The 40 Richest And Most Controversial Spiritual Gurus Throughout The World

12. Bikram Choudhury Earnings Go Up To $75 Million

Photo by : Tia Rescott

Bikram Choudhury is an Indian author, yoga teacher and the founder of the Bikram Yoga (hot yoga) method. Bikram has declared this method of yoga restored his health after being in a crippling weightlifting accident at age 20. In the 1970s Choudhury emigrated to the United States and founded many yoga studios to later start offering teacher certification courses. Currently, there are thousands of Bikram certified instructors with Bikram Yoga studios around the world. Bikram has been involved in several lawsuits with allegations including sexual harassment, sexual assault, sexual battery, false imprisonment, and discrimination. Jane Doe sued Bikram with an allegation of sexual battery and rape and has stated that the teacher recruits foreign volunteers who are “so in fear of defendant Bikram Choudhury’s wrath that they will travel to the US and risk violating immigration laws in order to serve him.” Jafa-Bodden worked closely with the teacher and claims she was both a witness and victim of Bikram’s “severe, ongoing, pervasive and offensive conduct” towards women, homosexuals, African-Americans and other minorities. In 2016 the yoga guru returned to India opening several more yoga studios. According to his attorney, Choudhury will not come back to the US and hopes to testify over Skype to defend himself on the other pending court cases.

13. Louis Farrakhan Earnings Go Up To $3 Million

Farrakhan at The Rock Newman Show

“White people are potential humans – they haven’t evolved yet,” says Louis Farrakhan.

Minister Louis Farrakhan is an American religious speaker, activist, social commentator and National Representative of the Nation of Islam. He’s regained many of the Nation of Islam’s National properties including the NOI National Headquarters Mosque Maryam and has reopened over 130 NOI mosques in throughout the world. Farrakhan has been described as anti-semitic, sexist, homophobic, and a proponent of an anti-white theology and has received sexual discrimination complaints after banning women from attending one of his speeches. In 1994 as a response to the complaints he gave an only women speech, in his speech at the Mason Cathedral Church of God in Christ he declared “’You’re just not going to be happy unless there is happiness in the home. Your professional lives can’t satisfy your soul like a good, loving man” and as reported by The New York Times Farrakhan “urged the women to embrace his formula for a successful family” encouraging them to prioritize their husbands and children over their careers, to stay off welfare and reject abortion, and he also stressed the importance of cleaning and cooking.

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