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Mooji

An icebreaker

A Jamaican-born teacher who studied with an Indian advaita master in the 1990s now runs a large retreat community in Portugal, drawing thousands to his videos and satsang. In 2018 and 2019, former students publicly alleged abuse and control there, which he has denied.

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Worth knowing · 1 of 5
How did he become a teacher?
Born in Jamaica in 1954, he worked as a street portrait artist in London before traveling to India in the early 1990s, where he met a well-known advaita teacher and, as the tradition holds, recognized his own true nature in that teacher's presence.
Worth knowing · 2 of 5
What does he teach?
As the tradition holds, he teaches self-inquiry in the same lineage as his own teacher, pointing students toward recognizing awareness itself rather than any story about who they are, largely through recorded video satsang and in-person retreats.
Worth knowing · 3 of 5
Where does he teach now?
He leads a large retreat community called Monte Sahaja in rural Portugal, where hundreds of students live or visit for extended periods, alongside a wide online following built through freely distributed videos and talks.
Worth knowing · 4 of 5
What controversy has followed the community?
In 2018 and 2019, former residents publicly alleged psychological control, manipulation, and misconduct at the ashram. He and his organization have denied the allegations and described them as coordinated slander.
Worth knowing · 5 of 5
Has this affected how his work is received?
The allegations remain disputed. His community and online following have continued, and former residents and his organization still give very different accounts of the same events.
Words to know
SatsangA gathering held in a teacher's presence, traditionally understood as sitting together in or near truth.
Self-inquiryA practice of turning attention onto the sense of 'I' itself rather than its usual objects of thought.
Monte SahajaThe name of Mooji's retreat community and land in rural Portugal.
More words
AdvaitaA non-dual teaching tradition holding that the individual self and ultimate reality are not separate.
A voice · 1 of 3
Mooji · Teacher who leads the community

Speaking through his organization's public statement, he described the allegations of abuse and control at Monte Sahaja as false and as a coordinated campaign of slander against him and his community.

A voice · 2 of 3
H.W.L. Poonja · His own teacher, known as Papaji

In Lucknow in the 1990s he taught visiting Westerners, Mooji among them, that freedom needed no practice, only direct recognition of what was already true; Mooji presents his own teaching as continuing that lineage.

A voice · 3 of 3
Be Scofield · Independent journalist who reported the allegations

Publishing an investigation into the community in 2019 based on interviews with former residents, they reported claims of psychological manipulation and controlling behavior at Monte Sahaja, allegations Mooji's organization has disputed as slander.

A line to leave them with
A teaching and a community around it aren't always judged the same way.
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