Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Spiritual practice/meditation

I’m asked about my RSSB meditation experience

Today I heard from someone who discovered this blog by accident and has been enjoying my early posts. (The person is starting from the beginning, in 2004, and reading onwards.) At the end of the email message I was asked a question. Apart from generally saying hello, I thought I'd ask you something as well.  You've been following the RSSB system quite a few years (quite a few decades, more like).  You haven't found your "answer" there, as you've made clear in your blog : but I was wondering if you'd be comfortable sharing what, if anything, you've experienced in the…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Spiritual practice/meditation

Is seva, selfless service, possible? Why direct it toward God?

During my thirty-five years as an active member of an Indian spiritual organization, Radha Soami Satsang Beas, I heard a lot about seva, selfless service.  Sikhs are big on seva and Radha Soami Satsang Beas' (RSSB) teachings, a form of Sant Mat, are closely aligned with Sikhism.  The way I was taught, the highest form of seva is service to God. Since the guru was considered to be God in human form, service to the guru was the next best thing to performing service to God directly. Who, since there was no sign of this divine being, wasn't available to…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Religions

Regarding God: How do you know? What are the chances?

After about fifty years of spiritual searching, what I've learned about God comes down not to answers but to two questions applicable to everybody -- including me. How do you know?What are the chances? There's a lot to say about these eight words. I've done just that over my ten years of churchless blogging. (On the specific subject of chances, see here, here, and here.) I'll reprise the basic reason I now subscribe to a decidedly skeptical view of religious, supernatural, and other-worldly claims: It is damned unlikely, and also  egotistical, for anyone to believe they know the truth about…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Spiritual practice/meditation

My mantra meditation posts inspire me

Om. Here's proof All is One.  About half an hour ago I started to write a new blog post about meditation. But first I wanted to check out some of what I've written before on this subject. So I fired up the Great God Google search box in the right sidebar. I ended up transfixed by the inspirational brilliance of... me.  Geez, I'd forgotten how wise I was back in 2005. And 2006. And 2007. I really enjoyed re-reading five posts about my churchless take on mantra meditation.  Who knows? Maybe nine years from now I'll be equally impressed with…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Spiritual practice/meditation

Where do good feelings and spiritual inspiration come from?

You go to a cathedral. Or a rock concert. You stand on the ocean shore watching a sunset. Or in St. Peter's Square as the Pope speaks.  If you feel uplifted, where does that sensation come from? The setting, what lies outside you? Your mind, what lies within you? Some combination of the two?  Good questions.  Most of us tend to speak rather simplistically about this. We'll say something like, "Disneyland was so much fun!" Or "I loved the movie I saw last night."  That is, we either ascribe a good feeling to some external entity or to ourselves. Both views…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Spiritual practice/meditation

The various delusions of Sant Mat belief

Below is a recent comment left by Osho Robbins on this post. Though it concerns the specific beliefs of the India-based Sant Mat religious philosophy, Robbins makes some points that apply to all forms of religiosity. Such as mistaking subjectivity for objectivity; faith for facts; wishful thinking for actual reality. I agree with almost everything Robbins says. I do, however, look upon "I don't know" a bit differently than he does. It seems to me that a don't-know attitude is justified in situations akin to a coin flip -- where the actual outcome is close to 50-50: could be this, or…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

When a supposedly godly guru gets sick, what does this mean?

This may surprise Christians who believe that God took on a human form only once, in the person of Jesus: many millions of people around the world consider that Gods in Human Form (GIHF) live today, in the person of various gurus. India's Sant Mat tradition is the source of most of these GIHF's. Contemporary Sant Mat movements are led by a variety of gurus, all men, I believe. (Sexism lives on in religious circles, whether in India or elsewhere.) One such guru is Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the leader of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, which has its headquarters in the…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Religions

Two good comments about faith and guru games

Here's a couple of comments on Church of the Churchless posts that I particularly enjoyed today. Understand, I like all the comments people leave here, even the ones I disagree with. Dialogue, discussion, debate -- that's what this blog is about. (Religious people would add another "D" word,  damnation.) But some comments strike me in a special way, making me think, ah!, nicely said. This one is from Gene: "...remove the foundation of faith that supports their religiosity." The foundation of faith is the 'meaning' one finds from their very own life experiences. The only way to remove this would…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

December visits to the RSSB Dera cancelled. Anyone know why?

Today I got an email message from someone in South Africa who said that the Radha Soami Satsang Beas group there has heard that December visits with "Babaji," a.k.a. Gurinder Singh Dhillon (current guru) at the Dera in the Punjab have been cancelled. First time ever, said this person, who asked if I knew anything about this. I don't. Since quite a few people who are still involved with RSSB visit this blog, I figured I'd share the information/question and see if anyone else knows what is going on.
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Four good questions for a guru, Gurinder Singh Dhillon

Below is an email message I received today that asks four good questions of Gurinder Singh, the current guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) -- an India-based spiritual organization that I was a member of for many years. Some background info: (1) In RSSB, the next guru is appointed by the preceding guru via a will; (2) Gurinder Singh is the nephew of the preceding guru, Charan Singh, who appointed him; (3) "Satpurush" means the Supreme Being; (4) the Punjab is a province in northwest India; (5) RSSB and other Sant Mat movements believe that God/Satpurush incarnates as a…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Economic Times story casts light on guru’s business connections

Ah, Indian gurus have come a long way. Question is, a long way from what? Meaning... The traditional image of Indian gurus was of a deeply spiritual, ascetic, non-materialistic seeker of cosmic truth. The guru eschewed the maya of worldly entanglements, having his (or rarely, her) sights on lofty enlightenment. Times have changed, at least when it comes to the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, Gurinder Singh. His predecessors pretty much followed the traditional guru role.  However, Gurinder Singh has devoted himself to making his family one of the richest in India through complex financial dealings with some relatives…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Guru Gurinder Singh Dhillon gets wild and crazy

Below is another interesting message from Osho Robbins. He relates how he saw the current Radha Soami Satsang Beas guru behaving in a way that is far from traditional. Here's my take on this: It is only when we put gurus up on an undeserved pedestal, viewing them as other-worldly beings rather than ordinary humans, that behavior like Robbins describes appears unusual. For many years I was a devotee of Gurinder Singh's predecessor, Charan Singh. People would be amazed at Charan Singh doing everyday things, like reading a newspaper. Likewise, in the early days of Gurinder Singh's realm, people would…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Sevadar egos gone wild at RSSB’s Haynes Park center

Below is a message from Osho Robbins about how cult'ish meetings of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) devotees have become.  I can relate to what he says, based on my own experience. In the 1990's I was a "security" volunteer at RSSB gatherings featuring the current guru, Gurinder Singh Dhillon. I got carried away with my own supposed importance, just like the person Robbins encountered. After all, if the guru is God, and the chain of command emanating from the guru instructs you to perform certain duties, then... you're doing God's will! Sure, that's bullshit, but bullshit is what fuels religions.…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Spiritual practice/meditation

Ken Wilber’s error: mistaking personal experience for universal reality

I used to enjoy reading Ken Wilber's writings. Then, I didn't. As I said in a 2009 post: I've got a love-hate thing going with Ken Wilber, a prolific writer and creative thinker who relentlessly preaches the marvels of an Integral approach to understanding reality. Sometimes I like what Wilber says (see here and here). Sometimes I don't (see here and here). David Lane's essay, "Ken Wilber's Eye: Exploring the Danger of Theological Reifications," encapsulates my reasons for don't.  Basically, Wilber has an annoying egocentric attitude. I talked about this in Integral Egos Gone Wild: WIlber and Cohen relish worship. First, Wilber and Cohen assume that God is real…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Osho Robbins’ Sant Mat 2.0

Today I came across a Twitter tweet by Osho Robbins which reminded me of the post I put up in 2011 about his three videos that describe Sant Mat 2.0. I re-watched the videos shared in "How Sant Mat is moving from duality to oneness." Liked them even better second time around. Even if you don't know much about the updated and original versions of the Sant Mat philosophy Robbins talks about, his basic distinction between duality and oneness is quite universal. Realization-wise, there's nothing to do if reality is one, because there is no independent doer nor anything outside…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

Recollections of Sant Mat and Charan Singh

Here's a mildly edited email message that I received recently from someone whose connection with Master Charan Singh, Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), and Sant Mat started about the same time mine did. I added some links and bracketed explanations of terms. His thoughts brought back memories, and stimulated some new ideas. He gave me the OK to share his message in a blog post. It's an interesting rendition of how someone can be converted to a faith, and then deconverted. Dear Brian: Reading your blog evokes recollections that have long been dormant. What a compendium of experience I long since…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Religions

Sam Harris on dangers of religious ecstasy

Reading "Islam and the Misuses of Ecstasy" by Sam Harris brought back some memories. I wouldn't call them exactly religiously ecstatic, but they were damn close. The first time I went to India, for two weeks in 1977, I was able to experience one of the large "bhandaras" held at the headquarters of Radha Soami Satsang Beas in the Punjab. This is a photo I took, showing just a portion of the gigantic crowd that had come to hear and see the RSSB guru. (I wrote in "God's here, but I've got to go" about the decidedly non-ecstatic experience of…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

I find my fundamentalism-mocking blog post hilarious also

One of the joys of writing thousands of blog posts is reuniting with one of my long-forgotten creations.  Today I saw that a new comment had been submitted on a post. This is hilarious! Love it! Naturally I had to check out what was so hilarious and lovable. Unsurprisingly, after I read what I'd written seven years ago I thought to myself: This is hilarious! Love it! Check out "Top ten signs you're a fundamentalist Satsangi." It will make more sense if you know something about the Indian religious organization I used to be a member of. But the inspiration for…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas Spiritual practice/meditation

Parts of a discarded religion can fit into a new spiritual practice

Reuse. Recycle.  Good advice for handling material stuff. Also practices that can be used with religious stuff. Recently someone emailed me, asking whether I still repeated the mantra I was taught after being initiated into a guru-based meditation practice. Part of my reply was: Usually I don't repeat the RSSB mantra. But sometimes I do, sort of for old time's sake. I figure that I repeated it so many times over the many years, it must have formed some sort of concentrative relaxed groove in my brain. It's kind of comforting to repeat the Five Names. Sometimes I do it…
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Posted inRadha Soami Satsang Beas

“Dirty money” tied to RSSB guru’s Ranbaxy wealth

Like I said in this post, there's a tangled web of financial dealings surrounding the newfound wealth of Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family.  Gurinder Singh is the current guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, an India-based spiritual organization I used to be a member of. Theologically, he is considered to be "god in human form." Financially, his family has become one of the richest in India, thanks to gifting of Religare stock by several relatives (and RSSB initiates), Malvinder and Shivinder Singh. Another post of mine describes the money connections between Religare and the guru. Religare is a company that…
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