Alexandra H.M. Nagel
The
Email: xnagel@yahoo.com
Since the publication of a document
titled The Findings, March 2000,
quite a few devotees of Sri Sathya Sai Baba have become ex-devotees. The
accusations against the Indian guru are enormous: deceit, fraud, murder,
undesired sexual intimacies with men, even minors. Prior to The Findings, and afterwards, the
Internet has been the primary communication vehicle.
Internet,
websites, links, e-mail addresses, surfing are words belonging to the
communication medium that over the last few years has grown in importance.
Internet is nowadays the means to
globally gather and spread information, and to seek contact with like-minded
persons. This fact, combined with the global popularity of Sai Baba, makes it
reasonable to assume that besides the official (inter-)national websites, there
might be more sites on the Internet on Sathya Sai Baba. This assumption is
indeed true. Yet, it might still be surprising for many people to learn that
the number of sites exceeds a hundred.[1] Many of these present general information about the
guru’s teachings, pictures, meeting places and links to other sites.
Naturally, it is through this very same
medium that the beloved Sai Baba has been accused. He is said to be a fraud,
fake, charlatan, liar, and above all, a homo-paedophile molesting innocent
children. In the year 2000, quite a few,[2] often very
loyal, devotees, some of them for over 20 years, have become ex-devotees. Many
of their questions, much of their search for truth and the results of their
actions against Sai Baba, can also be found on the Internet. Letters, for
example, written by former Sai-organisation officials explaining why they
resigned from their functions, have been placed on Sai-critical websites. They
are meant to let others know that something very fundamental is wrong with
Sathya Sai Baba and the organisation.
In short: the Internet
is used by devotees to spread Sai Baba’s teachings, and at the same time it is
used by ex-devotees to inform and warn people about Sai Baba. Counter measures
from devotees against the negative publicity on the Internet were not long in
appearing. On open message boards devotees vehemently argued with ex-devotees
about the matter, even though Sai Baba on
“Some of the elders sitting at the Verandah are
indulging in gossip; it is finding its way into the internet. (…) Swami has
nothing to do with the internet. Not only now, even in future also. You should
not indulge in such wrong activities.”[3]
A message he repeated on
I have
already told you about internet, radio, video etc. We have seen so many people
who have been exposed to these media. But, what is their effect? All transient,
passing clouds that come and go. It is an utter waste of time. It is all
business oriented. That is not our aim. Do not hanker after internet: turn to
the innernet. Concentrate on inner
vision.[4]
Actually, these sayings contradict the
blessing Sai Baba gave in July 1995 for starting the official international
website (http://www.sathyasai.org) of the
Sathya Sai Organisation. They also clash with the subsequent decision by the
Sathya Sai Organisation to set up an attractive website for the ashram (http://www.srisathyasai.org.in). Moreover,
the Computer Class Service Project of the
In another paper I have compiled, in as much
detail as possible, a list of the accusations against Sai Baba over the last
three decades. This paper focuses on the developments involving the religious
movement inspired by this guru, which have taken place since January 2000. It
shows how the Internet has been a major tool for ex-devotees to seek, find and
present information critical of Sai. At the same time, it has to be made clear
that although some of the material presented in the following pages may be
disturbing, one ought to be very careful before judging Sai Baba to be a
homo-paedophile, or his devotees as blind followers. Many more facets have to
be taken into account before such an opinion can be formulated.
The research for this paper has mainly
been carried out – how could it have been otherwise? – through rather intensive
web surfing for 1 to 3 hours daily between June 2000 and February 2001, updated
by a quick survey made in August 2001. The most important Sai Baba websites are
listed and briefly described in the Appendix.
As
stated above, during the past year a large amount of information critical of
Sai Baba information has been posted on the Internet. This, of course, has a
history. In the past some people have become very critical towards Sai Baba.
Such persons and stories have been dismissed by many of his devotees as
emanating from critical individuals,
critical one time stories only –
therefore not important. These persons apparently did not understand Sai Baba’s
real message, and probably still had to learn how to come to terms with their
private disappointed egos. The belief that ‘Guru Baba will never leave them,
and such persons might over the years finally become aware of Baba’s
greatness’, is a common rationalised devotee way to look upon critical non- or
ex-devotees.[6]
Some non-devotees are ‘sceptics’, people
who are very suspicious and critical towards everything coming close to
paranormal, superstitious, religious beliefs. One of these is Herman de
Tollenaere, a sceptic in the
Linked to Premanand is Dale Beyerstein,
a sceptic and philosopher from
The long-standing host of one special
Sai-critical niche of its own is
Khoramshagol started his critical Sai
Baba website in 1998. Paul Holbach, of Italy, presented, independently of
others, his sceptical views on Baba on a site between April 1999 and fall 2000.
On
The Findings
In March 2000 a manuscript titled The Findings was published in England.[11] Soon after its
physical appearance, in April or May, it was posted on the websites of
Khoramshagol and Holbach.[12] To be blunt,
the document looks like a loose collection of e-mail messages, bundled together
with an introduction and epilogue written by David and Faye Bailey. Much of its
information, but not all, does stem from the Internet; the lay-out of the
writings adds to the appearance of it being Internet messages only. The
manuscript shows no date nor name or city of publisher. It contains
approximately 40 pages (the amount varies depending on the version downloaded).
At first sight, only one sentence on the Contents page, “This document has been
perused for libel [,] by a lawyer in London” seems to dignify The Findings with some credentials.
Nevertheless, the document has created havoc among Sai Baba devotees.
David Bailey, a British musician and
teacher, became a follower of Sathya Sai Baba in 1994. Sai Baba paid him a lot
of attention and Bailey became a so called ‘verandah man’, one of Baba’s chosen
people who, during darshan, are privileged to sit near Sai Baba’s interview
room. For six years Bailey made visits of a few weeks to Puttaparthi, once,
twice, or when possible, three times yearly. He became involved with musical
performances in the ashram, and taught music to the students of the Sai Baba
schools.
After introducing them to one another in
1996, Sai Baba married David Bailey and Faye, a longtime devotee from
Australia, in January 1997. Barely knowing one another, they married afterwards
according to the law and in church in England. They did so as a result of their
belief that Baba was guiding them this way. Both their experiences with Sai
Baba are compiled in three books, clearly showing their devotion for him.[13]
As a result of their close connections
with Sai Baba, their books and David’s music performances and lectures, the
Baileys became extremely well known as prominent devotees, who travelled around
the world to spread Baba’s glory. Everywhere they went, they were confronted
with questions from fellow devotees, including awkward questions of a sexual
nature. This did not shake their faith; they kept believing in Sai Baba, and
explained all away with ‘Swami is only love’. Whatever Swami did, it had to be
divine. Until one day when the Baileys were approached in the ashram by a
student of one of the Sai Baba schools, who pleaded with David: “Please Sir, do
something to stop him sexually abusing us!” From then on Bailey carefully began
to listen to and search for critical stories. One of the places he turned to
was the Internet, where some information could already be found. A long period
of intensifying doubt, in which stories were collected and verified, led to the
publication of The Findings.
Astonishingly, the manuscript contains
the stories of a few former Sai Baba students. They openly confessed to
preparing Baba’s chair in the interview room with ‘planted’ rings and other
trinkets. They also revealed that when Sai Baba leaves for darshan, he squeezes
small tablets of vibuthi (made from ashes of cow dung) between the middle and
ring finger of his hand holding his robe. When accepting letters of devotees,
he simply shifts a tablet from this hand to the other. So when ‘materialising
the holy ashes,’ Swami simply crushes a small tablet into powder. Anyone, it is
said, who carefully watches Sai Baba’s hands instead of his face, can discover
the trick quickly. The same is said to be true for the materialisations of
jewellery. It often appears to be an ordinary handiness of sleight of hand.
Other than this, The Findings refer
to some alleged malpractices in the Sathya Sai hospital (kidney-theft), the
murders in 1993 are mentioned, as are some anomalies in Sai Baba’s teachings.
Particularly shocking is a brief section on Dr Naresh Bhatia, who for six years
was the head of the blood bank of the Sai Super Specialty hospital:
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 interview room crying. He continued to cry for two
days, and was unable to eat or study.
That
evening Dr Bhatia, 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.[14]
The spreading of The Findings started mainly through an announcement in The Quarterly, a three monthly magazine
founded in England by Peggy Mason, a long time Sai Baba devotee. After Peggy
Mason passed away, Faye Bailey had taken over the editorship. The March 2000
issue of The Quarterly indicated that
David and Faye Bailey were not Sai Baba devotees any more. Those interested to
know why could order The Findings.
Devotees who ordered and read The
Findings and believed the stories to be true, passed it on to others. This
time they were not individual cases from disappointed egos, but many different
cases, and even children were involved!
Many people who read The Findings and were affected by the document,
went on the Internet and surfed to sites containing information critical of Sai
Baba. The message-board created by David Lane had already become the meeting
place to post and read bits and pieces of Sai-critical information.[15] The
interaction increased after The Findings
had come out. Discussions flared up. New data surfaced. For instance the sexual
encounter Hans de Kraker had with Sai Baba in 1997 was mailed to the Baileys,
and was added to The Findings.
Someone offered the information that a particular building close to the ashram
gate, the one having the sign ‘Ayurvedic Massage Institute’ on the outside, was
a brothel. When entering for a massage, this person found that a visitor was
offered all kind of services by young boys and girls, depending on how much the
visitor was willing to pay. The building is said to be owned by a younger
brother of Sai Baba (named Jankiramaiah) and the doctor running the business
often sits on Baba’s verandah.
Delta_108, the Internet name for Hari
Sampath from India – nowadays living in the USA – explained that he had left
the organisation sickened after getting to know inside information. He was a
volunteer member of the intelligence and inner security wing of the ashram
between 1992 and 1995, in which period he cultivated relationships with persons
he considers to be members of the ‘second ring’ of Sai devotees. Belonging to
the ‘first ring’ are the members of the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust and family
members of Sai Baba. Members of the first ‘inner coterie’ are often of high
social status and they stay in the Sai Organisation for a long time. All these,
according to Sampath, know that Sai Baba is not omnipotent, omniscient, or
omnipresent, the qualities believed to be attributes of an avatar, a
God-in-human-form, as Baba claims he is and his devotees believe. The ring
behind this inner coterie, the second ring, is built up of presidents of
national Sai Organisations, and presidents of States in India. These people
manage the money streams towards the Central Trust, and they have ample
opportunity to personally gain from it – as a fee for their loyalty. Not all
members of this second ring are aware of the huge sums of money involved, and
some are convinced Sai Baba is the avatar, says Sampath.[16]
When information like this began to grow
like a snowball, and more and more people began to meet in cyberspace, things
changed, naturally. Devotees became ex-devotees. They had to cope with anger,
and feelings of betrayal (spiritual rape) by Sai Baba. Some of them posted rude,
and accusing notes on the message board. Devotees staying loyal to Sai Baba
began to post just as upset or angry messages.[17] An
impression:[18]
again.’:
“S.B.
sucks boy’s penises and penetrates anuses from 7 to 30 yr olds. Lots of vice a
versa and sexual orgies in groups at Kodai. S.B. likes to watch boys having sex
in front of him also. He is a voyeur as well as a varied pervert it seems.
There is
a pedophile brothel at P.N.
There are
some drugs involved, perhaps ganja and more.
He is an
embezzler, a murderer, a liar and a cheat.
He is a
hypocrite for approving meat eating and alcohol consumption in HRC and HOBs
against his published teachings.
Om Nama
Sivaya, Tony. Sorry about this but too much crap is getting from the point.”
[Abbreviations:
Kodai: residence of Sai Baba in Kodaikanal, P.N.: Prasanthi Nilayam, HRC: Hard
Rock Café, HOBs: House of Blues. The last two are set up by Isaac Tigrett, who
when he sold the Hard Rock Cafés, donated US$20 million for the Sathya Sai
Super Special hospital.]
September
3, 2000 message # 7820, by rkmsr, a reply to delta_108, ‘Re: Filthy>> Hmm
?? Now you k’:
“(…) We
hindus and Indians are proud of our culture, and heritage. I don’t need any
advice from pigs and hyenas. If you are hungry, i will throw shit at your face,
eat it and keep quiet, RKMSR”
October 18, 2000 message # 9085, by aoclery, ‘Re: what
about this ????’:
“sb says nothing most ghost written, he is not a
swami, he is a molestor and anal penetrator of
children.”
October
19, 2000 message # 9104, by dark_knight_9, replying to aoclery, ‘Re: what about
this ????’:
“Oh
would you just shut up and say something different instead of saying the same thing
over and over and over againnnnnnnnn …..”
October
19, 2000 message # 9113, by aoclery:
“Heis an arse bandit in pn molesting kids.”
When the discussion on the board got
clogged with off-topic pro-Sai postings, (only on rare occasions will Lane, the
webmaster, delete a message), out of sheer frustration a new board was opened,
promising to maintain a friendlier atmosphere and delete off-topic messages.
Also new critical websites got set up – in the foreign languages Spanish,
French, Polish and Dutch, carrying translations of The Findings, letters and testimonies. One message-board was
initiated for people to share the grief of having lost the dearly loved Sathya
Sai Baba. Another impression:[19]
November 19, 2000 message # 11, by phoenixboy28,
‘Feeling the sadness’:
“Dear
Contessa
I am at
that point now. I thought It didnt matter anymore that I was really getting
over it. I even tried to justify it by telling people to get over it and move
on. Thats not where I am today. I am feeling really sad and abandoned by god.
You know I still have his pictures sitting down off the walls in a pile next to
me as I write. Im finding it hard to let go, but Im just stalling the
inevitable.
I was
listening to Jewel singing one of her songs yesterday and I just burst into
tears. It felt great to cry and I sang along with her.
I think
theres heaps more crying to do. I feel it well up in my heart and I know I have
to release it, but its like letting go of sb and im still finding it hard.
Maybe
one day we can all cry together, and then I know we will laugh and heal our
hearts.
Love
Phoenixboy.”
November
21, 2000 message # 35, by lisabeth59840, ‘Re: Necessary Loss’:
“Dear
Contessa,
I feel
this way as well. How could I have been so self-deceiving, ignoring little
things that should have “stood out like a sore thumb”… One that troubles me
still is remembering how when my first child was a baby, I placed a picture of
SB near his crib where he could see it, thinking of course that it would be a
blessing to him. I remember very well how emphatically he said to me one day
“No like Baba! No like him!”
I could
go on and on but my daughter’s calling me!”
November 23,
2000 message # 57, by contessa92000, ‘Re: more signs along the way’:
“I am wondering
where my head was at that I was so impressed with this “God” who had, or so I
thought, the great capacity to manifest cow dung? My. My. My. What an
accomplishment.
I am also wondering where my head was at when I
gratefully received and ate it. My My. My.
What a fool.”
Ex-devotees who wanted to stay up to
date could contact Glen Meloy, a retired management consultant in California,
who after 26 years of devotion, could not deny the authenticity of a
hand-written account of a 15-year old boy he knew personally. That document, in
a rather detached tone, describes how he, the boy, had been sexually approached
by Sai Baba in two private interviews. Having become an ex-devotee, Meloy
became the co-ordinator of an email group that had formed itself in Spring
2000, and had become rather active in the exposure of the guru’s ‘dark’ side.
When this group became too large – having grown from a handful in the early
summer 2000 to a list of 500 names by November – and people on the list
notified him they preferred to remain anonymous for the others, he blindcopied
the mailings to the large list.
The e-mail Meloy sent out in June
consisted of several messages per day. It diminished to one message per week in
November and from January 2001 onwards the activity of mailing the complete
list changed into sporadically messages on changing intervals.[20] The
information varied from a forwarded e-mail letter written by illusionist
Enrique Marquez from Argentina (saying that he, Marquez, can perform the same
tricks as Sai Baba), to the news item that the book The Naked Sai Baba, written by a Japanese living in the United
States, had been published in Japan.[21] The book
contains material gathered from interviews held, among others, with several men
who attest to having been sexually abused by Sai Baba. Some mailings concerned
persons who shared their writings with Sai officials who were still into
denial, or believed Baba’s divinity. For example, the story of a mother whose
son had told her in 1980 that Sai Baba was a homosexual and tried to have oral
sex with him (the son). The case was at the time, in 1980, discussed among Sai
officials (Phyllis Krystal, John Hislop, Michael Goldstein, three Sai VIPs).[22] They decided
to believe Sai Baba to be God, ergo, the boy and his mother had to be lying.
Also calls for protest letters to be
sent to journalists or government officials were made by Meloy. For instance, it became known that two
Sathya Sai Baba schools would open, one in the US (Hartford, Connecticut), the
other one in Canada (Toronto).[23] Since such
schools integrate Sai Baba’s teachings, and it is believed that this same Sai
Baba is using (young) boys for his personal gratification, should ex-devotees
not try to stop such events? So, through Meloy’s efforts, letters got mailed
and faxed to newspapers to inform journalists on Sai Baba, and – hopefully – to
prevent the schools from opening.
A major success of this ‘e-bombing’
method has been the withdrawal by UNESCO of its
participation in the conference on “Strengthening Values Education: Innovative
Approaches to Teacher Education for Peace and International Understanding”. Sai
devotees had been officially informed that the Institute for Sathya Sai Baba
Education had been invited by UNESCO and Flinders
University in Australia to participate in organising this conference, to be
held from 25-29 September in Puttaparthi. However, nowhere in the UNESCO calendar was the conference listed as a UNESCO activity. The same held for Flinders University. It
turned out to be an initiative of the Institute for Sathya Sai Eduction. When
both UNESCO and Flinders
University had withdrawn their official participation in the conference, based
upon the information they had received (among the material being The Findings) this, according to some
ex-devotees, was not enough. UNESCO ought to
explicitly state why it had withdrawn. Only when the announcement came out on
September 15, “The Organization is deeply concerned about widely-reported
allegations of sexual abuse involving youths and children that have been
levelled at the leader of the movement in question, Sathya Sai Baba”, was it
time for celebration.[24] This message
immediately found its way to Meloy’s subscribers, and the various Sai-critical
websites.
The UNESCO affair
is typical of the exposé activities which took place during the second half of
the year 2000, and which in a more sporadic manner continue today. Relatively
small groups of ex-devotees are not only active in helping others with their
grieving process, and adding information to the disturbing Findings, they also seek to place publicity in regular news media.
They consider it important for devotees and non-devotees to really know what
has been happening around and with Sathya Sai Baba. Therefore, they believe
that newspapers ought to carry articles, radio and television should offer
programs, and (legal) institutes ought to look into this matter. Information on
websites only is not enough because not all people are reached and somehow
regular news media seem to have more credentials.
However,
what journalists want and need besides hard proof, is news. Subjective stories and opinions found on the Internet are not
sufficient. Only first hand accounts of a ‘victim’ and official complaints are
newsworthy. So far, just a minority of (young) men have been willing to openly
talk about their experiences, and, as far as publicly known, only one, Jens
Sethi of Germany, has filed an official complaint against Sai Baba. Based on
names and stories found on the Internet, a list of twenty accounts can be
compiled, some of which are second-hand, and some only concern Sai Baba
massaging the young man’s genitals with oil. In reality the list of victims of young
men who have been sexually abused, must run into the hundreds, if not
thousands.[25]
Against
this background it becomes understandable that ex-devotees consider all
publications having appeared in Canada, Australia, Denmark, Poland and the
Netherlands important.[26] Often, as soon
as something appeared in a newspaper or magazine, it was quickly posted on a
website for all ex-devotees to see. Two stand out in the exposé efforts: the
publication by Mick Brown in the English Daily
Telegraph on October 27, 2000,[27] and the article in India Today by Vijay Thapa on November 25, 2000.[28] The Brown article is important for the new case of
‘Sam Young’, and the second article is especially valuable because India Today is a rather conservative
magazine distributed in six different languages over the whole of India. The
article reported on the massive celebration of the guru’s 75th
birthday on November 23, (although less people showed up than expected – due to
the Internet rumours?) and, more importantly, some testimonies of the abused
men are mentioned. Before the end of the week the issue had sold out, and a
second edition was printed. The last time this happened with an issue of India Today was after the murder on
Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. The article attracted the attention of members of the
Indian parliament and personnel at foreign embassies in New Delhi. As a result,
the case has been discussed at these high political levels.
Contrary
to his custom, Sai Baba himself seemed to react to the publication in his
Christmas discourse given on December 25, in Brindavan, his ashram at
Whitefield, near Bangalore. Speaking of Jesus, he said:
Many people
could not bear this popularity of Jesus Christ. They created a lot of problems
for Jesus and put him to suffering. They even attempted to take his life.
In the attempts on his life his disciples were also associated. Jesus
had 12 disciples. The 12th disciple was Judas. In those days there
was only one Judas, but today there are many Judases. Because of the rise in
number of such Judases we find unsacredness developing all over the world.
[30]
Shortly
after the appearance of an article on Swami’s discourse in the Times of India,[31] the newspaper text dropped in the e-mailboxes of
ex-devotees, who responded immediately on the message boards with remarks like:
“Who’s paying?” “Shall I buy a Jaguar?” “If I’m getting paid for my expose
efforts, perhaps they sent the money to the wrong address!”[32]
As if
nothing had happened, a few weeks later, on January 19th, Sai Baba
attended the opening of a new Super Specialty hospital in Whitefield. The prime
minister of India, A.B. Vajpayee, and three chief ministers praised Sai Baba’s
latest project.[33]
Having followed the Sai Baba
developments on the Internet for nine months, it is my clear impression that
the websites and message boards are mainly a tool for information and communication
for (ex-)Sai Baba devotees. The discussions concerning Baba’s ‘dark’,
‘criminal’ deeds take place among ex-devotees, and between devotees and
ex-devotees. Only rarely do non-devotees join in, and for reasons of their own.
Besides a few informative, or generally
critical websites, the Sai Baba information stems from and stays within the
group of people (formerly) inspired by Sathya Sai Baba. There are no attacks
from ‘anti-cult warriors’ on the Sai Baba websites, and so-called ‘flame wars’,
the verbal fight on an increasingly loud tone, take place within the (ex-)
devotee group itself.[34] In
retrospect, some ex-devotees do consider the Sai Baba movement to be a cult,
and express feelings of having been brainwashed – although they participated of
their own free will and were not forced, it was the group dynamic that made you
do things – through reading Baba books, singing bhajans (devotional songs), meditations on his name, seeing in all
events his divine guidance, etcetera. The official site of the international
Sathya Sai Baba Organisation and http://www.geocities.com/the_sai_critic carry
sections explaining why the organisation is not a cult; the critical websites
offer links to cult-informative websites.
At first sight, especially for those
surfing to the sites now, an information overload may make it difficult to sift
the grain from the chaff. After a while it will not be so difficult to see that
the most important document is The
Findings, and much of the same material is posted on several message boards, the most informative
currently being http://www.snowcrest.com/sunrise, http://www.exbaba.com and http://www.sathyasaivictims.com. No really
new information has surfaced after the publication in India Today, and the discussions on the boards are merely repetitions
of previous ones.
What
stands out in the activities of the ex-devotees is the urge for publications in
the regular media and the lobbying for raising public awareness of the matter
in society in general. Many ex-devotees have experienced the sweetness and even
the miracles of once being a devotee, yet they cannot deny the sexual abuse
stories and they consider it their duty to prevent more happening. Therefore,
the major desire of ex-devotees is a thorough investigation on Sai Baba
concerning the accusations of sexual abuse especially, carried out by some
independent international governmental institution. Their activities are mainly
a plea for further investigation.
Time will tell what the outcome will be.
In the meantime, most probably, more devotees will become ex-devotees, those
ex-devotees having come to terms with their loss of Sai Baba will go on with
their lives, and a core group will remain active until the Sai Baba case is
finally properly investigated.
Acknowledgement
This paper could not have been written
without the information received from Glen Meloy, Hari Sampath, David Bailey
and many other former Sai-devotees. Thanks to them, and the ones daring to
speak about their sometimes really troublesome experiences. Yet, thanks are
also due to those devotees who posted opinions on Internet message boards, as
the picture of Sai Baba would have become really one-sided had they not spoken
out too.
Further thanks to the many friends and
acquaintances interested in the recent Sai developments and in my involvement
in the matter, as all communications
helped me to explore the matter more thoroughly. I am particularly grateful to
Paul W. Roberts for the brief, but to me very important, private email
correspondence last April, Mick Brown for moral support to stay down to earth,
and Brian Steel for editing the English grammar in this text.
Appendix: Websites
For the purpose of this paper a list of
important Sai Baba websites has been collected and short descriptions added.
Criteria have been: a) criticality concerning Sai Baba, and b) major pro-Baba
sites.
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/sathyasaibaba
Discussion
board started by ‘Neuralsurfer’, USA, on February 9, 1999. It has been
important for the exposé developments.
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/sathyasaibabadiscussionclub
Discussion
board started on July 17, 2000, by ‘Shaghols’, USA.
American
site started in August 2000. At the end of March 2001, the decision was made
not to add further or alter the information, and in June 2001 it was closed
down. Its original message board changed on
http://www.myfreeoffice.com/saibabaexposed
Site of
Said Khoramshagol, USA, from 1998 until the webhost went out of business, mid January
2001. It had its own message board, which after its closure continued on http://www.quicktopic.com/5/H/ePGD5eJtqFgQLf6Q4tbt. Shaghols was sent
‘hate mails’ for having his website, for instance the following one, sent on
October 19, 1999, by ‘XpozEvil’:
We are
part of an international network campaigning against hate, disinformation,
white supremacy, and KKK retarded mentality. One of our network watchers has
just informed us about your hate and disinformation articles. We have checked
them and have identified them as hate crap. We have reported you to the
Wiesenthal Center and will aggressively expose your false claims. You have
written that Sai Baba has said that He is Imam Mahdi and you claim that this is
printed in Sanathana Sarathi. You are false. Tell us which issue of Sanathana
Sarathi and what page. Produce facts. We are not blind or retarded. It is the
end of 1999 and you are still trying to sell magicians to unsuspected people.
Tell us the name of one magician who has ever been able to produce anything out
of nothing? Produce facts not falsity. You don’t seem to be smart or even
slightly enlightened. Your name suggests you are Iranian. Perhaps that tells
the story. Are you financed by the mullahs in Iran? You’ll have a very hard
time to market your hate commodity. Come up with facts, kid.
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/sathyasaibabaexposeheal
Discussion
board from November 17, 2000, till the end of January 2001, intended as a
comforting meeting place for ex-devotees.
Started
July 2000, originally Dutch only site, but since July 2001 has been adding a
large English section.
http://www.geocities.com/descubrimientosSB
Mexican site, started September 2000.
French
Canadian site, started October 2000.
Scandinavian
site in Swedish and Danish language, put up in April 2001.
http://www.quicktopic.com/7/H/uVTiRX8McBie
A
moderated Australian message board that entered the web May 5th,
2001.
http://www.snowcrest.com/sunrise
American
website started June 30, 2001, created to make up for the loss of http://www.saibabaguru.com.
http://www.sathyasaivictims.com
American
website opened July 2001, managed by ‘Shaghols’, owned by Hari Sampath.
http://www.geocities.com/athens/cyprus
This was the Sai Baba-expose website of Paul
Holbach, Italy, from April 1999 till fall 2000. Part of it is now at http://www.iosono.com/paulholbach/golden_e.htm and http://www.iosono.com/paulholbach/promuh_e.htm.
A2. Sites of which critical Sai Baba
material is a section
http://vclass.mtsac.edu:940/dlane/saidebates.htm
Personal
site of professor David C. Lane, ‘Neuralsurfer’, California, which contains
correspondence on Sai Baba dated May 1997.
http://www.indian-skeptic.de/html
Site
stemming back to at least 1995, managed in Germany, which lists the contents of
every edition of (and on an irregular basis articles published in) the Indian Skeptic, the monthly magazine of
Basava Premanand.
http://www.stelling.nl/simpos/shree_sai_baba.htm
Site of
the Foundation for Information on Social Problems and around Occult Movements,
the Netherlands, that since its existence 1997, carries Sai Baba material.
http://www.nhne.com/specialreports/srsaibaba.html
Website of New Heaven New Earth, with a critical Sai Baba text dated
February 1998.
http://www.sekty.dominikanie.pl
Polish
site of the Information Center for Sects and Other Religious Movements with Sai
Baba material since April 2000.
http://www.iae.nl/users/lightnet/religion/sai.htm
Site of
a Dutch webmaster but in English language, started in 1995 with Sai Baba
section since June 2000.
There are many websites praising Sai
Baba, explaining who he is, and where information on him can be obtained.[35] Important are:
The
official site of the International Sai Baba Organisation since January 1996.
Based in the USA.
http://www.srisathyasai.org.in
Relatively
new (put on the web around the end of November, early December 2000, and
allegedly created with Baba’s blessing.), official and glossy website of
Prasanthi Nilayam, Sai Baba’s ashram in Puttaparthi.
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/saibaba
Discussion
club started on October 12, 1998, meant for pro Sai Baba conversation only.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/saiunity
Discussionclub started on December 2, 1999. Out of this one came http://groups.yahoo.com/group/unityindiversity, for members only, started
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/sathyasaibabahelpfuldiscussion
Discussion
board managed by Pax_Gabriel and Dark_Knight, two UK devotees, which existed
briefly in December 2000 and January 2001. Ex-devotees were welcomed too.
http://www.geocities.com/the_sai_critic
Based in
Australia; contains an extended reply to The
Findings and the article in India
Today. Put on the web around October 2000.
http://people.delphi.com/bongiovanni/carp.htm
Site of
the well-known USA devotee, Bon Giovanni. He closely manages several closed
message boards, among them http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SandehaNivarini,
(begun on
http://www.saibaba-and-sex-aclearview.com
Site of
Ram Das Awle, India, expresses how he as a devotee copes with the sexual
allegations against Sai Baba. Put on the web in May 2001.
Notes
[1] See
for instance http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/9158.html, or follow the links on http://www.sathyasai.org, and http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/sathyasaibaba.
[2] Exact numbers on ex-devotees are not known, but they must run into the
thousands, based on the fact that within a few months time after The Findings had come out, the e-mail
list of ex-devotees from Glen Meloy had increased from a handful to over 500.
[3] Sanathana Sarathi vol. 43, March
2000:86. Message # 14244 on http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/sathyasaibaba refers to a conversation Sai Baba had in
1979-1980 concerning the use of computers at a university. “No,” Sai Baba had
said then to Michael Goldstein, “The growing tendency to rely on computers and
calculators to provide answers to problems is bringing about a rapid
deterioration of intellect.” It is printed in John Hislop, (who was present when this conversation took place),
My Baba and I, San Diego: Birthday,
1985.
[4] The quotes of September 26 and 29, 2000 can be found
on http://www.ieasai.com/baba.
[5] COMPUTER CLASS SERVICE PROJECT
An Opportunity to Serve
It has been surprising to say the
least. Very much like each visit to the Divine Presence, there is always something new and rewarding
to experience when we find a real need and dedicate all of our efforts to Him.
The results are in His Hands and they are, in this case, unexpectedly expanding and very good.
It began with the idea of
teaching computers to needy inner city New York teens. Having use of a devotee's
office in the financial district, our Center members put together a new
program, largely with Young Adults, that combines specific skills with
Education in Human Values.
Youth today have technical
knowledge that elders rarely have: the use of computers is second nature to
them. Nevertheless, there are great numbers of high school age students as well
as those who have dropped out of school who have not had that advantage which
is of increasing importance in getting a job. Three levels of classes (Basic
Computer/Internet; Microsoft Word;
and Microsoft Excel) are taught
in an unusual way. The teachers have many knowledgeable Sai youth working as
TA’s (teaching assistants) who serve as coaches, tutors and mentors to the
students. Most of the students have come either through an agency that deals
with homeless or disadvantaged teens or through high schools that work with
problem students. Another population
group - new teen immigrants - has
now been added. There is an English problem here that we are working well with,
encouraged by the seriousness and enthusiasm of the students who come from so
many parts of the world. Both student groups are mixed together.
There is, of course, no charge
for the classes and we provide transportation costs. Breakfast is there on
arrival and a
home cooked hot lunch is served.
The feeling is very cheerful, happy and loving. The unity and harmony of the
Sai devotees sets a wonderful example.
The classes have gradually been
developed with an EHV component as an integral part of the technical teachings.
A Thought for the Week is used and skillfully woven into the lesson. The number
of qualified teaching assistants is growing. Very significant is the fact that
new non-Sai Teaching Assistants have started to come through school or job
friends of those involved. They are enthusiastic about this new way of helping
those in need. We frequently have one Teaching Assistants for each student!
The program started in February
1999 and has now completed one full year. The curriculum has been refined, the
EHV more skillfully interwoven and surprisingly students who have completed the
course have volunteered to act as Teaching Assistants. They are working out
very well and all of them experience an important increase in self-confidence.
Some have joined with other Young Adults in community service the following
day. A few are attending our Center Sai meetings. All of this has developed in
a very natural way as a result of their own interest. At the conclusion of each
7-week course, Certificates are awarded and special events
planned: e.g. a dinner, a weekend
out of the city etc. Healthy relationships are growing. One evening a week,
special classes are held to give students the opportunity to work on the
computers, and to receive tutoring in Math and English as well as help with
putting together a resume and filling out college applications. From this,
successful mentoring relationships have been formed. The next step is the
development of a Global Values Club for those who have completed the courses.
Recently, the principal of one of
the high schools paid us an unannounced visit. He knew he would be impressed
because all of his students were so happy that their friends have put their
names on long waiting lists for future classes. However, he was surprised to
see some of his students acting as Teaching Assistants and most important for
him was the fine feeling that he experienced. “Such good people”, he said. It
was warm and welcoming and loving.
COMPUTER CLASS SERVICE PROJECT
Very important is the fact that
most of our teachers and teaching assistants are young adults themselves. Youth
is best equipped to transform youth, as Swami reminds us.
Built on the unity and harmony of
our Center members and their friends, this project is fast developing and new
possibilities are now beginning to take shape for the future.
The following Computer Class
Start-up Kit provides you with information should you wish to start a similar
program. These suggestions are based on our experience and may be useful to
you. All of us here are most happy to help.
Hal Honig, January 25, 2000
Coordinator, Computer Class
Project
Sathya Sai Baba Center of New
York City
E-mail: comclass@maestro.com
Web Site: http://maestro.com/~comclass
[6] Henk Meijer, a long term Dutch
devotee resident in Puttaparthi, wrote in a letter published in Op de Hoogte, nr 3, October 2000:10-11
(my translation):
It is a tremendous pity that so
many, even acknowledged senior devotees turn away from Baba by the test He is
giving them. “Test is my task”. Ah well, also this is, like everything, the
Divine Play. Baba is not concerned with the quantity of devotees, but with the
quality with which we want to be His devotees. For all of those who would like
a way back to His Motherheart, He says: “Yes, yes yes!” But if not, then sounds
his “No”.
Ultimately everybody comes back
to Him. There is no escape because he is the All, and we with Him; we form that
Unity.
[7] In 1993 some time
after the murders a Sai-Baba exposé message was posted on soc.culture.tamil by
former Sai student Meenakshi Srikanth. I could not retrace this message
itself on the board; it appeared in: Bailey, David & Faye The
Findings, Conwy, North Wales: private
publication, 200:18.
[8] An example of a newspaper clipping reprinted in Indian Skeptic August 1993, 6(4):34:
THE TELEGRAPH
10.6.1993
An Australian lady, who was also
a member of the Trust (belonging to the faction of the ousted secretary of the
trust) was murdered in her room in Prasanthi Nilayam seven months ago but the
entire incident was hushed up.
While over 80% of the sum is
spent in maintenance of the Ashram’s educational institutions and the Super
Speciality Hospital at Puttaparthi, the left over amounting to Rs. 25 crores,
goes to the trustees and key aides of the godman.
[9] Beyerstein, Dale Sai Baba’s Miracles. An
Overview, Vancouver: private publication by Dale Beyerstein, 1992. The contents
of the Indian Skeptic show that
Beyerstein was in touch with Premanand as early as 1988.
[10] From http://members.tripod.com/~dlane5/saiessay.html: Jed Geyerhahn, at the time he
had his private encounters with Sai Baba aged 16, wrote:
On my second trip to Sai Baba I had
four interviews. Each time I saw Baba, his hand would gradually make more
prominent connections to my groin. The first interview was a slight swipe, the
second a definite touch and the third time he grabbed me and with a very stern
face looked me directly in the eye and said “you are very weak!”. Needless to
say, he scared and embarassed me.
From http://members.tripod.com/~dlane5/saisep.html: It does happen that
Sai Baba touches person’s chakras, energy centers, with vibuthi. Said
Khoramshagol reacted on a comment on this:
First of all, Baba rubs “oil” in
an area “behind” the testicle and doesn’t do anything with the testicle. This
ritual has been a part of Hinduism for God knows how long. It has nothing to do
with rubbing something on the dick. Secondly, the dick is not a chakra area
either. Third, why did Baba have to touch my dick? Fourth, why did Baba have to
hug me while doing so? Fifth, why did he make sexual noises? Sixth, why did he
make me touch his private area? Eighth, why did he make sexual sounds while
directing me to touch him? I think if you put two and two together you will see
that most probably he is GAY.
[11] Bailey, 2000.
[12] The first website were The Findings were available, was in April 2000 on David Icke’s
website http://www.davidicke.com, the site that
carries his e-magazine. The document was also posted on the Danish site http://www.npi-news.dk/page152.htm.
[13] Bailey, David A Journey to Love, Prasanthi Nilayam: Sri Sathya Sai Towers Hotels
Pvt. Ltd., 1998 (1997). Id. A Journey to Love
Book 2: Love and Marriage, Further Experiences with Sathya Sai Baba,
Prasanthi Nilayam: Sai Towers Publishing, 1998. Bailey, Faye Another Journey
to Love: Experiences with Sathya Sai Baba, Prasanthi Nilayam: Sai Towers
Publishing, 1998. The Baileys have taken their books off the market after they
became ex-devotees.
[14] Bailey, 2000:17-18.
Several people have attempted to follow up on the story of Dr N.K. Bhatia, but
without further clarifications. To Mick Brown (see note 28) Bhatia admitted to
have had a sexual relationship with Sai Baba for sixteen years, but he denied
the story of the 7-year old categorically and still believes Sai Baba is God.
For background of Bhatia himself, see his own book: Bhatia, Dr Naresh The Dreams & Realities. Face to Face with GOD, Faber, Virginia,
USA: Leela Press Inc., 1996.
[15] See on http://clubs.yahoo/clubs/sathyasaibaba for instance messages
# 345 and 392 by David Bailey.
[16] See messages # 126,
352, 353 and 356 on http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/sathyasaibabadiscussionclub.
[17] On one occasion the abusive messages posted on http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/sathyasaibaba, by Radha Vanamanali
alias Rkmsr alias Ramakrishnan, led to Ramakrishnan’s arrest in the
A rumour was passed on concerning
David Bailey. Nsfmark, who turned out to be a made up person, sent to http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/sathyasaibaba message # 2.951:
On the pretence of taking me out in
the car to listen to a tape of his compositions, David drove to a quiet spot ,
adn [sic] there, in a very embarrasing [sic] incident, he invited me to have
sex with him, which as an openly gay man, I found very easy to decline.
The same rumour got spread again
on the message board http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/sathyasaibabahelpfulldiscussions, which existed for a
brief period in December 2000 to January 2001. Another rumour, coming from
another source, suggested that David Bailey had been arrested for paedophile
activities and that David and Faye Bailey had separated. See message # 2.237 on http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/sathyasaibabadiscussionclub. In Australia a
rumour was spread alleging that David Bailey had borrowed (and failed to pay
back) a large sum of money from the well known devotees, the ‘Pink Twins’. [No
ref.]
[18] Copied from http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/sathyasaibaba.
[19] Copied from http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/sathyasaibabaexposeheal.
[20] Glen Meloy has
remained active for the Sai exposé until late July 2001, when he decided to
focus on other issues in life than Sai Baba.
[21] Fuefuki, Panta The Naked Sai Baba, Tokyo: Voice Inc., 2000. The book will not be
translated into English.
[22] Phyllis Krystal and
John Hislop have been prominent devotees since the early ‘70s, who have written
several books on Sai Baba. (Steel,
Brian The Sathya Sai Baba Compendium. A
Guide to the First Seventy Years, York Beach, ME: Samuel Weiser Inc., 1997:
93, 106.) Through them new people were led
to Sai Baba. Michael Goldstein is the Coordinator of the Sathya Sai
Organisation in the USA.
[24] See http://www.unesco.org/education/highlights/media_advisory.htm and http://www.unescobkk.org/news/aceid-withdrawal.htm. The message is also
available on most Sai exposé websites.
[25] Hari Sampath knows
about a hundred, many of whom he has spoken with personally. Calculations lead
to a larger number: 250 times / year x 2 darshan / day x 2 private interviews /
darshan x 25 years = 25.000 private encounters in the course of 25 years.
[26] Examples are radio-interviews on a Danish and a Dutch
website, videos showing Sai Baba’s sleight of hand, and newspaper/magazine articles:
Harvey, Bob “The Man believers
think he is God”, in Ottawa Citizen
Newspaper, 19 December, 2000:A6; Meer, Matthijs van der “Sai Baba & de Waarheid. Het verhaal van een
bevochten ontgoocheling” [The Truth will prevail… a Sai-devotee’s struggle for
disenchantment], in Spiegelbeeld,
9(10):18-21; Murphy, Padraic “Scandal engulfs
guru’s empire: divine downfall”, in The
Sunday Age 12 November, 2000; Ranft, Wolfgang “Münchner froh aus Indien: Guru wollte plötzlich
Sex”, in Bild Münich, 21 August,
2000:3; Roads, Duncan M. et al. “Sai Baba Exposed:
Fraud, Fakery & Molestation”, in Nexus,
7(5), 2000:56-61; Velde, Koert van de
“The Downfall of a Guru Sai Baba” in Trouw,
6 September, 2000; Vilmun,
Bettina “En Gurus Syndefald” and “Jeg var offer for Babas overgreb”, in B.T., Sunday 5 & 11 November 2000.
[27] Brown, Mick “Divine downfall”, in
The Daily Telegraph Saturday Magazine,
27 October, 2000.
[28] Menon,
Amarnath K. & Ashok Malik “Test of Faith”, and Thapa, Vijay Jung et al. “Test of
faith, a God Accused”, in India Today 4 December, 2000: 38-46.
[29] A letter by Ramana Murthy was sent to the webmaster of
http://www.saibabaguru.com.
It is now available on other exposé websites. See also http://www.iheu.org.
[30] See http://www.iae.com/baba/docs/d001225.html, or Sathya Sai Baba “Overcome jealousy with love.
Christmas message”, in Sanathana Sarathi,
44(1), 2001:1-11.
[31] Manu Rao, B.S. “Sai Baba lashes out
at detractors”, in Times of India 26
December, 2000. Also on http://www.saibabaguru.com.
[32] From http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/saibabaguruexpose, messages # 204,
208-209; http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/sathyasaibabaexposeheal message # 358, and http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/sathyasaibaba message # 11.400.
[33] Jayaram, A. “Vajpayee hits out at
high cost of medicare”, in The Hindu,
Friday 19 January 2001. See http://www.indiaserver.com/thehindu/2001/01/20/stories/0220000b.htm.
[34] Introvigne,
Massimo “So Many Evil Things”: Anti-Cult Terrorism
via the Internet, a paper presented at the annual conference of the
Association for Sociology of Religion, Chicago, 5 August 1999, preliminary
version, available on http://www.cesnur.org/testi/anticult_terror.htm.