Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Religions

All religions are not alike. Radha Soami sects are wrong about “shabd.”

I'm always (well, usually) glad to admit when I've been wrong about something. So I'm pleased to say that during my true believing days, which stretched into over 30 years, I was decidedly wrong about the world's major religions having a common denominator. Namely, an all-pervading conscious spiritual energy known in India as shabd. Various "Radha Soami" sects claim it is possible to return to God by connecting one's individual soul-consciousness with this universal divine-consciousness -- which manifests as inner sound and light.  Wikipedia says: Shabd is referring to spiritual current which can be perceived in meditation as inner light and…
48
Posted inPersonal/Stories Radha Soami Satsang Beas

My current atheist view of a previous religious revelation

For over 30 years I was a devoted initiate of an Indian guru, Charan Singh. He was the leader of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), a spiritual/religious organization headquartered in Beas, India.  The only time I saw Charan Singh in person was during two weeks in 1977.  I'd just begun a new job in state government in Salem, Oregon. I had a five year old daughter who was going to get her first bicycle from "Santa." My wife dearly wanted me to be home for Christmas.  I did too. However, I was even more desperate to see the guru in…
15
Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Good criticisms of Guru Gurinder Singh and his spiritual organization

I enjoyed this blog post comment from "reet" so much, I've made it into a post. These are some great criticisms of how the Indian spiritual organization Radha Soami Satsang Beas operates, and the lavish lifestyle enjoyed by the RSSB guru, Gurinder Singh, and his relatives. The RSSB guru travels in private airplanes and in high end cars with high level security, his son is the CEO of a multimillion dollar company, his wife has million dollar stocks to her name, his relatives are rich billionaires. It's totally fine if you're a businessman and doing all this with your "earned"…
41
Posted inGod Radha Soami Satsang Beas

Gurinder Singh: the One is the goal, God without attributes

I no longer believe in God. Meaning, a God who is this or that, a God who can be described, who can be known, who can be experienced. But I'm very much open to the notion that One is at the heart of reality. Heck, I wrote a book called "Return to the One" about the teachings of Plotinus, a Neoplatonist Greek philosopher.  After all, something has to have always existed, or existence wouldn't exist. So why not call this the "One"? Just don't ascribe any attributes to the One, because the One couldn't have any attributes, being, obviously, One. …
455
Posted inBuddhism Radha Soami Satsang Beas Taoism/Tai Chi

Flexible improvisation is a better way of living than rigid religion

Rules are fine. Except when they aren't.  For me, one of the most enjoyable things about giving up on the ridiculousness of religion is no longer having to comply with rigid rules, dogmas, commandments, rituals, and such.  Every religion has its own peculiar absurdities. Of course, what is absurd to an outsider will make sense to an insider. At least if the insider doesn't think about what's being required too much.  Here's an example: the mystical meditation path I followed for about thirty years demanded that followers be vegetarians. This wasn't a problem for me, since I'd stopped eating meat…
2
Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Looks like God in Human Form isn’t more powerful than a VCAT member

Here's a Radha Soami Satsang Beas related newspaper story that came to my attention via someone's Twitter feed that I follow: "Opponents to religious group Radha Soami Satsang Beas' worship centre in Green Wedge at Carrum Downs score win at VCAT." (VCAT stands for Victorian Civil & Administrative Tribunal) A religious group’s plan for a large worship centre in Carrum Downs has been scuttled after opponents had a stunning win at VCAT. In a decision handed down yesterday, VCAT member Michael Deidun overturned Frankston Council’s approval of a permit for the Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) group’s new Australian headquarters…
4
Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Gurinder Singh, RSSB guru, “hale and hearty” after medical tests

Having been a member for many years of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), a mystical/meditation-based spiritual organization headquartered in India, I'm still somewhat interested in going-on regarding the group's current guru, Gurinder Singh. So when someone I follow on Twitter shared a link to "Radha Soami Sect Chief Gurinder Singh Dhillon returns from Singapore hale and hearty," I was curious to read this Punjab News Express story. Note: Dera refers to the main RSSB center in the Punjab; "lac" is a hundred thousand. Punjab News Express/Jagmohan Singh AMRITSAR: Radha Soami Sect Chief Gurinder Singh Dhillon today who had flown to Singapore following…
3
Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Religions

HBOs “The Young Pope” reminds me of some Indian gurus

Last night my wife, Laurel, and I watched the first episode of the HBO series, The Young Pope. It was weirdly realistic while also being strangely fantastical. The official trailer will give you a feel for the Young Pope, masterfully played by Jude Law. Laurel, being a retired psychotherapist, didn't have any trouble diagnosing the newly elevated Pope Pius XIII: psychopath. The Young Pope is controlling, manipulative, hypocritical, and charismatic. In other words, he is like lots of other religious leaders in both the West and East. They prey on the misguided faith of their followers. They profit from being…
3
Posted inDeath/Rebirth Radha Soami Satsang Beas

The astounding egotism of believing in an afterlife

Religious believers like to claim that they're more humble than us atheists. Their devotion to God supposedly is a reflection of a selflessness lacking in spiritual skeptics.  Actually, the reverse is true. It's taken me a while to realize this, in no small part because I brainwashed myself into believing otherwise during my 30+ years of religiosity. For a long time I was deeply proud of my humility. Now I understand how deluded I was. (See here and here.) The most astounding display of religious egotism is belief in an afterlife.  Think about it: it is obvious that all living…
54
Posted inHumor Personal/Stories Radha Soami Satsang Beas

Secret of happiness revealed (but my wife disagrees)

In the course of de-cluttering my office yesterday, I came across a long-forgotten piece I'd written for RS Greetings, a spiritual magazine published by Radha Soami Satsang Beas, back in the days when I was a member of this India-based guru-led organization. As I said in a 2004 post about the article, "Sadly, ego-loss didn't arrive in the mail," I'd argued with the editor of the magazine about their policy of not including the author's name.  So I told the editor that their Anonymous policy prevented readers from offering valuable feedback, and from authors learning from those readers. That’s the…
1
Posted inPersonal/Stories Radha Soami Satsang Beas

Why I stayed with a religion for 35 years

Today I responded to a person from India who had some questions about my experience with Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), the spiritual guru-based group I belonged to for about 35 years. Here's what I said: _____, sorry for the delay in replying. I’m not qualified to “guide you through it all,” but I can offer some thoughts in response to the questions you posed.  The way I see it, one reason people don’t see through religions is because they strongly want to believe in a happy fantasy. That was one reason why I stayed with RSSB so long. I…
13
Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Relatives of RSSB guru Gurinder Singh fined $400 million for hiding business facts

It's a fascinating soap opera, how billionaire nephews of guru Gurinder Singh are entangled with the Indian spiritual organization that he heads -- Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB). Gurinder Singh's family earned about $250 million from shares of Religare Enterprises they paid about $3 million for, as I described in "Radha Soami Satsang Beas' guru makes $254 million." Those shares came from Malvinder Singh, who is the guru's nephew. Malvinder's brother is Shivinder Singh. They formed Religare after selling their stake in Ranbaxy Laboratories to Japan’s Daaichi Sankyo Company. A few years ago, Guru Gurinder Singh's son became CEO of…
7
Posted inMystics Radha Soami Satsang Beas

How could a guru who knows he is a fake be a “good person?”

Here's a mildly-edited email from someone who asked me some provocative questions about Charan Singh, a Radha Soami Satsang Beas guru who I was initiated by in 1971, after which I followed his teachings for about 35 years.  This person apparently sent me an email, rather than posting the message as a blog post comment, because he thought I might be offended by what he said about Charan Singh.  Since I'm not -- and in fact enjoyed the message a lot -- I'm sharing it here. Following the message, I share my response to the questions about Charan Singh. Dear…
17
Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Disturbing Radha Soami Satsang Beas land grab in New Delhi

Here's some news items from 2013 and 2014 I've learned about for those who like to keep up on what's happening with an Indian guru-led spiritual organization, Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB). RSSB has been appropriating land from a wildlife sanctuary outside of New Delhi. The Hindustan Times reported on this in an April 2014 story,"Forest dept accuses spiritual body of land grab." Download Forest dept accuses spiritual body of land grab | india | Hindustan Times The Delhi centre of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) has occupied 123 acres of forest land, the forest department has alleged. The department…
7
Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

A look at Radha Soami by a thoughtful sceptic

Wow. That was my thumbs-up one-word reaction to a well-written, cogent, intelligent, moving comment on a 2006 blog post, "Top ten signs you're a fundamentalist Satsangi." The writer put so much time and thought into the comment, right away I knew it deserved to be elevated into a blog post where it would be more visible.  So, here it is, below. Having been devoted to the Radha Soami philosophy myself for about 35 years, I resonated with much of what this person said. I didn't grow up in a Radha Soami family as the commenter did, so it was interesting…
13
Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Billionaire Shivinder Singh plans to volunteer for Indian guru

Recently someone left a comment on one of my blog posts that had a link to a story, "Shivinder Singh's ties with low-profile sect go beyond spirituality." Download Shivinder Singh’s ties with low-profile sect go beyond spirituality - Livemint The commenter said: Looks like Shivinder is on his way to become the next Guru ..... What do you think Brian and Dr. Lane? Well, I don't have an answer to that question, because I have no idea what is behind Shivinder's decision to give up being a billionaire Indian businessman and do volunteer work at the headquarters of a spiritual…
29
Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Another disillusioned RSSB devotee tells his deconversion tale

I'm a big fan of religious deconversions. They're just about as common as conversions, since few people stick with a chosen religion for their entire life.  (See here, here, here, here, and here.) Below is a mildly edited message that I got a few days ago from someone who has deconverted from the India-based religious/spiritual/mystical group I belonged to for many years, Radha Soami Satsang Beas. At the sender's request, who wishes to be anonymous, I took out names and other personal references. I also added in some explanations (in italics) for words that will be unfamiliar to most readers,…
15
Posted inChristianity/Jesus Mystics Radha Soami Satsang Beas

A Sant Mat follower returns to Jesus (and wants to hear from others who have done this)

Here's a message I got from someone who tried to follow both Sant Mat and Christianity. After developing doubts about the Science of Spirituality branch of Sant Mat (led by guru Rajinder Singh), she returned to her faith in Jesus. Below the woman says, "If anyone has any information about Science of the Soul that is not commonly known or discussed, I would be interested in hearing their stories. Especially from those that have chosen to leave the path for Christianity." Even if this doesn't describe you, the woman is interested in comments -- whether positive or negative -- from…
122
Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Horrible: Guru Gurinder Singh opposed to abortion after a rape

Here in the United States, only the most extreme opponents of abortion (which is legal in this country) want to prevent women who have been raped, and get pregnant with the rapist's child, from terminating the pregnancy. So I was shocked when someone emailed me the message below. She describes a satsang (public talk) given by an Indian guru, Gurinder Singh, last summer. The guru took a hard line with a woman who asked if a woman who had been raped should have the child. I used to be a member of the religious/spiritual organization, Radha Soami Satsang Beas, the…
54
Posted inGod Radha Soami Satsang Beas Religions

“Faithless Feminist” speaks to irreligious women and men alike

My wife, Laurel, is an increasingly ardent scientifically-minded religious skeptic. After starting a Meet Up discussion group here in Salem -- Science Minded Skeptics --  she's gotten to know Karen Darst, a Portland woman who runs the Faithless Feminist web site.  Check it out. It isn't just for women, or feminists. I liked Garst's "The Devil Made Me Do It" post. The whole idea of the devil is ridiculous, but the notion of an supernatural power in opposition to God (who is another absurd idea) can be found in Eastern as well as Western religions.  For a long time I…
9