BBC Footage Still Potent In Exposing Sathya Sai Sect (See Video Clips and Secret Swami Documentary)

A potent factor in successive waves of people leaving Sathya Sai Baba has been video footage exposing the fraudulence that is Sathya Sai Baba. Especially for those pressed for time, here are some decisive clips from the BBC’s ‘The Secret Swami’. Although the documentary was first aired in mid 2004, it has since been viewed in many countries worldwide.

 

”The Secret Swami’ has contributed to enormous damage done to the Sathya Sai Baba Organization, and the repute of its founder and those of his following who have – in some cases wittingly and in a great many cases all too unwittingly through being duped, covered up for him. The cover up has been mediated via successive state and central governments and police and judiciary in India, as well as by the actions of his hugely wealthy and powerful international Sathya Sai Organization.

 

Since 1999, former devotee coordinators have withstood untold threats and libel from this organization and its supporters, and do not intend to cave in. Speaking the truth – no matter the misunderstandings, distortions and often virtually daily attacks – is its own reward. It is a value Sathya Sai Baba and his devotees constantly harp upon. Living it is another matter.

 

Many key links, including the link to the full one-hour documentary, are found in this article:  The BBC’s ‘The Secret Swami’ – A Revision

 

See also:  BBC’s ‘The Secret Swami’ and British Press Praise. 

                     Indisputable facts about Sathya Sai Baba by BBC

                     Sathya Sai Baba’s ‘Minister of Propaganda’ – Dr G. Venkataraman

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SATHYA SAI BABA ‘THE SECRET SWAMI’

PHOTO & VIDEO GALLERY

SATHYA SAI BABA IN EXCEPTIONAL FILM SHOTS. FILMED IN 2004 AT SHIVARATHRI

VIEW THESE EXCERPT TRANSCRIPTS AND VIDEO CLIPS FROM

THE BBC TV DOCUMENTARY ‘THE SECRET SWAMI‘:

THIS DOCUMENTARY CAN BE BOUGHT DIRECT FROM THE BBC MARKETING DEPT.
AS A VHS VIDEO. FOR A FRANCHISE TO SHOW IT ON INDEPENDENT TV STATIONS,  CONTACT THE BBC.

1) SATHYA SAI BABA’S ‘PRODUCTION’ OF THE GOLDEN LINGAM 2) HIS COLLAPSE AFTER THE STRAIN & HIS EXPLANATION AFTERWARDS

3) DR. MICHAEL GOLDSTEIN DISCUSSES THE SEX ABUSE ALLEGATIONS AGAINST SAI BABA

4) DR. MICHAEL GOLDSTEIN STATES THE SAI ORGANISATION’S FAITH ABOUT SAI BABA

5) ISAAC TIGRETT DISCUSSES THE SEX ALLEGATIONS AGAINST SAI BABA

6) INDIAN EX-MINISTER OF EDUCATION, M.M. JOSHI, ON THE SEX ALLEGATIONS AGAINST SAI BABA

7) INTERVIEW WITH THE EX-HOME SECRETARY OF ANDRHA PRADESH

  8) VERY CLOSE DEVOTEES TESTIFY – SAI BABA’S SEX ABUSE AND DIRE THREATS ETC.

9) SOME CLOSE BEDFELLOWS OF SATHYA SAI BABA

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 (BBC) THIS WORLD – Documentary film: “The Secret Swami” TRANSCRIPT

Tx Date: 17th June 2004 This script was made from audio tape – any inaccuracies are due to voices being unclear or inaudible

The Rahm family introduction Alaya Rahm visits Sai Baba The first ‘genital oiling’ on Alaya Rahm Mark Roche testimony on sex abuse Alaya Rahm given cheap, false trinkets Khushwant Singh [writer] on Sai movement Kushwant Singh on ‘genital oiling’

Dr. M. Goldstein on Sathya Sai Baba as God Dr. Michael Goldstein on ‘materialisations’ Dr. Michael Goldstein hears the Rahm’s account Dr. Michael Goldstein secretly filmed! Dr. M. Goldstein earns praise from Sai Baba Sai Baba’s failed/faked lingam production Sai Baba’s collapse after ’3-tonnes’ of weight! Isaac Tigrett confirms sexual abuses

Premanand on Sai claims Premanand shows Sai tricks The Murders in Sai Baba’s bedroom Ex-Home Minister V.P. Nair on the murders V.P. Nair on reason for murder cover-up Premanand on the murders Minister Murali Mahohar Joshi loses his cool UNESCO/US State Department warnings etc.

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Public Petition For Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization

There is a Spanish version available:

PETICIÓN PÚBLICA PARA ”INVESTIGACIONES OFICIALES DE SATHYA SAI BABA Y SU ORGANIZACIÓN A NIVEL MUNDIAL 

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Pastor Terry Jones, Sathya Sai Baba and 9/11 Twin Towers Considered

I point my readers to the Robert Priddy article cited below. This shows the degree of blindness and gross insensitivity of some of Sathya Sai Baba’s foremost leaders. Should any Sai Baba devotees pause to consider why there are so many indications of the Sathya Sai Organization founder’s failure to bring about his promised world’s most far-reaching spiritual revolution in history, they need look no further. Robert Priddy writes:

“Among those conscienceless people who try to make publicity for their religious beliefs and themselves out of this disaster are not only the fanatical pseudo-Christian book-burning Florida pastor Terry Jones, but also the followers of the Hindu Avatar Sathya Sai Baba, who have long tried cynically to capitalize on it to promote this Hindu cult teaching’s figurehead, the self-trumpeting Deity of all Deities Incarnate on Earth who is accused widely of sexual abuses and being an accomplice to murders. They have not been without some success in St. Louis, where the mayor announced that 9/11 is officially Sathya Sai Baba Day in St. Louis – see here!”

Commonsense people, irrespective of culture, class or creed, can straightway see – and be appalled by – the crass insensitivity, the implied elitism of a blessed elect whose skins are Sai Baba ‘saved’ to the exclusion of most non-devotees, and the moral absurdity of his and his leaders’ words and actions.  Such as those of his world head, Dr Michael Goldstein, of Covena, Southern California, USA. and Leonardo Gutter, Central Coordinator of the South American Sathya Sai Organizations. Priddy writes of Gutter’s public speech following 9/11. Gutter says:

 “Baba’s love encompasses all: There were 50,000 people working at the Towers and only 3,000 died; then Baba saved 47,000, not only devotees. Each person has his own karma: that was the destiny of those who died there.”

Priddy comments:

“These wild conjectures by Dr. Goldstein and Leonardo Gutter would be hard to surpass in bad taste, not to mention indoctrinated delusion that Sathya Sai Baba is God Almighty incarnate on earth, plus Jesus come again – but also the Father who sent Jesus!

Note too that Sathya Sai Baba and his various minions recently enthused in public  about his visit to his great devotee in Kampala, despot and gruesome killer, Idi Amin (Dictator Idi Amin – Sai Baba’s warm recollections)”.

See also my:  

Sai Baba Saved Devotees From 9/11 Says Dr Michael Goldstein

Idi Amin Video Clip. Amin Claimed Direct Line To God

See: 

9/11 Twin Towers, Pastor Terry Jones and Sathya Sai Baba

Posted by robertpriddy on September 11, 2009

QUOTE

“Today it is 9 years since the Twin Towers disaster. Among those conscienceless people who try to make publicity for their religious beliefs and themselves out of this disaster are not only the fanatical pseudo-Christian book-burning Florida pastor Terry Jones, but also the followers of the Hindu Avatar Sathya Sai Baba, who have long tried cynically to capitalize on it to promote this Hindu cult teaching’s figurehead, the self-trumpeting Deity of all Deities Incarnate on Earth who is accused widely of sexual abuses and being an accomplice to murders. They have not been without some success in St. Louis, where the mayor announced that 9/11 is officially Sathya Sai Baba Day in St. Louis – see here!”

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Public Petition For Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization

There is a Spanish version available:

PETICIÓN PÚBLICA PARA ”INVESTIGACIONES OFICIALES DE SATHYA SAI BABA Y SU ORGANIZACIÓN A NIVEL MUNDIAL 

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Sathya Sai Baba and His ‘Demons’

There are many testimonies against the conduct of Sathya Sai Baba. They frequently come from sources far remote from each other. Sometimes, indeed, the reports come from within other spiritual organizations where their members report having come to grief at the hands of Sathya Sai Baba. See my previous post:

Sathya Sai Baba Sex Abuse Allegations: A Typical ‘Iceberg Tip’ Testimony

Sathya Sai devotees have yet to explain, after all these years, why they think many men and women who have lived lifetimes of decency and good repute in their professions, trades and wider communities should on the spur of the moment change into demons (as he has called his dissenters).

They have also to explain why they would turn a blind eye to the incessant attacks on and off the internet on many individuals whom they, or fellow devotees, loved and honored over decades.

Timothy Conway, Ph.D., was a Sathya Sai Baba follower for 22 years. Until his extensive enquiries regarding the sexual abuse,  and other types of abuse, allegations against Sathya Sai Baba, led him to resign, he was President of the Sathya Sai Baba Center of San Francisco from 1982-4 and was on the US national coordinating body. He wrote and posted the following:

“We now have trustworthy reports from over two dozen credible eye-witnesses (and sworn affidavits from many of them) indicating that probably hundreds of young men and boys have been molested (far beyond “touching the perineum”) and/or forced to perform oral sex and masturbation on Baba over the last 30 years or more. Baba has masturbated them and sometimes performed oral sex on them, sometimes to the point of ejaculation. Baba has threatened to deny interviews to many of the boys’ parents if the boys resist his sexual predatory behavior. He has paid or bribed most of these male youth for sexual favors and for their silence with money, rings, watches, etc.– up to $10,000 for one boy (an American youth well known to several former members of our Santa Barbara Sai Center). Baba has also evidently gotten angry at and berated those male youth who try to resist his molestations or who fail to become aroused when Baba is molesting them. He verbally manipulates and coerces them to engage in sex with him. It’s clear that Baba is not “detachedly” “raising the kundalini” or “healing old sexual karma” of these male youth. (If this were the true reason, why is he denying young women and girls, older men and non-preferred younger men this “healing touch”?) Rather, Baba appears to be caught up in terrible lust and attachment: eyewitnesses describe him making “moaning” and “gurgling” sounds, thrusting his pelvis and erect organ toward the boys and young men, grabbing them when they try to move away, trying to persuade them how “lucky” they are to be having this “great opportunity.” See full letter

Al Rahm’s Explanatory Letter To Sathya Sai Baba Internet Proxy Gerald Moreno

Why Has Sathya Sai Baba Not Faced The Indian Justice System?

The Sathya Sai Organization’s Deception and Progaganda Exposed

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Resources

Timothy Conway Ph.D – On ‘The Hislop Letters’

Posted by Barry Pittard on December 18, 2007

Timothy Conway’s Update

Timothy Conway PH.D confirms the Hislop letters

Formal statement provided to Exbaba.com by Timothy Conway Ph. D. concerning the Hislop letters

Click here to access Timothy Conway’s website: ‘Enlightened Spirituality’

An article in which Timothy Conway outlines many key issues, in historical perspective – including acute spiritual concerns and personal resolutions – relating to dissent from Sathya Sai Baba. I highly recommend this article as a mature, clear, very readable account.

The Sun Magazine Interview by Arnie Cooper, 2003, Issue 328

Further Reading

Corruption endemic under Sathya Sai Baba’s leadership

More sworn testimony on several Sathya Sai Baba sex abuses

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Public Petition For Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization

There is a Spanish version available:

PETICIÓN PÚBLICA PARA ”INVESTIGACIONES OFICIALES DE SATHYA SAI BABA Y SU ORGANIZACIÓN A NIVEL MUNDIAL

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Sathya Sai Baba Sex Abuse Allegations: A Typical ‘Iceberg Tip’ Testimony

I invite my reader to click across to Robert Priddy’s blogsite and read the short piece he has just blogged. These quoted emails are but an iceberg tip of testimony that we have encountered. I am confident that most readers would not feel up to processing many of the appalling abuse revelations that we have seen.

As international co-ordinators on behalf of a wide former Sathya Sai Baba follower group, Robert Priddy and I have gone to great lengths to ensure that no security is breached in those many confidential reports which we have received. In reporting student or ex-student or other experiences, we carefully release only what has been carefully vetted. We err on the side of great caution. In some cases, even the slightest hints of time, place or occasion could give up information enough for Sathya Sai Baba officials to unravel jigsaw puzzle-like bits and pieces and create untold harm for individuals and families, some of whom have close association with the Sathya Sai Organization to this day. Indeed, some family members are dependent on Sai Baba’s largesse. 

‘Form Boys’ (Sathya Sai Institution Boys Deemed His His Homosexual Favourites)

Over the decade and a half of our exposure of Sathya Sai Baba, we have many times heard the term “form boys”  from among Sai Baba’s students, and ex-students. They use the phrase to refer to Sai Baba’s secret homosexual lovers among the boys in his institutions.  Quote from the post, below:

“One thing is sure he never likes girls or ladies but thinks himself to be a lady. G.Venkataraman is a fool and a thorough crook and he knows of all the things . I don’t know why this idiot supports SB so vehemently”. For Venkararaman, see:  Sathya Sai Baba’s ‘Minister of Propaganda’ – Dr G. Venkataraman

See:

Student of Sai college spoke out – in confidence.  Posted by robertpriddy on September 5, 2010

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Public Petition For Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization

There is a Spanish version available:

PETICIÓN PÚBLICA PARA ”INVESTIGACIONES OFICIALES DE SATHYA SAI BABA Y SU ORGANIZACIÓN A NIVEL MUNDIAL 

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A Sathya Sai Saga. Barry Pittard Recollects. Part 5

The series continues from: 

A Sathya Sai Saga. Barry Pittard Recollects. Part 4.  Posted by Barry Pittard on July 27, 2010

A Sathya Sai Saga. Barry Pittard Recollects. Part 3.  Posted by Barry Pittard on July 25, 2010. 

A Sathya Sai Saga. Barry Pittard Recollects. Part 2. Posted by Barry Pittard on July 23, 2010. 

A Sathya Sai Saga. Barry Pittard Recollects. Part 1. Posted by Barry Pittard on July 20, 2010

A Surge of International Networking, Coordination, Mutual Support, and Focused Exposure

From circa AD 2000, furthered by the growing ascendancy of the internet, dissent from Sathya Sai Baba and his sect gathered to considerable international proportions 

Towards the end of 1999, I joined an international network of former Sai Baba followers. They came from a broad cross-section of educational and cultural backgrounds. Before this dynamic surge forward, individuals who came mainly from the USA, had attempted a little before us, to get the allegations out into the open.  Some, like the notable leaders Sergei Badaev (Russia), Stephen Carthew (Australia), Al Rahm and Shirley Pike (USA), had attempted to raise issues while they were still in the Sathya Sai Organization. See:

Sathya Sai Baba Critic Serguei Badaev: An Incisive Voice of Conscience From Russia

Stephen Carthew, A Voice of Testimony From Australia, On The Dangers of Cults

The patient scholar will need to sift carefully among roles played by many individuals. Some names to start with are:  Terry Gallagher and Stephen Carthew Australia), Al Rahm (USA), Richard Nelson, Rick Raines (USA), Timothy Conway Ph.D (USA), Dave Lyons (USA),  Artur Wisniewski (Poland), Although, overwhelmingly, it is men who lead the Sathya Sai Organization, prominent women leaders who have left after years of work on behalf of the organization include: Britt-Marie Anden (Sweden), and (from the USA) Shirley Pike, Sharon Purcell, Elena Hartgering (the latter two deceased), Lori Kaplowitz, Ella Evers.  For an incisive writer with a quite academic (though very accessible) approach, see the Dutch former Sai devotee writer:  Alexandra Nagel. A Seminal Writer On Sathya Sai Baba, A Guru Accused

There are many others, but these men and women raised their voices strongly and clearly from the first. They, who had not been derided in all their involvement in official Sathya Sai circles, were now treated to appalling behaviours such as shunning, defaming, and the rather Orwellian historic obliteration from memory. These responses are so typically evident when there is apostasy after sect membership. See the articles:

The Late Leo Boogaard: A Dutch Voice of Conscience On Sathya Sai Baba

New Zealand Lawyer Exposes Official Cover Up of Killings In Sathya Sai Baba Bedroom

(Late) Ron and Peggy Laing: Deeply Alienated From Sathya Sai Organization

Most notable of the leaders to emerge at this time was (the late) Glen Meloy, a retired Californian businesman. See:  Glen Meloy (“Standing up for truth and goodness”) – In Memoriam.

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Public Petition For Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization

There is a Spanish version available:

PETICIÓN PÚBLICA PARA ”INVESTIGACIONES OFICIALES DE SATHYA SAI BABA Y SU ORGANIZACIÓN A NIVEL MUNDIAL 

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Why Have Ex-Devotees Not Landed Sathya Sai Baba In Jail?

Today’s topic relates to an email just received at this site. My reader will readily pick up the issues by reading on:

I first responded:

 Please confirm that this email address is valid, and that you sent to my blogsite at:  https://barrypittard.wordpress.com . Unfortunately, some of us who have spoken out about Sathya Sai Baba get all too many emails which, when responded to, turn out to be invalid.

 There are perfectly good reasons why it is difficult to proceed against Sathya Sai Baba on a legal front. Trustfully, you are not assuming malfeasance of the part of many who have left the Sathya Sai Organization. Or indeed that there there is not compelling evidence of a sort that cannot, and ought not, be consigned to the internet. Or still further that there are not compelling arguments of a nature not at all legal, as well.

Quite commonly, those who write, who are partial to Sathya Sai Baba, give invalid email addresses. But the reply came:

This confirms the validity of my E-mail address. What has aroused my interest is the fact that you have assembled such an abundance of allegations against Sathya Sai Baba, yet you seem unable to proceed to have these tested in a court of law. My question is: “Why?”

The perception is that these allegations are unfounded and, in fact,  really represent the animosity of disgruntled ex-devotees of Sathya Sai Baba allied with representives of organized religion whose membership has suffered sharp reduction as their adherents migrated to the fold of the Sai organization.

Perceptions, I admit, can be misleading. I would, however, be glad to hear your explanation as to why, in the face of your abundant body of charges against Sathya Sai Baba and the Sai Organization, you are encountering difficulties in proceeding with this matter in any court of law. Herein lies my curiosity.

I replied:

From admittedly cursory searches on the internet, I find that you seem to have one degree or another of affiliation with Sathya Sai Baba. I smiled at affectionate old times as I read your note about my dear old ‘friend’, Sai Gita. (ed. Sai Baba’s late elephant)

It may not be far amiss for me to think that, if you remain a deeply convicted follower of Sathya Sai Baba, and yet familiar (if you are so) with writings such as mine, then it is highly likely that you will not be persuadable by any amount of evidence. If this were so, I would be wasting my time and energy.

On the other hand, many have left the Sathya Sai fold only after they first, and for a long time, thought the worst of former devotees who have spoken out. Thus, it may be that you will come to resemble those of us who entertained the greatest doubts about the allegations, and who then made extensive investigation before they saw that these concerns are made with the integrity and, after the most careful investigation, in regard of individuals and/or their families and friends around the world.

If are a person known in your profession, trade or wider community as an individual of outstanding probity (as is the case of so many former devotees, and, I hasten to add of remaining devotees known to me whom I nonetheless respect across the great divide), then I would consider corresponding with you.

You speak of “the perception”, and, as you say, perceptions can be misleading. To name but one perception extant among many Sathya Sai devotees (the one you choose to mention), the notion about “disgruntled ex-devotees” etc.,  embodies an assumption that does acute injustice to many of those who have left Sathya Sai Baba. There is a strikingly pluralistic character to the ranks of those who have left. The apostates come from many socio-economic and cultural backgrounds. To posit homogeneity would be to show a readiness to jump to a conclusion. Such a lack of rigour does many who so aver little credit. Anything that distorts the real fact is simple-minded, one-sided and profoundly unfair. What is more, there are high-ranking servitors around Sathya Sai Baba who know from long acquaintance that many who have left have done so for principled reasons. History will not judge these leaders well, it often strikes me. That is to say, we have not, often after decades of deep, committed and sustained devotion, and considerable amounts of service and close collegiality, become “demons”, “Judases”, “disgruntled”, and so forth, in some perverse, overnight “miracle”.

I note that, in your writings on the web, you speak of some matters related to India. I suggest that if you know India really well, you will already have some grounds on which to contemplate why it might be difficult to proceed legally against Sathya Sai Baba in that country. Is it, by the way, possible that you, or those whose perceptions you cite, have a notion that prosecuting or litigating in regard of many kinds of grave injustice have a clear trajectory even in advanced democracies?

Have you seen ‘The Secret Swami’? The link is here: The BBC’s ‘The Secret Swami’ – A Revision

I may also suggest that you read carefully the writings of those such as Robert Priddy – http://robertpriddy.wordpress.com – (former long-time head of the Sathya Sai Organization in Norway, and retired academic of the University of Oslo), the Australian linguistic scholar Brian Steel – http://bdsteel.tripod.com/More/, Seiguei Badaev (a former SS Org. Russian leader) – Sathya Sai Baba Critic Serguei Badaev: An Incisive Voice of Conscience From Russia, Terry Gallagher (former head of the Australian Sathya Sai Organization – see, A Sathya Sai Saga. Barry Pittard Recollects. Part 2, Timothy Conway Ph.D., (a former US SSorg leader) – Timothy Conway Ph.D – On ‘The Hislop Letters’ , Stephen Carthew (former SSorg spiritual co-ordinator in South Australia) –https://barrypittard.wordpress.com/2009/12/10/stephen-carthew-a-voice-of-testimony-from-australia-on-the-dangers-of-cults/, the former Dutch leader Leo Boogaard – The Late Leo Boogaard: A Dutch Voice of Conscience On Sathya Sai Baba, David and Faye Bailey (former prominent leaders and plenipotentiaries of Sathya Sai Baba) – Truth In Action: David and Faye Bailey Vs Sathya Sai Baba and David Bailey and Thomas Wiehe. Transcript Of Phone Link: Sathya Sai Abuses, and many writings available at: http://www.exbaba.com,

Should I feel that you show a robust readiness to read these and other basic readings, some of which should begin to answer, in a variety of ways, the query that you have put to me, and a truthful sincerity to engage (as thus far) in a civil correspondence, where it is not your intention to abuse or libel many wonderful people who have left Sathya Sai Baba, I shall be glad to correspond with you.

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Further Reading

Relative Weightings of Allegation and Proof In Exposing Corrupt Institutions (Pt1)

 

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The Public Petition

Information on the Public Petition for Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization

About the Petition For Official Investigation Into Sathya Sai Baba Cult

(Note: You may prefer to proceed straight to the Petition): Public Petition For Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization

There is a Spanish version available:

PETICIÓN PÚBLICA PARA INVESTIGACIONES OFICIALES DE SATHYA SAI BABA Y SU ORGANIZACIÓN A NIVEL MUNDIAL)

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A Sathya Sai Saga. Barry Pittard Recollects. Part 4

The series continues from:  A Sathya Sai Saga. Barry Pittard Recollects. Part 3.  Posted by Barry Pittard on July 25, 2010.  A Sathya Sai Saga. Barry Pittard Recollects. Part 2. Posted by Barry Pittard on July 23, 2010.  A Sathya Sai Saga. Barry Pittard Recollects. Part 1. Posted by Barry Pittard on July 20, 2010

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In the article: Sathya Sai Baba Organization’s Betrayal of Love and Compassion, I wrote (referring to Terry Gallagher, the first head of the Australian Sathya Sai Organization, who at first hand probed allegations about Sathya Sai Baba’s serial sexual abuse of boys and young men, and consequently resigned):

At length by telephone, he told me that, against extraordinary unwillingness of devotees to look at the allegations,  he had done what he could to investigate and surface the terrible facts about Sai Baba’s serial sexual abuse of young males. He told me that he had extensively shown documentation to Valmai Worthington, a Brisbane leader of the Sathya Sai Organization, who has led many groups to from Australia to see Sai Baba, but this had not led to meaningful action. Other leaders were likewise impervious and went into the utmost psychological denial. Groups, including those with young males in them, continued to go to the ashram.

From October 1999, I made extensive investigations globally, finding much corroboration from families and individual survivors themselves – many of whom did not know each other. Others too, many former followers independently of each other, were making their own investigations. There was no doubting their excellent standing in their professions, trades and wider communities. From about April 1999, an Indian, Hari Sampath, who was at that time working, via a ‘green card’ in the USA, was coordinating a ‘pepper group’ of former devotees. This group was remarkably effective in arousing major media and UNESCO, and other major organs. An individual of great significance from that time and up to the end of 2004 was the late Glen Meloy of the USA. See: Glen Meloy (“Standing up for truth and goodness”) – In Memoriam.

More troubling than anything was the sense of terrible betrayal and heartache in so many individuals and families. This fact of the alienation of many respected, now former, Sai Baba followers is all too well-known to many leaders and increasing numbers within the rank and file of the international Sathya Sai Organization. But, in Orwellian fashion, it has acted virtually as if those many who have left it never existed. And as if those long honored as good were now, almost overnight, bad. See:

The Sathya Sai Organization: Almost overnight, dissenters treated as demons! 

On Leaving the Sathya Sai Baba Cult – Ex Leaders and Rank-and-File

Story of My Disqualification, and other articles by Serguei Badaev

New Zealand Lawyer Exposes Official Cover Up of Killings In Sathya Sai Baba Bedroom

David Bailey and Thomas Wiehe. Transcript Of Phone Link: Sathya Sai Abuses

Truth In Action: David and Faye Bailey Vs Sathya Sai Baba

Stephen Carthew, A Voice of Testimony From Australia, On The Dangers of Cults

Letter from Stephen Carthew

The Late Leo Boogaard: A Dutch Voice of Conscience On Sathya Sai Baba

In short, members of the Sathya Sai Organization have typically, grossly and repeatedly:

• ignored the afflicted individuals and families, and:
• deliberately hidden vital facts from many rank-and-file devotees

The list of leaders sycophantic to Sathya Sai Baba is long. Briefly suggestive of top leaders who have severely abrogated norms regarding duty of care and transparency a list includes:

Many within the Sathya Sai Organization have frequently wondered why Sathya Sai Baba has appointed certain key leaders in his organization. A common, in-denial, euphuistic cry is:  never mind, Swami has done it to teach us patience and forgiveness and as a test for our sadhana (spiritual discipline). Here are but a few names of those involved in longtime, shameless cover up. Clicking on the links will bring up articles which, in their own turn, contain further recondite links:

John (Jack) Hislop, Michael Goldstein,  Indulal Shah, G. Venkataraman, William Harvey, Bob Bozzani, Hal Honig, Jagadeesan, Ashok Bhagani, Thorbjørn Meyer, Steen Piculell, Leonardo Gutter,  T.Sri Ramanathan, Pal Dhall, Bernard Gruber, Pietro Marena,  Jörgen Möllgård, Richard Friedrich, John Behner, Phyllis Kristal …

Terry Gallagher wrote:

The purpose of this visit was to find the reason why former students of Sai Baba’s college would want to kill him, particularly when they had been given a free education! The eye witness accounts were horrific! After bursting into the Mandir, four students found themselves trapped upstairs where Sai Baba was staying. Each was interrogated by police, then one at a time they were executed! The stench of death was everywhere. I made further inquiries about Sai Baba having sexual relations with college boys and male students – some of these as young as seven years of age – and whether this was the reason for former students wanting to kill him. I was told, to my horror, that this was an acceptable Indian practice! I felt sick, and just wanted to take my family and leave the ashram and India as quickly as possible. Before we did, we were all called for interview with Sai Baba and we told him what we had experienced and been told. Sai Baba made no comment on our accusations and was only anxious to know who had told us these details, requesting us to tell him several times! Having had dozens of interviews over the years, this was the most stressful and uncomfortable interview our family had ever experienced. Sai Baba was tense and agitated and his body language told us all, that what we had found out about him was the truth! We left the interview and returned to Australia.

Of the mounting allegations of Sathya Sai Baba’s serial sexual abuse of boys and young men, Terry Gallagher wrote:

I made further inquiries about Sai Baba having sexual relations with college boys and male students- some of these as young as seven years of age – and whether this was the reason for former students wanting to kill him. I was told, to my horror, that this was an acceptable Indian practice! I felt sick, and just wanted to take my family and leave the ashram and India as soon as possible. Before we did, we were called for an interview with Sai Baba, and we told him what we had experienced and been told. Sai Baba made no comment on our accusations and was only anxious to know who had told us these details, requesting us to tell him several times! Having had dozens of interviews over the years, this was the most stressful and uncomfortable interview our family had ever experienced.

Sai Baba was tense and agitated, and his body language told us all that what we had found out him was the truth! We left the interview and returned to Australia. The following years were very difficult spiritually; we concentrated on all the positive aspects we had experienced over the past ten years and found this comforting. When we attempted to tell others about our experiences and the truth about Sai Baba, no one would believe us, except those who had also had similar experiences- and mostly fear prevents them from telling others. It has only been in the past twelve months that former students and devotees of Sai Baba have begun communicating with each other, confirming experiences to be true and supporting each other spiritually and emotionally when necessary.

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The Public Petition

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About the Petition For Official Investigation Into Sathya Sai Baba Cult

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PETICIÓN PÚBLICA PARA INVESTIGACIONES OFICIALES DE SATHYA SAI BABA Y SU ORGANIZACIÓN A NIVEL MUNDIAL)

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A Sathya Sai Saga. Barry Pittard Recollects. Part 3

The series continues from:

A Sathya Sai Saga. Barry Pittard Recollects. Part 2. Posted by Barry Pittard on July 23, 2010.  A Sathya Sai Saga. Barry Pittard Recollects. Part 1. Posted by Barry Pittard on July 20, 2010

Apart from Terry Gallagher, the other two individuals whose articles appeared in the Nexus magazine also had respected histories as Sathya Sai Baba devotees. One of the articles related the frightening escape experiences of wife and husband Gurprit and Jens Singh (Germany), who sought the assistance of the (then) Federal West German Embassy in New Delhi. I have written of this couple here: ‘BILD’ Story. “Guru Wants Sex” (Sathya Sai Baba).

The other author was Hans de Kraker (Australia). Sathya Sai Baba appointed de Kraker Western Canteen Director, a position he held from 1989 to 1997. Nexus magazine covers many stories which the media has not run or else run extensively. There is sworn testimony in both these cases.

I emailed and spoke by phone with Terry Gallagher, Hans de Kraker  and Jens Sethi, and others in different parts of the world. A group of former followers was able to obtain investigation at a most senior level by UNESCO, the U.S. State Department, Times of London, BBC, and other reputed organs. See also:

The Case of UNESCO’s Missing Media Advisory

U.S. State Department Named Sathya Sai Baba To BBC’s ‘The Secret Swami’

Hans de Kraker told me that he took his concerns to the former head of the Australian Sathya Sai Organization, T. Sri Ramanathan (a former commercial judge in Sri Lanka) and another one of the Australian Sai organization’s most prominent leaders, Dr Sara Pavan (who has spent lengthy times living at Puttaparthi, serving as a doctor in Sai Baba’s Superspeciality Hospital and as an anaesthetist at Concord Hospital, Sydney, Australia).

Hans de Kraker said that Ramanathan, who more recently has worked with senior law students at the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales, immediately avoided the issues, and launched into a recital of how Sai Baba had done such wonders. One example was how (not in person) Sai Baba had miraculously recovered a diary. This embarrassingly contained Ramanathan’s law students’ examination details that he had lost in Malaysia in transit to visit Sai Baba. Another story was how Sai Baba had, again miraculously, in  a hotel in Bangalore, made Ramanathan’s non-functioning tape recorder work.

When Ramanathan phoned me – at first to try to use ‘sweetness and light’ and then to make his fruitless threats of litigation against me – he told me these stories as well, and I suppose he has regaled many Sai devotees with them over the years. It seemed like a sort of litany. As long as one keeps rolling the beads, all the misgivings, all the contradictions, all the dark secrets, all the discomfort can be conveniently filtered out.

Hans de Kraker said that Dr Pavan’s response was that one does not talk of these matters (which de Kraker had raised).

This terrible dereliction of duty of care and accountability has been endemic in the international Sathya Sai Organization throughout the world. History can only but be severe in its judgement on it. The organization’s much-vaunted truth, compassion, and right conduct, among the values enshrined in its so-called “all Faiths” edifice, turn out, in this respect to be, to use a Sai Baba phrase, ‘tinsel and trash’. Or Stone pillar. Stone consciences.

Among the many documents that report Sathya Sai Baba’s grossly improper practices is a letter from Hans de Kraker.  It was addressed to David and Faye Bailey, and Faye Bailey’s son. Indeed, her son, too, had been the target of Sathya Sai Baba’s advances, according to testimony. (Apart from other documentations, the present writer had the account from the son’s sister, and both have long enjoyed a close friendship). As indeed has been typical, and constant across many years, in the accounts of so may other males from around the world have reported in their own cases.  Hans de Kraker wrote: 

There was a big power shake up in the kitchen and I had no interest to participate in the whole situation any longer. I had a chat with the leader of the group because I had not been going to darshan anymore. My last day in the ashram I talked to the leader of the group. (Editor, c.f., Veronica, long an organizer of the Western canteens see here).

 

 

Again she insists that I tell her what happened. “So did he try to have sex with you?” was the question. Tired of it all I told her what had happened. This was the evening of the fourth or fifth of January. Immediately after she has an interview with Sai Baba, by herself this time, without the rest of the group. After she comes out of the interview room, several hours later, I am summoned to an elderly gentleman from Security, whom I knew well, with whom I had built a friendship. Several years before, when I accompanied a couple from Europe, who did not speak any English, he had spent time with this couple, their three-year-old son, who had cancer and me. This gentleman looked very awkward and asked me if he could take my photo. I said of course not knowing what was happening, understanding something had gone wrong. He was accompanied by 2 seva dal’s. One them took a picture from the front and then asked me to turn to the side. When I asked my friend what was happening he nodded uncomfortable and said I don’t know.

They then escorted me to the secretary of the Ashram who told me I was ordered to leave as soon as possible. I had behaved improperly and had to leave. When I asked what the reason was he commanded that I was not allowed to ask anything, and that I was only allowed to leave. “You are to leave the Ashram. You are strongly advised not to hang around the village, to go as soon as possible to Bangalore and catch the first flight out…

I left. All my friends of the group were absolutely amazed and destroyed when they heard that I had been expelled. Except for one person…the same person who spoke to Sai Baba a few hours before. So they got rid of a possible “loose cannon”

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For next installment, see:  A Sathya Sai Saga. Barry Pittard Recollects. Part 4

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The Public Petition

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About the Petition For Official Investigation Into Sathya Sai Baba Cult

(Note: You may prefer to proceed straight to the Petition): Public Petition For Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization

There is a Spanish version available:

PETICIÓN PÚBLICA PARA INVESTIGACIONES OFICIALES DE SATHYA SAI BABA Y SU ORGANIZACIÓN A NIVEL MUNDIAL)

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A Sathya Sai Saga. Barry Pittard Recollects. Part 2

The series continues from: A Sathya Sai Saga. Barry Pittard Recollects. Part 1. Posted by Barry Pittard on July 20, 2010

In October 1999, I read Terry Gallagher’s startling accounts, and, increasingly those of others. He was the first head of Australian Sathya Sai Organization and an agricultural scientist and businessman of Kiama, New South Wales, Australia. His brother-in-law, Neville Fredericks (a past mayor of Kiama)succeeded T.Sri Ramanathan as head of the Australian Sathya Sai Organization. Following his extensive investigation, Terry Gallagher’s revelations spoke of Sathya Sai Baba having sex with boys and young men, and being complicit in other disturbing crimes. He discovered disturbing facts about the local, state and central government cover up of police killings in Sathya Sai Baba’s bedroom at Puttaparthi on June 6, 1993. He and others in various parts of the world resigned. Many simply left the Sathya Sai Organization, without formal resignation. Sai devotees in centers around the world have heard their leaders state the allegations are made by a handful of disgruntled former devotees. Yet the Sathya Sai Organization holds aloft the value:  Truth …

The Editor of the Australian magazine Nexus (published in a number of countries), Duncan Roads, had found the Gallagher article along with two other accounts of former Sathya Sai Baba devotees on the internet. The Gallagher document was in the form of a letter to David and Faye Bailey. Duncan Roads wrote: 

 I had heard the many rumours about Sai Baba’s sexual impropriety over the years, and like many, dismissed them as disgruntled devotees.  Later on, I actually took those attacks as ‘evidence’ that Sai Baba was growing in influence, and that this was the ‘system’ attacking him … 

Unlike Sai Baba believers, I have an open mind, one which allows me to read and listen to things that Sai Baba believers refuse even to allow into their consciousness.  I read some of the more recent testimonies, and decided to investigate for once and for all to put an end to the rumours …

I ended up speaking to many victims, parents of victims, former Sai Baba centre ‘leaders’ and some respected ‘figureheads’ from the movement.  All confirmed the same pattern of abuse and sexual misconduct …

I did not want to believe any of these testimonies, but I also had to be true to what I was uncovering.  Sai Baba is, and has, been involved in sexual misconduct with boys and young men.  The effects of this misconduct has caused unestimatable damage within many many families, including suicides

Photo below: David and Faye Bailey. Authors of ‘The Findings’. An historic and lengthy indictment of Sathya Sai Baba and his charismatic cult, by two former and exceptionally close disciples.

See my articles: 

Truth In Action: David and Faye Bailey Vs Sathya Sai Baba, and

Reply to a Sathya Sai Devotee’s Note re: David and Faye Bailey

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For next in series, see:  A Sathya Sai Saga. Barry Pittard Recollects. Part 3

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The Public Petition

Information on the Public Petition for Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization

About the Petition For Official Investigation Into Sathya Sai Baba Cult

(Note: You may prefer to proceed straight to the Petition): Public Petition For Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization

There is a Spanish version available:

PETICIÓN PÚBLICA PARA INVESTIGACIONES OFICIALES DE SATHYA SAI BABA Y SU ORGANIZACIÓN A NIVEL MUNDIAL)

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A Sathya Sai Saga. Barry Pittard Recollects. Part 1

For twenty-five years, I was deeply devoted to Sathya Sai Baba. He is widely regarded as India’s most famous and most politically and religiously powerful guru. At his behest, and as an unpaid service, I taught all three years intake in the Humanities degree course at the Sri Sathya Sai College at Whitefield, via Bangalore, South India (1977-1978). In particular, quite apart from a large workload with the first two years, to have been handed the college Principal’s third year English lectures was a considerable challenge for which I shall always be grateful, especially given that this was my first teaching job, except for school experience in my teaching diploma, and my coaching at a college in Australia that helped put me through university, and having also just done post-graduate theatre training.

I had already done some work at the Sri Sathya Sai College for Arts, Science and Commerce before these classes and tutorials began; for example, my own mime performance, and a two-handed performance with an actor from New York of our condensed “Julius Caesar” by William Shakespeare for the senior boys along, and also supervised setting the foundations for a small library, apart from the main library. The ‘small library’, as it came to be called, eventually bloomed into a thriving cultural meeting-point. It gave me contact with boys from many parts of India, and has remained high among memories of a sort that a teacher cherishes. It meant excellent contact with students of very diverse socio-economic background right across the college. Generous funds were advanced so as to stock the ‘small library’ with books most likely to act as drawcards to students at diverse levels of interest and ability. I also originated an audio-visual acquisition committee consisting of the Principal of the college, D. Narendra Rao, (the late) Dr John Hislop (the then head of the Sathya Sai Organization in USA and latin America), and the film maker Richard Bock. See:

Timothy Conway Ph.D – On ‘The Hislop Letters’

Sai Baba films by Richard Bock

After years away, I returned to India in November 1997. When I arrived, boys I had taught – now grown men, many in a variety of professions – sped up and milled around. Here and in other places, there was a joy of reunion after long absence. Any fond old teacher’s heart gladdens at the sight of former students, and with rare exceptions. One feels that one has lived not in vain. There is a vital strain within India culture which holds learning, including secular learning, sacred indeed.

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This series continues at:

A Sathya Sai Saga. Barry Pittard Recollects. Part 2

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The Public Petition

Information on the Public Petition for Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization

About the Petition For Official Investigation Into Sathya Sai Baba Cult

(Note: You may prefer to proceed straight to the Petition): Public Petition For Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization

There is a Spanish version available:

PETICIÓN PÚBLICA PARA INVESTIGACIONES OFICIALES DE SATHYA SAI BABA Y SU ORGANIZACIÓN A NIVEL MUNDIAL)

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Gerald Moreno: No Real Sai Baba Devotee Could Applaud

It would not be possible for any professional, nor indeed competent school students of clear thinking, to view as urbane, civil and non-defamatory the writings of the internet fanatic, stalker and extreme manipulator of internet rankings, Gerald Joe Moreno, of New Mexico, USA.

Moreno’s bush-lawyering and untutored ‘research’ would be spotted (and regularly have been) in a few sentences by any lawyer, journalist or other bona fide researcher. That he is supported by well-known Sathya Sai Baba devotees is yet another sure sign of the trouble that the Sathya Sai cult is in. Demonstration of the poverty of Moreno’s intellectual and ethical status is not reliant on those who oppose Sathya Sai Baba and his cult. No sensible and civil individual would give Moreno a pass mark. For the freakish feat of staying on-the-job by night and day, often engaged in the most peripheral machinations, he fully merits an A+++.

In striking at prominent former Sathya Sai devotee coordinators such as Robert Priddy and me, he will even abuse the names of their family members. Terribly faulty inductions abound in his writings. By regular misreading of his paucity of facts, he maintains that these family members are involved in, or somehow support, the critique of Sathya Sai Baba. The independent British author of books and papers on religion and philosophy Kevin R.D. Shepherd writes:

“I learned about the invasive Moreno tactic of emailing the acquaintances of victims, a tactic designed to elicit details or to convey adverse reports. Furthermore, many emails sent to Joe Moreno have been paraded on his primary website in a manner that does not inspire universal approval. Those emails include some from the son of Robert Priddy dated January 2005. The non-devotee Kai Nicolai Priddy objected to being drawn into stigmatising web coverages along with his ex-devotee father. He repeatedly requested that his image and personal information should be deleted from the primary Moreno website saisathyasai.com. The Moreno responses were aggressive, and unyielding with regard to the image of the protester. Moreno excused his action in this respect by arguing that he had merely published a screen capture of a public domain image”.

Moreno stoops so low as to cause great concern to a young child (and of course his extended family and friends) by putting up his photo and naming him in multiple references, all the while severely defaming his father (myself). What child (indeed what adult) does not query his or her name, and the name of this or that friend, in an internet search engine? As typical of his attacks on many others, Moreno gets facts wrong such as the child’s age, making the child appear older than he is. Of course, a child of any age should not be drawn into such matters. That he would draw sobbing tears from a child by associating his name with Sathya Sai Baba related matters is despicable, and indeed seriously unbalanced. Yet he is a known associate of those closely associated with Sathya Sai Baba. How can it be said that these individuals – for example, those associated with the saibabaofindia group and key followers elsewhere – are following his teachings of Sathya (Truth), Dharma (Right Conduct), Shanti (Peace), Prema (Love) and Ahimsa (Non Violence)?

Unfortunately, the internet is a ‘wild west’, and frequently prevents actions against libel, defamation and other forms of abuse. Our formal complaints to internet authorities and the police about Moreno’s conduct have proved fraught with difficulties. Particularly, these relate to the anarchic state of the world wide web. Internet freedom is treasurable, but unlike democratic freedoms and norms, where there are legal and other measures of accountability, it can transgress against the most fundamental civilities and ethical responsibilities. There is a place for robust, even painful debate. But, characteristically, the internet tolerates far more than this. It is the magnet for those hellbent on causing hell for others.

Moreno’s myriad and unrelenting ploys include taking a fact or a half-truth and twisting it in hostile and extreme degree, and in putting worst-case constructs on facts for which commonsense alone would suggest alternative explanations. Whatever does not meet with his interpretation is branded a lie and a deception. He attacks virtually every individual who has another view on Sathya Sai Baba. His language is full of denigration and heat. When Sathya Sai Baba’s failed prophecy, made on his 60th birthday, that he would not age thereafter is pointed out, Moreno calls foul, calls us ageist, and puts up photographic proof of the ageing process in the Sai Baba critic. As usual, he misses the point. But then, such gross distortions abound in his writings.

In short, it is simply not possible for a Sathya Sai Baba devotee genuinely following his or her guru’s teachings to agree with his conduct. Strangely, one of his plethora of internet sites is named: Love, Light and Spirituality.

Robert Priddy has recently posted the articles:

Guru-buster Premanand exposed Gerald Moreno

Posted by robertpriddy on July 14, 2010

and:

Gerald Moreno: straw man fallacy re Conny Larsson, Sanjay Dadlani etc.

In the latter article, he writes:

“The logical fallacies that Moreno does not employ cannot be listed, as there seem to be none. He is the great proponent of argumentum ad hominem and equally the straw man argument. This fallacy is one of his most basic crutches. The Straw Man fallacy occurs when one ignores a person’s actual position and substitutes a distorted, exaggerated or misrepresented version of that position through a false association to other persons or standpoints. For example, it works thus:

Robert Priddy states x Conny Larsson states x, but also y Therefore Priddy supports y!

Sanjay Dadlani stands for x and y Priddy endorses Dadlani’s stand on x Therefore Priddy endorses y!

Kevin R.D. Shepherd is against x Priddy is also against x Therefore Kevin R.D. Shepherd is for what Priddy is for!

One can substitute for x and y all manner of specific terms, as Moreno does ad lib. All such ‘arguments’ are completely fallacious conclusions – there is no common middle term in any argument”.

For many years, Robert Priddy headed the Sathya Sai Organization of Norway. He is a retired academic in philosophy and the social sciences, University of Oslo. His articles for ‘Sanathana Sarathi’, Sathya Sai Baba’s official publication that goes round the world, were highly regarded by its editor V.K.Narasimhan (who had been one of India’s greatest newspaper editors). See my article:

Robert Priddy (3) Friendship With V.K. Narasimhan

For Priddy in relationship to his long years of friendship with V.K. Narasimhan, See:

V.K. Narasimhan on the 1993 Sathya Sai Baba murders

Posted by robertpriddy on April 22, 2010

A fairly recent Priddy blog on Moreno was:

Gerald Moreno: absurd screencap fraud claims contra Priddy

Posted by robertpriddy on May 27, 2010

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Further Reading

Wikipedia entry under: Robert Priddy

My Credo

His Blogsite

His Website

‘Robert Priddy Not Exposed’ blog

Australian scholar Brian Steel on Moreno

Diversionary Tactics by an Internet Demagogue.
The pro-Sathya Sai Baba Campaign of Gerald (‘Joe’) Moreno . Brian Steel    December 2007  (Updated March 2008)

Independent British author on religion and philosophy on Moreno

Internet Terrorist Gerald Joe Moreno

Alan Kazlev, who had a serious change of mind about Moreno

Gerald “Joe” Moreno. A case study of a Sai Baba fanatic

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The Public Petition

Information on the Public Petition for Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization

About the Petition For Official Investigation Into Sathya Sai Baba Cult

(Note: You may prefer to proceed straight to the Petition): Public Petition For Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization

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PETICIÓN PÚBLICA PARA INVESTIGACIONES OFICIALES DE SATHYA SAI BABA Y SU ORGANIZACIÓN A NIVEL MUNDIAL)

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Does ‘Forgiveness’ Mean Letting Offenders Ride Rough Shod Over Us?

In a list of systemically misleading topics, ‘forgiveness’ would have to rank near the top. Wooly notions about it all too readily allow perpetrators to go free and without challenge. They can remain perpetrators, and their victims left in abject circumstance. Those who advocate passive types of forgiveness too often invite themselves to be trodden upon. Still more, their modeling of a behaviour creates contexts which allow others around them to be trodden upon, as well.

I view foregiveness as the cultivation of an inner attitude, where – while still attending to what one conceives to be civil and ethical duties – one takes daily steps towards achieving an inner peace, and moves away from first reactions, such as thirsting for and implementing revenge. This inner attitude is far removed from notions such as peace at all costs, or the fool’s ‘paradise’ of avoidance of issues, of being in denial, of being lovey-dovey and wishy-washy, and of retreating to euphoric states.

I heard the Dalai Lama speak well on the subject of forgiveness, and made notes. See:  

Dalai Lama: Forgiveness does not mean forgetfulness

Posted by Barry Pittard on June 15, 2007

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The Public Petition   

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About the Petition For Official Investigation Into Sathya Sai Baba Cult

(Note: You may prefer to proceed straight to the Petition): Public Petition For Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization   

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PETICIÓN PÚBLICA PARA INVESTIGACIONES OFICIALES DE SATHYA SAI BABA Y SU ORGANIZACIÓN A NIVEL MUNDIAL)   

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Major Downturn of Foreigners Visiting Sai Baba At Puttaparthi

Long ago, Sathya Sai Baba told his followers that eventually very few of his devotees would remain. One may posit, of course, less divine explanations for this foretelling, though his devotees think that he speaks from divine all-knowingness. For example, rather, that he saw (rather than omnisciently foresaw) that his unbridled sexual appetite for boys and young men and many other most terrible abuses would finally catch up with him. His game is up, but not his game of relying powerful elements of the Indian power structure to cover up for him.

We receive reports of the enormous decline in the number of foreigners visiting Sathya Sai Baba at the Puttaparthi ashram. It is the western media, such as the BBC, that have investigated and exposed Sathya Sai Baba and his cult. Visitor numbers from within India have been assisted by the pushing of a railhead to Puttaparthi. The airport, however, is now seen by many as a spent force. See Robert Priddy’s: Sathya Sai Airport “white elephant” for sale!  See also: Sai Baba’s tennis stadium another white elephant?

I recall being in a group listening in the 70’s to the late Professor P.N. Kasturi, his official biographer, editor of Sai Baba’s magazine Sanathana Sarathi and often Sai Baba’s on-stage translator, saying that:  A “big government minister” implored Sathya Sai  to allow a railhead all the way up to Puttaparthi, but was refused. It is there now, and enhances Indian crowd numbers, especially among the peasants and the middle class. A powerful reason for his continued patronage in India is that, to its undying shame, most of the Indian media eschews material critical of Sathya Sai Baba. His political clout is too great. 

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About the Petition For Official Investigation Into Sathya Sai Baba Cult

(Note: You may prefer to proceed straight to the Petition): Public Petition For Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization   

There is a Spanish version available:   

PETICIÓN PÚBLICA PARA INVESTIGACIONES OFICIALES DE SATHYA SAI BABA Y SU ORGANIZACIÓN A NIVEL MUNDIAL)   

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Sathya Sai Baba’s Chief Broadcaster Dr G. Venkataraman: Select Critical Articles by Barry Pittard

Dr G.Venkataraman is about as close to Sathya Sai Baba as it is possible to get. His worldwide brief as his international broadcaster and his deputy chairmanship of the Sathya Sai Organization makes it relevant to look at his performance. The reader may keep in mind the question:  Is Venkataraman’s performance what one would expect of a chief disciple of – supposedly – God fully incarnate? Of course, even the most eminent disciples of famous spiritual leaders of the past made some bad showings – but (if the historical records are to be credited) turned out okay in the final run home. But has Venkataraman done so? He has had decades of practice for the “run home”? 

A detailed analyis of Venkatarman at work is found in Robert Priddy’s and Barry Pittard’s jointly authored, four-part article ‘The Sathya Sai Organization’s Deception and Propaganda Exposed’ .  To see his machinations in concert with the Vajpayee government and the then Director of UNESCO (which were exposed by the BBC’s David Saville), see: The Case of UNESCO’s Missing Media Advisory

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Sathya Sai Baba’s ‘Minister of Propaganda’ – Dr G. Venkataraman

“G. Venkataraman, formerly an intimate member of India’s nuclear bomb community, was Vice-Chancellor of Sai Baba’s university at Puttaparthi. He is now second-in-charge of the international Sathya Sai Organization, and head of Sai Global Harmony. The latter entity broadcasts, in affiliation with WorldSpace International Satellite Radio Service, 24/7 to many countries. With a behind-the-scenes corporate-style, assisted by the billions of funds that pour from many countries into the Sathya Sai Central Trust, the aim is to penetrate to every corner of the globe. A vital question will be whether politicians in democratic countries will be capable of distinguishing between the issue of freedom of religion and the issue of cults that decidedly do not, whatever may be their rhetoric, respect democracy …. Dr Venkataraman is tantamount to being Sathya Sai Baba’s ‘minister of propaganda’. Practically all heads of the Sathya Sai Organization are forbidden to comment on critical matters, but G. Venkataraman is an exception. The few spokesmen (and they are almost always men!) say very little, as one would expect of a virtually Soviet-style, cultic organization, with a leader and a deputy chairman who can both wax lyrical about how the former dictator of Uganda Idi Amin wept with tears of devotion over Sai Baba”.

Sathya Sai Baba’s Deputy Head, Dr G. Venkataraman, Speaks of “Mr Idi Amin”

“Dr G. Venkataraman speaks of how thrilling was Sai Baba’s account in this ‘Christmas’ 2006 discourse of his 1968 visit to Uganda! But oh, what an inspiring figure was Idi Amin to refer to in a Christmas message! In case G. Venkataraman or anyone badly informed of Idi Amin’s evil deeds and regime, here and here are BBC reports at the time of his death in August 2003 and a list of resources”.

(Above photo – is but a graphic art impression of the Dr G. Venkataraman-Sai Baba-Idi Amin Love-Fest).

“THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND” – GOD’S ORDERS and Sai Baba 

“The issue is not about high-profile leaders who unavoidably find themselves mixing with monstrous human beings – for example, dignitaries simply going about their formal duties, such as a King, Queen, President etc. The clear issue is that both Sai Baba and G. Venkataraman enthused warmly about recollections of Sai Baba’s visit to Idi Amin in Uganda in 1968, saying how Amin and his retinue were in copious tears of devotion for Sai Baba. Amin was one of the world’s greatest monsters – causing a holocaust estimated at 400,000 people, torturing, raping, engaging in violent orgies and cannibalism. And yet  – Sai Baba (who claims to be all-knowing and God fully manifest on earth and come to save the planet before he leaves it) and Venkataraman showed the most appalling bad taste and absence of judgement”.

Sathya Sai Baba and Dr G.Venkataraman: Will They Disavow Their Idi Amin Fondness?

“Note how Venkataraman, on Sai Global Radio, refers to Mr Idi Amin. I may add that it is interesting that Amin claimed to have a direct line to God. Did he have in mind, specifically, Sathya Sai Baba? Perhaps Amin scholars may have something among their files, and can let us all know.

Sathya Sai Baba-Idi Amin Nexus. Foolish-fond Memories

Dr G. Venkataraman, Sathya Sai Baba’s Nuclear Boon Companion

“Robert Priddy is the former long-time head of the Sathya Sai Organization in Norway and a retired philosopher in the Social Sciences, University of Oslo. He has written insightfully on the extraordinary, often Procrustean efforts of Dr G. Venkataraman to rationalise his beliefs in Sathya Sai Baba”.

Indian Scientist Dr G. Venkataraman Accused of Plagiarism

”In his article, Venkataraman – the most gullible physicist alive? Robert Priddy (see Wikipedia entry) notes:

Dr. G. Venkataraman reviews at length developments in our scientific knowledge of the cosmos… though nothing scientific that is not found in hundreds of books and other media. Venkataraman was a physicist working for the Indian government’s nuclear programme. However, he has copied his information on astronomy from other scientific authorities. Yet he does not once attribute anything he reports to its originators or to other scientific sources! He has even plagiarised text from the Dennis Dutton website, without any mention … “

BBC Hidden Camera in ‘Secret Swami’. Ethical?

“Despite the alarum and excursions of Dr G. Venkataraman (and informally allied Sathya Sai Baba proxy defenders on the Internet whose libels and slanders are deemed by top lawyers in three countries to be extreme, widespread and highly actionable), the BBC had every just cause to shoot clandestinely. The extensive lack of accountability, transparency and of Duty-of-Care were not only seen clearly by the BBC but have also been noted by other world leading, high quality media in several countries”.

The International Sathya Sai Organization – an accessory to a massive libel and disinformation campaign. Open letter to the Prasanthi Council – c/o Dr. M. Goldstein, Dr. G. Venkataraman and its other members. Here is a quote from that document:

“Two semi-official pro-Sai web sites – saibabaofindia.com/ and saibabalinks.org/ – which could not operate without the help of central officials of the Sathya Sai Organization, Radio Sai Global Harmony and Sai ashrams, have links to websites which libel all former members who have spoken out. Such links reveal the obvious inability of Sai representatives in these groups to reply honestly and cogently to any of the many published allegations about Sai Baba made by those who were long respected members, in some cases prominent leaders, of his international organization. Furthermore, some members link to extremist web sites which have as their primary agenda contrived attempts at character assassination of ex-followers who present critical views. The most prominent of such sites are examined here and here.”

See a list (by no means exhaustive) of typical depradations of those Sathya Sai Baba forces (and those caught up in other cults) who claim to be involved in spirituality: Dissent From Guru Cults Draws Slander and Harassment. See also, Cultic Depersonalization or Demonization of Dissenters

The one-hour BBC dcumentary, The Secret Swami (2004) on Sathya Sai Baba, is compelling, and was the work of more than seven intensive months. Its scope was, however, narrow indeed in comparison to a vast database that discloses that much else ails Puttaparthi Sai Baba and his forces such as the Prashanti Council and the International Sathya Sai Organization. See: The BBC’s ‘The Secret Swami’ – A Revision

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The Public Petition   

Information on the Public Petition for Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization

About the Petition For Official Investigation Into Sathya Sai Baba Cult

(Note: You may prefer to proceed straight to the Petition): Public Petition For Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization   

There is a Spanish version available:   

PETICIÓN PÚBLICA PARA INVESTIGACIONES OFICIALES DE SATHYA SAI BABA Y SU ORGANIZACIÓN A NIVEL MUNDIAL)   

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Indian State High Court Blow For Swami Nityananda In Big Sex Case

As previously pointed out at ‘Call For Media and Government Investigation of Sathya Sai Baba’, the Nityananda case has had huge coverage India-wide. The battery of television cameras point and shoot at even the most trivial details, along with excited commentary.  Wealthy, influential and international though it is, Nityananda’s organization cannot bear comparison with the enormous wealth, political and religious clout of Sathya Sai Baba and his global Sathya Sai Organization.

Nityananda has spent over fifty days in jail. It has long been a commonplace in and beyond India that Sathya Sai Baba and his core servitors will never be brought to justice. A traveler round India can hear this comment quite easily. An editor of the Times of India told me privately:  Sai Baba and his people are far too powerful to take on. However, a cross-section of Indian commentary suggests a marked increase, if not a mobilization, of concern about the issues of gurudom or swamihood in India. For those who feel relieved by probing, consecutive analysis (vastly lacking in Sathya Sai Baba-proxy internet attacks on virtually all who raise questions about Sathya Sai Baba), there is lengthy and intelligent discussion in The Medha Journal, here – Lessons from The Swami Nithyananda Saga . Wednesday, 17 March 2010 18:40 by Rajiv Malhotra

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Big Story: Nityananda Verdict

By Vox Purpli – YahooINEditors – June 11th, 2010

The Karnataka High Court delivered its verdict on Swami Nityananda’s bail plea. The 32-year-old spiritual teacher and founder of the Dhyanapeetam, faces several criminal charges including that of rape and “unusual sex”.

12th June 2010: Swami Nityananda has got conditional bail but has been instructed not to teach or preach.

11th June 2010: Swami Nityananda gets bail on Rs 1 lakh bond. No witness against Nityananda in rape case.

30^th April 2010: When the CID was interrogating him, the swami’s shocking statement, “I’m not a man. There’s no way I could have indulged in sexual activities with women. Do a potency test on me,” gave a new twist to the  sordid saga.

21^st April 2010: Almost a month and a half after the sex scam broke out, Swami Nityananda was arrested from Himachal Pradesh’s Solan district. At the time of his arrest, the Bangalore police found Rs 3 lakh and 2000 dollars with him.

2^nd March 2010: The Swami scandal surfaced in March 2010 when a local channel aired video footage of the swami in a compromising position with a Tamil actress after he had retired from his ashram to live a life of “spiritual seclusion”.

After almost 50 days in jail, the decision on his bail plea will be taken today. Amidst allegations against Nityananda and all the controversy, some loyal devotees continue to hold onto their faith.

Swami Nityananda is not the only self-professed godman to be embroiled in a controversy; several others too have been in the news for all the wrong reasons.

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See Also

Robert Priddy

• Swami Nityananda tries to defuse the sex scandal
•  Swami Nityananda tries the Sathya Sai Baba defense ploy
• Tantrick sex Swami Nithyananda’s farce plays on
• Sex scandal in Indian media – Nityananda and forerunners
• Swami ‘Paramahamsa’ Nityananda scandal – latest
• The Dark Underside of some prominent Hindu gurus

Barry Pittard

• Swami Nityananda Sex Scandal News Round Up
• Right Hand. Sleight Hand. Watch Sai Baba Cheat With Sacred Ash (Film clip)
• Is Heat Too Much For Swami Nityananda, Under Fire By Sex Abuse Allegations?
• Why Nithyananda Sex Scandal Investigations and Not A Sathya Sai Baba Probe?
• Lawyer K.V.Dhananjay on Swami Nityananda Furore In India
• Nityananda, Sathya Sai Baba et al… Do Hindus Really Approve Sexual Immorality?
• sathya-sai-babas-sleight-hand
• The BBC’s ‘The Secret Swami’ – A Revision
• BBC Cameras Catch Sai Baba Cheating With Gold Sivalingam. (Film Clip)
• BBC’s ‘The Secret Swami’ and British Press Praise
• Sathya Sai Baba 84th Birthday Celebrations. Will 21st Century India Tolerate The Shame That Is Puttaparthi?
• Sathya Sai Baba’s Amazing Predictions
• thumb-secretes-miraculous-ring-under-sai-babas-hand-blow-up1
• Sai Baba To Be Seen In Moon? But Where Was Moon?

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The Public Petition

Information on the Public Petition for Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization

About the Petition For Official Investigation Into Sathya Sai Baba Cult

(Note: You may prefer to proceed straight to the Petition):

Public Petition For Official Investigations of Sathya Sai Baba and His Worldwide Organization  

There is a Spanish version available:  

PETICIÓN PÚBLICA PARA INVESTIGACIONES OFICIALES DE SATHYA SAI BABA Y SU ORGANIZACIÓN A NIVEL MUNDIAL)

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