Posted inBooks

Invisibility is a centerpiece of existence

I just started reading a beautifully written book by Akiko Busch about invisibility, "How to Disappear: Notes on Invisibility in a Time of Transparency."  I'm sure I'll have more to say about the book as I get further into it, but here's a taste of Busch's writing from the Introduction. It reminded me of what I said in the post I wrote yesterday about us human beings not being aware of the deep dark unconscious sea that lies beneath the light bright waves of conscious awareness -- and in truth is those waves, since everything arises from the brain's hugely…
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Posted inPersonal/Stories Radha Soami Satsang Beas

My definitive answer to why I left Radha Soami Satsang Beas

Geez, I thought, when I read the comment. Another one!  I have no idea why so many people are so interested in why, after 35 years, I deconverted from being a follower of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), which is headed by a guru devotees consider to be God in human form. But here's the comment by the somewhat weirdly named "Guru." Naturally my second thought was, No way am I going to pick only one option or reply in one sentence. Instead, I'll use this blog post to convey what I hope is the definitive answer to why I…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Being worshipped leads Gurinder Singh Dhillon to behave badly

I no longer believe that any person deserves to be worshipped. Respected, yes. Everybody is deserving of respect. But worship, no.  For a long time, though -- some 35 years -- I was a member of an Indian religious organization (Radha Soami Satsang Beas, or RSSB) headed by a guru who is considered to be God in human form. Just imagine how Christians would act around Jesus if he appeared on Earth. Worshipful, right? Well, that's how RSSB devotees act around Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the current guru.  Recently Dhillon was accused of criminal conduct by his cousin, Malvinder Singh. Defenders…
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Posted inIndia

Mumbai bolly-hop team gives a miracle dance performance

Hey, I don't believe in supernatural miracles, but I sure believe in miracles of physicality that I can see with my own eyes. Here's a mind-blowing performance on a recent World of Dance episode by The Kings -- a bolly-hop (mixture of Bollywood and hip-hop styles) team from Mumbai, India.  Their personal stories, not shown in this video, also were inspiring. I recall they said they had to walk quite a few miles to practice together, and had to practice on beach sand because they couldn't afford to use a dance studio with cushiony mats to absorb falls and such.…
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Posted inHumor Radha Soami Satsang Beas

Allegedly, this is an alleged blog post about allegations

Here at the Church of the Churchless we admire humor, especially when it is directed at oh-so-serious religious believers.  So I'm pleased to share this comment by Spence Tepper, who wrote it as a properly amused response to someone who was upset by me not using "alleged" in each and every sentence I wrote about a criminal complaint filed against Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas. I've corrected a few alleged typos in the comment that was allegedly written by Tepper. Hi Michael. You wrote "In case he decides to delete that blog post, I have…
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Posted inComments Radha Soami Satsang Beas Spiritual practice/meditation

Another RSSB defender attacks the messenger, me

This blog has been alive and well since 2004. That's 15 years of talking truth to religious power here at the Church of the Churchless. After over 4 million page views, 2,526 posts, and 42,239 comments, I'm well aware of the games religious believers play when their cherished faith comes in for criticism. One of their favorite ploys is to attack the messenger when the message being shared is so convincing, they have no effective response to my truth-telling. Recent case in point: commenter Chris. He's been doing his best to defend the Radha Soami Satsang Beas guru, Gurinder Singh…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Legal filings circle closer to RSSB guru’s financial wrongdoing

Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the so-called "spiritual" guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) must be feeling cramped these days, because the criminal inquires related to illegal loans he and other  members of the Dhillon family received is growing ever closer to him. Today LiveMint has a story, "Fortis Healthcare asks Sebi to order arrest of former promoters." Those promoters are Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, cousins of Gurinder Singh Dhillon. Download Fortis Healthcare asks Sebi to order arrest of former promoters Fortis Healthcare Ltd has asked the markets regulator to order the arrest of its former promoters, chairman Ravi Rajagopal said, after…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

RSSB devotees need to adjust their spiritual story

Religions love stories. Take Christianity, for example. The story is pretty simple. God so loved the world he sent his only Son, Jesus, to be born via a virgin birth and to die on the cross as redemption for the sins of humankind. (Not being a Christian, this is my best attempt at a one-sentence story summary. Adjust as desired.) The Indian mystical faith that I belonged to for 35 years, Radha Soami Satsang Beas, or RSSB, has a somewhat similar story. God arranges it so there's always at least one Perfect Living Master on Earth whose job is to…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Sheena shares a letter

Here's a letter from Sheena forwarded to me by someone I know who is in contact with her. Sheena was made aware of comments on this blog that said she has returned to the Dera, so she wanted to share the truth about this. (The Dera is a term for the headquarters of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, a spiritual organization in India that Sheena used to be involved with. She wrote a book, "Memoirs of a Seeker," that describes her experiences with RSSB.) Hello Brian. Sorry I have not corresponded directly with you or got a chance to talk or…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Legal filing against Gurinder Singh Dhillon is fascinating reading

Someone sent me a copy of the legal brief filed by Malvinder Singh against his cousin, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas; the guru's wife and children; Malvinder's brother, Shivinder; and several cronies of the guru. It's fascinating reading that casts a dark light on the guru. Here's a 16 mb PDF file:Download Malav EOW Criminal Complaint This complaint has formed the basis for a number of stories in the Indian financial press (see here, here, and here). Now, obviously Gurinder Singh and the other people named in the complaint will have an opportunity to respond to…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Another story about Gurinder Singh Dhillon’s financial wrongdoing

It's another day, with another story in the Indian financial press about the Dhillon family's involvement in financial deals that are almost certainly illegal, and absolutely certainly unethical.  Read the Live Mint story, "Fortis fraud may exceed ₹2,000 crore, says SFIO." Excerpts below:Download Fortis fraud may exceed ₹2 000 crore says SFIO New Delhi/Mumbai: The alleged funds diversion at Fortis Healthcare Ltd could add up to more than ₹2,000 crore, according to the trail of funds uncovered by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), a government official said. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), too, suspects that the…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Fake news about Sheena; real news about Gurinder Singh’s unpaid debts

I've got some fake news about Sheena to correct, and some real news about Gurinder Singh Dhillon's unpaid debts to share. First, yesterday a commenter on one of my posts, Neha, said that Sheena is back at the Dera -- which is the Indian headquarters of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, a spiritual organization headed up by Gurinder Singh Dhillon, who faces increasing legal troubles about death threats he's reportedly made and massive unpaid debts (described below).  Someone who knows Sheena emailed me today, saying: "Have been asked to tell you that Sheena is not back at Dera nor has she…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the RSSB guru, accused of making death threats

Well, that didn't take long. A mere day after I wrote a blog post ("Gurinder Singh Dhillon back in financial scandal spotlight") where I wondered how long it would take for the Radha Soami Satsang Beas guru to be directly implicated in wrongdoing, the Indian press is reporting that Gurinder Singh has been accused of making death threats against his cousin, Malvinder Singh. And as if that wasn't enough to trash the guru's spiritual reputation, Gurinder Singh also is accused of accepting a huge amount of money in exchange for guaranteeing that another cousin, Shivinder Singh, would succeed him as…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Gurinder Singh Dhillon back in financial scandal spotlight

It's been a while since the financial misdeeds swirling around Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, have appeared in the news.  Now, though, The Hindu has a story, "Whistle-blower makes fresh charges in Fortis matter." It opens up new avenues for investigations into how Dhillon, his sons, and one of his closest aides may have benefitted from some loans that previously were thought to have been directed elsewhere.Download Whistle-blower makes fresh charges in Fortis matter - The Hindu Here's the story. I've boldfaced parts for emphasis.  The Fortis Hospitals matter, in which the Securities and Exchange…
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Posted inAtheism

On living an atheist life: nothing special, not feeling alone

As I've done in previous posts, here's an email interchange I had recently with someone who visits this blog regularly and likes to share ideas with me.  I WROTE: Yes, giving up the feeling of being special is indeed a relief. As you’re probably aware, I’ve written about this from the perspective of index investing. Trying to beat the markets both takes a lot of work and has been proven to usually be a waste of time, since investors typically buy high and sell low, rather than the reverse. Likewise, so is believing that you can beat the God market.…
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Posted inHumor Religions

George Carlin jokes about absurdity of religion

In an email message, a regular Church of the  Churchless visitor recommended that I check out a George Carlin video about Christianity.  When I searched You Tube, a pleasing variety of videos popped up where Carlin bashes religion. So I picked the one that's gotten the most views, 11 million.  Enjoy. Carlin hits on a lot of great points, including the crappy job that God is doing with the world, the ridiculousness of combining the threat of hellfire with God's love for us, why praying makes no sense, and the insatiable demand of religions for money, money, money.
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Posted inBooks Buddhism Spiritual practice/meditation

Here’s a positive sign of my (mini) enlightenment

I was really proud of myself tonight. So proud, I'm thinking that what I did could be a tangible sign of my enlightenment, mini, or even micro, variety. After finding a parking spot a couple of blocks from my 6 pm Tai Chi class in downtown Salem, I walked away from my VW GTI without going back and checking if I'd locked the car via a button on the door handle. Now, this may not seem like something that distinguishes an enlightened being. It pales in comparison to what supposedly happened with the Buddha under the Bodhi Tree.  But given…
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Posted inReligions Science

Science is never certain. Religion should do the same.

For a little light reading today (I'm being ironic) I picked up my copy of physicist David Deutsch's "The Fabric of Reality: The Science of Parallel Universes -- and Its Implications." Thumbing though a chapter I'd already read, The Nature of Mathematics, I came to this passage. It made me wish that religions, mystical paths, and other varieties of supernaturalism were as wise as science. Mathematicians are rather proud of this absolute certainty [that mathematical proofs are true], and scientists tend to be a little envious of it.  For in science there is no way of being certain of any…
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Posted inAtheism

Atheists like me are by far the most disliked religious minority

Minorities tend to be misunderstood by majorities. Whites don't really know what it is like to be African American. Heterosexuals don't really know what it is like to be homosexual, or more broadly, LGBTQ. And religious believers don't know what it is like to be atheist. (Note: I was a religious believer for 35 years, Eastern mysticism variety, so I'm very familiar with both religious belief and atheism -- having deconverted from my previous belief about 14 years ago.) So as an atheist, I haven't been surprised by the response of many to my also-atheist wife, Laurel, using the public…
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Posted inBuddhism Spiritual practice/meditation

Meditation isn’t mystical. It’s about awareness of actual reality.

For about 35 years I had some deluded notions about meditation. Back then I embraced a teaching that said meditation was about concentrating at the eye center (third eye, basically) so one's mind/soul could enter higher realms of mystical consciousness. Now I realize that this wasn't what genuine meditation really is all about. A book that I've gotten back to reading, "Altered Traits:  Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body" has helped me understand this.  I bought this book in September 2017, wrote a rather critical blog post about it in April 2018 ("Awareness is a process,…
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