A new BBC investigation has uncovered allegations of sexual exploitation, grooming and human trafficking linked to a yoga exercise with UK believers.
These shocking allegations, revealed on Radio 4 and BBC Sounds' investigative podcast series, are linked to the teachings of convicted sex offender and 'guru of evil' Gregorian Viboral.
The 72-year-old Romanian works as a spiritual guide for thousands of students at a yoga school affiliated with Atman (International Federation of Yoga and Meditation).
In the UK, the Guru's followers run a registered charity called Tara Yoga Centre, with working studios in London, Oxford and Plymouth, and in Cambridge, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, Leicester and Burton-on-Trent. , also runs classes in Woking. Also in Dublin, Republic of Ireland.
World of Secrets: The Bad Guru Series 6 is produced by documentary filmmaker Cat McShane.
Miranda, a tutor at Oxfordshire University, was looking for ways to mindfully deal with life's challenges. That led me to attend a yoga class at Tara Yoga Center near Old Street in London in 2017.
Within two years, she says, after becoming involved in a broader movement of Gregorian Vibration followers, she found herself at the center of an international web of human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
Now, seven years later, Miranda is telling her story publicly and on record for the first time.
Tara Yoga Center is an affiliate of the Atman Federation, a UK registered umbrella organization with affiliates in 29 countries.
Atman promotes the teachings of convicted sex offender Gregorian Bivolar, who was indicted in France in November 2023 for the French criminal offenses of human trafficking, organized kidnapping, rape and organized sectarian abuse of vulnerability. I am doing it. He is also wanted in Finland on suspicion of aggravated human trafficking.
Miranda on how she ended up taking part in sexual rituals and how she was tricked into going to a villa near Prague where she was persuaded to work for six months in a live online porn business. I'll tell you.
She also described how she and other female followers were blindfolded and driven across Paris to meet the fugitive guru in a secret location for a so-called initiation that involved prolonged sexual intercourse. also spoke.
The series revealed evidence that some of Tara's teachers were helping other students arrange trips to meet the fugitive guru. Miranda's trip was arranged by two people she met through the school, but not by the school itself.
Miranda says: “Whatever they're doing, even if it seems gross and inappropriate and overly sexual to me, is for psychological reasons that I still don't understand. I wanted to believe it.
“The only thing I can do right now is to talk about this and risk my reputation and everything else. But I want truth and justice and I hope things will change in the future so people don't get hurt. I want to do that.”
Kat McShane says: “Yoga is a spiritual practice that millions of people believe in. We let our guard down because we expect it to be good for us.
“The women I met were intelligent women who attended yoga classes completely unnoticed, but what happened to them is not at all surprising.
“Over the past four years, I have heard some very disturbing reports of coercion and sexual exploitation for profit after my involvement with one of the Atman Coalition member organizations. It is important to receive it.”
Daniel Clarke, Radio 4’s fact panel editor, said: “The idea that yoga studios in towns across the UK could be linked to the kinds of allegations made in this series is truly shocking.
“'Bad Guru' takes us into a world that shows how the promise of salvation and spiritual growth shapes and conditions people in truly bizarre and frightening ways.
“This series follows previous World of Secrets investigations, including the Abercrombie Guys, which exposed horrific cases of exploitation and illegality. This is the type of international investigation that the BBC does best. ”
World of Secrets, Season 6, The Bad Guru can be heard first on BBC Sounds from today 9th December.
