Bonus Sample: Michael Parenti Went to a Yoga Ashram - Conspirituality

Summary

Conspirituality Podcast – Bonus Sample: Michael Parenti Went to a Yoga Ashram
Date: March 9, 2026
Host: Matthew Remski
Main Theme:
This bonus episode explores the intersection of spirituality, materialism, and authority through a recounting of political scientist Michael Parenti’s satirical story about attending a yoga ashram. The episode connects Parenti’s experience with broader questions about hypocrisy, cultic dynamics, and authoritarian behaviors in new age and wellness circles.

Episode Overview

Matthew Remski opens with a brief explanation of Conspirituality’s mission: probing the overlap of conspiracy, cultic thinking, and spirituality, particularly as it manifests in the yoga and wellness worlds. The heart of this episode is a retelling and reflection on a story shared by Marxist historian Michael Parenti during a 1987 lecture, in which Parenti critiques religious hypocrisy and exposes the contradictions of spiritual leaders who wield material power while preaching asceticism.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Michael Parenti’s Yoga Ashram Anecdote

[00:48-02:40]

Parenti recounts attending a yoga retreat in the Caribbean, motivated simply by his appreciation for yoga.
The retreat was led by a “head swami,” whose sermons emphasized the primacy of spiritual things and the worthlessness of material possessions.
Parenti observes striking hypocrisy: the swami owned a yacht and a seaplane, and, in a panic over his yacht drifting away, displayed anger, ego, and authoritarian control over his followers.
Parenti notes:
- The swami frequently spoke about love but acted “filled with hate.”
- He asserted, “no one is perfect, only I am perfect.”
- He expelled questioning members and threatened police involvement for dissenters.
Parenti identifies these behaviors as theocratic and authoritarian, using spiritual rhetoric to justify material excess and intolerance.

2. Context & Legacy of Michael Parenti

[02:40-04:10]

Remski offers biographical context:
- Parenti, who recently passed away, was a Marxist political scientist from a working-class Italian American family in NYC.
- Parenti attended City College and Yale, ultimately teaching at multiple universities.
- He was known for his activism (notably antiwar protests) and faced state and media backlash, including being injured and arrested at a protest, subsequently vilified by the press upon his move to Vermont.
Remski positions Parenti as a critical, often under-appreciated voice adjacent to better-known figures like Noam Chomsky, committed to exposing both state and institutional abuses of power.

3. Broader Reflections (Implicit in Content)

Parenti’s story becomes a lens for critiquing not just religious hypocrisy, but the way charismatic leaders in spiritual movements can cultivate cultic control while profiting materially and silencing dissent.
The episode fits into the podcast’s project of revealing the dangers and contradictions of “conspirituality,” where new age rhetoric dovetails with authoritarian, conspiratorial dynamics.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

Michael Parenti (00:48):
- “And then one day his yacht got loose from the pier and it began to float away and he started to scream and say, get my yacht. Get my yacht. And he had a yacht and he had a seaplane. And this man of love, I noticed, was filled with hate.”
Michael Parenti (01:45):
- “He got up and talked about how no one is perfect, only I am perfect. He kicked out a couple of people from the place because they raised some questions and he threatened to bring the police in.”
Michael Parenti (02:10):
- “And it occurred to me that this swami was the perfect theocrat, that what we had here was a theocracy using the power of the state to enforce your will, countenancing no alternative opinions, and up to ears in wealth.”
Matthew Remski (02:40):
- “He was an American Marxist political scientist and historian… and he worked his way through City College and then Yale and then taught at a bunch of universities, including Illinois, Urbana Champaign and Vermont.”

Timestamps for Key Segments

00:03 – Introduction to the episode and host
00:48 – Michael Parenti’s ashram story (core of the episode)
02:40 – Contextual biography of Michael Parenti
04:10 – (End of content; transitions to promotional section)

Conclusion

This episode uses Parenti’s vivid anecdote to illuminate the ongoing concerns at the heart of Conspirituality: how spiritual or wellness leaders can manufacture authority, profit, and control, all while espousing ideals that their behavior plainly contradicts. The tale is both satirical and sobering, serving as a jumping-off point to consider the relationship between charisma, hypocrisy, and power within alternative spiritual cultures.

For deeper analysis and more bonus content, listeners are directed to the Conspirituality Patreon.

Transcript

A (0:03)

Hey, everyone, I'm Matthew Remsky. This is Conspirituality, where we investigate the roots and intersections of conspiracy theories and spiritual influence to uncover cults, pseudoscience and authoritarian extremism. You can follow myself, Derek and Julian on bluesky. The podcast is on Instagram and threads under its own handle, and you can support our Patreon. You can also find me personally on YouTube and TikTok at antifascist dad. Short bonus episode today called Michael Parenti Went to a Yoga Ashram. And it's a riff on a story that Parenti told to open a lecture in 1987 in Colorado called the Political Uses of Religion at the American Atheists Convention. So I'll start by rolling that.

B (0:48)

A few years ago, I went on a yoga retreat in the Caribbean, a little island. It's an ashram where people practice yoga. I went because I like yoga. Unfortunately, this microphone in front of me. Can you all hear me all right back there in the cheap seats, you can hear me? Okay, fine. Unfortunately, the head of the whole this yoga sect was there, the head swami, very religious man. And he gave sermons every morning which the guests were required to attend. And every day he talked about love and the higher cosmic force of love. And every day he talked about how spiritual things were everything and material things are nothing. He was an Indian. He says, spiritual things are everything, material things are nothing. And then one day his yacht was. Got loose from the pier and it began to float away and he started to scream and say, get my yacht. Get my yacht. And he had a yacht and he had a seaplane. And this man of love, I noticed, was filled with hate. He yelled at people. This man of God was full of ego. He got up and talked about how no one is perfect, only I am perfect. He kicked out a couple of people from the place because they raised some questions and he threatened to bring the police in. And it occurred to me that this swami was the perfect theocrat, that what we had here was a theocracy using the power of the state to enforce your will, countenancing no alternative opinions, and up to ears in wealth.

A (2:40)

So who is Michael Parenti? Well, he just died a few weeks ago, so you might have seen some posts about him if you didn't know him before. He was an American Marxist political scientist and historian, born in New York City in 1933 to an Italian American working class family. And he worked his way through City College and then Yale and then taught at a bunch of universities, including Illinois, Urbana Champaign and Vermont. Now, if you haven't heard of Michael Parenti or if you have a number of Noam Chomsky books on your shelf, but none of Parenti's. Here's why, according to an account by the late UVM philosophy Prof. And activist Will Miller. Also Parenti writes about this in his author autobiography. Parenti arrived at UVM in the fall of 1970 after coming from a springtime of anti war protests at the University of Illinois. At one of those protests, Parenti had been injured and arrested while trying to stop police from harming student demonstrators. Sounds familiar. This is a situation you'll recognize from today. A cop in riot gear clubs him over the head and then claims that the professor has had assaulted him. So Parenti was convicted. He was fined a couple hundred dollars, but on his way to Vermont or prior to him arriving in Vermont that fall, the press there, including the Burlington Free Press, picked up the story and really publicly vilified him before his arrival.