(transcribed
from Nexus Magazine, Volume 7, Number 5, August-September 2000)
Sai Baba Exposed
Fraud,
Fakery, & Molestation
A
SHORT HISTORY OF SATHYA SAI BABA
Sri
Sathya Sai Baba was born in South India, in the tiny village of Puttaparti, on
23 November 1926. His given name was Satyanarayana and his family name was
Raju. On 20 October 1940, at the age of fourteen, he declared to his family and
to the people of his village that he was the reincarnation of an Indian saint
who had died in 1918, named Shirdi Sai Baba, and that he would henceforth be
known as Sai Baba.
Sai
Baba's ashram, built by his devotees close to the village where he was born,
was inaugurated on 23 November 1950. It is called Prasanthi Nilayam (Abode of
Divine Peace). It has been the gathering place of millions of spiritual
pilgrims of various faiths from all over the world.
During
the period 14-23 November 1995, the celebrations for the 70th birthday of
Sathya Sai Baba took place in Prasanthi Nilayam. More than one million people,
including the President and Prime Minister of India, assembled in Prasanthi
Nilayam to pay homage to Sathya Sai Baba during these celebrations.
Today,
the Sai Organization claims over 1,200 Sathya Sai Baba centres, spread through
137 countries around the world.
It
is fair to say that Sai Baba is a highly revered spiritual leader, whose life
and message has inspired millions of people throughout the world to turn
Godward and lead more purposeful and moral lives. The stories of his
"miracles" are many and legendary in their telling and retelling.
Scores of famous Westerners have added their own exciting synchronistic accounts
of how Sai Baba saved them from certain death by "appearing" before
them at crucial moments. Accounts of Sai baba-related manifestations and
materialisations are also widespread, adding to the air that Sai Baba is
literally the reappearance of God on Earth.
Unfortunately,
this is where the fairytale ends.
A
growing number of boys and men are coming forward with allegations of sexual
harassment, sexual abuse and rape. And now that attention has been focused on
the Swami, one finds many more accounts of faked miracles, suspicious deaths,
massive financial fraud, weapons and explosives being found in the ashram, an
assassination attempt, and yet more cases of paedophilia and homosexual abuse.
With
news of these events and other incidents, the seeds of doubt have been sown in
many minds. How is it that Sai Baba's own brother-in-law died of rabies? Why
did Baba need to be hospitalised for a ruptured appendix and a broken leg? Why
does he travel in Mercedes cars and require heavy protection? Why does Sai Baba
have to wave his hand in circles before producing anything? Does his occasional
transvestitism and derision for women really illustrate the male-female
principle of the universe?
It
is possible we will never find the real truth to many of the above rumours and
allegations, with the exception of the sexual abuse cases. We have extracted
the following accounts from just three of the many testimonies now emerging. We
have also spoken to many former long-term devotees who have now left the
organisation.
For
those wishing to pursue this matter further, we suggest as a starting point
that you get onto the Internet and visit http://www.myfreeoffice.com/saibabaexposed/
[that site has been closed and replaced by http://www.sathyasaivictims.com ].
Let
me emphasize that this information does not reflect one or two disgruntled
devotees "who did not get enough attention". It reflects the fact
that many, many boys and young men have been sexually abused by someone in whom
they gave their total trust. Their silence was maintained because the victims
knew that no one would believe them.
I
hope this article can rectify that situation somewhat.
-
Duncan M. Roads (Editor)
TERRY
GALLAGHER'S TESTIMONY
What
began as a wonderful spiritual journey ended with total disbelief and bitter
disappointment when we found out the truth.
Perhaps
I should start at the beginning with a brief account of that journey. After
reading a book called Man of Miracles, I set off for India (and
Puttaparthi) with my wife and three young daughters, in an organised group for
Christmas 1983.
What
we found when we arrived in India was something I had been searching for all my
life; people searching for their own spiritual truth, living in a community
whose whole objective was that of improving self-awareness and achieving
self-realisation through the teachings of a living guru- Sai Baba.
Adjacent
to the ashram, and provided free of cost to the students, was a primary school
for boys and girls, and various colleges for boys where spiritual teachings
were incorporated into the normal academic disciplines.
We
were all very impressed and motivated towards learning as much as possible
about what Sai Baba had to teach us.
The
celebration of Christmas came and went, after which our family was called for
an interview with Sai Baba. As a result of this interview and what appeared at
the time to be the most perfect environment for students and devotees to
advance their spiritual lives, I made a substantial donation to the Central
Trust to help them fund their educational programs.
Upon
leaving the interview, I was told by Sai Baba that I should sit on the verandah
of the mandir in the future, with students from the colleges and other
devotees. As it turned out, this gave me the opportunity to meet people and
observe events very closely that I otherwise might not have had the opportunity
to do.
We
all had mixed feelings when we had to leave the ashram and return to Australia-
sad in having to leave, and joy in what we had experienced. We returned to the
ashram again in 1985 for one month; and then in 1986 we stayed for seven
months, at which time our daughters attended Sai Baba's school.
It
was during this time that I began to observe things that made me question what
I had experienced on previous visits. Having a scientific background, I began
to observe a set routine that Sai Baba followed each morning and evening during
darshan and, in particular, how he materialised vibhuti (holy ash).
I
will never forget the look of anguish on Sai Baba's face when he came onto the
verandah of the mandir early one morning and dropped two vibhuti pellets in
front of me as he attempted to accept a rose from a college student. There was
no vibhuti materialisation during darshan that morning!
In
the months that followed, I observed how he transferred these vibhuti pellets
from one hand to the other, using the letters he collects from devotees to
disguise his movements. In the many interviews that followed, I also observed
more than thirty instances of rings, "diamonds", japamalas, vibhuti
containers, etc., all being produced by sleight of hand and deception.
At
first I kept this information to myself. I reasoned that if this was what made
people come to see Sai Baba, resulting in their becoming more spiritual, what
harm could it do? Eventually I told my wife and children, who also saw through
this "materialisation" trickery. It was the observations and
information that followed from these initial findings that concerned me the
most, especially those relating to students being sexually interfered with in
grotesque ways by Sai Baba.
We
returned to the ashram several times during the following years, making further
observations and having these confirmed by college students and long-term
devotees living at the ashram. During this time, I was the Central Coordinator
for three years for the Sathya Sai Organisation in Australia.
It
wasn't until 1993, following the (6th June) assassination attempt on Sai Baba,
resulting in the murder of four college students and two assistants in the
mandir, that we made our last visit to India.
The
purpose of this visit was to find the reason why former students of Sai Baba's
college would want to kill him, particularly when they had been given a free
education!
The
eyewitness 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
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.
I
now know the truth about Sai Baba and sincerely pray that others, too, will
follow both their logic and intuition and also find the truth.
Terry
Gallagher, Ex-Central Coordinator of Sathya Sai Organisation, Australia
(Source: Terry Gallagher's letter to Faye and David Bailey; The Quarterly, UK;
www.myfreeoffice.com/saibabaexposed/)
HANS
DE KRAKER'S TESTIMONY
I
traveled to India extensively for a period of four years. During this period
(1992-94) I had many (35) private audiences with Sai Baba.
I
got to know him in 1988 through a friend in Italy who had passed on a book.
After about four years, I made my first trip to India with my girlfriend,
mother and father. The years that followed were making for some very intense
years in my life.
Sai
Baba, fairly much from the first private audience, had suggested to me and my
girlfriend that we were to split up from each other for our own good. He did
this in a very public and embarrassing way, purposely humiliating my girlfriend
and myself. We had built a lot of "faith and mystery" around him and
had by now accepted him as a God incarnate on Earth, the epitome of
spirituality, the epitome of human divine spiritual expression.
There
were many books written by people from all parts of the world that spoke about
miracle after miracle. People had been cured from fatal diseases by virtue of
touching jewelry "materialised by Swami". He "appeared" in
front of people in all different parts of the world. Millions of people
traveled to India to see "God on Earth". Millions of people came and
cried upon his sight; some were cured of their illnesses, and some died in peace.
Some left laden with trinkets or real golden rings, watches, pendants, all
"materialised by Swami".
Sai
Baba has been enjoying a lot of popularity in the West. He has a great ability
to play with and communicate to large crowds of people. It is this particular
power that allows him to manipulate people. It takes a Great Man not to abuse
this power...
During
these four years of travels to India, Sai Baba would perform a certain ritual
each time he would call me in for a private audience or interview. He would ask
me to take down my pants. He would then "oint" my umbilical area,
testicles and penis with oil which he "materialised". After this
ritual, he would ask me to pull up up my pants and tidy them up. I had heard of
this ritual and it seemed to be "common knowledge" that this was done
to balance the sexual energy or kundalini. I had never thought anything
of it. When I was in Elementary School in Holland, the school doctor used to
check and touch your testicles to see if you were growing properly. I likened
this ritual to a visit to the doctor. It was just for a different purpose. Very
unassumingly I continued to receive this treatment, convinced it was going to
do me some good!
Each
and every trip he would "materialise" trinkets, jewelry, vibhuti and oil.
I noticed that he was particularly generous with the people that donated a lot
of money or equipment for the various kitchens in the ashram. I did also notice
that he would call in a lot of young guys out of the crowd, and never girls.
In
one particular interview, I saw him take a ring from under the handkerchief
that was on the armrest of his chair. I thought not much of it. I never really
attached much value to the materialisations and knew that the receiver was
going to be an ecstatically happy person... Shortly after, one of my friends in
the group said to me: "Gosh, what a test! Swami wanted to show me that he
did not materialise the ring, but that he took it from under his handkerchief!
Isn't he funny! He is really testing us!" I did not give it any focus; I
had never focused on these materialisations, and the thought of accepting that
he was not actually materialising these objects was probably very unattractive,
tough for my mind. I had also received a ring, two bracelets and a necklace, so
I guess I had satisfied that desire!
Through
the years I got more and more attention on a personal level from Sai Baba. This
went accompanied with receiving VIP seating for doing work in the kitchen. As
the crowds grew over the years, it became increasingly difficult to see
"Swami" up close. There was a preferred seating area for people who
worked in the kitchen, since they were not able to "do the lines".
They often worked until 30 minutes before darshan. Arriving that late, they
would always find themselves sitting in the back of the large crowd, so by
getting this "reserved seat" they were able every now and then to
have a close encounter with "the Master". These groups were organised
in lines of two or three and rotated so that everybody got a fair chance. Although
initially I was very much against this way of operating, I succumbed to my
desire to get a close encounter with "the Master" and accepted a
preferred seat the third time it was offered to me.
After
two years I had become a "steady member" of a group that would travel
to India three times a year to do volunteer work in the ashram. The group would
cook food for up to 6,000 people around the festivals and various
multi-religious celebrations (Christmas, Shivaraatri, etc.). The group would
bring thousands of kilos of food at its own expense as well as a lot of
industrial kitchen machinery, etc. There were many other groups that brought
help in some form or shape, and it was beautiful to be part of this enormous
"collective effort".
Our
group had a place of its own. We did not have to wait in line and always had
front-row seating. On some occasions (on festivals and celebrations), we were
even allowed to sit on the verandah. We would always get to see
"Swami" from up-close and feel very fortunate. The ego was certainly
satisfied with this powerful position! So many people wanted to be close to
him. Millions of people traveled to get a glimpse of him, and here we were
right up front! It is incredible how the mind comes up with justifications when
it suits our personal purpose.
In
my last trip to India (November 1996), I arrived early from Australia and my
friends from Europe had not arrived yet. The usual kitchen managers were no
longer running the kitchen. Upon arrival, Sai Baba asked me to reopen the
western canteen and start making food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I
collected a group of people and started working. (I was ordered/recommended by
ashram management not to allow any Sri Lankans in the kitchen! All people I
appointed were screened by the management.) Several days later, my friends from
Europe joined me.
We
had several interviews together. It was around 10 December that they left,
except for one of my close friends. We spent some beautiful moments together.
It was almost as if we were like the apostles around Jesus. We were moved even
further ahead now and we were seated in the ashram management area, very close
to the front. Sai Baba came to us every and each darshan and would have a chat
with us. These were very special moments. We felt very privileged.
The
day of my friend's departure, we were called in for an interview together. Sai
Baba materialised another bracelet for my friend and for me. In this same trip,
he had "materialised" (one of my friends was "tested" and
saw him bring the object from a neighboring room) a jar of amrita, "divine
nectar", with a spoon which he used to give us all a spoonful, after which
he said: "From now on, no more bad karma and no more bad luck in your
life. You are very special people; this is a privilege! There are so many
people out there and you are the lucky ones!" When I asked him why, he
said that all our hearts were pure and that there was no self-interest involved
in the work we did (we had many power-struggles and quarrels over positions in
the group, just like any other group of humans may have).
My
friend had now left. I was by myself and was called in a few days after he had
left. I went into the interview room and was given a private audience in a
separate room. When in this separate room, he asked me how things were in
Australia. He told me that he would give me everything: money, a house, a wife-
everything!
He
then signs mw to come closer and hug him. He then hugs me (I am on my knees and
he is seated on his chair; there are no people present). He now turns his face
and puts his lips on mine; my head is spinning and my mind is running at 500
kilometers per hour. I don't know what to do! My mouth tightens up, and I feel
extremely uncomfortable and confused with this "perceived incarnation of God
on Earth" trying to kiss me on and in my mouth! Sai Baba slaps me on my
cheek and says, "Loosen up! With other people, not okay; with Sai Baba,
okay." I am even more uncomfortable now and feel disgusted at the same
time.
Sai
Baba realises his and my predicament and decides not to continue. He now tells
me again that he will give me everything, and stands up and tells me to do padnamnamaskaar.
As I go on my knees and touch his feet with my forehead, he pulls up my arms
and indicates he wants his calf muscles massaged.
Although
very uncomfortable with everything that had happened, I still continued to
listen to him. Many people knew how he liked having his calf muscles massaged
and I had seen respectable men and women of all walks of life do the same
thing...
He
now takes my head and pushes it quite firmly into his groin... He then pulls up
my arms and asks me to go higher and higher and higher... Now I am holding his
buttocks and wonder what the hell my Divine Master is asking me to do! I let go
my arms and now I am even more shell-shocked...
He
pulls up his dress, presents me his half-erect penis and invites me to take up
my "good luck chance": "This is your good luck chance."
I
am now on my knees facing his erect penis, being asked to perform oral sex. He
stands there, and I think: Am I supposed to do this? Could I do this?
I
then instinctively stretch out my right arm and put it on the part of his chest
which hides his heart, and say: "I don't want this, Swami, I want your
heart."
He
now drops his dress and tells me: "Yes, yes, yes, of course you have my
heart."
He
now asks me to take my pants down, "discovers" my penis is not erect
and tells me that that is how it is supposed to be!
"Swami
is inside there, see; Swami is inside there."
Hell
no! That is mine and mine! And you are certainly not in there, I thought.
He
asks me to do a padnamnamaskaar again, and again he pulls up his dress.
"This is your second good luck chance," he says.
I
refuse and get up without saying anything.
I
am now angry, confused and dazed. I feel burning! God just took a back door! A
very clever manipulator and professional deceiver had just trashed the
fundamentals of the past eight years of my life. I had abstained from any
sexual activity because he had suggested it was good for my spiritual
evolution. He had harassed and embarrassed my girlfriend and myself because of
our difference in age, while he was hitting on someone 42 years his junior. He
had told us to break up our relationship, and for what reason? So he could have
a go?
In
reality, I pulled the carpet myself from under a mental castle which I had
built myself. I am responsible for that. He is responsible for abusing the good
faith of people, their trust, to the point of putting their life on the line
and actually losing it.
He
asks me to keep this quiet, not to say anything to anyone.
I
walked out of the interview room and ran to my room. I locked myself in. I
blacked out until 6 a.m. the next morning (from 5 p.m. the day before).
A
few weeks passed. 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 any more.
My
last day in the ashram, I talked to the leader of the group. She insisted 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 happened. This was the evening
of 4 or 5 January, 1997. Immediately afterwards she had an interview with Sai
Baba, by herself this time.
After
she cam out of the interview room several hours later, I was summoned to meet
with an elderly gentleman from Security, whom I knew well, with whom I had
built a friendship. This gentleman looked very awkward and asked me if he could
take my photo. I said "Of course"- not knowing what was happening,
but understanding something had gone wrong. He was accompanied by two seva
dals. One of 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 uncomfortably
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, but to go as soon a
possible to Bangalore and catch the first flight out."
I
left...
Hans
De Kraker
Australia, 19 May 2000
(Source:
letter to Faye and David Bailey, The Quarterly, UK)
JENS
& GURPRIT SETHI'S TESTIMONY
I
am giving you a thorough account of my traumatic experiences with Sathya Sai Baba
and hope that this will help people understand what he is all about. All the
details are the truth and can be seen as testimony. I could and would testify
to the following in an open court.
I
am thirty-five years old and have been interested in spiritual matters since my
childhood. For a long time I worshipped Jesus and Padre Pio; then after reading
Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi, I turned towards the yogic path.
In
October 1988, I became an ardent follower of Sathya Sai Baba, and came to
Puttaparthi for the first time in September 1989. Since then, I visited
Puttaparthi regularly every year and was totally absorbed in the
"aura" of Sai Baba. I was fully convinced of his avatarhood and
became so devoted that I was thinking and contemplating all the time about him
alone.
In
1989, I read Lord of the Air (Lion Publishing, Herts, UK, 1976) by Tal
Brooks, a young male ex-devotee who wrote of Sai Baba's sexual abuse of him,
but I did not believe, thinking "Tal only wants to decry Baba".
Over
the years, I had hundreds of darshans but never an interview. In 1993, I became
a little suspicious about Sai Baba's lifestyle and the activities in the
ashram. Every year I could see costly new buildings and felt an increasing
commercialisation was going on. In 1996, I was Sai Baba leaving the ashram in
an expensive Jaguar and other costly cars like Mercedes and BMW of the big
class. But I still believed him to be the Kali avatar of the age.
On
17 January 1996, I got my first interview and he was very kind, telling me nice
things like "I will give you everything" as he touched and stroked my
head. He said: "I know you're not sure about your life and future and so
on. Also, unhappiness from women. I know, don't worry. Also, you have some bad
thoughts, not good." Then he said: "I give you everything according
to health, spirituality, and life. Everything. I give you infinite love. You
and me will become one." I touched his robe and he put his hand on the top
of my head, saying "I give you separate interview".
On
20 January 1996, I got the second interview. Already, days before, he had
established a strange eye-contact with me, indicating the coming interview. My
wife and I went to the interview and he acted very disappointed at seeing me
together with my wife. He took me alone into the interview room and said:
"She is diseased and much older than you. Please separate from her."
I was really shocked, and replied: "She is attached to me."
I
asked him to give her some spiritual instruction, which he readily agreed to
do, but he had something else on his mind.
Without
asking permission, he started kissing me on my lips for some time, and later
asked me to open my trousers and he "materialised" some oil which he
rubbed on the skin above my genitals. I felt very bad about all of this, but
accepted, as I fully trusted Sai Baba.
The
he took my wife into the private interview room alone, and told her:
"Either you separate from the boy or I will throw you out of
Puttaparthi!" He appeared wild and furious (my wife told me afterwards)
and she shivered all over. When she reappeared in a very short time, looking
red-faced and very scared, nobody dared ask her what had happened in there.
He
saw me again some days later in darshan and asked whether I had separated or
not. I said: "Not yet." He turned away and shouted, so all people
could hear: "Bad, bad boy!" He was so aggressive and seemed to
radiate such an aura of evil that I was really shocked. We immediately left and
went to northern India for some pilgrimage.
This
was a turning point, but after a time I decided to go once more to Sai Baba to
clarify the matter. At the end of 1996, I returned to India and got an
interview on 4 December... In the private room, the greedy old man kissed me
again directly and continuously on my lips for about twenty seconds and gently
stroked my back. My now I was certain that something was very wrong.
On
28 December, I was again called for an interview and he produced a golden ring
which didn't fit well on my finger in spite of his blowing on it. In the
private chamber he said "Come!", and again kissed me on the lips for
some time as before. This time I resisted, and he gurgled: "Have no
fear." I said: "I have no fear." Then he said: " This is a
good opportunity; so many waiting for months and will not get." This
baffled me. I'm sure people don't wait for mouth kisses in Puttaparthi.
Then
his mood totally changed and I did have some fear. He commanded me to remove my
trousers; he unzipped my fly and went with his right hand into my underpants.
Sathya Sai Baba, "the divine", touched and massaged my genitals
unasked. He expected some erection, but this didn't happen for I didn't feel
any sexual excitement, no lust in the presence of a seventy-years-old man. I
was really disgusted. Then he had the impudence to say: " It is very weak;
don't waste energy." When I looked at him, I realised the truth about him
and was shocked indeed. Soon afterwards, without another word, he sent me out
of the room.
Back
in Germany I did intense research on the Internet and came across an article
from Jed Geyerhahn and was very relieved to have found somebody with similar
experiences.
As
I still had some luggage in Puttaparthi, I returned in [late October] 1999 to
collect it, taking with me two Internet pages to discuss with some friends there.
Unfortunately, a lady came into possession of the material and took it to the
Puttaparthi police station. Then I went through several interrogations with the
police there... [who] took my passport away... I had another appointment on 1
November with the police, which was the day I intended to go to Delhi, but
without my passport it would not be possible.
On
20 October, late in the evening, two people whom I know and an unknown person
came into our unit and one of them warned me that my life was in danger and I
should leave immediately...
So
we escaped and reached Delhi, and went immediately to the German Embassy. I got
a travel document after telling them of my experience, and the embassy official
said a protest note would be sent to the Indian Government. He told me such an
act is illegal and they knew of similar cases...
I
hope that this nightmare comes to an end; and I hope that by the grace of the
Almighty, all people around the globe may know about the misdeeds of Sai
Baba... He is a master- of deception.
Jens
and Gurprit Sethi
Munich, Germany
(Source:
Jens & Guprit Sethi's letter to Faye and David Bailey, The Quarterly, UK,
www.myfreeoffice.com/saibabaexposed/)