Posted inMiracles Mystics

Placebo effect seems to explain most “miracles”

We humans love to believe in strange stuff. We're the only animal, most likely, with the ability to conjure up stories about what doesn't physically exist.  Sure, my dog does seem to dream, moving her paws and making noises while asleep, but I strongly suspect her mind is fantasizing about chasing a squirrel or cat, not about God, heaven, angels, or some other supernatural entity. Because religious stories are so deeply embedded in human culture, it's difficult for believers to find a detached vantage point to assess claims of miracles, extrasensory perception, mystical visions, and such in an objective manner.…
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Posted inMystics Radha Soami Satsang Beas

Faqir Chand believed in removing people from church

Faqir Chand is my kind of guru. Though he started off with traditional ideas of what being a guru was all about, Chand came to realize that the mystical powers devotees attribute to gurus are merely manifestations of their own mind. And as you can read below, Faqir Chand favored removing people from church, rather than bringing people into a church. Exactly how I feel! Churchlessness is the way to go. This is my third post about Chand's philosophy, the previous posts being here and here.  I've been focusing on Faqir Chand recently because I know that quite a few…
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Posted inMystics Radha Soami Satsang Beas

More straight talk from Faqir Chand about inner visions

Here's a follow-up to yesterday's post, "Faqir Chand was a guru who exposed how gurus deceive devotees." That post stimulated some comments in which questions about Chand were raised. Pleasingly, David Lane responded with some highly informative comments. Lane is responsible for a book about Chand's life and philosophy, after asking the guru if he would write his story before he left this world.  So Lane is deeply knowledgeable about all things Chand'ian. Lane's comments are shared below. Naturally they will be of most interest to those interested in the Indian spiritual paths of Sant Mat and surat shabd yoga.…
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Posted inMystics Radha Soami Satsang Beas

Faqir Chand was a guru who exposed how gurus deceive devotees

I used to follow a guru. Now I don't. So I don't need any persuading that gurus are completely unnecessary to live a spiritual life or to meditate in a satisfying fashion. But if you're someone who still clings to the idea that gurus possess special wisdom or powers, the message of Faqir Chand could help you wean yourself from those erroneous assumptions. Until I ordered a book about Chand from Amazon about a week ago, what I knew about him came from a few essays and videos by David Christopher Lane, who brought this book into being: "The Unknowing…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Gurinder Singh Dhillon should respond to allegations of his criminality

In a recent post, "RSSB guru responds to allegations of criminality (weirdly)," I shared a report of what Gurinder Singh Dhillon said to a questioner who asked the guru what to say to someone who has questions about allegations of Dhillon's financial fraud. Tell him my baba was getting bored he needed some excitement and he came with a bang.  OK, that's a response. But not a very good one. About eight months ago Dhillon said he would respond to allegations "at an opportune time." A  time, obviously, that hasn't arrived yet. Here's two comments on this subject that were…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

RSSB guru responds to allegations of criminality (weirdly)

Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, has been decidedly silent about allegations of criminality (financial fraud, death threats) made against him by his cousin, Malvinder Mohan Singh. But someone emailed me this exchange that reportedly occurred on April 10, 2019 during a surprise visit by the guru to a meeting of the Singapore RSSB group. I won't even attempt to comment on it, since the guru's responses are so weird. Q: Babaji:  what do you have to say about the financial scandal? A: RSSB has nothing to do with it. In case you want to read we…
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Posted inAtheism Reality Religions

Changing your mind is a superpower. Use it.

I have a superpower. But unlike those with superpowers who inhabit the pages of comic books and the screens of movie theaters, my astounding ability is available to everyone. It's called changing your mind.  I'm sure you've used it  -- many times. After all, we change our minds about countless things during the course of our lives. For example, I've changed my mind about my... Politics (Used to be conservative, now I'm a liberal). Cars (I've gone from a 57' VW bug to a 2017 VW GTI, with many other makes in between). Marriage (Got divorced, then remarried).Profession (Earned a master's…
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Posted inOpen Threads

Open Thread 20 (free speech for comments)

Leave a comment on this post about anything you want to talk about. Remember that I'm moderating comments, so it could take a while for your comment to be published. Almost every comment submitted to an Open Thread will be approved. Personal attacks devoid of substantive content are an exception. Though I haven't been doing too well on this, I'll try to remember to always have an Open Thread showing in the Recent Posts section in the right sidebar. If one isn't showing, I've added an Open Threads category in, naturally, the Categories section. You can always find an Open…
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Posted inMiscellaneous

Mumbai dance team, The Kings, rocked it on World of Dance

OK, got to update my previous post about other-worldly dance performances.  My wife and I just finished watching the second hour of Sunday's World of Dance show that we'd recorded. Wow! The Kings, a group from India (Mumbai), won the senior team division and made it into the World of Dance finals next week with an amazingly powerful performance. It was inspiring that one member of The Kings was injured in practice, yet resolved to compete in the performance. I believe he was the one who ended up in a wheelchair after the Kings performed. They said the theme was…
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Posted inMiscellaneous

Other-worldly dance performances on World of Dance

I don't really believe there is a God of Dance. But after watching these other-worldly performances on recent episodes of World of Dance, I'm open to that possibility.  Here's Briar Nolet, The Kings (from India), and Poppin John. I find Nolet the most amazing. She's a gymnast turned dancer who does moves that seem impossible. But they're real.  
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Posted inPolitics

Rabbi Goldstein is wrong. A moment of silence in schools is useless.

Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, who lost a finger in the attack on the Chabad of Poway synagogue where one person was shot to death yesterday, has a perfect right to be deeply upset by what happened to his congregation. But today I heard Goldstein speak about what he thinks the proper response should be to the attack, and I heartily disagree with him.  Goldstein said that prayer used to be allowed in public schools. Now, it isn't. Instead, the Rabbi wants every school day to begin with a moment of silence. We should know that God created us, he said. There's…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Gurinder Singh Dhillon ignores sexual abuse of a child

Below you can read an email message I received yesterday from someone who observed first hand how Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, essentially endorsed a father's sexual abuse of his child -- by telling a tearful wife, "Don't involve the authorities."  Now I'm sure some fundamentalist devotees of the RSSB guru will excuse his disgusting behavior by saying things like "No one can question the wisdom of the guru" and "Gurinder Singh can do no wrong, being a perfect master." That's bullshit. To show why, let's imagine this scenario:  A woman goes to a minister…
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Posted inBuddhism Personal/Stories

My Zen snow globe

BEHOLD... my mystical magical enlightening Zen snow globe! You turn it over to stir things up, then it settles down. Until things get stirred up again, after which they settle down. Just like life.
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Posted inBuddhism Science

Buddhists, the mind isn’t like a mirror. Science knows better.

In my churchless frame of mind, it's rare that I can get very far into a book with some religious overtones before I start using my highlighter to make question marks in the margins. The book I'm reading now, As It Is by Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, was bought because I was curious to learn more about one of the Dzogchen/Buddhist teachers mentioned in Sam Harris' Waking Up book -- which I like a lot. (But which also has some question marks in the margins; just a few, though.) I'll write about what appeals to me in As It Is in another…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

I just made this comment

I just made this comment to someone who tried to justify the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas' unfeeling response toward people with suicidal tendencies. See here and here.  I'm curious if anyone disagrees with what I said. It sure makes sense to me. Dungeness, you're presuming that being "spiritual" is something different from being a decent human being. I heartily disagree. Being a decent human being is the foundation of spirituality. Absent that, it's possible to justify lies, deceit, abuse, and other things that gurus sometimes engage in. When someone shares a serious personal problem and seeks support/advice, I've…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

How many people has Gurinder Singh Dhillon indirectly killed?

Yesterday a commenter called "BlackRose" asked the question that I made the title of this blog post. It's impossible to know the answer. All we can be sure of is that Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, lacks both normal human compassion and the most basic understanding of how to talk with someone who was, or is, suicidal.  UPDATE: I just made this comment to someone who tried to justify the guru's unfeeling response toward people with suicidal tendencies. I'm curious if anyone disagrees with it. It sure makes sense to me. Dungeness, you're presuming that…
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Posted inUncategorized

Our ordinary life is way more important than our religious life

Looking at the title of this blog post after I wrote it, at first I wondered if "ordinary" is the right word for what I'm talking about here.  Namely, our everyday life. What we do that's personal, intimate, immediate, direct, experiential. How we spend most of our hours. What we honestly describe when someone close to us asks, "How was your day?"  On further reflection, ordinary seems like the right word.  Sure, often people have the notion that being ordinary isn't good enough. But this seems crazy. What's wrong with having an ordinary life that's mostly meaningful, satisfying, pleasurable?  And…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Religare is committed to getting its money back. Bad news for RSSB guru.

Given my goal of bringing readers of this blog all the news in the Indian financial press about the Singh brothers'/RSSB guru's misdeeds that's worth sharing, here's a mildly interesting story in The Economic Times, "New management committed to ensure good governance, says Religare Enterprises." Below are a few excerpts relating to Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas. Dhillon orchestrated the installation of Sunil Godhwani as CEO of Religare, after which Godhwani proceeded to illegally funnel money from Religare into shell companies controlled at the time by the Dhillon family and close associates. Since most of…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Why a guru shouldn’t give mental health advice

There are many reasons to be wary of gurus. An overarching reason is that often, if not usually, devotees of a guru trust them way more than is justified -- since gurus obviously are human beings, flawed and imperfect like we all are. Below you can read the experience of "Sonya," a regular commenter on this blog who shared a comment today that I felt deserved to be featured in a blog post.  Gurinder Singh Dhillon Sonya describes how Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (an Indian religious organization), responded after she courageously asked him about…
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Posted inHumor

Deepak Chopra quote generator shows ridiculousness of New Age’ism

Religions are absurd by definition. They make confident proclamations about God, heaven, life after death, and such, even though there is zero convincing evidence that God, heaven, life after death, or other supernatural phenomena even exist. But there's plenty of absurdity floating around in the sphere of "spiritual but not religious," which includes New Age ideas. Deepak Chopra is a notable purveyor of this sort of crap. I've written about Chopra here, here, here, and here. The blog post linked to in the last "here" is called Deepak Chopra's inanity makes my head explode. OK, not literally. Otherwise I couldn't…
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