MORAL and ETHICAL CODE at MISA: 8. TAPAS (inner discipline, austerity, effort)

(previous theme: SANTOSHA - CONTENTMENT)

MISA webpage: NIYAMA - The rules of inner discipline

8. TAPAS (inner discipline, austerity, ardent and persevering effort)

TAPAS refers to the need for self-discipline, ardent, constant and persistent effort. TAPAS can involve both the daily performance

of a beneficial action (yogic techniques, meditation, prayer etc), for a predetermined period of time, but also the renunciation

of something disharmonious or disruptive, such as a bad habit, a vice.

A properly performed and completed TAPAS gives the practitioner great inner strength and a considerable increase in his will.

TAPAS "burns" the practitioner's negative karma, i.e. the (otherwise unavoidable) consequences of his past bad actions.

TAPAS can refer to the body [...] or to forms of TAPAS of the mind, which aim to purify it of negative thoughts or mental attitudes.

TAPAS is very important at MISA.

Of course, practice is indispensable on a spiritual path; without proper practice, just philosophizing or making an act of presence

at conferences and lectures, no spiritual evolution takes place. The reasons are clear: 

- the action of purifying the body and mind is necessary, in order to make the human being capable of perceiving subtle manifestations

- divine spirits respect free will and do not infuse the inner universe of the human being unless they are wholeheartedly invited

Therefore, it is necessary to manifest a free choice, as well as taking on an effort in a spiritual sense, i.e. a spiritual practice.

It follows that spiritual practice must be sustained by aspiration, and this must come from within, it must be ASSUMED.

If a spiritual effort is triggered by mimicry or as a result of an impulse coming from someone else, it will not have special effects,

for there will be a great difference between what the aspirant wants or believes, and what the master indicates.

In addition, each human being has its own specifics; what is natural and effective for one is not necessarily the same for another.

Even in the case of a TAPAS indicated by an genuine master, there is always the risk that the disciple will not fully understand

the need, purpose and correct application of that advice. Therefore, a genuine master will gently guide so that the disciple be able

to understand and choose for himself what is necessary for his development, what suits him and can be effectively fulfilled.

But MISA's attitude towards TAPAS goes far beyond the idea of a "yoga course" or a "spiritual school" and acquire dogmatically,

sectarian accents.

➤ first of all, under the pretext and claim that MISA does not promote superficial "salon yoga" but rather it is an "authentic spiritual school"

which "does not make compromises, but leads on an authentic spiritual path", high formal standards have been imposed.

It started with the recommendation of lacto-vegetarian pure diet.

New students, landed from the materialistic world at a gym to attend a yoga class, suddenly find that they are there to become

spiritual accomplished, and the pressure is amplified by the fact that the teacher who structured the course is said to have attained

the perfection, the highest level of spiritual achievement:

”He was able to attain in a very short time, by practising on his own, a whole series of psycho-mental accomplishment

that are generally considered paranormal. All these experiments culminated at the age of 19, when he had a decisive breakthrough

and attained the state of spiritual awakening.” (link)

As "nothing grows well in the shade of a big tree" (Constantin Brancusi quote), and under the intense light of the Sun the desert appears,

so too in the "overwhelming" presence of the Liberated One, only thistles and cactuses grow.

Energies, chakras, meridians and Kundalini Serpent power - concepts from the first weeks of the course, were supplemented early

with "the support of Shambhala, the planetary spiritual mission”, the god Shiva, the Great Cosmic Powers who, meanwhile, "got fat"

and became Macrocosmic Powers so even the Universe could no longer fit them, being too small even for guru himself.

Crowds of Hindu and Tibetan deities appeared, requiring appropriate rituals, so MISA students became more than the priests.

With the "induction spiral of the State of Liberation through Divine Miracle", Bivolaru launched his personal religion - "God-ism" which,

under the clever pretext of union with God without any intermediary, eliminated the other intermediaries and left only him

at the center of attention (and of the Universe too).

Hard TAPAS-es were recommended: sessions of powerful Hatha yoga techniques that lasted for hours without interruption,

dozens and hundreds of exercises of Uddiyana Bandha and Nauli Kriya, hours of ”standing on the head”, series of Oshawa regimes,

full hours of Laya Yoga, one or even two days of complete fasting per week, 3 or 7 consecutive days of complete fasting,

10-day cure with only apples and apple juice, all kinds of detox cures with juices, with salts, frequent gastric and intestinal cleanings, etc.

The MISA leader and instructors poured gas on the TAPAS fire. Impositions began to appear:

- a mandatory TAPAS of abstinence for a month in the late 90s, concluded with a personal oath on health and spiritual evolution

that it was respected by everyone

- in ashrams the complete fast in every Friday is mandatory

- at the SHAKTI and VIRA groups, general TAPAS are established that everyone must complete to stay within the group etc.

There are other general TAPAS at the level of the whole "school":

- series of Oshawa diets (10 days only with wheat and rice), preparatory to the Easter and Christmas holidays

- series of 7 regimens Oshawa preparatory for the technique of Revelation of past lives (no one rushed to give testimonies!)

(read here on Sunday, April 4) 

- preparatory TAPAS for the anniversary of the Beloved Leader (link)

- TAPAS for burning karma: 7 series of 3 days of complete fasting (link)

- TAPAS of fasting for 49 consecutive Sundays to definitively stop all persecutions and abuses directed against Gregorian Bivolaru

and the MISA yoga school (link) (fastings have not stopped, but neither have the "abuses").

This TAPAS even has a connotation of black magic, because some of these "persecutions and abuses" are criminal investigations

which must be carried out given the complaints against MISA leaders.

➤ the MISA students also started to choose more and more difficult TAPAS, eventually reaching saturation.

After years and years of efforts without achieving the expected results (precisely because the expectations were way too high

from the beginning), saturation and blasing followed. Due to fast and powerful effects, the elevation of vibration simply quickly exceeds

the capacity for awareness ("the indicator needle comes out of the scale"), leaving the feeling of walking on empty, of effort in vain.

Along with the state of inner emptiness, arrogance and spiritual vanity increased, to compensate. That is why strong austerities

are not recommended right from the start, as the practitioner cannot keep up either physically or mentally with the processes

that are triggered then.

Hatha Yoga practices have been replaced by long and frequent amorous fusions - much more comfortable and pleasant -

and the intense sensations of orgasms became "great spiritual achievements".

Those who subsequently approached the practice in the natural rhythm of their being, properly dosed, obtain noticeable effects,

being at the same time able to be aware of step-by-step progress, so that each leap to a higher level naturally leads to the next level.

Making a correct and conscious effort is infinitely more effective than relying on techniques that have quick results which cannot even

be noticed in the maelstrom of intensive practice. Good bread is baked on low heat; on high heat, it burns quickly and becomes embers.

At MISA, the middle path was not recommended, but the extreme approach: Hatha Yoga in force on one side, and pleasant, warm,

orgasmic Tantra on the other side. In the end, Tantra was preferred - especially in its orgiastic, polyamorous form -

which is not hindered by "embarrassing limitations" and unnecessary complications like being in love or deep stable love.

Over time, many students have abandoned the intense TAPAS, which generated discomfort, in favor of warm, comfortable practices

giving pleasant shivers. From slender-bodied practitioners, they became obese, puffy, withered, inert.

After more than three decades of assiduous practice, the results is the moral perversion of the followers, who become liars and villains

with spiritual vanity, and some of them acquire diseases, often serious, incurable, with galloping evolution.

➤ students were urged to ask the Spiritual Master TAPAS for karma burning, accelerated evolution, health.

In fact, the suggestion of long TAPAS is a subtle method of securing the disciple's obedience and mental dependence on a "master."

Basically, the disciple leaves himself completely in the hands of the mentor, but the TAPAS coming from outside do not always

match his own being.

In conclusion, as in the case of the other ethical and moral rules, MISA emphasizes the letter of the law and exaggerates the external aspects,

while violating the inner, spiritual, really important aspects. There is a huge difference between exaggerated, inflated outer manifestation

and inner dryness, barrenness and rigidity.

(to be continued)