Radha Swami History

[PAL 07]

Please could everybody contribute to exposing the demerits of this faith.

Baba Jaimal Singh had a house built near Hazur Salig Ram's satsang in Peepal Mandi according to Professor Dr. Agam P. Mathur, see footnote 14, page 37 of Radhasoami Reality, Mark Juergensmeyer. Also, In Dr. Agam P. Mathur's Radhasoami Faith, page 128, Mathur states " After Soamji Maharaj's departure, he (Jaimal) owed allegiance to the second guru Hazur Maharaj ( Salig Ram)". In Correspondence with Certain Americans, Soami Bagh, Agra, 1960, page 189, S. D. Maheswari states Jaimal was removed from the satsang of Salig Ram for "keeping two or three young girls with him." Salig Ram died on December 6, 1898 after a short illness with dysentery and coughing blood.

Baba Kirpal

1. He used to pick his nose in public satsang in front of everyone.

2. He used to spit into a spitoon in public satsang, grossing everyone out.

3. He used to clear his throat and rasp like a gorilla in public Satsang.

4. He was often very gruff and mean. Many people would have an interview with him and he would often treat them like <banned word filter activated> and even make women cry with his gruffness.

5. He talked like a baboon and nobody could understand what the hell he was saying. He should have had berlitz language training and then he would have spoken some clear english for once in his life.

6. His target audience was about a grade 1 level. If you disagree, read 'Morning Talks', a real sophisticated tome that one. You need to have read "<banned word filter activated> and jane" as a prerequisite to get through that one.

7. He was boring, repeating himself over and over and over, giving the same sleeper talks everywhere he went. He repeated the same old lame phrases over and over like a parrot, and merely recombined them into different combinations everwhere he went. Read anything he wrote and you will see this is true. Boring and unimaginative.

8. He would many times act crazy and ask "are you initiated?" even to his group leaders.

9. He was totally unpredictable, one minute smiling and joking and the next minute ripping into someone. He was so unpredictable that you never knew when he was going to blow up at you. A loose cannon ready to blow up at any time.

10. He generated fear in people. Many people would not want to sit near him but at the back of the room so he wouldn't treat them like <banned word filter activated> if they were within his eyesight range. If anyone is HONEST reading this they will nod their head. I know of people who spent time with him who thought he was very gruff and nasty, blowing up at them for hardly any reason whatever. He had very little patience with anyone.

11. Indian people would bring their diaries to him and he would throw them on the ground. He would hardly ever show respect even to his own people.

12. He was very gruff and mean. He made a lot of people ANGRY at him for the way he treated them.

13. I know of people who are still angry at him for the way he treated them like <banned word filter activated> for no reason.

14. If you were RICH that is a different story. Then you were respected.

The Times of India

DERAS EMERGING AS PARALLEL AUTHORITY

KS Dhaliwal, Times News Network

Jalandahar: The dera culture is spreading like poision in the whole of the state, more so in Doaba.

The deras are also virtual vote banks and are patronised by politicians.

The deras in turn patronise intellectuals and get them to write books in their favour. These intellectuals are connected with prominent universities and are never short of money as the deras influence extends into newer and newer spheres.

Political observers feel the deras may soon come to dominate various state institutions to emerge as a parallel authority.

The dera of Baba Piara Singh Bhaniara which shot into the news because of its links with prominent political leaders was only the tip of the iceburg. Almost all the famous Dalit deras, according to sources, have links with politcal parties of all hues.

CONGRESS CHIEF SONIA GANDHI'S VISIT TO THE BEAS DERA A FEW WEEKS BACK SEEMS TO ENDORSE THIS VIEW. The visit was kept a closely guarded secret and not even prominent Congress leaders were allow to go near the dera on that Sunday morning, sources reveal.

Chiranjilal Nar, author of Sangramiya lithas, a history of revolutionaries from the times of the Sikh Gururs till 1947, says "THE DERAS ARE BECOMING BUSINESS CENTRES. Recently a prominent dera near Jalandhar was sold to a Sant from the Majha region. Who knows where he got the money from, but he paid over Rs 50 lakh to buy the dera. It must be a profitable cnetre, otherwise why should he buy it."

Dalit thinkers and leaders are worried by the spread of Dalit deras. LR Balley, author of several books of Dalit conscousness says: 'The socalled Sants running these deras in Doaba are the greatest impediment to the Dalit cause. Moreover they are becoming an obstacle in the way of scientific and rational thought.'

Dalit short story writer, Bhagwant S. Rasoolpuri, says, 'These deras have taken the wind out of the sails of the Dalit movement. In the name of ad-dharamk, a movement started by famous Gaddarite Mangoo Ran Mogowalia, way back in 1925, they are misleading the people into believing in miracles."

Bharpur Singh, member SGPC says: "The dera culture is eroding the Sikh rehad maryada (code of conduct). There was a uniformity in this code that kept the entire community together". Dal Khalsa spokesman Kanwarpal Singh, said" "We condemn the dera culture as it is against the basic Siokh rehat maryada. Most of the deras have come up on public land anre are encroachments. But the government has no influence on them as they want votes"

The website is TimesofIndia.Indiatimes.com/articleshow.asp?.art_id=829898541

Mastana Ji

In November of 2002, The Times of India reported the person in charge of Mastana Ji's ashram killed the editor of a newspaper for reporting on the activites there. Mastana ji was an unathorized successor of Sawan Singh in 1948.

http://www.expressindia.com/ie/daily/19980718/19951284.html

bottom half of the page

From the article:

...Sonia offers her prayers at a dera in Beas

DHARMENDRA RATAUL

AMRITSAR, NOVEMBER 5: In what is being touted as a major political move prior to the state assembly elections, the All India Congress Committee president, Sonia Gandhi, today visited the Radha Soami headquarters based at Beas, about 30 kms from here.

The dera has always attracted the attention of the political parties at the time of elections. This time around, in a bid to do well in the elections, the Congress took the lead by arranging a visit of the party's national president.

Although political observers confirmed the visit, insiders in the party claim that the visit was an entirely 'private affair'. The observers further say that the visit will have far-reacing political ramifications, especially when a close fight is being predicted.

Sonia Gandhi, accompanied by Moti Lal Vora, in-charge Punjab affairs and party's senior leader, Natwar Singh, landed at the dera's private helipad at 11.30 am, amid high security and flew back to New Delhi at 2.30 pm.

The whole exercise was attempted to be kept a secret and no mediaperson, even the local leaders, leaving aside party MP R.L. Bhatia and state president Capt Amarinder Singh were allowed to meet her. ''This was done at the request of the functionaries of the dera, who did not want to make it a political affair, and wanted to keep it low key,'' state a senior party leader, while talking to The Indian Express.

Highly placed sources in the party revealed that the visit had been arranged by Capt Amarinder Singh after a frenetic three-month long effort, after he had received reports that senior BJP and Shiromani Akali Dal leaders were also trying to make a similar move.

''The party leaders had earlier also sought the blessings of the dera. Indira Gandhi, Narasimha Rao, Pranab Mukherjee and the late Rajesh Pilot had been regular visitors here,'' stated a senior Congress leader.

Capt Amarinder Singh admitted that the visit was being planned for the last many months, however, he denied that the party expected any political gains out of the visit. ''There is no political motive in the visit. Sonia wanted to visit the place, and it was her personal affair,'' he said.

Observers, however, disagree and say that the visit had been planned by the Captain, who is considered close to the present head of the dera Baba Gurinder Singh Dhillon, keeping in mind the coming elections.

''The dera has quite a recognisable following and had always been the attraction for political parties. There could be no denying political overtones of the visit,'' said Jagroop Singh Sekhon, a Reader in the Department of Political Science, Guru Nanak Dev University, here.

Sekhon, who has extensively studied the deras and their political affliations, also confirmed that the dera funtionaries had been supporting candidates in the elections time and again. He said they sit atop a highly composite vote bank.

Sonia, who took a round of the dera, expressed satisfaction over the visit and fully appreciated the discipline and the dedication of the devotees at the dera, said Amarinder. She also inaugurated an annual eye camp, he added.

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Internet posts on Satsangis

Does it (RS) manifest better life choices, strenghten healthy relationships, wisdom, kindness, clarity of mind....a host of healthy attributes actualized in ones life ?

Absolutely not from my exposure to hundreds of individuals who have ardently practiced various forms of chasing after inner phenomenon.

CTD

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I know satsangis who are terrible...who lie, cheat, steal, who beat their wives, have incestual relationships with their daughters, go to jail for drunk driving, etc, etc. They were all initiated.

[PAL 07]

S.D. Maheswari was the greatest RS historian of all time, by light years. Both gurus and historians alike have learned most of what is known of RS history from him. He is universally quoted and all documentation and original historical records are at Agra for viewing to this day. He wrote over 100 RS books during his life, which were initially only published in sets of 1000, so very few people have had access. These events are also confirmed by the best living historian at this time, Professor Dr. Agam Mathur, whom wrote a comprehensive history on Radhasoami Faith and is ranked a world class historian. He was formerly Vice Chancellor at Agra College. Every historian is keenly aware of the events shown on the next page. Other pages follow with court deposition testimony from Sudarshan.

"Generally people select anyone (guru) for the purpose without regard to his capabilities or worth. They are induced to do so mostly by persuasion or miracles displayed by those so called gurus to attract the ignorant masses. Disciple hunters are not wanting. They are as numerous as leaves on a tree.. For most of them, gurudom is a very profitable job which can secure enormous income which they cannot otherwise earn.

Besides they command the highest personal service from their disciples. The ignorant masses thus fall a ready prey to these self seeking professionals. A petty miracle or ordinary display of something charming is enough to attract hundreds of these silly sheep to their fold of gurudom. A simpple threat of a curse upon one who happens to displease them, may bring thousands to abject submission. Not only this, but in order to ensure monopoly of their profession they declare that none but one belonging to the priveleged class has the right of being a guru. Sannyasins too, you will find these days in multitudes, posing as as mahatmas and professing to be jagat gurus - world teachers.

Is it not a pity to find such professional imposters, who are a shame to the nation and religion, roaming about with complete impunity to cheat and defraud ignorant people, in order to serve their own selfish ends ? It is high time for the masses to open their eyes and see what havoc has been wrought by such persons. The popularly believed principle that a disciple can never break off the sacred conection with his guru under any circumstances, is also a cunning device adopted by those false gurus to make their position safe and secure, and is nothing but fraud. Their only function is to breathe a few mystical words into the ears of the disciple at the time of initiation ... and give them his darshan once a year for realizing annual toll and tribute to him."

[PAL 07]

These fictionalized conversations in Jaimal's life by Kirpal, were written in his book as if they actually occurred! Therefore, Kirpal's book, Jaimal, A Great Saint, seems a remarkable embarrassment to Kirpal's legacy and possibly the most extraordinary guru propaganda book ever written. Could these phantasmagorical conversations Kirpal manufactured in his book also show a delusional core basis, for the notion in his own mind, that he was a godlike Saint having reached Sach Kand ? ......................

Kirpal also tried to tie his lineage back to the last Sikh guru Govind and was proven wrong. Kirpal evidently could not read the Akashic records. Kirpal lists no source for conversations between Swami Ji and Jaimal, nor with Chachaji and Radhaji in his book. There is absolutely nothing verifying these conversations ever took place, or of these meetings in history. So how did Kirpal come up with these quotes involving these people in these conversations ? Why doesn't Kirpal show anything historical that Swami Ji ever knew Jaimal, or that someone ever saw Jaimal in Swami Ji's satsang ? With 10,000 people in Swami Ji's satsang, someone must have seen him. But, who ???? And, if any evidence existed, it would have shown up in the last 100 years. Kirpal cannot give reference, because none exist. Kirpal's Jaimal book seems an attempt to counteract Maheswari's devestating history books, which shortly preceded it. It is as if Kirpal is telling Maheswari to back off, that his disciples will believe any crap he tells them. Power politics

[PAL 07]

The largest Sant Mat Group besides the Beas Group operating today is the Science of Spirituality Mission (SOS) founded by Darshan Singh who was the physical son of Sant Kirpal Singh Ji of Delhi (1894-1974). Darshan Singh left the body in the early 1990s and handed over operation of SOS to his son, Rajinder Singh, who is functioning as the SOS guru at the present time. These SOS gurus claim to be God incarnate, "all-knowing," and have reached the highest spiritual level of attainment ("Sach Khand"). Darshan Singh proclaimed himself as the successor to Master Kirpal Singh in late August of 1974 (Kirpal Singh passed away on Aug. 21, 1974). The majority of the disciples of Master Kirpal Singh in the West rejected that claim, for very good reasons, and still do today.

First, a quote, in order to set the scene in August of 1974:

"When I arrived in Delhi I learned that one lady in Punjab, the wife of Dr. Harbhajan Singh - who goes very high in her meditation - was told by the Master on the inner planes that Darshan Singh was NOT His successor. And Master told her to have three questions put to Darshan Singh. So, a large delegation of initiates from the Punjab, from Harayana, and from Chandigarh, came to the Ashram at the time when there was supposed to be the coronation or whatever, the turban tying ceremony. And Dr. Harbhajan Singh said to Darshan Singh, "We don't accept you as the Master. I want to ask you one question. If you are a Master, if you are the Guru, can you give first hand spiritual experience to others?" Darshan Singh said that he was not capable of giving that experience, and he backed down. Finally, he abdicated and things were restored, at least 25%.

This quote is from an account of a Western disciple of Kirpal Singh who went to India for the cremation ceremonies of Kirpal in late August of 1974. When he arrived in India a few days after Kirpal had left the body, he found himself in the middle of an intense power struggle going on at Sawan Ashram, even though the ashes of Kirpal Singh had hardly cooled.

The power struggle under way was based on the claim that Darshan Singh was pushing, that he was the spiritual successor to his father, and had the right to be the next guru at Sawan Ashram. In India, the eldest physical son inherits the property of the father, and there is a "turban tying ceremony" where the son wears the father's turban, symbolizing the transfer of assets and responsibility from father to son. Darshan Singh was Kirpal Singh's eldest son. (Their family name is Duggal)

Darshan Duggal was thus in line be the recipient of the turban of his father in the worldly sense of inheriting the physical property of the father. (In India as elsewhere around the world, a will is usually drawn up for that purpose.)

But because Kirpal Singh was also the guru and Master for 100,000 initiates, there was a big problem. Such a turban tying ceremony if held in a public place such as Sawan Ashram where Kirpal regularly gave satsang might imply that Darshan was the spiritual heir to Kirpal Singh as well as the physical heir to his property.

Tai Ji, the physical attendant and cook for Kirpal Singh, vehemently opposed the idea of the turban tying ceremony taking place at Sawan Ashram (Kirpal's ashram for his mission). She felt that if it was held there and not at the private home of Darshan Singh where it belongs, that the sangat will think it has the spiritual significance of Darshan being Kirpal's spiritual successor, which she strongly believed was not the case.

It went ahead anyway, and the Darshan Singh supporters tried to install him as the guru at the turban tying ceremony. However, Dr. Harbhajan Singh stopped the process dead cold in its tracks with his pointed question, forcing Darshan's candid admission at that moment of truth -- that he was spiritually incompetent to follow in Kirpal Singh's footsteps.

The following is from Dr Harbhajan Singh in his own words, and describes the events surrounding and subsequent to the turban tying ceremony as follows:

" I myself, Ranbir Singh, Chet Singh from Chandigarh, and most of the members of the Sawan Ashram Delhi management got together for a meeting which started in the house of Gyani Bhagwan Singh. Darshan Singh was requested to come to the meeting. We asked Darshan Singh to tell honestly, if really Master had appointed him as His spiritual successor. He flatly refused and remarked that Master had not given him the power, whereas his relatives, family members and friends compelled him to work as master, and that he never would do that.

"It was confirmed by all who were present there that by will only worldly wealth can be transferred, but that the spirituality has ever been transferred through the eye. Due to this very reason Master left Beas. Master has written very clearly about this point in many books.

The turban tying ceremony on August 30, 1974:

"It is a tradition in India, when the (physical) father dies, that the eldest son ties the turban in place of his father. It means that the eldest son becomes responsible like a father. In spite of the decision all the relatives, friends and family members made a plan to tie the turban to Darshan Singh at the Bhog-ceremony on August 30, 1974 at Sawan Ashram.

Rifts in the Sangat: Darshan Singh tried to occupy the Ashram:

"Since the Master had blessed His children with right understanding Darshan Singh failed to prove his successorship by will. In spite of his promise he and his supporters were bent to obtain possession of the Ashram.

Rift in the managing body:

"Since Darshan Singh had declared his successorship, a lot of people and all his relatives supported him, being a son of the Master. The supporters of Darshan Singh made a plan to control all centers in India and abroad. With the declaration of his successorship a severe rift took place among the members of the managing body. Those devoted disciples of the managing body told that since Darshan Singh had denied that the spirituality had been transferred to him by the Master, how then could he declare himself as the spiritual successor?

Filed cases:

"The group of Darshan Singh filed a case against the residents (Tai Ji group) of the Sawan Ashram at the registrar of the societies in Delhi. They also filed cases to occupy the Amritsar Centre, the Pathankot-Centre and the Agriculture Farm at Nawanshar. They took possession of Pathankot-Centre, but they could not do that with the Amritsar-Centre and the Agriculture Farm at Nawanshar.

Hooligans in Amritsar Centre:

"They brought a lot of disciples and bad characters and forcibly entered with buses into the premises of the Ashram at Amritsar. They removed some of the pictures of the great Master and installed the pictures of Darshan Singh and started to play the tape of Darshan Singh. They put a lot of posters announcing the successorship of Darshan Singh outside the gate.

[PAL 07]

The capital market regulator has granted exemption to Logos Holding Company from making an

open offer to the shareholders of Religare Enterprises for its acquisition of 19.53% stake in the company. Logos Holding is an investment arm of the Gurinder Singh Dhillon family.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sebi-nod-for-radha-soami-satsang-beas/722630/

Gurinder Singh is the current head of one of India's largest religious sect – Radha Soami Satsang Beas. At Thursday's closing price of Rs 460.95, the value of Logos Holding's stake is about Rs 1,163 crore. The Dhillons had acquired the shares at just over Rs 13 crore in 2006.

While seeking exemption from making an open offer, the Dhillons had said that they proposed to transfer their stake to Logos Holding to consolidate their individual shareholdings scattered across listed and unlisted companies.

The promoters of REL, Malvinder and Shivinder Singh and their investment vehicles hold 64.74% of the equity in the company, while financial institutions hold 3.83% in the company. The Singhs are followers of Radha Soami Satsang Beas. Including the Dhillon stake, the non-institutional holding in the company is 31.43%. The Sebi order says Logos should complete the proposed acquisition within 30 days from the date of passing of the order and thereafter file a report on the same within 15 days.

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Church of Churchless post

December 10, 2010

Radha Soami Satsang Beas guru makes $254 million Wow, it really pays to be an Indian guru with the right connections. Check out this story, "SEBI nod for Radha Soami Satsang Beas." (SEBI is the Securities and Exchange Board of India.) The capital market regulator has granted exemption to Logos Holding Company from making an open offer to the shareholders of Religare Enterprises for its acquisition of 19.53% stake in the company. Logos Holding is an investment arm of the Gurinder Singh Dhillon family. Gurinder Singh is the current head of one of India's largest religious sect – Radha Soami Satsang Beas. At Thursday's closing price of Rs 460.95, the value of Logos Holding's stake is about Rs 1,163 crore. The Dhillons had acquired the shares at just over Rs 13 crore in 2006. After someone emailed me a link to this story, naturally I had to grab my calculator, find a rupee to dollar currency converter web site, and figure out how much Rs 1,163 crore and Rs 13 crore are in understandable American dollars. (A crore rupee is 10 million rupees.) Others can check my work, but I'm pretty sure the Gurinder Singh Dhillon family is the proud possessor of Religare Enterprises shares worth $257,187,507. Let's round it off and say... a quarter of a billion dollars. That's a lot of money.

Especially compared to what the story says the guru's family paid for the shares: $2,874,839 (Rs 13 crore). Last April I wrote about this in "Religare's money connections with the Radha Soami guru." Malvinder Singh, an initiate of RSSB, is deeply involved in the Radha Soami Satsang Beas organization, as is the rest of his family. This helps explain why the RSSB guru's sons, Gurpreet and Gurkirat, each ended up with about 10% of the shares in Religare according to a 2007 prospectus. On page 25 it says that Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh were allotted 49,575,000 equity shares in Religare at 10 rupees (about 23 cents) a share. Malvinder then transferred 6,250,000 shares to Gurpreet Singh, and Shivinder transferred 6,250,000 shares to Gurkirat Singh under guardianship of Ms. Shabnam Dhillon -- almost certainly because Gurkirat is only twenty years old. The cost also was 10 rupees a share. So the guru's sons each got 6,250,000 shares of Religare for $1,437,500 or thereabouts through an insider deal. Multiply $1,437,500 by two and we get $2,875,000. Which is almost exactly what the indianexpress.com story says the guru's family acquired the shares for in 2006. So this shows that an insider deal (which is legal, and not to be confused with stock trading that involves the illegal use of insider information) resulted in a quick profit for the Gurinder Singh Dhillon family of about $254 million over four years or so. These financial deals can be viewed in different ways.

Some people see nothing wrong with a guru who is considered to be "God in human form" raking in massive amounts of money from his involvement with Religare, a large Indian financial services group managed in large part by RSSB disciples. Others resonate with the message of my post, "RSSB's ties to Religare mix money and spirituality." What I've learned about the dealings between Radha Soami Satsang Beas and Religare doesn't feel right to me. It definitely goes against the grain of what I used to enjoy about being a member of RSSB: the focus on meditation, mysticism, charitable giving, and service to a spiritual community where everybody did their share, and nobody (seemingly) tried to get more than their share. That said, maybe I'm old-fashioned. Maybe I don't understand how modern-day gurus and their relatives can engage in insider trading deals with disciples while still remaining true to their philosophical principles. Maybe I'm missing the benefit to RSSB of having an inner circle derive large financial benefits that aren't available to other initiates. All I know is that philosophically and ethically, there are reasons for concern here.

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There was a Radhasoami Satsang Beas book ‘Origin and Growth’ (that Gurinder asked to have removed from circulation). [in] there is a hidden principle which states “it is the basic principle of Sant Mat and especially of the Radhasoami faith, that the Satguru, being God Incarnate, has absolute authority and power to deal with His Parmarthi (religious) property of every kind in whatever way He likes. All Bhaints (offerings) made to Him by His followers and all properties inherited by Him from his Satguru become His personal properties and His power to use such properties is not restricted in any way.â€

Radha Soami Satsang Beas, Origin And Growth. It is in in the copy of Great Master’s Will , 1937: “A number of satsangis have built houses in the Dera Baba Jaimal Singh with my permission and on land belonging to me and in my possession on the condition that they and their descendants can reside in the Dera only as long they have faith in the Master…and are considered to be suitable persons for residing in the Dera, otherwise they have no rights to live at the Dera and I or my successor shall be authorized to eject them any time we liked In the event of their ejectment, the satsangis concerned or their assignees will have no right of any sort to the land or materials of the building. I am the sole owner of the Dera and all properties connected therewith…â€

[PAL 07]

The British agreed to transfer the Beas land in the name of Guru Granth Sahab ji, Registry no. 254, dated 14 June 1897.( Measures 11 Kanal, 16 Marla) The land was given to Baba Jaimal singh to build the Gurudwara in villaege. It is mentioned in the registry. "Guru Granth Sahab wakiyaa dharamsala muntjim baa-eh-tamaam Jaimal Simgh saadh jatt. The land could never be transferred to any living person and still this land which is in use by the sect is the property of Guru Granth Sahib ji (the Sikh religion). The remark in verification of 'INTKAAL' is---Baba Jaimal Singh shall have no right to sell, or mortgage, this will always be used as Dharmsala (Gurudwara).

Accusations Radha Soami Dera usurped land in Beas, Punjab

Could this be the reason Sawan could not use Radhasoami Nam after signing an agreement with Dayal Bagh he would ?

SOURCE : http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=185637

The land was gifted by a devout Sikh to Guru Granth Sahib: ex-SGPC member

Express News Service

CHANDIGARH, JUNE 1: FORMER SGPC member Amarinder Singh today alleged that the Radha Soami satsang had usurped land in Beas which was originally donated to Sri Guru Granth Sahib by name.

Releasing documents to attest his claim, Amarinder Singh stated that land worth nine kanals was gifted by a devout Sikh to Guru Granth Sahib in 1932. ‘‘Under the revenue records, it continued to be in the name of Guru Granth Sahib till 1985, when the name of Guru Granth Sahib was removed from the column of ownership in the Punjab Government revenue records.

The process began in 1983, when the Punjab Government suddenly issued a notification for consolidation of land. In 1985, the Radha Soami dera had effectively usurped the land.

Producing copies of the gift of land, Amarinder stated that the gift was made by Santa Singh of village Wraich, district Amritsar. It was during the tenure of A C Sen as Commissioner Jalandhar Dibvision, Patwari Teja Singh and Qanungo Hans Raj that the notification for consolidation was made.

Amarinder Singh demanded an inquiry by the Punjab Government into the transfer of land, and sought the immediate intervention of the Punjab DGP into the affair. ‘‘Government should appoint an inquiry into the embezzlement of the property of Guru Granth Sahib, which enjoys the status of Guru,’’ he said. He further sought a rectification of record and restoration of land to Guru Granth Sahib. The place, Jaimal Singh has historical importance for the Sikh community, since the last rites of Mata Ganga, the mother of the fifth Sikh Guru were performed at this place. Guru Hargobind, the sixth Sikh guru also participated in the ceremony, Amarinder added.

Harjinder S Kukreja

http://fateh.sikhnet.com/sikhnet/discussion.nsf/SearchView/ 746AF0619DB18B6887257181003C4A55!OpenDocument

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[PAL 07]

Church of the Churchless

Message List Reply Message #173768 of 173774 < Prev | Next >

church_of_the_churchless/

April 09, 2010

Religare's money connections with the Radha Soami guru Religious institutions often have an intimate relationship with money. The hugely rich Catholic Church comes to mind, naturally. There's nothing inherently wrong with this.

People simply should be aware when spirituality gets tangled up with financial dealings, and make up their own minds about what, if anything, it means to them.

In that spirit, someone forwarded me an email message regarding Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) that reportedly has been circulating among members of this India-based organization.

RSSB, as a branch of the Sant Mat ("Path of Saints") religious philosophy, is led by a guru who is considered by the faithful to be God in human form. Or at least, as divinely realized as any human being can be.

The current RSSB guru is Gurinder Singh Dhillon. The email says that he has two sons, Gurpreet Singh Dhillon (age 26) and Gurkirat Singh Dhillon (age 20). I wasn't able to confirm this by any online information, but I checked with the sender of the email and it seems like the information is correct.

(Note: in this blog post I'm sticking to Internet-accessible facts as much as possible. In another post on this subject, I'll be more subjective and share how I feel about those facts, perhaps along with some thoughts from others about the financial dealings related below.)

Gurpreet and Gurkirat are substantial shareholders in a company called Religare. Religare and Fortis, another large Indian company, are part of a family conglomerate headed by Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh.

As this story says: Malvinder Singh, who will earn some Rs.100 billion ($2.4 billion) from selling his family's stake in the pharmaceutical firm to Japan's Daiichi Sankyo, is now planning to make huge investments in Religare and Fortis, the family's financial service and healthcare companies. "Healthcare and financial services are two areas where we have existing businesses, where we will make investments," Ranbaxy CEO and managing director Malvinder Singh said Sunday.

For some perspective, the average per capita income in India is about $1,000 (U.S.), while in the United States it is about $39,000. So millions and billions that seem like a lot of money here are considerably farther out of the ordinary for most Indians.

Malvinder Singh, an initiate of RSSB, is deeply involved in the Radha Soami Satsang Beas organization, as is the rest of his family. This helps explain why the RSSB guru's sons, Gurpreet and Gurkirat, each ended up with about 10% of the shares in Religare according to a 2007 prospectus. On page 25 it says that Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh were allotted 49,575,000 equity shares in Religare at 10 rupees (about 23 cents) a share.

Malvinder then transferred 6,250,000 shares to Gurpreet Singh, and Shivinder transferred 6,250,000 shares to Gurkirat Singh under guardianship of Ms. Shabnam Dhillon -- almost certainly because Gurkirat is only twenty years old.

The cost also was 10 rupees a share. So the guru's sons each got 6,250,000 shares of Religare for $1,437,500 or thereabouts through an insider deal. The share price on April 6, 2010 was 395.80. Thus, converting into dollars, 6,250,000 shares of Religare currently are worth $55,716,271 (today's exchange rate shows 1 rupee = .022523 US$).

This explains how Gurpreet and Gurkirat appear on a 2009 "Billionaire Club" list of wealthy Indians. They're ranked near the bottom at 364 and 365. (A billion rupees is only $22,523,000, so it's a lot easier to be a billionaire in India. Interestingly, though, the rupee is worth about 1/44 of a dollar, and the per capita income in India is about 1/39 of the United States per capita income. So seemingly Gurpreet and Gurkirat's net worth makes them the Indian equivalent of an American billionaire.)

The guru's sons seemingly acquired even more Religare shares recently, according to this insider trading report. It appears that each son got 6,183,000 additional shares (for a total of about 12,400,000 shares).

And the RSSB guru himself -- Gurinder Singh Dhillon -- got 26,333, leaving him with a total of 65,833 (or about $587,000 worth).

So the question is... so what? Well, as I said above, that's a subject for a follow-up post. What I've shared here simply are publicly available facts, accessible to anyone with a web browser via some Google'ing.

As this Indian blogger notes, "Gods and Godmen have always had their role to play in the world of business."

For instance, the patriarch of the Radha Soami sect headquartered at Beas (he is also called the Beas Sant or the saint of Beas) is reported to have played his role in the succession drama at Ranbaxy after the death of then CEO and promoter Parvinder Singh in 1999.

[PAL 07]

Dr Panthpreet Singh Damdami Taksal Vale highlighting the Radha swami

[PAL 07]

ONE OF THEIR OFFICIAL BRAHMGIANI BABA'S SMOKING A PIPE TAKEN FROM

http://lordofthesoul...p/pictures.html

[ghatak]

its not raada swami its gadhaa haraami