Letter from Barry Pittard to Palm Springs Conference

 

Date: 11-26-03

Posted: Tuesday, November 25, 2003

Author: Barry Pittard 

Reference: http://home.hetnet.nl/~ex-baba/engels/letters/glentoprophet.html 

Dear Organizers and All Speakers, Palm Springs Conference March 12-14, 2004
at: 
http://www.greatmystery.org/ps2004conference.html  

Glen Meloy of California USA has been recently in touch with you, asking that each of the key organizers and speakers at the Palm Springs Conference is well-alerted to the worldwide concern of a great many former devotees of Sathya Sai Baba.

Glen Meloy was a highly respected, deeply dedicated Sathya Sai Baba devotee for twenty-six years. I myself was a lecturer in English for two years (1978-79) at the Sathya Sai Baba College in Whitefield, one of India’s most prestigious colleges, and a devotee for twenty-five years. Like so many others, I have been unable to ignore the overwhelming evidence that Sathya Sai Baba has for many years been a serial sexual molester of boys and young men, as well as facing other allegations of serious crimes. Glen Meloy and I have been closely associated with getting affidavits and other testimony to governments and law enforcement agencies in India and other countries around the world, including the CBI New Delhi, FBI, Scotland Yard, German Chief Prosecutor's Office, French National Police, Australian Federal Police, etc. In India,you may imagine the immense effort that we have to expend to attempt to overcome the vast protection afforded to Sathya Sai Baba and his multi-billion rupee/dollar empire by leading power brokers, and the hazard to life and limb posed to those courageous enough to speak out against him and his immensely powerful organization that covers up for him.  

One of the saddest commentaries on some speakers and writers on spiritual issues is that they have been less than honest in acknowledging their responsibility by noting the good professional and community standing of those many former Sathya Sai Baba devotees in making these allegations. Instead, they persist, despite the vast amount of evidence against him in leading world media, in published books and on the Internet, in speaking favorably about Sathya Sai Baba in their talks and writings.  

At every step, those international coordinators such as Glen Meloy (USA), Lionel Fernandez (Mexico), Robert Priddy (Norway) and me (Australia) have made it very plain that we are often able to refer influential speakers and writers to experts in their own fields who are knowledgeable about the evidence against Sathya Sai Baba. One example is that we have a number of highly-credentialed sexual abuse counselors in different countries who are well familiar with the cases, and entirely convinced that SSB is in fact a sexual molester of the most serious sort, not to mention a great many other spiritual anomalies of a most tragic kind. There are also, from various countries, courageous young men (and other accusers who have grown older) who are ready to give their direct testimony to relevant professionals who are in high standing in regard to their sensivity and ethical and moral character.  

Can the integrity that is evident on former SSB websites such as www.exbaba.com and www.saiguru.net elude detection by those who read the typically responsibly written testimony found there? Please consider viewing and signing the petition that has been signed by hundreds of persons in good standing in their professions, trades and wider communities at: http://www.petitiononline.com/saibaba/petition.html. You may also read the profoundly central - and by SSB and his apex leaders profoundly unanswered - questions raised by a strong coalition of former devotees (JuST Seekers of Truth) in the letter ‘Towards Public Accountability and Due Investigation: A Formal Open Appeal to ‘The Prashanthi Council’ at: http://www.saiguru.net/english/articles/100prashanthicouncil.htmFor an update and overview of the last four years of organized effort by (mainly) former devotees to bring world attention to the accusations against Sathya Sai Baba, see: http://www.saiguru.net/english/news/030925index.htm.

Welcome too is the emergence of critical, prolific scholarly writers with their own Sathya Sai Baba Exposé websites: see, Robert Priddy (Norway), http://home.no.net/anir/Sai/enigma and Brian Steel (Australia) http://bdsteel.tripod.com/More/index.html. For an overview of critical materials, you may consult, In the Shadow of Sathya Sai Baba at: http://www.saiguru.net/english/last_updates/shadowindex.htm. Under "Studies" on the http://www.exbaba.com site, there is a navigator to: "'Important studies from critical authors since 'The Findings.'"  

I would much value the thoughts of you and your experts on the following questions:  

  • How may whole communities enact who care for the safety and protection of our young from the trammels of false gurus?

  • How may those who seek to expose fraudulent spiritual teachers best reach out to those who are not fraudulent and encourage them to be honest and forthright enough to speak out in the face of such major cases of spiritual perfidy?

  • Would you ensure that a copy of this letter gets to each of your staff and speakers and assure us that your organization and its speakers will do nothing to add to the interest in Sathya Sai Baba which may inspire others to visit him?

 

Barry Pittard, Australia