Radha Soami Satsang Beas

Yesterday I got the following email message from someone who has become disillusioned with the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, Gurinder Singh Dhillon. The RSSB guru is mired in financial wrongdoing that's been extensively reported on by the Indian financial press.  UPDATE: Originally this post was titled "A Gurinder Singh Dhillon initiate talks about their disillusionment." Obviously since this person was initiated in 1974, it was by  Charan Singh, the RSSB guru at the time. My mind failed to register that when I wrote the post, probably because this person speaks about her disillusionment with Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the…

Here at the Church of the Churchless we look forward to getting back to our usual faithless programming after the Indian financial press stops writing new stories about the alleged financial wrongdoing of the Radha Soami Satsang Beas guru, Gurinder Singh Dhillon. But here's a fresh episode in the Dhillon drama that we've been reporting on, a LiveMint story: "Gurinder Singh Dhillon used funds from Ranbaxy sale to buy real estate."Download 'Gurinder Singh Dhillon used funds from Ranbaxy stake sale to buy real estate' Now, defenders of the guru probably will think, what's the big deal with Dhillon buying some…

David Lane is a professor of philosophy and sociology whose Neural Surfer web site has an appealing tag line: "Where the Skeptical meets the Mystical."  That's a great summary of how Lane views spirituality. Like me, he's an initiate of Charan Singh, who was the guru of the India-headquartered Radha Soami Satsang Beas organization prior to Gurinder Singh Dhillon -- who has served as the RSSB guru since Charan Singh's death. Lane has an academic interest in the history of RSSB and related Radha Soami sects that far exceeds mine. But we share an interest in the nature of reality,…

Here's the best summary I've seen yet of the financial fraud that the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, (allegedly) has committed while purporting to serve as the "spiritual" leader of a sect with millions of followers worldwide. (The image below came from a story in an Indian publication that I shared in a previous post.) And the summary you can read below was written by a frequenter commenter on this blog, Spence Tepper. Tepper has been a hospital consultant for 30 years, so he knows how bad it is for the guru and his family to…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Well, it's been a while since Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, cousins of Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas in India, have been in the news.  (Being bad at genealogy, I used to think they were nephews; now I'm pretty sure they are cousins.) But that changed yesterday. December 7 is remembered here in the United States as the day in 1941 when the Japanese attacked ships at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.  Looks like the Singh brothers wanted to make that date memorable in India for their own brotherly fireworks. Check out a December 7 The Times…

Here's a guest post from the always-interesting Osho Robbins. Plus, a video Robbins made to accompany what follows. It has a "69" joke, so that alone leads me to recommend it. Robbins has an intriguing take on the Sant Mat version of spirituality. Since I wrote a book called Return to the One, I'm sympathetic to the notion of oneness.  However, I'm also sympathetic to the notion of non-oneness, since as Robbins observes, if everything was really One, there wouldn't be anybody who could stand outside of the oneness and say, "This One is absolutely wonderful!" (or we might say,…

Even though I no longer belong to Radha Soami Satsang Beas, I know that many people who visit this blog are still interested in the RSSB philosophy, and how the current RSSB guru, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, is taking that philosophy in a new direction. Here's a message I got today from Osho Robbins, who enjoys speaking with Gurinder Singh, a.k.a. "Baba Gurinder," about subjects few, if any, people raise at RSSB meetings, or satsangs. As I've noted in previous posts, it's good that Gurinder Singh is acting less like a traditional RSSB guru and more like a Zen master. However,…