Below is another guest blog post from Anon, an ex-RSSB initiate. RSSB stands for Radha Soami Satsang Beas, an India-based religious organization headed up by a guru that I belonged to for 35 years, which explains my interest in sharing criticisms of the faith that I also found lacking.
Anon asks 30 good questions about the RSSB guru, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, and the RSSB teachings. Some of them have answers in the RSSB literature, but they aren’t convincing answers, as the answers raise even more questions. As Anon says, critical thinking is discouraged by RSSB, along with every other religion. After all, when blind faith is viewed as a virtue, then open-eyed questioning is a vice.
The reverse is actually true, of course. Critical thinking is a wonderful quality for a person to have. Truth is too important to allow it to be sacrificed on the altar of blind faith. Here’s what Anon has to say.
RSSB does not encourage any sort of critical thinking, even though they say they do.
My biggest question was this: Does ANYONE have ANY ACTUAL PROOF that the guru has helped them spiritually – in the way RSSB says the guru does?
I don’t mean he’s nice and jokes around, he does a chill out time and karaoke, he gives you a free lunch, the grounds are a nice place to go.
I also found myself asking basic questions which nobody had the answer for.
(1) How does the Guru clear your karmic account? How does he settle it? (Although allegedly now he doesn’t – that’s all on us.)
(2) How does the Guru’s merciful glance reduce your karma to a pinprick?
(3) How do we get transmigrated and reincarnated? What happens?
(4) How do we get judged? By what standards? Keeping vegetarian and teetotal and abstinent and meditating? But lots of other religions do that? (Hinduism, Hare Krishnas, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists…)
(5) If this isn’t the only path – then by what other standards do people get to ‘make it’? If they’re not following all our rules?
(6) How are we marked souls? What is the mark? Where? Who sees it?
(7) How are these ALL the marked souls who didn’t want to leave heaven? Why are they mostly all North Indian Punjabis Sikhs?
(8) Why is the guru always male? And from the same North Indian Punjabi Sikh family?
(9) How does the Guru find you at your death? How does he get you?
(10) How is the guru always with you all the time? How does he manage that as a living human being like us right now?
(11) How is he in direct contact with God all the time and able to take himself up and down from heaven at will? How come he has never described it to us himself – what it looks like?
(12) How does he manage the karma of the entire crowd globally?
(13) How can he take spiritual responsibility for you – if he has never actually met you in person properly?
(14) How come nobody has ever had any experiences – no near death experiences, no deathbed confessions, no deep sickness/chronic illness confessions, no bad incurable illness resolved?
(15) Why do we dismiss any misfortune as someone’s bad karma? That isn’t very nice or kind. That isn’t human.
(16) Why do we give any good credit or good things to the guru? Maybe it was just my own work or others help?
(17) Why are we not really encouraged to stand up for ourselves but just tolerate mistreatment? For fear of generating bad karma – but aren’t we just being complicit in our own mistreatment and bringing it on ourselves at that point? If we know and allow it to continue to happen.
(18) If you keep repeating the same 5 words for 2.5 hours a day – surely that will inevitably be what comes to mind at the time of your death?
(19) How do those words work? How are they special? They are… words. How are those specific 5 words binding and able to take us to salvation?
(20) How come we aren’t allowed to talk to each other about our experiences? How does it dilute it?
(21) How come we aren’t allowed to openly share the path with others? Surely if this is the right path the knowledge should be shared.
(22) Why is the focus on limiting karma by being vegetarian teetotal abstinent meditators? Why not through objective behaviour? Like charity, donations, kind to others, not mistreating others.
(23) Why is there a lack of focus on evil deed e.g. wars murders rapes crimes (see Epstein files etc). Why do we say nothing about that, but I’m a bad person if I eat a burger?!
(24) The original guru was Soami ji and his wife was Radha. Isn’t Radha-Soami just referring to the 2 founders of the religion? How is it any different to calling a company after its founders JP Morgan or Goldman Sachs? Is there anything spiritual in the name?
(25) How does simran (repeating chanted names) connect us to the holy sound (bhajan) which we listen to in meditation?
(26) If we have no free will – it’s conditioned due to past lives – I had no real true free choice. How can I be blamed for choices I didn’t freely make?
(27) It’s really hard to earn this salvation, and very easy to lose, and there are no guarantees – this is really hard – why are we doing this?
(28) How are there multiple heavens? How many are there? What are they all like? Why are we worshipping the rulers of this region (each name corresponds to each region). Shouldn’t we just go to God? I thought we just had to meditate on the guru.
(29) How come there are a further three regions above that we’re not told about or how to access? Why does it stop at five but the books say eight?
(30) If God doesn’t exist and it’s a state of nothingness at the highest heavenly region (level eight)… but down here it’s just all an illusion – then why do we need to do it? If nothing is real here, but the ultimate state is nothingness – aren’t we doing that already?
My personal favourite because it made me switch off totally – and it ALSO made others switch off too.
There are multiple heavenly regions. We access them by chanting the repeated names quietly in our mind (simran). But after certain regions (the third region) there is no more mind, and the mind is left behind. So how does our simran carry us? How does our meditation carry us then? If we cannot meditate in the mind because there is no mind? If we switch to Bhajan (listening to the holy sound which the mantra connects us) – but we have no body to hear with in any way?
I stumped a lot of long-term people with this one genuinely who didn’t know either.
Feel free to answer, or add your own questions too.
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Do good without any expectations. Raise your own mental, moral level. Be your own Guru. Stop following people of dubious characters. Thanks.
Raise your own financial, moral, character. Be honest in your day to day dealings. Be kind to others, especially those weaker/ lower than you in social strata. Be your own Guru. Read Good literature. Avoid Porn.
Others I’d add:
– How come all RSSB gurus are from same family?
– If all lifeforms need karma to exist in this world, and all lifeforms under the human one are where we repent for karma, then what were trees and dinosaurs doing for billions of years before humans came?
Many religions and spiritual movements are built mainly on faith. Often, followers are discouraged from asking difficult questions about God, prophets, or gurus because questioning is sometimes seen as doubt or lack of devotion. This pattern is seen across many religions and cult-like organisations. Faith often begins early in life, usually in childhood, when a child naturally trusts parents to guide and protect them during problems or fear. Later, this trust can shift toward a guru, religious leader, or God, because humans tend to believe someone stronger or wiser can solve their problems or give meaning to life’s uncertainties. Faith can sometimes be positive, giving comfort during uncertainty, helping people cope with unanswered questions, and supporting mental health during anxiety or depression. Religious communities can also promote ethical and disciplined living, which is beneficial.
The main concern arises when spiritual authority is used for power, control, or personal gain. When followers are discouraged from questioning, it becomes easier for leaders to avoid accountability. Critics of Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family have raised concerns about alleged involvement in financial irregularities, business controversies, and property or land-related disputes. There are also online discussions about links between some family members and individuals facing drug-related accusations. These claims remain disputed, and supporters of the organisation argue that many of these accusations are either misunderstandings or politically or socially motivated. Nevertheless, critics believe such issues create a contradiction between teaching ethical and spiritual living while questions remain about the personal conduct of some associated with the leadership. The central ethical question is whether spiritual leaders who teach morality should themselves follow the same standards they expect from their followers. The real measure of any spiritual movement is not only its philosophy but also the transparency, honesty, and integrity shown by its leaders.
Fair play to critical inquiry: OK, so: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2pqFdxC05Q
But bear in mind that if you make a critical inquiry into a religion, you risk making yourself more insufferable than any guru.
As a famous Zen master said, “Whatever you say about anything, it’s at best only half true.”
That may sound like the epitome of relativist equivocation. But you know darn well that most satsangis aren’t miserable, and most non-believers aren’t more content than satsangis.
If RSSB theology is illogical madness, it should follow that the Dera and the worldwide RSSB sangat should be a case study of disfunction, depression, sociopathy and suicide. But for all the wonkiness of that RS theology, the average satsangi enjoys a degree of human contentment that escapes average nothingness devotee.
How come? You fans of critical analysis, explain why these deluded guru devotees have it more together than the common lot.
But you won’t. You’re only willing to pretend your views are the absolute truth.
How then are you any different from a guru?
Why is it that men who beat their wives or are extremely promiscuous outside their marriages are allowed to continue doing seva without any repercussions yet when a woman dyes her hair she is lectured? Immoral behavior by men is overlooked and women are judged under a microscope and shunned if they do anything slightly different than the norm. Baba ji apparently knows everything yet does nothing to stop this and allows it to continue
How will I know that I was worried about the wrong things? Ronald just told you.
RSSB maintains significantly higher social standards than surrounding cities like Amritsar, Jalandhar, and Ludhiana.
These higher social standards are driven by its strict spiritual code emphasizing ethical living, cleanliness, non-violence, and total abstinence from intoxicants.
The Dera is a well-maintained, hygienic “model township” with disciplined waste management and communal cleanliness as core teachings. In contrast, all major Punjab cities struggle with basic cleanliness standards.
The Dera fosters peace through vows of non-violence and moral conduct, resulting in negligible reported crime in its controlled environment. Surrounding cities face higher rates.
How about drug abuse? RSSB maintains strict prohibition of alcohol, tobacco, and drugs, with the Dera sometimes aiding de-addiction informally and participating in anti-drug walks. Punjab’s epidemic contrasts sharply, with millions affected (including youth), high opioid use, and border smuggling fueling issues in cities like Amritsar, Jalandhar, and Ludhiana.
Overall, the Dera’s rule-based, community-focused lifestyle creates a safer, cleaner, drug-free bubble, far outperforming the systemic challenges (urbanization, unemployment, gang violence, drug routes) in nearby Punjab cities.
Let’s face it: Punjab’s urban areas struggle with systemic issues, highlighting the Dera as a potential model for reform.
Why do you ignore all this?
Why pretend that a theology with a few extra higher planes is some kind of huge problem for society?
Why pretend that a philosophy of nothingness will result in a better life?
Why pretend that RSSB theology — for all its apparent faults and contradictions — isn’t producing a better world in India?
Have only met very few humble satsangis that live within moral code. Haven’t met any genuinely humble sevadars in RSSB.
Just my observation.
Meditation actually improves your cognitive performance, and is healthy for the brain.
Sant Mat is s philosophy supporting an uncredible path of inner journey, discovery and personal mastery through the inner assistance of the Master.
To discover the wealth of the path is simply a matter of following instructions, shape your life to do no harm to yourself or anyone else, and spend time every day with Master within.
Couldn’t be simpler. When you attend Satsang you are in a room mostly with people who have tasted the inner wealth at one level or another and are in some state of working to refine the process and make further progress. They have their proof every day.
When people here discuss their efforts to meditate, their successes and failures, they use their capacity to think in a productive way.
I must concur with Sant64. Yes, there is always trouble in paradise (Deras), but the ideals are positive and that must always been placed in any equation when one weighs the pros and cons of any association.
If one actually followed the four vows, it would serve as a safe harbor, regardless of how we may view the defects of any said guru.
https://youtu.be/0QwEJKxxHF4?is=ZwRMGKuiVp03EghQ
Long ago..
https://youtu.be/aG_E4UnGWp8?si=94eS6WfgsR_840za