Radha Soami Satsang Beas

Below is another in a series of guest blog posts 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. What follows is an interesting perspective regarding how a culture, in the case Indian, can be viewed quite differently by an older and younger generation -- which affects the ability of a religion founded in that culture to continue to appeal to people. Gill refers to Jasdeep…

Below is another in a series of guest blog posts 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. RSSB: my bottom line I've written many emails here which Brian has amazingly honoured, read, and posted. I am so grateful for this. It was Brian's idea to make these blog posts. I'm also stunned and humbled Brian put together an archive of these. I never thought…

Below is another in a series of guest blog posts 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 makes some excellent points in this post. The Beatles went to India in 1968 to studyTranscendental Meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. In "My strange RSSB initiation story," I speak of the tenor of those times and how I became involved in 1969 with a crazed Greek…

Below is another in a series of guest blog posts 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. Seva means volunteer service. Here's a couple of previous blog posts dealing with selfless service: Is seva, selfless service, possible? Why direct it toward God? What is seva in the RSSB organization? RSSB: the "selfless service" paradox RSSB teaching says that the guru never leaves you and…

Below is another in a series of guest blog posts 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. Seva means volunteer service. RSSB discounts This is kind of the sister post to "RSSB hoover tactics". I'd say this is another hoover tactic. When I was in the process of leaving RSSB - I was told many different things from many different people. This came from…

Below is another in a series of guest blog posts 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. GSD stands for Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the primary RSSB guru. Charan refers to Charan Singh, the RSSB guru prior to Gurinder Singh. Sawan Singh was a RSSB guru quite a while ago. RSSB: The Missing Generation Over time I observed the attendees of the centres. Who else…

Below is another in a series of guest blog posts 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. GSD stands for Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the primary RSSB guru. RSSB: The GILL problem Many will know RSSB has a new guru, Jasdeep Singh Gill. He's not the main guru - although he does sit on the podium, has authority to speak, authority to give initiation to…

Below is another in a series of guest blog posts 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. After Anon's post, I'll share some thoughts from another RSSB critic that roughly reflect what Anon is saying here. RSSB: Generational Gulf In my time at RSSB I saw a lot of multi generational goers. RSSB was majority and overwhelmingly Indian, even at Western centres. RSSB genuinely…

Below is another in a series of guest blog posts 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 makes a point at the end of his post that I've thought about also. RSSB does seem to be a declining religion, because young people aren't attracted to it. Kind of a tough sell when the "marketing" is no sex outside of marriage, strict vegetarian diet,…

In my previous post, "Delhi High Court ruling could be bad news for Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family," I shared reporting from the Indian financial press about a forensic audit required by the court that seeks to understand why a $4.6 billion arbitration award won by the Japanese pharmaceutical firm Daiichi Sankyo against Malvinder and Shivinder Singh in 2008 hasn't been able to be paid by the Singh brothers. Now I'm going to explain, as best I can, because this financial fraud saga is highly complex (hence the need for the forensic audit), how the guru of Radha Soami…

Thanks to a comment from Rohit on a recent post, I learned about a story in the Economic Times that points to some serious potential legal problems for Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas. Providing background on those problems means delving into some complex financial issues. So be warned. This post will be long, but interesting for those willing to put in the time to read all of it. First, this was Rohit's short comment, which  provides a good overview of what's going on here. GSD means Gurinder Singh Dhillon. Delhi HC means Delhi High Court.…

Below is another in a series of guest blog posts 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. RSSB LIFESTYLE RULES SUMMARY OF RSSB RULES RSSB lifestyle rules are lacto vegetarianism (no meat fish eggs) teetotalism (no alcohol or drugs) meditate (2.5 hours daily at the cost of sleep or socialising) attend seva (voluntary service) attend satsang (sermons) celibacy (if unmarried and even encouraged within…

Below is another in a series of guest blog posts 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. What Anon describes about the demands put upon RSSB initiates seems particularly true for Indian members of the organization, whether or not they live in India. The pressure to be viewed as an exemplary RSSB member seems greater when a person's culture and family connections encourages this.…

It's a pleasure to share a guest blog post critical of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) from a different person than Anon, who has written quite a few guest blog posts that I've shared here on the Church of the Churchless. Below you can read this person's description of how the RSSB guru, Gurinder Singh Dhillon (GSD), treats women in an insulting and misogynistic way. After the message, I'll share links to blog posts I've written that point in the same direction: the RSSB guru is a misogynist who insults women. Keep in mind that according to the RSSB teachings,…

Below is another in a series of guest blog posts 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. Well, based on what you'll read below, the other posts Anon has shared, what many other RSSB initiates have told me since I started this blog in 2004, and my own experience with RSSB, there's good reason to say that RSSB isn't so much a faith, as…

Below is another in a series of guest blog posts 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. Things I don't miss about RSSB Initially when I joined RSSB it was all "light and love" but things changed. I did end up running for the door and I could never seem to get out. It reminds me of that song "Hotel California" by The Eagles.…