Experts in human rights, sociology and religious movements

Human rights experts and renowned academic scholars have over the past 20 years spoken out against the abusive behaviours targeting yoga teacher Gregorian Bivolaru and MISA.
Gregorian Bivolaru
The holistic, well-documented and professional evaluations of these experts are unfortunately little known, or even purposefully ignored by the authorities and the public opinion.
Gabriel Andreescu
Gabriel Andreescu
Romanian human rights activist and political scientist
Willy Fautré
Willy Fautré
Co-founder and Director, HRWF – Human Rights Without Frontiers
Liselotte Frisk
Liselotte Frisk
Swedish scholar of religion
Massimo Introvigne
Massimo Introvigne
Italian sociologist of religion, author, intellectual property attorney, co-founder and the managing director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR)
Raffaellla di Mazio
Raffaellla di Mazio
Managing Director, LIREC – Center for Studies on Freedom of Religion, Belief, and Conscience, psychologist and theologian
Gordon Melton
Gordon Melton
American religious scholar, founding director of the Institute for the Study of American Religion
Karl Erik Nylund
Karl Erik Nylund
Doctor in theology, Sect expert
Susan Palmer
Susan Palmer
Canadian sociologist of religion and author
Pierluigi Zoccatelli
Pierluigi Zoccatelli
Italian sociologist and essayist, deputy director of the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR)

Key insights: Articles, interviews, research and more  

5 Part Series
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January 2025

#SheToo: The Experience of MISA Women

Susan Palmer
Series by Canadian professor of sociology Susan Palmer, about her research and interviews of women in MISA, giving a very nuanced perspective of the feminine experience within this yoga movement.
Article
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January 2025

French media and Miviludes are contributing to the creation of a fearful environment for religious minorities

Robert Johnson
Over the years Miviludes has come under increasing scrutiny for the lack of transparency, the sensationalist rhetoric and the questionable methodologies. Also, its relationship with the media is rather close which has created a feedback loop that amplifies the public fears and stigmatizes religious minorities.
Article
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January 2025

Who is Mihai Stoian, the Romanian yoga teacher arrested in Georgia and wanted by French justice?

Willy Fautré
Mihai Stoian, a renowned Romanian yoga teacher, has been arrested in Georgia and is wanted by French justice. With a background in nuclear physics and mathematics, Stoian's life took a turn towards yoga after meeting Gregorian Bivolaru, the founder of MISA.
Article
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January 2025

Who is Adina Stoian, the female yoga teacher arrested in Georgia and wanted by French justice?

Willy Fautré
Adina Stoian, a renowned yoga teacher, has been arrested in Georgia and is wanted by French justice. Born in Romania, Stoian has spent over 30 years teaching yoga and spirituality, but now faces extradition on charges of human trafficking and exploitation, which she vehemently denies.
Press Release
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December 2024

Presumption of Innocence or Witch-Hunt – What Is It Going to Be? An Appeal for Sincerity of Media Reportage

Atman Federation
After one year of the abusive police actions in France against peaceful yogis, the investigation is ongoing, and thus, no official statement, let alone judgment, has been released.
Article
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November 2024

Police raids on Romanian yoga centers in France, one year later

Will Fautré
it has been one year since SWAT teams of around 175 policemen simultaneously descended at on eight separate houses in and around Paris. Many yoga practitioners have filed complaints concerning the conditions of their custody.
Paper
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November 2024

MISA: Spiritual Explorations and Experiences in the Practice of Esoteric Yoga

Raffaella Di Marzio
Discussing the ’psychology of faith’, conversion/affiliation process and analysing the experiences of ten practitioners from different yoga centers, all members of Atman, the International Federation of Yoga and Meditation.
Call for release
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October 2024

MISA: A call to the Georgian authorities for the release of Mihai and Adina Stoian

11 signatories
Eleven scholars and human right activists ask Georgia to resist the long arm of French anti-cult repression and free the two MISA leaders.
Timeline, Article
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October 2024

Timeline of the Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute

Massimo Introvigne
A thorough timeline and presentation of MISA and its founder, Gregorian Bivolaru. Updated in October 2024.
Article
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September 2024

Disproportionate widescale police raids with abuses starting from a personal settlement of scores

Willy Fautré
At the origin, a university researcher sentenced for harassment against a female colleague. According to the French media, the story of the wide scale police raids targeting yoga practitioners started with a University of Angers medical researcher called Hugues Gascan.
Article
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September 2024

The long arm of France: Why MISA’s Mihai and Adina Stoian have been arrested in Georgia

Massimo Introvigne
The two leaders of the movement founded by Gregorian Bivolaru are threatened with “life imprisonment” for the pseudo-crime of “psychological subjugation.”
Research
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September 2024

Liselotte Frisk and MISA: An emic view of a yoga school and its perils

Camelia Marin
A student of MISA herself, the author describes her personal journey and how she decided to investigate whether the accusations against her yoga school were true and where they came from. In the process, she met several scholars, and came across judges and prosecutors, whose perspective was obviously different.
Interview
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June 2024

I was a victim of a police raid and was abusively detained for two days and two nights

Willy Fautré
“In the last ten years, I have been several times in Vitry-sur-Seine to stay in a place which was used for spiritual retreats by yoga practitioners. Every time it was comfortable, the environment was very pleasant and quiet, but on 28 November 2023, it turned into a nightmare and a traumatic experience.”
2 Part Testimonies
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April 2024

Simultaneous SWAT raids on Romanian yoga centers in France: Fact checking

Willy Fautré
Willy Fautré fact-checks the media coverage of the French media, which was afterwards copy-paste published in worldwide press of the simultaneous SWAT raids on the yoga centers in France in November 2023.
Study
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March 2024

Repression of groups that promote “sacred eroticism”. A collective exercise in cruelty, contempt and hypocrisy

Gabriel Andreescu
"It would be appropriate for the French authorities, together with the public opinion in the country of Voltaire, to rethink the repressive policy against adults who make a free and voluntary choice of their conscience and therefore follow precepts of their own will".
5 Part Series
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March 2024

The Police raids against MISA in France in November 2023

Susan J. Palmer
While the authorities and mass media claim “women” have been “liberated” from a “sex cult,” Professor Palmer met and interviewed the “victims” and was told a very different story. In this series of articles, she presents some of her findings that raise serious questions about the methods, purpose, background and even legitimacy of these brutal actions by the French police.
Interview
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February 2024

“A Pact with the devil”: Mădălina Dumitru speaks out on MISA, Gregorian Bivolaru, and her book

Massimo Introvigne
Bivolaru was once sentenced for a sexual relationship with her when she was 17. She denies it ever happened—and says she has been offered 350,000 EUR to change her story.
Book Review
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February 2024

Review of the book “The Broken Flight” by Mădălina Dumitru

Massimo Introvigne
Mădălina Dumitru tells how she unwillingly became a pawn in a cunning plan to destroy the MISA Yoga School and imprison the yoga teacher Gregorian Bivolaru. After years of unjust persecution and humiliation, she dares to unmask the stigma of terror that the Romanian State authorities marked her with.
Video Interview
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February 2024

“Abuse of Weakness” or “Brainwashing” – Does It Really Exist? – Interview of Prof. Massimo Introvigne

Soteria International
It is necessary to open up to see the comprehensive perspective offered through academic studies, to understand that people who join spiritual movements are normal people, merely having their particular beliefs or practices. And as long as they respect the laws of their country they should enjoy freedom, respect and social protection, just like any other citizen. Yet the repetitive police raids and their scandalous presentation in mass media tell a different story.
Article
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January 2024

Controversies Around Natha Yoga Center in Helsinki: Background, Causes, and Context

Liselotte Frisk
The article argues that none of the controversial characteristics proposed by psychologist Margaret Singer as typical of "cult brainwashing" are present in the Natha School of Yoga.
4 Part Series
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January 2024

Behind the Bivolaru Case

Massimo Introvigne
Some significant observations from an independent expert in the field, professor of sociology Massimo Introvigne, opens a fresh perspective on the political mechanisms behind the French case against the Eminent Yoga teacher Gregorian Bivolaru.
Press Release
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December 2023

The French police raid in November 2023 resulted in not even one alleged “victim” of Gregorian Bivolaru

MISA Yoga School
Accusations flow in the media. Where are the “victims” though?
Press Release
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December 2023

The Truth of our Esoteric Yoga Movement

Natha Yoga Center Denmark
NATHA was contacted by Thomas Prakash, a journalist from Danmarks Radio. He only gave us few hours notice to reply. Here is the answer NATHA sent to DR.
Press Release
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November 2023

After almost 20 years, history repeats itself

MISA Yoga School
A new concerted attack against the yoga teacher Gregorian Bivolaru and indirectly also against the MISA Yoga School. The English translation of the press release made by MISA Yoga School, one of our Atman Member schools.
Press Release
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November 2023

Another episode of a slanderous witch-hunt against genuine spirituality

Atman Federation
We are deeply concerned about the unsubstantiated attacks of the police and media against our Federation. We refute any of these current absurd allegations which are brought with no evidence.
Press Release
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October 2023

A vile plot against spirituality and the eminent yoga teacher Gregorian Bivolaru

Atman Yoga Federation
Ms. Mădălina Dumitru is the author of an autobiographic book “The Broken Flight” where she reveals the fabricated facts of authorities to attack the esoteric spiritual schools of the Atman Federation and the Eminent Yoga Teacher Gregorian Bivolaru.
Article
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May 2023

Is Netflix a threat to religious liberty?

Massimo Introvigne
Sensational TV series about religious leaders sentenced for sexual abuse are broadcast without considering that they wreak havoc in the lives of their innocent followers.
Book Review
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May 2023

Review of the book Sacred Eroticism by Massimo Introvigne

Karolina Maria Kotkowska
Kotkowska points out that the whole MISA case is grasped multidimensionally and includes optics from many different perspectives and declares the book a must-read for anyone interested in New Religious Movements, religiosity and eroticism and, more broadly, for all those intrigued by contemporary religious phenomena.
Report
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July 2022

The Swedish asylum case of Gregorian Bivolaru

Rosita Šorytė
An important precedent was established by the Supreme Court of Sweden on October 21, 2005, when it stated that “cult” leaders accused of common crimes not directly related to religion cannot expect a fair trial in countries where an obvious prejudice against their religious beliefs and practices exist.
Book Review
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June 2022

Review of the book Sacred Eroticism by Massimo Introvigne

Michele Olzi
The dramatic history and the teachings of the movement are highlighted in the first monograph consecrated to it.
Webinar
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April 2022

Scholars discuss human rights and justice in MISA case

Soteria International & others
An event organized by Soteria International, Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), European Federation for Freedom of Belief (FOB) and Human Rights Without Frontiers (HRWF) on MISA, or the Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute.
Analysis
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July 2018

Discourse analysis of the public communication campaigns about the Yoga Teacher Gregorian Bivolaru

Mugurel Calistrat Atudorei and Konrad Swenninger
The case of the Romanian Yoga movement and its founder, the yoga teacher Gregorian Bivolaru, is well known for the human rights activists and organizations, especially in Europe. The media was used as a manipulation element and an instrument of repression.
Lecture - Academic Analysis
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May 2018

Sacred sexuality in some contemporary esoteric groups: From early 20th century origins to MISA

Massimo Introvigne
MISA, founded by Gregorian Bivolaru is the largest group teaching sacred eroticism today. One of the reasons of the scandals that were launched against it and its founder is the association between spirituality and eroticism, thus challenging general worldviews. In reality, the courses on love, eroticism and sexuality represent a very small part of the teachings of the school.
Paper
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September 2017

Sex, erotic art, and the repression of alternative movements: The strange case of an esoteric movie director

Massimo Introvigne
The movies and shows created by a group of artists which are students of MISA were not made to generate significant income, nor as a recruitment tool. They have an educational role, expressing their own personal beliefs and beneficial experiences as a result of tantra yoga practice.
Report
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September 2017

Introduction: The Radical Aesthetics of a Romanian Esoteric Movement

Massimo Introvigne
This issue of The Journal of CESNUR explores the history, doctrines, and controversies of MISA, arguing that its teachings cannot be reduced to a doctrine of sexuality only and propose a “radical aesthetics” that also explains the reactions by both its religious and secular opponents.
Article
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September 2017

The Religious Background of the Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute

J. Gordon Melton
This article shows that portraying the Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute (MISA) as an unprecedented phenomenon, due to its integration of sacred eroticism into a religious worldview, is actually not correct. This integration has precedents in Taoism, Tantrism, and Western Esotericism.
Paper
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September 2017

Esotericism, Deviance, and Repression: An Introduction to MISA

PierLuigi Zoccatelli
This paper examines the history and worldview of MISA, the Movement for Spiritual Integration into the Absolute (MISA). Although the roots of the movement are in Siddha Yoga of Tamil Nadu and Tantric Shivaism of Kashmir, Bivolaru has in fact created a new and creative form of both theoretical and practical esotericism, with Indian roots as well as Western influences.
Article
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September 2017

MISA, the Anti-Cult Movement and the Courts: The Legal Repression of an Esoteric Movement

Raffaella Di Marzio
The article raises the question of how an anti-esoteric prejudice may have influenced MISA legal cases and their outcome. In this respect, the paper examines three possible explanations of the extreme anti-MISA feelings prevailing among sectors of the Romanian police and media, related respectively to the Romanian context, the campaigns against “cults,” and esotericism.
Paper
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April 2017

The Radical Aesthetics of MISA

Massimo Introvigne, PierLuigi Zoccatelli, Raffaella Di Marzio
This four part paper examines the history, worldview, and legal problems of MISA, as a form of radical aesthetics.
Paper
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July 2016

Yoga in the Courts: the Legal Battles about MISA

Gabriel Andreescu
Analysis of the abuses that were made in the legal cases related to Gregorian Bivolaru and MISA.
Presentation
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July 2016

MISA, an Overview

Massimo Introvigne
In this overview, Massimo Introvigne points out the common deformation and misinterpretation of truth that are constantly made in the case of MISA.
Case Study
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June 2016

The Effect of the Persistent Media Campaign on the Public Perception – MISA & Gregorian Bivolaru Case Study

Daniela Popescu
the effects of the mass media in shaping public perception. In the case of the Romanian yoga movement and the yoga teacher Gregorian Bivolaru, more than 25 years of media campaigns of defamation and hate speech have a measurable effect on the public perception, as the mediated image was based on false accusations and repetitive stereotypes.
Paper
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June 2013

MISA, Facets of an identity: minority of conscience, minority of sexual practice, and minority born of repression

Gabriel Andreescu
Gabriel Andreescu proposes that, taking in consideration the discrimination and harassment done upon MISA, it should receive protection as a minority group.
Analysis
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June 2013

MISA, Gregorian Bivolaru & Yoga Practitioners in Romania

Willy Fautré
Willy Fautré, director of Human Rights Without Frontiers International (Brussels), speaks about how the long judicial harassment of Gregorian Bivolaru on numerous charges, the persecutions faced by MISA yoga practitioners for over 20 years have been amplified by an escalating social panic on television, on the radio and in the printed press.
Report
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October 2005

Vicar Karl-Erik Nylund’s report on MISA

Karl-Erik nylund
Nylund’s report was one of the main defense evidence in the extradition trial ruled on by the Supreme Court in Stockholm in 2005, which decided finally and irreversibly to decline Romania’s extradition request. Nylund has clearly proven with his investigations that MISA is not a radical religious group, nor a manipulative sect.