Draft:Criticism of the International Sahaja Public School

Disputed Claims About the International Sahaja Public School

Some claims presented by the International Sahaja Public School (ISPS), including those listed on its official website and reflected in other public materials, have been subject to dispute by former attendees and researchers.

Founding Year and Early Operations

While ISPS officially states its founding year as 1990 in Dharamsala, former students report that a group of children was sent to a temporary campus in Vashi, Mumbai, in 1989. This location functioned as a preparatory setting where children were reportedly evaluated for spiritual compatibility through Sahaja Yoga practices, a process referred to as "clearing chakras".

The children from the west need to cleanse their chakras by footsoaking and other treatments, 1989. Source: private archive.

Girls' Dormitory with over 30 beds, 1989. Source: private archive.

According to firsthand testimonies and archival photographs, prior to its official founding in Dharamshala in April 1990, the International Sahaja Public School temporarily operated in Vashi, Mumbai. This early phase, which began in 1989, included a small group of children sent from Western Sahaja Yoga families. Several students were reportedly sent back due to "bad vibrations," a concept central to the Sahaja Yoga belief system. Some children were sent home during this period, including a French student identified in personal accounts as "Minakshi," who was reportedly returned due to having "bad vibrations".

Age of Admission

Official school communications state that admission was open to children aged six and above. However, multiple first-person testimonies suggest that children younger than six, in some cases as young as four, were accepted during the early operational phase [citation needed]. This raises concerns regarding age-appropriate care and developmental support.

Spiritual Framework and Development

Accounts from former students describe an environment in which spiritual ideology played a central role in interpreting behavior, health, and interpersonal dynamics. Terms such as "vibrations," "chakra problems," and "collectivity" were reportedly used to guide both educational and disciplinary practices [citation needed]. Critics have described this as a form of spiritual bypassing, wherein psychological and emotional needs may have been subordinated to religious or spiritual goals [citation needed].

Early Social Dynamics

A former student identified as Siddhi—who attended the Vashi program in 1989—has described experiencing social exclusion due to her single-parent background. She recalls being teased and marginalized, particularly by peers from certain national groups who were perceived to hold elevated status due to their parents’ closeness to Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi, the founder of Sahaja Yoga. These experiences suggest the existence of informal social hierarchies among students during the school’s early years.

Critics of the International Sahaja Public School have raised concerns that the school's spiritual pedagogy, based on Sahaja Yoga's chakra cleansing techniques, was imposed on children from a young age. Former students report that children were separated from their families and subject to a system in which Western cultural identity was framed as spiritually impure or in need of "cleansing." While yoga can serve as a beneficial physical and meditative practice, critics argue that using it as the foundation for a school curriculum — especially in a religious or indoctrinative context — may have significant psychological consequences for children.

In the International Sahaja Public School, children were exposed to a spiritual ideology that encouraged them to bypass real emotional and psychological needs in the name of "chakra cleansing" and spiritual ascent. From a young age, children were taught that their "Western ego" was flawed and needed to be cleansed. This belief system promoted silence over inquiry, obedience over individuality, and detachment over emotional expression.

Controversies Regarding Pedagogical Practices at ISPS

Some former students and observers have criticized the pedagogical framework of the International Sahaja Public School (ISPS) as being shaped primarily by the spiritual doctrines of Sahaja Yoga. Critics argue that the school's methodology emphasized the concept of "chakra cleansing" as a central educational goal, particularly for children from Western countries.

According to former student testimonies, including those published on the blog Reclaiming Childhood, children were told that their spiritual purpose was to cleanse inherited flaws associated with their cultural background. This practice, known within Sahaja Yoga as "clearing the chakras," was reportedly presented as necessary for spiritual growth, often without psychological support or regard for child development frameworks.

Some testimonies suggest that identity development was constrained by an ideology that viewed Western identity as a source of ego or imbalance. This form of spiritual conditioning, applied to children separated from their families and cultural context, has been described as a form of spiritual bypassing—the use of spiritual ideas to sidestep basic psychological and emotional needs.

Criticism of Spiritual Pedagogy and Cultural Identity at ISPS

Critics of the International Sahaja Public School have raised concerns that the school's foundation is based on a spiritual ideology that imposes the Sahaja Yoga practice of chakra cleansing on children from an early age. Former students and parents report that children were separated from their families for extended periods and placed in an isolated educational environment where the concept of Western identity was sometimes portrayed as spiritually flawed or impure. This belief system, they argue, was used to justify intensive spiritual practices designed to "cleanse" the children of perceived negative cultural traits.

While yoga is often viewed as a beneficial meditative or physical practice, critics contend that its use as a pedagogical tool within a rigid spiritual doctrine may have adverse psychological effects on developing children. Testimonies highlight how practices typically suited for adult spiritual seekers were transferred to a young and vulnerable population. The lack of age-appropriate psychological care and the focus on spiritual ideals over basic developmental needs — such as emotional safety, warm housing, or regular parental contact — are among the most frequently cited concerns.

This critique also includes the assertion that the methodology of chakra cleansing should not be used as a core educational framework, particularly when children are isolated from their homes and conditioned to believe that elements of their identity must be corrected. Former students describe this as a form of spiritual bypassing, where spiritual ideology was used to sidestep or suppress children's emotional and psychological needs rather than address them through supportive, developmentally informed care.

Conclusion

The International Sahaja Public School, while founded with idealistic spiritual intentions, raises important ethical questions about the intersection of religious belief, child development, and educational autonomy. As more former students come forward, their testimonies form a critical part of the dialogue around spiritual abuse and child welfare in alternative schooling environments.

See Also

• Sahaja Yoga
• Spiritual abuse
• Childhood development and attachment theory
• Chakra system in new religious movements
• Boarding school trauma
• Ego in Freudian theory vs. spiritual traditions

References

According to a personal testimony, Siddhi — a former student who joined the school in 1989 — described being teased due to her single-parent background.

External Links

• International Sahaja Public School Official Website
• YouTube. "Spiritual Bypassing and Confronting: Why It's Harmful for Children." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIqpST_XGj8
• YouTube. "1991-0222 Talk About Children And Indian School, Rome, Italy." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou_jyC-9XII&t=1s
• YouTube. "Spiritual Bypassing - Teal Swan." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ErlTinKrQw
• Reddit Testimony on Adverse Experiences at ISPS