The rise of a 'guru' and the fallout among a divided community

Friday, 31 March 2023

On his $4500 ashram retreat, Geoff Love expected meditation with an “awakened guru”. Instead, on the final two days, he found himself leading a work party, building a track on the “yogi master’s” rural property.

“I said, ‘but it’s advertised as meditate with the master today?’” Love recounted.

The reply from Harpal Singh, who calls himself Yogi Aikam Aikoham Nath Ji or “Guruji” was: “It’s all meditation.”

Over a few years, Singh has transformed from buttoned-up businessman to yogi, via the Himalayas.

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To his supporters, he’s a white-robed ”Himalayan yogi master” and has a small but loyal following. But others say the man who has called himself the “second Jesus” is intimidating, and has issued legal threats.

Singh opened his Sri Shiv Shakti Ashram near Tapawera, an hour south of Nelson, in October 2021, paying $940,000 for the 4-bedroom home on six acres of land. In August 2022, he registered the venture as a charitable trust.

Singh told Stuff there is no qualification for his work.

Do you know more? Email amy.ridout@stuff.co.nz.

“I meditated in the caves.This is not a certification course; 200 hours and you become a yoga teacher or therapist.

“People called me… people who come on a spiritual path”.

Geoff Love was originally impressed by “Guruji”, and spent around $10,000 to attend his workshops all over the country.

But things came “unstuck” when Singh bought his ashram.

With plenty of practical skills, Love was enlisted to work on the property on a voluntary basis, some of the work done during meditation courses he’d paid for.

The final straw was the toilet block Love built, providing two weeks’ labour for free, buying the materials upfront. Costs crept up as Singh chose more expensive options, which were agreed upon at each point, Love said.

However, instead of the $18,000 Love invoiced for, Singh paid him $10,000.

Singh’s accompanying email, which Stuff has seen, expressed sadness that Love had “taken on this project as a contractor”.

“An opportunity was missed by you to embrace the project as a chance to serve with gratitude and excitement.”

Singh disputes he owed any money, saying Love had agreed in writing to the final settlement.

As for the incident involving building a track to the Tadmor River, Singh said in a written statement that workshop participants had the option of staying an extra two days for “meditation and mindfulness”.

“Those who elected to remain did undertake mindful group work on the track to the river, but this was elective.”

The incident shook Love’s sense of fairness. However, an opportunity to even the score presented itself in January, when Love discovered Singh would appear at Christchurch well-being event, Spirit Festival.

Love emailed the organiser, warning him of the “Guru from Nelson”.

Love didn’t get a reply. But days later, he received a “cease and desist” letter from a lawyer.

“Your statements are damaging Guruji’s reputation, and this is having a direct negative financial and personal impact on Guruji,” the letter said.

Then, Singh distributed this letter, as well as his own “cease and desist” document, to people he believed were spreading rumours which were affecting his business. In an accompanying letter, he railed against Love’s “lies and unfounded accusations” and hinted at further legal action against “other community members”.

“We ask that you please… refrain from further talking about … the untruths that have been circulating in the community,” Singh wrote.

Straight from Himalayan woods

According to his LinkedIn profile, Singh gained university qualifications in agriculture and entomology in India in the late 1990s.

He moved to Auckland in 2000, holding a series of compliance jobs in food factories before starting a compliance consultancy in 2010. In 2016 the business was deregistered.

About this time, Singh returned to India. According to his website, he “meditated in the forests of West India, Rishikesh for a number of years and is the embodiment of many Masters and deities”.

He told Stuff he “meditated in the caves” – except during the winter.

His Facebook posts show that by the end of 2018, he was holding his own workshops in Auckland.

“Internationally acclaimed New Age Spiritual Master coming straight from Himalayan woods”, said one event page.

Workshop attendees spoke of rules that must be followed in the presence of “Guruji”, and being encouraged to touch his feet.

“When he arrived we all had to be silent and standing,” one man said. “The people had to meet him, help him with his shoes. He’d walk in with his robes: it’s all part of the seduction and brainwashing.”

Another woman said: “His followers told us all where to sit, how to sit, not to look at him until he was seated and had invited us to look at him, and that we must address him as ‘master’… his followers were very gung ho with the protocols.”

Singh wrote: “at no point were participants asked to avoid eye contact… At no point has anyone been encouraged to touch my feet”.

Another woman who attended his workshops said Singh would enter in a “dramatic fashion”.

“He would … stand there with his arms out like he was on the cross, and talk about being the Christ,” said another woman. “Even the Dalai Lama would never say that about himself… or ask you to touch his feet.”

Nelson man Dean Campbell said Singh’s workshops were a far cry from others he’d attended, which were “all very respectful, but you don’t have to kiss anyone’s feet”.

“[Singh] would sit back and tell us he’s been up there sitting with Jesus,” Campbell said. “Spirituality is humble, but he had no humility or subtlety.”

Singh denied this.

“I always say everyone is equal unto god,” he said. “I don’t say I’m a Jesus, why would I say that?”

Another attendee spoke of an uncomfortable dynamic. “He has quite a way of diminishing people in a group,” said a woman. “He kind of interrupts, and asks challenging questions designed to make them look and feel a bit silly.”

Singh wrote that his reviews and testimonials were “overwhelmingly positive”.

“The few disgruntled individuals who have taken issue with the organisation for reasons unrelated to the workshops have constructed this false narrative to serve their agenda.”

Geoff Love said refusing the rules earned displeasure.

“I said, ‘I’m not one of these people that goes down and touches your feet’. As a Kiwi bloke I don’t do that sort of thing. That got to him.”

Singh said the protocols were a “sign of respect”.

“…you honour the person who’s coming… this is about I respect your god, and I respect your purity, and you respect mine. This is a normal culture in the spiritual world.”

Emeritus professor Peter Lineham, who has an extensive history in studying and researching New Zealand’s religious history, said there were “extraordinary levels of naivety in the world of religion”.

This led to a “high risk of charlatans,” Lineham said.

“Quite a lot of people longing to find truth imagine that [Eastern spirituality] is where the power and truth comes from, and without any sense of balance they throw themselves into it.

“When there’s just one individual exercising a powerful control over individuals and not respecting their autonomy, that’s the dangerous area.”

‘Charismatic and manipulative’

During one session, Singh instructed a roomful of men and women to touch their genitals, one woman said.

With many hours of meditation behind her, the woman had not encountered this before. Eyes closed, she did not see what went on.

“There was a bit of talk about it later, some said, ‘no I just didn’t do it’.”

But some did, knowing that their guru was instructing them for their own good, she said.

“There was massive naivety.”

Singh denied this claim. “The only reference that I have ever made to genitals in workshops is when discussing the role and location of the chakras, one of which is associated with the reproductive organs. I have never asked or implied that any participant should touch their genitals,” he wrote.

“Fostering a safe and inclusive environment is central to the foundation activities and I regret that any aspect of my teachings has been misinterpreted and quoted out of context.”

When the woman left the group, Singh told people she was “mentally unstable”, claims he repeated to Stuff.

One of the people Singh approached about the woman was Dean Campbell.

Campbell had connected with Singh when they met a couple of years ago. But as he attended more workshops, he felt that something wasn’t right, and withdrew.

“The way he gets everyone working for him, then he turns up like he’s some god. He’s charismatic, manipulative, and a control freak,” Campbell said.

In February, Singh confronted Campbell in his Nelson store, armed with paperwork and wanting to tackle the rumours about him. Campbell was taken aback.

“[Singh was] raising his voice, waving his arms, trying to get me to read this material.”

When Singh left the store, he stood on the street, “ranting”, shouting that he was the “second Jesus”, Campbell said.

The 40-minute encounter felt aggressive and intimidating, Campbell said. “I was in shock; what just happened?”

Rattled, he trespassed Singh and his followers from his store.

Singh told Stuff he was annoyed that people were not approaching him to ask the truth, but were instead spreading rumours.

“Ten mouths are saying the same thing, but is anyone coming back to the first one?

”People can talk what they want. They can say anything. Why don’t you read the reviews … people have been helped.”

Services to your guru

Stuff understands Singh’s ashram was financed in part by his supporters, with a lifetime membership to Sri Shiv Shakti being $10,000.

This “payment option” was no longer offered, Singh said. “It was elective for those persons who wanted to receive discounts on workshops and resources over a long term – those few who did choose this option continue to receive the benefits.”

A former follower, who spoke with Stuff under condition of anonymity, said he was “taken in” by Singh.

At his own expense, the man had travelled around the country with Singh, helping him with his workshops.

“It was presented as… services to your guru.”

But eventually, he cut ties with him.

“I thought, ‘I can’t be involved with this man and his energy’, he gives me the creeps.”

But not before he’d parted with thousands of dollars. At first, it was couched as a loan, but that changed. “I got phone calls saying, why don’t you just gift the money. I caved in.”

“I feel completely stupid, a complete fool. Why did I agree to it? I think there’s some kind of hypnotic suggestion, he’s so persuasive. He has this ability to tune into people’s sensitivities and use that to his advantage.”

Singh wrote that he had never coerced anyone into donations. “This person is no longer affiliated with the organisation and has attempted to renege on the gift. We are comfortable regarding the legal position of this gift.”

A number of people who spoke with Stuff mentioned hypnosis and “black magic”.

“The very first course I did with him, I thought, ‘shit, he’s hypnotising me’,” said a man who attended Singh’s workshops.

“He said, ‘let go of all your resistance, it’s all going to be okay’. He had this ability to tune into people’s sensitivities and use that to his advantage.”

Singh denied he used hypnotic techniques.

Dr Rita Csako, an Auckland University of Technology psychologist who researches clinical hypnotherapy, said generally, people wouldn’t behave far outside their norm while under hypnosis.

“The short answer is no, you can’t force someone to do things under hypnosis. It’s not black magic. If it was that easy psychological treatment would be easy peasy, you would hypnotise everyone and say, now you don’t have anxiety.”

However, Csako said some people are more suggestible than others, for example, people who have “bought into an experience”, like paying for a course.

“They might think, I believe this person can change me, so I will lower my guard.”

A woman who spoke with Stuff said she feared Singh’s supporters were at risk.

“Vulnerable people with pain and hurt … are being manipulated, creating more trauma within them.

“[Singh] has to be stopped. I’m speaking out because I do not want anybody to experience what I have had to experience. I don’t want our community to be hurt.”