Someone just emailed me a link to a BBC News story, "Haynes Park Science of the Soul fined after man's death."
Science of the Soul is another name for Radha Soami Satsang Beas, a spiritual group headed up by an Indian guru that I used to be a member of.
I'm not at all surprised to read that the organization was fined £364,000 for an attempted cover-up after scaffolding collapsed at the Haynes Park meeting center, which equals $484,000 in dollars.
Amrik Blaggan, 57, died in hospital two days after he fell about 2m (6.5ft) from a platform at the Science of Soul centre in Haynes Park, Bedfordshire,
The scene was cleared despite the group being told to leave it untouched, Luton Crown Court heard.
Science of the Soul had pleaded guilty to health and safety offences.
Police attended the scene on the day of the fall in April 2014 and told the group that under no circumstances should the scaffolding platform be touched because experts would need to examine it.
However by the time environmental health officers arrived for an inspection, the tower had been removed and there was no evidence of how it looked and functioned, the court was told.
However, a police constable who attended the scene on the day had luckily taken photos of the tower in situ before he left.
Ethics often takes a back seat when a religion such as the Science of the Soul feels threatened by worldly authorities.
One would think that people involved with a "spiritual" organization would be extra-careful to be honest and open with a health and safety investigation, but obviously one would think wrong in this case.
Radha Soami Satsang Beas volunteers -- sevadars is the Indian term -- tend to think that whatever they are doing in the name of the guru is OK, even when it isn't. Here someone died because of gross negligence.
Sentencing the group, Judge Barbara Mensah said an expert who looked at the photos taken by the officer had concluded the tower was "unsafe".
Prosecutor Michael Vere-Hodge QC said a meeting hall had been constructed in the grounds either in 2009 or 2010, without planning permission.
Mr Blaggan, a volunteer at Science of the Soul, climbed a mobile scaffold as lighting was fitted, and sustained serious head injuries when he fell..
Mr Vere-Hodge said the scaffold was "grossly unsafe by anybody's reckoning".
He said police and paramedics were called but said there was an "attempted cover-up" as the scaffold had been removed and the roof repaired before investigators arrived.
Shameful. But I wouldn't be surprised if many Radha Soami Satsang Beas true believers consider that the man's death was the result of the guru's will, or at least of the man's bad karma.
Which is crazy, of course. Along with every other sort of supernatural religious belief.
This should act as warning, if they continue to be careless their properties can be confiscated.
Posted by: vinny | July 06, 2018 at 07:10 PM
The death of anyone from lack of proper safety precautions is tragic. But among any team of volunteers regrettably, human failings in judgment can supercede basic precautions. RSSB pleaded guilty and paid the fine. However....
In this case
1. The victim himself insisted upon using faulty scaffolding instead of a ladder, against the advice of his supervisor.
2. The police admitted in court, though the press white washed this, that they had not actually told the organization to keep the Scaffolds in place. In short the press fabricated the cover up accusation to protect the police officer from the judge, who was appalled at the lack of procedure on both parties, because, in fact, the police officer had given the estate manager permission to "clear the room ".
What we read today...
March 23rd, 2018
"Police attended the scene on the day of the fall in April 2014 and told the group that under no circumstances should the scaffolding platform be touched because experts would need to examine it."
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-43522574
What an eye witness report from the courtroom reported..
" Mr Vere-Hodge (the judge) criticised several of the witnesses for failing to pre-serve the tower after the fall and said it was 'common sense' the evidence should remain at the scene. However Mr Rai reiterated that he had not discussed the scaffolding when he returned to Haynes Park after Mr Blaggan had fallen, was not aware it had been removed and said: 'We were all more focused on the health of Amrik.'
"Mr Bhangara told the court that he had spoken to the estate manager, Mrs Kuffalo, who claimed she had been given permission to get two of the painting team to take down the scaffolding towers that were in the room - which was why they were removed the following day, ahead of a visit from health and safety inspectors.
However when questioned in court, Bedfordshire police sergeant Nicola Baxter, claimed Mrs Kuffalo had asked if she could 'clear the area' indicating towards the blood pool and protective equipment. Sgt Baxter told the court: "Perhaps there was a misunderstanding, I don't know."
"The legal representative for the SOS, Mr Angus Withington pressed the issue and asked SGT Baxter whether she had specifically said to 'preserve the scene'.
" SGT Baxter responded, 'I did not use those words.'
"She told the told the court she said the health and safety executive would be in touch but admitted she did not specifically reference the towers."
And as for item 1.
"... during the programming of the devices by Prologik engineer Pawal Matulewicz, a fault was discovered and Mr Blaggan volunteered to use the tower to read numbers off the installed modules -despite claims it 'looked unsafe' from Pritam Singh Chaggar, a fellow volunteerand retired electrician.
"Mr Rai said: "Mr Chagga said the structure did not look safe but Amrik told him that he was doing work up there, he was only reading numbers, and it would be fine."This was reiterated by a general handyman, Jagvinder Kanwar who was helping Mr Blaggan move the tower to the various modules throughout the day, who told the court: "Amrik made the decision to use the tower as he said the ladder was too slow. “I could tell that [MrChagga] was not happy with this as he went quiet."Mr Chagga said his reasons for being concerned were because the hand rail was too low and the board to stand on was loose."
When people listen to each other things go much better.
Posted by: Spencer Tepper | July 06, 2018 at 08:34 PM
Link to the eye witness courtroom testimony
https://www.scribd.com/document/356462213/Friends-Gazette-July-Special-Ed
Posted by: Spencer Tepper | July 06, 2018 at 08:37 PM
And to think people probably sat in that place. Insanity.
Posted by: Neon | July 08, 2018 at 12:18 AM
As somebody who performed "seva" at Haynes Park what must be hundreds and hundreds of days, I can attest to the utter disregard for "Health & Safety" (the destruction & building of the canteen, some 22 years ago, I am certain involved numerous breakages of any H&S code! :-o). In many ways, though, this is more reflective of Indian/Punjabi culture than it is of RSSB culture per se. More worrying is Gurinder's apparent personal disregard for regional laws, regulations and customs. For instance, there is a very, very well known story about how Gurinder deceived the local planning officers at Haynes Park to do something with the sports hall (I forget the details of which, but most UK satsangis known and will retell the story proudly, how cunning Gurinder was!). A more disturbing element is all the land disputes in India, and now in the US, where they claimed their "religious rights" in a US court, despite telling all their followers they are not a "religion" (a troubling lack of sat for a satguru and sat-sangat?).
More amusingly, seeing this picture of Haynes Park which I haven't visited in a decade odd, is the rather hilarious "Science of the Soul" written on the entry sign.....with not a touch of irony!!
It's hilarious because, if anything at all, RS is the most ANTI-science of the soul there is on the planet!
Jim mentions Ramnan on another thread - I recall long, long conversations with Ramnam where I suggested the initial, "radiant form region" of RS meditation is actually a consciously entered "lucid dream" state (and, hence, can be entered by easier means with a more thorough knowledge of biology for eg.) - one of his classic retorts was "no, in RS we go "above" the body, we actually die. In dreams you are still in the body".
Okay, nice claim.
How about a SINGLE shabd yoga master of pracitioner submits themself to a complete, thorough scientific analysis of their biology whilst they allegedly "die"?
Tibetan buddhists, TMers, "kundalini yogis" (from 3HO and others), christian contemplatives, psychedelic substance users, secular "insight meditation" practitioners etc etc etc...the list goes on and on and on.
But stops at "Radhasoami shabd yogis".
This is fact.
What sort of "science" is this?
Claiming lucid dreams are in the body, that you "die" and go "above" the body when you see your radiant guru's form.......yet providing absolutely ZERO scientific proof of it, despite it being incredibly easy to do so if true?
Look, we get you must all have your beliefs, think you're "special" somehow.
Just don't call it a science; that is an affront to all decency and to all those other mystics & meditators who WERE brave enough to submit to scientific and medical examination! Bravo to them! (a special nod to the Dalai Lama here, for his incredible transparency and co-operation and open mindedness when it comes to scientific evaluations of their meditators!)
Manjit
Posted by: manjit | July 08, 2018 at 11:37 AM