Ma Jaya
Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati (May 26, 1940 – April 14, 2012), often shortened to Ma Jaya, was a devotee of Hindu Guru Neem Karoli Baba. She founded Kashi Ashram in Sebastian, Florida in 1976. Jaya's interfaith teachings included a blend of philosophy from Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, Islam and other religions. She was involved in HIV/AIDS activism, hunger alleviation, and writing and painting. Early life and spiritual beginnings. Ma Jaya was born Joyce Green in Brooklyn, New York and grew up in a cellar apartment near Brighton Beach. Her mother died from cancer when Jaya was thirteen  years old. Ma Jaya said that as a young girl she had conversations with unhoused people who lived underneath the Coney Island Boardwalk. The interactions strengthened her desire to serve the needy and ultimately led her to spend more time on Coney Island where she eventually met her future husband, Sal DiFiore. Ma Jaya and DiFiore married in 1956 and had three children. Jaya struggled with obesity in her thirties and in 1972 enrolled in a Jack LaLanne weight loss class where she learned a breathing exercise for weight loss. While practicing the breathing exercise at her home, she claimed  to have a series of mystical visions of Jesus Christ, Bhagawan Nityananda, and Neem Karoli Baba. After an alleged experience of stigmata, Jaya began meditating on a regular basis and became acquainted with spiritual teacher Hilda Charlton who helped to introduce her to spiritual seekers in the New York area who became increasingly devoted. Kashi Ashram. Ma Jaya moved to Indian River County, Florida in 1976 where she founded Kashi Ashram. Located on the St. Sebastian River just west of the city of Sebastian, Kashi Ashram attracted students who helped to develop the property. At one time, the ashram had  more than two hundred residents. With a communal living structure, residents help with maintenance, food preparation, and participation in yoga and meditation practices. A K-12 primary and secondary education center called The River School (originally The Ranch School) was opened in the early 1980s and closed after graduating its final class in 2005. An HIV/AIDS education and prevention program named The River Fund was created in 1990 and is still in operation. An affordable living community named By The River was opened in 2009 and included accommodations for forty low-income seniors. By The River was foreclosed in 2013  due to insufficient government funding and a lack of grant funding. The Kashi Ashram community remains active and includes a retreat center, yoga school and sustainable farm. The retreat was visited by Julia Roberts after she discovered Ma Jaya's teachings when researching her role for the 2010 movie Eat, Pray, Love. Virtual yoga teacher training and permacutlure courses have been offered only via virtual platforms due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Satellite branches of Kashi Ashram were also established in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Colorado, Santa Fe, and Atlanta. Kashi Atlanta Ashram was founded in 1999 in the  Candler Park neighborhood by Jaya Devi Bhagavati. Criticism. Ma Jaya faced accusations of emotional and physical abuse, substance use, and the promotion of cult-like practices. The Kashi Church Foundation has denied these allegations. American spiritual teacher Ram Dass wrote a 1976 Yoga Journal article entitled "Egg on My Beard" which criticized Ma Jaya's teaching style as "disquieting" and referred to her as "Ms. Big" and an embodiment of the Hindu Goddess Kali. Dass asserted that Jaya asked him and other followers to purchase costly gold bracelets and semiprecious gemstones for her personal use in grounding practices during and  after meditation. He went on to narrate an alleged incident in which Jaya, accompanied by a group of her followers, climbed an eighteen-story apartment building in New York City to gain access to his residence without his permission. Rick Alan Ross, a self-styled cult specialist, referred to Ma Jaya as a "charismatic leader of a potentially destructive cult." Paul R. Martin, clinical psychologist and founder of Wellspring Retreat and Resource Center described Kashi Ashram as "having all the markings of a cult." A 1993 People Magazine article entitled "It's not just Waco--Cults rule by paranoia flourish  under America" criticized Kashi Ashram. In 2013, Ma Jaya's youngest daughter sued the Kashi Church Foundation in a Miami court, claiming that in 1981 she was sexually assaulted by a church member after being married to him against her will. Jaya's daughter claimed that on December 10, 1981 she was married to 25-year-old Kevin Brannon so that she could be impregnated to allegedly provide more church members for Ma Jaya. The Kashi Ashram and Brannon deny the sexual assault ever happened. Ma Jaya is said to have ordered marriages between devotees who "barely knew each other ," although most seemed to consent - according to follower Lyn Deadmore writing in her journal in 1981. A spokesperson for Kashi Ashram denies these arranged marriages occurred. 1989 and 2001 court filings alleged that Jaya manipulated followers into giving her custody of their children. Publications and Artwork. Ma Jaya authored a number of publications including "Deep and Simple Wisdom: Spiritual Teachings of Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati", "The 11 Karmic Spaces: Choosing Freedom from the Patterns That Bind You" and, "The River." Jaya was an accomplished artist and primarily used acrylic on canvas to depict complex scenes involving Hindu deities and abstract  storytelling that illustrated scenes of Universal spiritual wisdom. Death. Ma Jaya died of pancreatic cancer on April 13, 2012 at her home in Kashi Ashram. A memorial service was held in her honor at Kashi Ashram on May 26, 2012. Honours and Affiliations. According to the Kashi foundation, Ma Jaya was widely recognized for her work and was a recipient of many awards and honors. However, many of these awards are unverifiable. Ma Jaya had many affiliations with various international organisations, including: