore these childish charges against him and focus only on the benefits that can accrue to us from such an elevated personage as Shri Swamiji.

With best wishes,
Dr. Verma, M.D. (Psychiatry)