The Findings are something
that both David and I never thought or knew existed,
and although neither of us could have ever even
imagined that one day we would be compiling them,
the unthinkable has happened.
The Quarterly
From : UNITED KINGDOM
Source: David Bailey
Subject : PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
I have written
this because so many rumours (often completely
untrue) have spread about Faye and myself, as
to why we moved away from Sai Baba. I know that
what you are going to read here may cause you
deep distress. The situation I am about to reveal,
is certainly not something we could ever have
imagined possible.
I only ask
you to read it all, while accepting that these
are my personal experiences. I share with you
my truth. No more, no less.
There have been
many sleepless nights as I grappled with the
task of what to do and how to cope with this
indisputable factual information, in the light
of my responsibility to the many, many people
who read my books and heard me speak.
The following
findings are a result of my heart-aching research,
over a period of three years
Vibhuti
During darshan,
Sai Baba carries vibhuti in tablet form between
the third and fourth fingers of his right hand,
with spare tablets in the hand holding up his
robe. He crushes a tablet when required, and
transfers tablets during the taking of letters.
I have watched this happen innumerable times.
Once on the mandir porch he dropped a tablet
in front of me, and told a member of the Trust
to "Eat it Quickly!"
Tablet-palming
can be clearly seen on many videos, if slowed
down to frame-by-frame viewing, including in
our wedding day interview video, used at the
beginning of "God lives in India" This video
has been removed from sale by the Trust.
Australian television,
in it’s programme ’60 MINUTES’ (their equivalent
of ‘PANORAMA’) showed how these ‘B grade’ conjuring
tricks are done.
Vibhuti tablets
explain why vibhuti distribution runs out in
the interview room before everyone has had some.
All powder vibhuti
is produced by roasting cow dung with sandal
wood, and manufactured vibhuti bought elsewhere,
is then double sieved by ladies of the ashram
seva dal, before being packaged for interview
room distribution.
Use of vibhuti
on open wounds consistently causes infection
in them; a fact commented by Faye to me when
she was called to deal with people having these
infections in the ashram.
Jewellry etc
All are worthless
trinkets. Some are bought in Puttaparthi village,
but mainly they come from Bangalore and Hyderabad.
I made it my business to meet one of the jewellers
concerned and have this information verified.
I was told by
Sai Baba and also by members of his inner circle,
that my ‘materialised’ ring with it’s huge stone
was a sixty-four faceted diamond of great commercial
value. After leaving the ashram in December
1998, I damaged one of the clasps on the ring
and took it to a jeweller in southern India,
many hundreds of kilometers away. This stranger
immediately recognised it as a ‘Sai Baba’ ring.
He told me that the metal it was made of was
not gold, also that the stone was a valueless
zircon, and under it there was a piece of silver
paper to make the zircon glitter, which was
why the back of the ring was solid. He informed
me that these hard backed rings are especially
made for Sai Baba. As he took the stone out
to repair the damaged clasp, sure enough, a
piece of silver paper fell out, and the stone
thus revealed was seen to be a zircon.
The then Sai
organisation co-ordinator of Ireland was with
Faye and me at the time, and another lady who
had a Baba ring in which a face (attributed
to Baba because of the black head of hair round
a small ‘face’), could be seen. The jeweller
showed us how these are made. A piece of coloured
glass has a small piece of silver paper behind
it so that at certain angles it reflects the
colour of one’s own face. This is surrounded
by a circular ring of black enamel to give the
impression of hair. He lifted the stone out
of the ring and proved this also, was so. The
Irish co-ordinator took photos of the rings.
On his return to Ireland, he resigned and left
the organisation.
When Sai Baba
decides to give someone a robe in the interview
room, he does so as a cover to get further trinkets
from his store in the back room. More than a
few times Faye and I have heard the sound of
a drawer being opened and the tinkle of metallic
things being moved. He returns with them hidden
under the robe (and we have watched him transferring
trinkets from under the robe on his lap to his
right hand - it’s just so obvious when you look)
before waving his hand while faking a materialisation.
His velvet chair contains objects hidden in
the sides. We have seen them there and then
observed his sleight of hand as he brings them
out of hiding.
But, well before
I was aware of these things, I began to have
some doubts about the authenticity of Sai Baba’s
claims of divine manifestation. During my second
interview, one of the first things I noticed
which bothered me was that someone asked him
to repair a broken chain on a japamala, and
another had lost a stone from a ring. He did
nothing at the time, but said "No, no, I will
change for new one tomorrow". I found this very
perplexing. Why, if he could create anything
at will, which is what I had been told, did
he not blow on these things and repair them
then? I now know why. He cannot.
Healing
I have not seen
him do a genuine healing on anybody in all my
time of being close to him, and having had innumerable
interviews. I have seen him tell people to stand
up, and get out of wheel chairs, but the effect
is not lasting. He generally ignores the sick
and frail ones, giving out as reason, their
karma.
The Australian
‘pink twins’ continue to use wheel chairs, in
spite of Sai Baba’s claims of healing them and
their claims of being healed. A sad case for
me is Maynard Ferguson. Over three years of
deterioration in his hearing; during several
interviews with him and his wife, he, his wife
and myself asked - pleaded with Swami, to heal
him. Every time, he promised to do so, but now
Maynard is very deaf and has to rely on two
powerful hearing aids to help him. As a fellow
musician I know what this must mean to him in
his heart.
Once Faye and
I had an interview in the company of an elderly,
rather frail Indian gentleman who used to sit
on the verandah near me. He asked Sai Baba for
help for his failing health. Swami, behind his
back shrugged his shoulders at us, saying in
what we both thought was a rather an unfeeling
aside ‘And what can I do? Cancer. Too far gone,
too far gone.’
Faye has had
her own experience of him giving health advice
she trustingly followed, which nearly caused
permanent damage to her, before she at last
resorted to western medical treatment for her
complaint.
The German co-ordinator
whom I visited in the super speciality hospital
after he’d had a stroke, was eventually taken
back to the verandah, but Swami did not heal
him. The elderly man has gone back to Germany,
and some two years later is little improved.
I believe
any healing claimed by Sai Baba is in fact,
a personal inner healing activated by the person
himself or herself.
Miscellaneous
musings
The mandir ceiling
is now covered in gold leaf. I was shown a piece
of this gold leaf which had fallen from the
ceiling. I ask myself, ‘Why, in a country of
such appalling poverty, does he allow this escalating
show of opulence to occur? The mandir at my
last count had one hundred and sixty-seven chandeliers
instead of the original thirty-six. What on
earth for? Sai Baba now has several luxury cars
supposedly ‘gifted’ by rich devotees. Why is
more than one necessary? This is reminiscent
of other cult leaders such as Rajneesh.
I know Sai Baba
doesn’t live only on rice and chappattis as
he claims. His evening meal consists of six
to eight different dishes prepared for him every
night, and Faye and I have shared the ‘left
overs’ several times, having gone with someone
to collect the remains of the meal from his
rooms. He claimed to Faye that he ‘Drinks no
tea, no coffee. Only hot water’ - yet has drunk
coffee with me.
During the preparation
of the 1997 Christmas Day students’ programme,
I was in interview with the students, and we
were discussing with Swami, the music and story
of Jesus’ birth which the boys were going to
present. When ‘We Three Kings from Orient are...’
was mentioned, Sai Baba directed that this song
not be sung, saying ‘No, no, no! There were
no kings. They did not exist.’ Yet in his January
1996 discourse he said ‘When Christ was born,
three kings came to see the infant.’
It is claimed
by a few people that different lights can be
seen around Sai Baba.
Everybody has
an aura, which one can learn to see. There is
a book by Mark Smith for example, called ‘Auras
- See them in 60 Seconds’. The existence of
this light does not confirm divinity. There’s
only been a handful of people around the world
who claim to have seen Sai Baba’s aura. Anyone
who has made this claim to me, has been an ardent
devotee.
I have been shown
photographs with unrecognisable light shapes
on them, and been told by the presenter that
these represent Sai Baba, Krisha, Gopis and
others. What would be the point of divinity
appearing in this indistinguishable way? And
what proof can it be of the said divinity? According
to Kodak laboratories, light emissions on photographs
are caused by intermittent camera malfunction
and/or film idiosyncrasy, and the most common
emission colours are orange and white.
The Super
Speciality Hospital
I know that one
wing has never been opened, supposedly through
lack of funds.
Yet, we are told
that just one of the many
donations given for the building was US$ 49,000,000.00
(forty-nine million US dollars!).
This converts
to approximately ST£ 30,000,000.00 (thirty
million pounds sterling!)
Names of many
other large benefactors are listed in the hospital
reception area, making the funds donated for
this complex absolutely mind boggling.
In relative terms
money can buy five times in India what it can
here.
I question what
happens to these huge amounts of donated money.
A doctor I sat
near on the mandir porch, who works in this
hospital, told me never to let anyone I cared
about go there as the sanitation is disgusting
and the lack of aseptic technique, appalling.
This allegation has been repeated numerous times
in correspondence we have received, by people
who have seen through the hospital.
The Renal department
is now also closed.
There is bad
publicity regarding allegations of theft of
a kidney and subsequent current legal action
being taken in India. (see page 28).
In 1997 Australian
national television ‘60 Minutes’ critically
investigated the super speciality hospital,
and Sai Baba’s claims of divinity.
Details for obtaining
this video are as follows :
‘God Botherers
Segment’ - Ex: 60 Minutes Tx: 24/8/97
9 Network Australia
Archives Division
4 Cleg street
Artarmon NSW 2064 Tel: +
9439 4500 Fax: + 9906 4415
AUSTRALIA
The Water
Project
It has been claimed
that all seven hundred and fifty villages in
the Sai Baba Water Project are now receiving
water. This I believed until I was shown a Telegu
newspaper with a front page feature article
showing photos of villages with no water, broken
pipes, no pipes, pipes and no tanks, and many
with nothing at all. The headlines translated,
read
‘SAI BABA WHERE’S
OUR WATER? YOU’VE CHEATED US AGAIN!’.
I went to some
of these villages within the project radius
and found for myself that the report was correct.
My questioning local businessmen in the area
revealed some interesting information. General
opinion concurred that the project had been
set up because the ashram had many problems
with it’s own insufficient well supply; one
of which was constantly recurring gastric disturbances,
particularly with foreign devotees.
Request for permission
to lay a water pipeline to the ashram fell on
govt.’s deaf ears, the response being that unless
villages along the proposed line could also
be supplied, permission would be withheld. Hence
the huge global fund raising, which also perplexed
me - having been indoctrinated with the ‘no
fund raising’ policies given out by Sai Baba.
Within twelve months an effective pipeline to
the ashram and a selection of villages was established,
and then the work stopped. At my consternation
at being of told this scandalous situation,
the village elders simply shrugged their shoulders
saying "What can we do?"
Financial
Problems
As Faye and I
travelled around the world, speaking to Sai
Baba groups, after almost every meeting people
would come to us asking for help because of
the financial trickery they had experienced
at the ashram. In particular, over giving many
thousands of pounds, dollars, marks or whatever
for a unit there, and never getting one, let
alone being given a receipt for the money. Then,
when eventually disheartened, they attempted
to retrieve their money, they were told there
were no records of the transaction. We heard
this story many times.
It is a common
practice at retreats and meetings, for new devotees
to be told that Sai Baba does not need donations.
This happened
at Downe House Public School (nr. Newbury),
where a series of weekend retreats were held
during school holidays. However, when the new
devotees had been to more than one weekend,
they were taken aside individually and given
a bank account number at the Bank of India in
Andhra Pradesh, to which donations can be sent.
On some occasions,
with particularly gullible targets, a printed
paragraph was given - to be inserted into a
will for donations to be made. Such people were
also told that sending money to the Sathya Sai
Medical Trust in India was inheritance tax effective,
as the Indian Trust is a registered charity
in the United Kingdom. This of course is untrue.
Such donations do not attract inheritance tax
relief. The above allegation of fraud is supported
by a statement from a lawyer and others who
were personally involved.
Not surprisingly,
Downe House has since banned any further Sai
Organisation meetings on it’s premises.
Personal problems
We spoke to people
who had written dozens of letters over serious
personal situations and had had no response,
and no change in the situation. Desperate and
despondent, these people turned to us as their
last hope, asking us to intercede for them with
Sai Baba, whom they believed was omnipotent
(but not, seemingly omniscient).
Sexual problems
Concerned mothers,
and young men of various ages would ask to speak
to me in confidence about intimate incidents
they had had with Swami. They told me about
alleged sexual activity, each story replicating
the previous one. Swami would take these young
men and boys into the private interview room
alone with him, then insist that they take their
trousers down and he would massage them, often
masturbating them, and/or insisting on oral
sex and sometimes collecting their semen in
his handkerchief.
This left me
speechless! I knew of the book written by Tal
Brook in the 70’s called ‘Lord of the Air’ where
he detailed the sexual harassment he had undergone
with Sai Baba, but this book had always been
dismissed by long established devotees as a
collection of mischief making lies told by an
angry young man. And yet Faye’s own son had
been kissed repeatedly on his cheeks and the
corners of his mouth when alone in the inner
room with Sai Baba, and also sexually touched.
And when it was obvious to Sai Baba that this
behaviour was unwelcome, he began berating the
young man in subsequent interviews with Faye,
calling him ‘Mad dog! Hard hearted!’ and so
on. At the time this seemed incongruous; it
was only after we began travelling the world
that the inconceivable and incomprehensible
began to make itself clear.
When I asked
various co-ordinators about these many disturbing
incidents reported to me in our travels, I was
told that Swami was ‘raising kundalini’. I questioned
this in my mind. If he was capable of doing
anything, why did he have to physically touch
the boys, especially when they were unwilling?
And what about when he had them actively engage
in sex to him? It seems that an ongoing, serious
and untenable infringement of basic human rights
is being scurrilously perpetrated, in the name
of ‘divinity’.
I didn’t ever
hear any stories about girls having their kundalini
raised in this way.
On my last visit
to Puttaparthi, a male student came and asked
me for help, on behalf of some of his fellow
students, because they were desperately in need
of someone to stop Swami sexually abusing them.
I was told how Sai Baba had for years been demanding
that these particular boys have oral sex, and
group sex for his pleasure. Their details matched
what I had already been told so many times round
the world. I asked him if this was an acceptable
practice in India, and his look of horror as
he denied it, spoke volumes.
Then he asked
me a question I couldn’t answer.
‘Sir, why
do you think ex-students tried to kill him in
’93 ...?’ (!!!)
I turned to several
long time devotees on the verandah for explanation
of these nefarious activities, and worried them
with questions and suppositions until in the
end they realised that I had found the truth,
and then admitted that these things do happen;
and then - agreed with each other that it was
for his pleasure and nothing to do with kundalini
raising.
Different national
co-ordinators I spoke to, both in India and
after we returned home, continued for a time,
to deny that it happens. But when it became
obvious that I was
not going to
leave this issue alone, a couple of them telephoned
me to say that yes I was correct and they had
known of this for years. ‘But he is God, and
God can do anything he likes.’ (!!!)
Early in 1999
a young Swedish man returned from a visit to
the ashram and made a full statement to his
co-ordinating committee about his sexual experiences
with Swami during six interviews. Within hours
of this revelation, one of the top officials
of Sweden’s Sai organisation was on our doorstep,
asking why we had left Sai Baba. He and his
wife, both really lovely people, were absolutely
devastated to hear the young man’s story confirmed.
After saying brokenly ‘I cannot be part of this’
he went outside and sat on the steps in our
front garden and sobbed his heart out. He had
been a devotee for more than twenty years, and
his wife had written two books on Sai Baba and
another was already at the point of being printed.
He went home
to resign his position from something he had
given years of his life and his love to, and
she cancelled her book and withdrew the others
from the market. Within days there was public
confirmation - that these things I had spoken
about through the year to a small number of
serious seekers of truth - were indeed happening
to others as well.
Soon after,
the Sai school in Sweden closed.
Due to this courageous
young man’s statement, the unmentionable began
being mentioned, then mentioned increasingly
loudly, by increasing numbers of young men.
The Swedish publicity began a flurry of exposures.
Swedish film star Conny Larsson revealed his
own experiences, which are included in this
fact file. Our phone ran hot with young men
from all over Europe sharing their pain.
One teenager
rang from France and confided that he had wanted
to commit suicide ever since his own experience
of sexual harassment, as he couldn’t live with
the thought that he must be gay. He said he
was very relieved to hear that there were other
victims.
The Education
in Human Values system was developed by Dr.
Gokak, at one time a member of Sai Baba’s professorial
board. Sai Baba has not written any part of
this system. Dr. Gokak left Sai Baba some years
ago.
Schools and
colleges.
I was led to
believe that the schools and colleges in Puttaparthi
and Whitefield had been set up to give free
education to local children. This is not the
case. Last year the fees at the lower grade
schools were 20,000 rupees per child for one
year, plus books, plus uniform plus accommodation
if required.
The village school
is government run, and as are all village schools
throughout India, and is free - parents pay
only for books and uniform.
Assuming that
the college boys I taught were local lads, I
was amazed at their learning capacity, until
I discovered that these boys were brought in
from all over India and had to pass very strict
entrance exams, needing 85-90% pass marks. As
one of the tutors said to me -
"Sai Baba takes
only the best. They’d have to try, to fail".
One of my concerns
with these lads, was that they had no career
officer to guide them as to where they may find
a job, and they would return after leaving college
and ask me for advice about how to get employment.
This occurred regularly over the five years
I interacted with them.
Peggy Mason
Peggy, a professional
journalist who wrote for spiritual magazines,
went to see Sai Baba with her husband Ron Laing
and had a number of interviews during their
short stay. Both she and Ron were enchanted
with Swami (as indeed I was at first), and this
one visit was the basis for their subsequent
writings.
In December 1997
on our way to Gatwick airport to leave for India,
we collected a letter written to Swami by Peggy.
I gave the letter
to him during the next afternoon darshan.
The following
morning I received a fax to say that Peggy had
died.
A few days later
I had an interview in the company of the editor
of the Sanathana Sarathi, and he told Swami
that Faye was now editor of Peggy Mason’s magazine….
SB : "Yes, yes.
It’s in very good hands, now make it go! How
is Peggy Mason?"
Me : "She has
merged with you".
SB : "Yes. She
lives near you in England?"
Me : "She lived
eighty miles from me, but she died a few days
ago Swami. She is with you!"
SB : "Yes, yes,
her husband was a good man. When you go home,
give my regards to her".
Me : "She is
dead Swami. Dead! She has merged with you!’"
SB : "Give her
my love when you get back to England".
Me : "I cannot
Swami, because she is DEAD!"
SB : "Oh ?? Oh....."
In another interview
a few days later, (this time with Faye) Swami
seemed very confused and spoke randomly without
making coherent sense for a minute or so, and
ended by telling all in the room that Peggy
Mason had played the trumpet very well during
the Christmas celebrations just completed in
the ashram. He was not making a joke and we
were both nonplussed and very disturbed, and
everyone else there also looked puzzled and
somewhat concerned about these ramblings, as
they had all heard Maynard Ferguson play trumpet
on Christmas day
On two occasions
he called us into the private interview room
and questioned me intently about someone in
the outer room. Then after we had both returned
to the outer room he repeated everything I had
just told him, no more, no less, while implying
he was getting the information by ‘tuning in’.
This possibly
explains why he thought I was American in the
first instance, even referring to me in his
discourse as American. Perhaps someone had given
him incorrect data...?
My greatest difficulty
at this time, was finding someone other than
Faye, to talk to about all these disturbing
findings. Everyone I knew from the west had
had much less interactive experience with Swami
than I had. During my six years of being devoted
to him I had had over one hundred close encounters
in the way of interviews and work sessions,
and been very involved with him during my times
of teaching the students in the male college.
For most devotees,
a visit to the ashram means sitting in the darshan
lines looking on, wishing and hoping for interaction,
whilst listening to the stories others tell.
This is very different to being ‘in there’ -
seeing how things work behind the scenes.
I had to find
someone who had had the same level of experience
as I had.
I began to look
for Terry Gallagher, an Australian whom, I heard,
had been close to Swami before my time. Terry
had been Central Coordiantor for the Sai organisation
in Australia for three years, and had been given
very preferential treatment from Sai Baba for
a number of years. I traced him to Kiama in
New South Wales, Australia.
I knew he had
left the ashram vowing never to return, and
I wanted to know why? I soon found out. Terry
had discovered the unmentionable inner workings
of Sai Baba as I had now done. Exactly the same...
but more. Terry left, never to return after
the assassination attempt by ex-students in
1993. I wanted to know what Terry knew. I soon
did.
(Terry’s own
experiences - page 14)
Is this why there
are so few really ‘long standing’ western followers
around? Do those who get close, get too close
and discover that the mighty ‘Wizard of Oz’
is just a little magician? In this case, a little
magician who is also a paedophile?
Do they then
discern that ‘God wouldn’t do that’ and leave?
Premanand, another
with a very close connection to Sai Baba some
years before Terry’s time, had also discovered
the truth behind the facade and left. Premanand
now shares his findings on Internet.
Phenomena
There are many
instances of vibhuti etc appearing on pictures
around the world. Very often in homes and temples
where non-stop bhajans are sung, which may well
have something to do with the appearance of
this phenomena. Generally speaking, we in the
west know so little about mind power and the
power of vibration. However some of these appearances
of vibhuti are fake, and can be created by chemical
means.
Some would appear
to be genuine, but my research in this area
leads me to determine that the appearance of
phenomena does not automatically mean it comes
from Swami, or has any divine connection whatsoever.
Whilst in India Faye and I saw many examples
of phenomena. Enough to know that the ability
to do phenomena does not make one divine.
My suspicions
once aroused about Swami’s divinity, gave me
no peace.
Things I blindly
accepted because I had been told they were so,
did not stand up in the light of close scrutiny.
Even the men in power around him, although they
act out a role of subservient adoration when
in front of Sai Baba, play a different part
away from him. On occasions I was with members
of the inner circle, Mr Rao for example, in
the main office. Once, I had been sent by Swami
for something and the reply he gave me ended
with the words "Swami doesn’t know what he is
talking about" (!) Yet they perpetrate the idea
that he knows everything.
Over this questioning
span of many months I have had my share of indoctrination
procedure from those in high places. While at
the ashram, my very first queries brought intense
social interaction from an Indian inner circle
member who, unknown and uninvited, visited Faye
and me in our unit after almost every darshan
for a week, to tell us of the many wonders of
Swami’s miraculous powers. Only later did we
understand why he did this.
Once back home,
when rumours were beginning to fly about our
defection from the fold, I received several
phone calls from long standing devotees from
the VIP lines, telling me that I had a problem.
I had to decide if Sai Baba was God or not.
If he was God, then he could do everything he
wanted to anyone, sexually, fraudulently, drugs,
trickery etc, but of course if I did not accept
him as God, then I had my own view of morals,
and the laws of my land to follow.
For me there
was no choice to make.
I know there
are instances worldwide of people going to Prashanthi,
and coming back with a new lease of life, but
so do people who visit the many other gurus
in India, or Mother Meera, or Lourdes, and so
on. My investigations into mind power find simple
explanations for this.
If even only
a handful of people sit quietly together to
do Yoga meditation, circle work, or just to
meditate, they expect and often get a lovely
atmosphere, and sometimes, healing happens.
Imagine the energy
that might be generated by hundreds of people
sitting quietly focused for an hour or two in
darshan. Amongst these are probably some natural
or trained psychics, and natural or trained
healers, as well as many people sitting still
and focused for a lengthy period, perhaps for
the first time in their lives. Different experiences
are bound to occur. Nothing to do with Sai Baba.
I think
the ‘love-connection’ people experience is simply
one connecting with one’s Self.
When one gets
involved with Sai Baba, a very subtle brain
washing commences. Sitting for hours in darshan
is one of these. When one sees all around with
hands in prayer position, one naturally follows
suite. Once attached and involved, common
sense and logic progressively disappears, until
one reaches the point of attributing every small
act of living to Sai Baba.
Where to now?
No more gurus
for me.
Once more, for
me the true connection with God is inside me.
No more giving
my power away.
To sit still
quietly and talk to God within, I find gets
real answers.
To accept who
I am in this life, and to do my best with my
gifts, knowing that I am part of the Great Picture,
is enough.
Conclusion
If I take any
other subject I look at the pros and cons
fearlessly.
For example where
I shop : Is the price good? Do they sell what
I want?
Or perhaps :
Is this car what I really want? How many miles
to the gallon? Insurance cost, deterioration,
repair bills?
Or : Is this
double glazing well made? etc etc.
I choose from
being presented the true facts. The car sales
man was not knowingly waiting there for me,
to give me an experience I needed for my life.
I gave myself the experience by deciding to
go that showroom.
I consider this
attitude should also be applied to spiritual
subjects.
I spent a lot
of time believing what I was told by others
- that this was a great test for me, and Swami
was doing it to give me an experience.
From my conversations
and observations with Swami I know for myself
that this is not the case. I gave myself the
experience, by listening to very well meaning
people when I first heard about Swami, who in
their turn had not done any research into the
truth, but just believed others.
There are fantastic
stories going round about Sai Baba’s supposed
powers, but in five years searching I have not
found one to be genuine. Always secondhand information.
People repeat these stories in good faith and
then say ‘I know this was so’, but how can they
know? They were not there.
The above is
first hand information.
Disillusion, a letter to the Baileys
From : AUSTRALIA
Source : Terry Gallagher
- a letter to the Baileys.
Subject : DISILLUSION
Dear Faye and
David,
When speaking
to you recently I was so pleased to hear about
your decision not to mention or publish anything
further about Sai Baba in your Quarterly Spiritual
Digest.
The information
you have uncovered about Sai Baba, I have also
found out from personal experience to be true.
What began as
a wonderful spiritual journey ended with total
disbelief and bitter disappointment when we
found out the truth.
Perhaps I should
start at the beginning with a brief account
of that journey.
After reading
a book called ‘Man of Miracles’ I set off for
India (and Puttaparthi) with my wife and three
young daughters, in an organised group for Christmas
1983.
What we found
when we arrived in India was something I had
been searching for all my life. The most beautiful,
peaceful atmosphere, with wonderful people searching
for their own spiritual truth, living in a community
whose whole objective was that of improving
self-awareness and achieving self-realisation,
through the teachings of a living guru - Sai
Baba.
Adjacent to
the ashram and provided free of cost to the
students was a primary school for boys and girls,
and various colleges for boys, where spiritual
teachings were incoporated into the normal academic
disciplines.
We were all
very impressed and motivated towards learning
as much as possible about what Sai Baba had
to teach us.
The celebration
of Christmas came and went, after which our
family was called for an interview with Sai
Baba. As a result of this interview and what
appeared at the time to be the most perfect
environment for students and devotees to advance
their spiritual lives, I made a substantial
donation to the Central Trust to help them fund
their educational programmes.
Upon leaving
the interview I was told by Sai Baba that I
should sit on the verandah of the Mandir in
future, with students from the colleges and
other devotees.
As it turned
out this gave me the opportunity to meet people
and observe events very closely, that I otherwise
may not have had the opportunity to do.
We all had mixed
feelings when we had to leave the ashram and
return to Australia, sad in having to leave
and joy in what we had experienced.
We returned
to the ashram again in 1985 for one month, then
in 1986 we stayed for seven months, at which
time our daughters attended Sai Baba’s school.
It was during
this time that I began to observe things that
made me question what I had experienced on previous
visits. Having a scientific background I began
to observe a set routine that Sai Baba followed
each morning and evening during darshan, and
in particular, how he materialised vibhuti (holy
ash).
I will never
forget the look of anguish on Sai Baba’s face
when he came into the verandah of the Mandir
early one morning and dropped two vibhuti pellets
in front of me, as he attempted to accept a
rose from a college student. There was no vibhuti
materialisation during darshan that morning!
In the months
that followed I observed how he transferred
these vibhuti pellets from one hand to the other,
using the letters he collects from devotees
to disguise his movements. In the many interviews
that followed I also observed more than thirty
instances of rings, ‘diamonds’, japamalas, vibhuti
containers etc, all being produced by sleight
of hand and deception.
At first I kept
this information to myself. I reasoned that
if this was what made people come to see Sai
Baba, resulting in them becoming more spiritual,
what harm could it do! Eventually I told my
wife and children, who also saw through this
‘materialisation’ trickery.
It was the observations
and information that followed on from these
initial findings that concerned me most, especially
those relating to students being sexually interferred
with in grotesque ways by Sai Baba.
We returned
to the ashram several times during the following
years, making further observations and having
these confirmed by college students and long
term devotees living at the ashram. During this
time I was the central coordinator for three
years for the Sathya Sai organisation in Australia.
It wasn’t until
1993, following the assassination attempt on
Sai Baba, resulting in the murder of four college
students and two assistants in the Mandir, that
we made our last visit to India.
The purpose
of this visit was to find the reason why former
students of Sai Baba’s college would want to
kill him, particularly when they had been given
a free education!
The eye witness
accounts were horrific! After bursting into
the Mandir, four students found themselves trapped
upstairs where Sai Baba was staying. Each was
interrogated by police, then one at a time they
were executed!
The stench of
death was everywhere.
I made further
inquiries about Sai Baba having sexual relations
with college boys and male students - some of
these as young as seven years of age - and whether
this was the reason for former students wanting
to kill him. I was told, to my horror, that
this was an acceptable Indian practice!
I felt sick,
and just wanted to take my family and leave
the ashram and India as quickly as possible.
Before we did,
we were all called for interview with Sai Baba
and we told him what we had experienced and
been told.
Sai Baba made
no comment on our accusations and was only anxious
to know who had told us these details, requesting
us to tell him several times! Having had dozens
of interviews over the years, this was the most
stressful and uncomfortable interview our family
had ever experienced.
Sai Baba was
tense and agitated and his body language told
us all, that what we had found out about him
was the truth!
We left the
interview and returned to Australia.
The following
years were very difficult spiritually, we concentrated
on all the positive aspects we had experienced
over the past ten years and found this comforting.
When we attempted
to tell others about our experiences and the
truth about Sai Baba, no one would believe us,
except those who also had similar experiences,
and mostly - fear prevents them from telling
others!
It has only
been in the past twelve months that former students
and devotees of Sai Baba have begun communicating
with each other, confirming experiences to be
true and supporting each other spiritually and
emotionally when necessary.
I now know the
truth about Sai Baba and sincerely pray that
others too, perhaps through your magazine, will
follow both their logic and intuition to also
find the truth.
Warm regards,
Terry Gallagher
Ex- Central
Coordinator of Sathya Sai Organisation
From : INDIA
Dr
Bhatia, why did he leave?
Source : Name
withheld at request. (Available for investigation
by authority)
Subject : DR BHATIA (HEAD
OF SSH BLOOD BANK). WHY DID HE LEAVE?
Regarding the
notice of expulsion of Dr Bhatia in the Sanathana
Sarathi magazine, please note :
Three young
students from Sai Baba’s junior male college
were called for interview. One of them, a seven
year old boy student, came out of the private
interview room crying.
He continued
to cry for two days, and was unable to eat or
study.
That evening
Dr Bahtia, on duty in the children’s canteen,
was asked to find the cause of the child’s distress.
He questioned
and then examined the child, and found that
he had been sexually penetrated, via his anus.
The child was
taken to Bangalore and re-examined. A second
medical opinion confirmed sexual abuse.
Dr Bhatia had
been involved in sexual activity with Sai Baba
for six years, believing that he was serving
divinity.
He went to Sai
Baba :
- Why
do you do this to such a young child when you
have all of us adults and the older students
to play with?
Sai Baba’s reply
:
- Don’t bargain
with God!
Soon after,
five men went to Dr Bhatia’s home, threatening
his life with knives.
He made his
escape by car, fleeing to Delhi.
Once there Dr
Bhatia was unable to practice medicine because
he had left all his personal papers behind in
Puttaparthi. He wrote asking for them. They
have not yet been released. However, the doctor
now practices at a Delhi hospital.
A promisory
agreement has been offered from Puttaparthi,
that Dr Bhatia’s personal belongings will be
released to him on the proviso that :
he remain mute
about the happenings concerning the little boy
student
he does not
make any legal claims against the Super Speciality
Hospital
he keeps his
sexual relationship with Sai Baba a secret.
A rumour given
out for his ‘dismissal’ was that he was caught
selling blood, another that he was having an
affair within the ashram, and yet another claiming
jealousy between departmental heads at the hospital.
I offer this
for the sake of truth.
Sathya Sai Baba: the good, the bad and the ugly
From : INDIA
Website : http://www.myfreeoffice.com/saibabaexposed/student1.html
Subject : SATHYA SAI BABA
: THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY.
Posted on soc.culture.tamil
by ex-student Meenakshi Srikanth in 1993 after
some students tried to kill Sai Baba but failed.
Meenakshi writes
:
- The
following is a chronicle of my experiences in
the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning
(Whitefield branch). You have my word about
the truth of this article, which has no intention
to pass judgment about the personality under
consideration. Meenakshi warns that the information
may shock.
THE GOOD
: An excellent orator in Telegu; does not have
a radically new philosophy; effectively preaches
age old values. Many followers attempt to practice
the ideals; and there are numerous charity programmes
organised in his name.
THE BAD
: How does he get his following? ‘Miracles’.
A few days after I joined the college, during
darshan time Swami was casually talking about
the power of meditation or some such thing when
all of a sudden he waved his hands in the air
and produced a pendant containing a beautiful
picture of Lord Muruga. I was stunned. I had
not seen anything like that before. I was not
a devotee when I joined the college (my father
asked me to), so this was something that really
shook me. I went back to the hostel and waxed
eloquent about the power of Swami to some of
my seniors.
They nodded
sagely and smiled cryptically. It was not long
before some of them called me aside and said
"Don’t start believing all this stuff. It does
not take much to become a devotee, but it takes
a lot to come out of it". Saying this one of
them waved his hand and produced vibhuti and
another produced a ring. Then they told me all.
The simplicity
of this is going to baffle you, so be prepared
for the gullibility of the common man.
Swami produces
things out of ‘thin air’ by turning his right
palm to face the ground while rotating it (parallel
to the ground) a few times. He then makes a
sudden upward motion (as if he is plucking a
low lying fruit) and gives out whatever he has
produced. The mechanism of doing this is simple.
When he comes out of the mandir, his left hand
will be holding a kerchief or letter or his
flowing robe.
Don’t look at
his smiling face or his overflowing hair. Look
at his left hand: clutched in his hand with
(mostly) the middle finger, ring finger and
the little finger is whatever he is going to
give out that session. Vibhuti pellets (those
of you who have seen him give out vibhuti will
recollect that he makes a powdering action with
his fingers when he is actually delivering),
rings or whatever. Just keep looking at his
hand. There will be a time when a devotee will
fall at his feet or when he will lean forward.
At that time the stuff gets transferred to between
his fingers in the right hand. This would be
visible too (if you are looking for it). Very
soon thereafter, the ‘materialisation’ takes
place.
Right, so you
think this method is so stupid that even a goat
would have found it out by now. Let me tell
you something, just practice this a few times,
and try it on your friends. You will be surprised
by their surprise. I can do this easily now
and have fooled many of my friends. Only I don’t
call myself god and have VIPs fall at my feet.
I have seen
these things happen hundreds of times. I have
received vibhuti, laddu and such myself. In
our hostel there was a coterie (select group)
who knew about all these tricks. We used to
have a ball of a time in darshan line and then
share the hilarious experiences after the show
was over.
Once, Swami
was out of the mandir and was collecting letters.
He had a small silver pendant in his hand which
we had all seen when he had gone past us in
the line. He had transferred it to his right
hand and was just waiting for someone to give
it to, when a devotee from a back row extended
a letter. Swami bent forward and stretched out
his right palm to receive it. It was a fine
Bangalore morning, the sun was out and the pendant
in his hand was gleaming for all to see! We
went black and blue for a second and suppressing
a threatening-to-explode laugh, looked away.
Swami went ahead unperturbed, and gave the pendant
to some important looking guy down the line.
We were talking about this for a whole week
and even thought of writing a letter to Swami
asking him to be more careful.
On another occasion,
a singer had come to Brindavan and we were listening
to him. Swami wanted to give him a watch and
it was in readiness beneath his left thigh in
the sofa on which he was sitting. I was sitting
three rows from Swami and watching him closely.
The song over, Swami shifted a bit on his seat
and the watch was now in his left hand. He bent
forward and moved the watch to his right hand.
I saw this, then looked up and saw Swami was
watching me. I turned red but so did Swami!
He started shifting around a lot and asked one
of the students to change the direction of the
table fan and when the audience was looking
away, put the watch back in his left hand. Now,
the student who was changing the fan was a nervous
wreck with everyone watching him, and whatever
happened, there were sparks flying out of the
socket! Other students set it right, but by
now the watch had gone back below the thigh.
The singer never got it that day (I really felt
sorry for him).
The next morning
in darshan line Swami came near me and opening
his empty right palm, called me a ‘Doubting
Thomas’. I wished I could have asked him to
open the left palm, since I knew he had something
there.
Now, this seems
funny but I got very scared and wrote a very
apologetic letter to him.
There are a
couple of other tricks he does. During Dussehra
he does a vibhuti abhishek of Shirdi Sai Baba.
He gets a pot, turns it upside down to show
it empty, then puts his hand inside and vibhuti
starts flowing out. Even a goat with a rational
mind would figure out what he is doing. Take
a pot, fill it with vibhuti and solidify it
with some water and let it stand. Until you
disturb it, nothing will fall out.
Another thing
he used to do was materialise linga. He does
this by regurgitation (yes!). He makes motions
as if he is trying to get it out of his stomach
and soon enough, has it out of his mouth. You
will find plenty of these if you visit the museum
in Puttaparthi. The way he does this is also
simple. There is always a queue of trusted lieutenants
(secret police?) who stand by him and pass him
white hand kerchiefs on which he would eventually
place the linga.
In one of these
the linga will come and all he has to do is
to take it close to his mouth and make a motion
as if the linga had just dropped into the kerchief.
I have not seen this myself (he no longer does
it) but I have seen videos of this. My point
is, once you have proved that one of his miracles
is magic, the rest don’t need any proof.
Some students
in the college know this and live a life of
forced devotion and false pretence. They have
to, for if they don’t life can get very unpleasant.
The parents of these students are very ardent
devotees, whose lives have been defined by their
devotion to Swami. It would be impossible to
convince them that Swami is not what they think
he is, but only a cheap charlatan doing popular
tricks.
The lives of
these students are truly pitiable. They live
a constant Jeckyll and Hyde life from which
there is no reprieve. But the lives of some
students are more horrible.
THE UGLY
: This I have not had personal experience with
(thank holy heavens for that!) but it is 100%
true because I have heard first hand accounts
of these bizarre things. I have looked at enough
circumstantial evidences along with these witness’
accounts that I have no hesitation in telling
that the following is true.
How do I start
telling this to you, gentle reader? In my very
first few days in our hostel, I had the distinct
impression that something ugly was going on
about which everybody knew but none wanted to
talk. Whenever Swami came to Bangalore, there
always used to be a few students who got interviews
every other day.
These students
were often referred to as those who are ‘in
form’ (a cricket analogy) with Swami. These
students were among the most privileged in the
hostel. They could go outside the hostel (not
normally allowed) as and when they like, and
behave specially. The wardens and lecturers
used to consult them before anything significant
was done in the hostel. These students kept
within themselves for most of the time. I was
preoccupied with my own troubles and did not
keep any close look at these, though I was curious.
When I got to
know about Swami from my seniors, they asked
me if I noticed anything strange about the hostel.
I told them. They smiled and asked me to keep
an open eye, promising they would tell me all
about it soon. It did not take me very long
to find out what was different about these students.
They were all gay. Now, kindly bring down those
raised eyebrows my dear reader. All the indications,
body languages, special jokes about husband
and wives etc were there and it did not take
a sleuth’s effort to divine what was going on.
I told about this to my seniors and the fact
they told me was startling to say the least.
Many of these
students were made gay (‘sodomized’ would be
an unrefined word) by Swami, who himself is
a gay. (!)
I did not believe
it when they told me this. But not long after,
I heard the experiences as narrated by students
who had undergone the trauma themselves. Now,
it so happened that a couple of these students
were Tamils, with whom I became friendly quite
soon.
One of them
used to tell me harrowing stories. When Swami
was in Brindavan he used to get the call for
interview at least once in three days. Whereas
a student when he gets an interview is usually
so elated and pleased that Swami has recognised
his devotion etc - this boy, let’s call him
Nandan, always had a grim face as he walked
into the bungalow.
He never attended