On January 16, a former member of the Shambhala Ashram sect sued half a million rubles from the organization’s leader Konstantin Rudnev, who is now serving an 11-year sentence for rape and other crimes. The total amount of compensation reached 4.2 million rubles. Konstantin Rudnev, who called himself the reincarnation of Jesus Christ and an alien from Sirius, led the sect for more than 20 years. It included up to 30 thousand people. Rudnev gave the greatest preference to young women with whom he had tantric sex. Lenta.ru studied the history of the Shambhala Ashram.

Climbing

Kostya Rudnev’s mother and grandmother said that as a child he was weak and was constantly bullied by his classmates . Peers of the future “alien from Sirius” hung Kostya upside down in the school toilet; bullied in other ways. One day Zoya Rudneva bought her son a book on yoga, which was almost unheard of in the USSR. According to the mother, she hoped that the exercises would help the boy become strong and establish communication with classmates. In a sense, her hopes were justified. However, clearly not in the form she expected.

After school, Rudnev graduated from mechanical engineering college, then he was drafted into the army. By that time, he was already deeply interested not only in yoga, but also in Eastern philosophy. In the army, the recruit began to propose to the command to create a monastery based on the Shaolin model on the basis of the military unit. The command tolerated these oddities. But after Rudnev, while on guard duty, opened fire with a machine gun for no reason, he was sent to a Samara psychiatric hospital.

In 1989, Rudnev was discharged and returned to his native Novosibirsk, where he met Elena Zakharova. A friend supported his endeavors in studying Eastern practices. Together they founded a company and began organizing paid yoga seminars. Rudnev’s brother Sergei helped the couple for some time, but soon abandoned this activity, accusing his relative of deceiving clients. Sergei claims: in response, his brother did not even try to convince him that he himself believed in his teaching. He allegedly said that the deception would not be revealed, since “no one understands anything anyway.”

The content of the courses had little in common with classical Eastern teachings. Rudnev actually created his own syncretic religion, in which elements of Eastern teachings were intertwined with Western occultism such as astrology and folk superstitions - the courses sold “unchangeable nickels.” There were also Christian features in the teaching: Rudnev frightened his followers with Armageddon, supposedly scheduled for the year 2000, and called himself the reincarnation of Jesus Christ.

Rudnev did not disdain frankly childish inventions - in particular, he called himself “an alien from Sirius.” And in his programmatic work “The Path of a Fool,” Rudnev complained about classmates who offended him in childhood, and expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that his mother did not protect him. According to the “alien,” the mother deserves incredible hatred for this alone. The “Guru” concluded: “It was she and the damned society who made me a fool, and now they are making me suffer.” From his point of view, having children is an activity worthy only of “sows,” and raising children is, by definition, an outrage against a free person. At the same time, he argued that a child is born “unspoiled,” and then society instills in him the wrong guidelines. The guru himself, however, did not want to become a father - followers who accidentally became pregnant were sent for an abortion.

Members of the sect "Ashram Shambhala"

Despite the absurdity, Rudnev’s teaching quickly gained some popularity among young people aged 15 to 30 years old, seeking to rebel against their parents. Rudnev's organization, called the Shambhala Ashram, became more and more like a sect. The first followers began to give Rudnev their apartments and village houses. In these premises, so-called “ashrams” were set up - dormitories for followers.

The leaders of the Shambhala Ashram published advertisements in newspapers, sent out promotional letters, and asked supporters to bring friends to classes. They distributed numerous books of their own composition, video and audio cassettes with lectures. Those interested could come to courses and seminars, which took on a variety of forms (from “oriental dance lessons” to “tea parties” and “psychological trainings”). In the mid-1990s, these classes became fashionable in Novosibirsk; no one thought anything bad about “Shambhala Ashram”. The parents of some adherents admitted in interviews that at first they even liked their children’s new hobby. Teenagers enjoyed healthy eating, exercise and reading books. Soon, similar courses began to be held in other cities of Russia, branches of the sect opened in 18 regions (including Moscow and St. Petersburg), as well as in neighboring countries.

Those who attended courses and trainings were called “students” at Shambhala Ashram, but not all of them were able to move to the next level - to become a “sadhak”. The candidate for "sadhaka" was told that he had great potential, which should be developed in the "ashram". They assured him that they were doing him a favor, and made him nervous for some time - supposedly the candidacy had not yet been finally approved. Finally, the future sectarian was allowed to pay a certain amount for training and was given a place and time for the meeting (sometimes not in his hometown).

The newly-minted “sadhak” was taken away from the meeting place with transfers, sometimes blindfolded. Upon arrival at the “ashram”, the applicant was confiscated from money, food and personal hygiene items. The money went into a common treasury, and food and hygiene items were divided among all “sadhaks” and high-ranking “mentors”. Then the recruits were brutally and humiliatingly reprimanded, convincing them that their entire previous life was of no value. After this, the candidate had to renounce his parents.

The “sadhaks” were housed with 15-20 people in one room (the younger “mentors” lived two or three people per room, and the older ones lived one at a time). They were engaged in monotonous work: gluing envelopes for advertising letters, making “magic objects” for sale. Every hour, the “sadhaks” did physical exercises for 15 minutes (not counting additional exercises for those who were guilty). They were allowed to sleep three to four hours a day. The sectarians were fed twice a day with meager gruel, and were forced not only to eat, but to play various games (“feed your neighbor,” “eat with your back to the plate,” “eat with your bare hands”). Some former sectarians suggest that drugs were mixed into their food; at least one girl, who escaped from the “ashram” in a deranged state, actually died soon in the hospital from an overdose. “Sadhaks” were rarely taken out for walks and only at night, and the main goal of hungry people was to search under their feet for at least something edible.

Most of the sectarians were girls. for male “sadhaks” in the sect They were forced to wear bright makeup, dress in revealing outfits and practice “tantric sex” with Rudnev and “mentors” (celibacy was in effect ). Girls were instilled with an aversion to the ideas of family, marriage and motherhood; they were convinced that their husbands would beat and humiliate them. At the same time, judging by the video recordings of the sect, Rudnev himself raised his hand against his concubines.

Rudnev loved to pose for the camera. The “Great Teacher” insisted that almost every step he took was recorded on film. At the same time, the sect leader rarely managed to look impressive. In one of the recordings, Rudnev tortures a cat - he puts it on a hot stove and “washes it” in a basin, and then with an important look he declares: “This is how everyone should teach cats.”

The pursuit

Law enforcement agencies first became interested in the Shambhala Ashram in 1999. A case was opened under articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “creation of a religious or public association, the activities of which involve violence against citizens or other harm to their health” and “illegal production and circulation of pornographic materials or objects.” Rudnev underwent a psychiatric examination, doctors determined that he suffers from a mental disorder that does not exclude sanity. He himself argued that the Shambhala Ashram is not a sect, but a parody of a sect. Allegedly, by his actions he subtly ridicules the signs of sectarianism known to him. As a result, the case was closed due to lack of evidence. In 2000, a new case was opened: the leadership of the sect was suspected of involvement in the death of one of the adherents (a young man committed suicide after public money was stolen from him at a train station). This case was also closed.

After contact with the security forces, the sect’s leadership took measures: the addresses of the “ashrams” were changed, Rudnev completely refused contacts with the outside world. From now on, all phone calls were answered by assistants who claimed that the “alien from Sirius” had retired. Subsequently, it became known that it was during that period that Rudnev fulfilled his childhood dream - he built a large cottage near Novosibirsk and settled in it with his concubines.

The security forces did not give up attempts to stop the activities of the sect. In 2004, they tried to place Rudnev for compulsory treatment, but he left the mental hospital without permission. In 2008, he was detained again, but the case fell apart because the sectarians refused to testify against their leader.

In 2010, Rudnev was nevertheless arrested. A dozen and a half sectarians agreed to play the role of victims. The total number of adherents of the sect could reach 10-30 thousand. In addition to creating a sect, Rudnev was accused of rape, indecent assault and attempted drug trafficking. He denied all charges. Regarding the heroin found in his pocket, the leader of the Shambhala Ashram explained that during the arrest he accidentally put on someone else’s pants. The court did not believe his arguments. In February 2013, Rudnev was found guilty of all charges. The statute of limitations for creating a sect had already expired by that time, so he was released from punishment for this episode. For other crimes, Rudnev received 11 years in prison.

The few sectarians who managed to leave the ranks of the Shambhala Ashram are still trying to recover compensation for moral damages from Rudnev. In total, about 15 lawsuits were filed against him in the amount of 18 million rubles. Almost immediately after the trial, eight claims were satisfied in the amount of three million 700 thousand rubles. On January 16, 2014, the court of the city of Strezhevoy, Tomsk Region, granted the claim of a local resident, who was also a member of the sect. Rudnev was ordered to pay 28-year-old Andrei Ganyak 500 thousand rubles. The former sectarian said that Rudnev’s teaching caused irreparable harm to his psyche. The man still cannot get a job and start a family.

Other sectarians demanded the release of their guru. For example, one of the girls close to Rudnev wrote a letter to the Prosecutor General's Office in which she said that she needed to experience 300 orgasms a day, and she could not do this without her teacher.

Konstantin Rudnev

Konstantin Rudnev is the only one who ended up behind bars in the Shambhala Ashram case. At the same time, it was suggested that this eccentric person could not independently manage such a ramified and profitable organization (according to the investigation, over the years of activity, the sect’s leadership received 30 million rubles, not counting the cost of real estate). Experts suggest a variety of people for the role of “real leader.” In particular, the name of Elena Zakharova is mentioned (who, according to some sources , after the arrest of the “guru” withdrew several million rubles from the sect’s accounts). Also under suspicion was the elderly Georgian clairvoyant Avtandil Lomsadze, who was an idol for Rudnev.

In addition, for some time the police were looking for one of Rudnev’s high-ranking followers, Pavel Khadzhonko, who worked as a surgeon before joining the sect. He was suspected of infecting several people with HIV: while infected, Khadzhonko did not refuse to participate in “tantric practices.” However, no further prospects for this criminal case were reported.

Branches of the Shambhala Ashram continue to operate under different names to this day. The sect has chosen a rather strange method of promotion on the Internet: its website and community the VKontakte use the once popular “Padonkaff language.” This is precisely an imitation: in fact, the style is quite different from the original jargon. Perhaps, in this way, sectarians who were not internet-savvy were trying to become “closer to the people,” or perhaps this was a camouflage technique.

Shambhala around the ashram