Church of the Churchless

What's next for the RSSB guru and Singh brothers scandal?

The massive financial scandal involving the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas and the Singh brothers, Malvinder and Shivinder, has been likened to a Bollywood movie -- albeit one whose ending hasn't been written yet.

If you browse through the posts in the Radha Soami Satsang Beas category of this blog, focusing on the posts related to this scandal, it'll soon become evident that this subject is complex. There are many actors in this drama, each playing their own unique role.

There's no way to accurately predict what will happen next.

I've summarized the broad scope of the scandal in recent posts, including this one. Because I enjoy legal intrigue, spy novels, and captivating mini-series on TV, I can't resist making some observations about how things could go from here. 

To do this, I need to envision the state of mind of the various parties involved in this scandal. What follows are my own views, obviously. Feel free to share your own perspective in a comment, if you like.

Gurinder Singh Dhillon. The RSSB guru is notoriously private. He hasn't made any meaningful public announcements about this scandal yet. He doesn't like photographs taken of him.

Yet the High Court of Delhi recently ordered that the financial assets of Dhillon and his family be frozen in anticipation of those assets being sold to recover money that ended up in the Dhillon family pockets through either fraudulent or decidedly irregular means.

I'm not familiar with how garnishment works in India.

But since the recovered money is going to help pay for a $500 million settlement that the Singh brothers owe to Daiichi (a Japanese corporation), it sure seems that both the High Court and lawyers for Daiichi are going to want to be sure that the Dhillon family reveal all of their financial assets: cash, homes, real estate holdings, etc.

Since Dhillon is viewed as God in human form by his devotees, this is quite a comedown for a supposed divine being. I've never heard of God being subject to a High Court ruling, but there's a first time for everything.

Singh brothers. They're first cousins once removed of the RSSB guru, but appear to consider him as "uncle." Previously Dhillon was a trusted elder advisor after their father died. Now their relationship with Dhillon is decidedly shaky, especially when it comes to Malvinder.

He's filed a criminal complaint against Dhillon, alleging conspiracy to siphon funds from companies once controlled by the Singh brothers, and also a death threat by the guru through his attorney. Malvinder also alleges that Dhillon tried to essentially sell his position as RSSB guru to Shivinder, if Shivinder forgave the shady loans Dhillon and his family got.

It's unclear what the status of the criminal complaint is, which is being investigated by the Delhi Police. I used to think that Malvinder might withdraw the complaint if Dhillon cooperated in returning his ill-gotten money, which totals hundreds of millions of dollars.

Now that the RSSB guru is being forced to liquidate assets by the High Court of Delhi, my suspicion is that Malvinder won't be willing to play nice with his cousin, even if he calls him uncle. 

Sunil Godhwani. He was the guru's right hand man and head of RSSB finances, to my understanding. Dhillon used his influence with the Singh brothers to get Godwahni installed as CEO of Religare, a company the brothers controlled at the time. In that position Godhwani orchestrated the fraudulent transfers of money to the Dhillon family and their close associates through shell companies controlled by those recipients of the money.

Godhwani was detained at the Delhi airport when he tried to leave the country shortly after he was charged with criminal conspiracy by the Delhi Police.

No one seems to know whether he is cooperating with authorities. If he chooses to talk, perhaps with the hope of getting lesser charges, this could implicate others in the conspiracy, possibly including the RSSB guru and his family. 

Since Godhwani is so close to the guru, he may choose not to say much. Of course, other people in Religare and the shell companies that participated in the fraudulent transactions may come forward who don't have any "spiritual" connection with the guru.

Board of Religare. What complicates things is that the High Court of Delhi has ordered that up to $500 million is to be recovered from over 50 entities, including the Dhillon family, their close associates, and the above-mentioned shell companies. As already noted, that money is earmarked to pay the settlement owed by the Singh brothers to Daiichi. 

But the new board of Religare, which doesn't include anyone associated with the guru or the Singh brothers, is behind the criminal complaint against Godhwani and others. Religare wants to get back the money that was siphoned out of its coffers.

Now, since reports in the Indian financial press indicated that as much as a billion dollars went into the pockets of Dhillon and his family, perhaps liquidation of their assets, along with the assets of others who got fraudulent money, would produce enough to both pay the $500 million to Daiichi and repay funds that Religare considers it has lost (not sure how much that is).

If that isn't possible, seemingly Religare would be more motivated to have those responsible for the fraudulent activity to be legally punished. Which could include the RSSB guru and his family, given that they were directors of the shell companies that participated in the fraudulent loan transactions.

Indian courts and government. It may not be a coincidence that the High Court of Delhi issued its garnishment order against the RSSB guru, his family, and others after the Indian nationwide elections were over. Religion plays a big role in Indian politics, so perhaps this is why the order came when it did.

Regardless, it appears that the Indian government and courts are taking this financial scandal more seriously than some thought it would, given the country's lengthy history of corporate sleaze. After all, India wants to attract more foreign investment.

News that a guru and his family were able to siphon hundreds of millions of dollars out of public companies without facing the consequences wouldn't be a good sales pitch to individuals or corporations thinking of investing in India. Thus I'm quite a bit more confident now that the wrongdoers in this scandal will be identified by authorities and receive whatever consequences they deserve.

Sheetal Talwar. Talwar is an Indian filmmaker who first came to notice in this scandal when he alleged that a death threat was made against him from the RSSB satsang office in Delhi after he tried to recover $1.25 million he'd loaned to Gurinder Singh Dhillon. 

Then Talwar popped up again in the news when he informed the Securities and Exchange Board of India that the guru and his family were the primary beneficiaries of about $329 million siphoned out of Religare via the above-mentioned fraudulent loans.

So Talwar is another actor in this drama, as is befitting his role as a filmmaker.

Would you buy the RSSB guru again?

There's an adage about buying and selling stocks that fits with buying into spiritual or religious teachings, especially those where the leader or guru is an integral aspect of those teachings.

If you wouldn't buy a stock at this price, you probably should sell it.

Here's another way of putting this: given everything you know about a company right now, would you still choose to buy the stock that you paid money for some time ago? If the answer is "No," you probably should sell the stock, even at a loss.

One reason buying and selling decisions with stocks are difficult is the same reason deciding whether to stick with a religion or spiritual path is difficult. Once we've bought into something, we get emotionally attached to it.

It hurts to admit that what we bought into no longer looks as attractive.

So we rationalize away the problems we're having with the religion or spiritual path, just as someone who buys a stock irrationally hopes that the price will go up, even though solid evidence shows it'd be best to sell the stock.

A recent comment on this blog by Amar makes some great points along this line in regard to the financial and other scandals involving Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of an Indian religious organization, Radha Soami Satsang Beas.

Sumit, Kartik, and Kush, you have no idea what you're talking about. Would you, before following RSSB, have followed another guru who was embroiled in this type of a financial fraud scandal? I highly doubt it.

Please, look at this from a perspective as an outsider, like a spectator: clear glasses. Would you join a religion or philosophy if you did your homework and found this out about the leader, or his immediate family and high ranking sevadars? I think if you honestly use your sense of discrimination, you know what your answer would be.

I'm not saying the teachings are false or untrue, quite the contrary, I think they are good ideals and important ideals to live by. The individual professing and teaching these ideals should hold themselves accountable to the same standards, whether philosophically, or to the law of the land.

Now, though I like this comment a lot, I disagree with Amar's contention that the guru's scandals have no bearing on whether the RSSB teachings are true.

This would be the case if, like Christianity, the religious teachings were separable from the character and actions of any Christian alive today. To believers, Jesus saves regardless of the failings of Christian leaders. Which, of course, are many.

With the Sant Mat teachings of RSSB though, the guru is considered to be God in human form. The guru is the Jesus figure, the person responsible for returning a devotee's soul to heavenly regions from which it supposedly descended many lifetimes ago. The guru is the exemplar, the living truth of the RSSB teachings. No living guru, no teachings. 

Previously there were few scandals involving the lineage of RSSB gurus. Charan Singh, Gurinder Singh's predecessor, reportedly smuggled watches into India. That's nothing compared to what Gurinder Singh has done and been accused of.

Would initiates of Gurinder Singh Dhillon have bought into him and his teachings if they knew then, what is known now?

(1) The Delhi High Court has ordered the assets of the guru and his family to be frozen, so money (likely hundreds of millions of dollars) can be recovered from zero-interest loans they received.

(2) The Securities and Exchange Board of India has determined that those funds that ended up in the pockets of the RSSB guru and his family were fraudulently siphoned out of a public company into shell companies. 

(3) Those illegal money transfers involved "round trip" transactions that required the collusion of conspirators at both the public company and the shell companies.

(4) The RSSB guru, his family, and close associates controlled the shell companies that received the fraudulent funds. 

(5) Malvinder Singh, a relative of the guru, and Sheetal Talwar, a filmmaker, have accused the guru and his associates of making death threats against them. 

Does all this sound like something a God in human form would do? I guess it depends on someone's conception of God. To me, Gurinder Singh Dhillon seems like a deeply flawed person, not someone divine. 

Gurinder Singh Dhillon

 

 

RSSB deletes financial fraud stories from website

So much for openness and transparency. Here's a comment that was just left on this blog. GSD refers to Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas.

Has anyone noticed that all the links to the news articles about the Singh brothers saga on RSSB website have been removed ....https://www.rssb.org/articles.html The question is Why ? Only a few weeks ago GSD had said in reply to a Q that RSSB is not involved and all the news articles are posted on their website.

This person is correct. The Bloomberg story is gone. Can't remember if there were others related to the RSSB guru's financial fraud involvement. And I'm not completely sure the story was from Bloomberg. 

UPDATE: Here's a screenshot of the RSSB articles page as it looked last night. The articles are shown with the most recent first,  so the Bloomberg story used to be on top, or near the top.

But here's a link to a Bloomberg story I wrote about that describes the guru's shady business dealings that now have caused the High Court of Delhi to seize assets owned by Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family. Quite a downfall for a guru whose organization publishes a book called "Honest Living."

Note: I believe the Bloomberg story was written before investigators in India (SEBI) wrote a report showing that the money loaned at zero interest to the Dhillons came from fraudulent loans, with the money siphoned from public companies.

Why the RSSB guru is responsible for financial fraud

We're conducting a psychological experiment on this blog. How is it possible that devotees of an Indian guru are unable to recognize the facts about his involvement in financial fraud involving hundreds of millions of dollars?

Comments on numerous blog posts based on reports in the Indian financial press show that denial is alive and well in the minds of those who want to believe that the guru, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, is a "perfect living master" rather than a money-hungry Indian guy who has been using his position as head of Radha Soami Satsang Beas in enrich himself and his family.

Some core facts are clear:

(1) The Securities and Exchange Board of India has determined that funds were fraudulently siphoned out of  a public company into shell companies. 

(2) Those illegal money transfers involved "round trip" transactions that required the collusion of conspirators at both the public company and the shell companies.

(3) The RSSB guru, his family, and close associates controlled the shell companies that received the fraudulent funds. 

(4) The Dhillon family and their close associates used the fraudulently-obtained money, in large part or entirely, to buy real estate and the High Court of Delhi has ordered that this money be recovered from the RSSB guru, his family, and other entities.

There's additional disturbing evidence, including a criminal complaint filed against Gurinder Singh Dhillon, and allegations of death threats involving Dhillon (see here and here). 

So how is that people associated with RSSB are having so much difficulty recognizing these facts? A couple of excellent comments on a recent blog post help explain why.

Here's what Amar wrote. GSD refers to Gurinder Singh Dhillon.

For you Westerners that are having trouble understanding the Eastern/Indian mindset, let me fill you all in.

GSD's sons and wife, are not only his family, but they consider him their guru first, family relation second. There is a double bond there that we can never understand.

They will do as he asks. Gurpreet and Gurkirat only have the money because the two Singh brothers dispersed shares of the company in their names, convenient since it would look bad if they put it in GSD's names. This was probably the only legal thing they did in all this.

Other high ranking satsangis that were on the boards of these shell companies had to sign off on the fund transfers because that's all these companies were setup for. So they were complicit in it.

To imply that GSD was caught up in it and didn't know what he was getting into because his sons, wife, or other high ranking board of directors in these 50 plus companies were doing things behind his back is laughable. If you know anything about GSD, you will know that he has his hands on this type of stuff. To imply he wasn't aware of this is insulting to anyone's intelligence.

Someone/some people had to come and say to him, "I've got a plan...an idea." None of this can happen to this level of involvement without his input. It's impossible. His own sons and wife would not have acted without his knowledge. It's not something that happens to this scale in an Indian family. Especially this one.

So get your heads out of the sand and look at the High Court orders, the SEBI Findings. And It's not over yet.

The High Court Garnishee order clearly states that all 56 entities must repay the monies back to the High Court to cover the $500 million dollars.

GSD's name is in the list. His son's names are on the list. His wife's name is on the list. The other names mentioned on the list are RSSB high ranking people. The companies mentioned on this list are shell companies which have all or some of these people as directors.

Legally they are all culpable. Fraud was committed and that has been proven. This was not a business. It was money laundering/siphoning from a publicly traded company.

There is more to come on this for sure. We can only speculate on that, but what has transpired here is legally processed and matter of history. The only question I still have and doesn't make sense to me is why the Singh brothers would do this to their own company.

And here's what Mr. Curious wrote:

Hi Dungeness,

As the head honcho, Gurinder's ultimately accountable for the illegal siphoning of funds to RSSB and his family (whether or not he knew about/ordered it). That's why he is among those implicated.

That said, it's extremely difficult to believe he knew nothing about this.

Long-time initiates, however, will have a much easier time with this. They've spent years/decades cultivating more far-fetched beliefs (Master will claim me at death, he is planted at 3rd eye center, he flies through [supernatural] regions at will, etc.), and are well-practiced in suspending critical thinking. I don't think any amount of evidence will change their hearts over night; it will take time.

That said, I can't understand how initiates who claim "GIHF" is an all-knowing being can now claim he doesn't even know what's going on in his own family. No doubt, some family secrets can be kept a long time (an affair years ago, etc.) but hundreds of millions of dollars are a hard thing to hide.

As a former initiate (different teacher), I can empathize with those who are having their faith shaken here.

I don't have any glee at the expense of the initiates. However, I am always gleeful when a hypocrite/abuser of power is brought down. Especially in India where justice has historically not been served. And yes, Gurinder is a hypocrite of the highest order. Per the RSSB literature, he supposedly lives off the fruit of his own labor.

OK, if your labor is fraud, that may be true.

My own former teacher was similarly a hypocrite. He taught the virtue of celibacy (except for reproduction), but he himself was accused of sexual misbehavior with several female initiates (and admitted to transgressions in 1984). I didn't stop being an initiate because he had sexual urges, but because he proved himself to be a hypocrite/liar (while claiming to be the keeper of truth).

It's important to believe in something, but one should never give up their power to another fallible human being (except the wife, I guess).

What pisses me off is not that Gurinder is fallible (we all are), but that he goes around giving sermons/lessons on values he knows nothing about and takes advantage of people who are in a vulnerable state. It's no secret that most initiates come to the path in a sorry state.

Gurinder Singh Dhillon

Delhi High Court orders recovery of money from RSSB guru

BIG NEWS regarding the financial fraud saga involving the Singh brothers and Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, a religious sect in India with millions of followers.

The High Court of Delhi has ordered that money be recovered from Dhillon and his family members, along with about 50 other people and entities, many of which had been controlled by the RSSB guru, his family, and close associates. You can read the order via this PDF file:
Download Order 28-05-2019132578_2019

I'll make some "I told you so" comments following the Business Today story.

RSSB chief Gurinder Singh Dhillon, wife Shabnam Dhillon, sons Gurkirat and Gurpreet and daughter-in-law Nayan Tara Dhillon are among the 56 entities from whom Delhi HC has ordered recovery of monies Singh brothers-Malvinder & Shivinder-owe to Daiichi. Money will also be recovered from former Religare chief Sunil Godhwani and brother Sanjay Godhwani, according to the Delhi HC order.

BusinessToday.In had reported on March 12 that Singh brothers can only pay the $500 million order against them to compensate Daiichi, provided the money owed to them by RSSB chief Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family is recovered. In his submission, Malvinder has maintained that he can pay the arbitration order provided he can recover the money owed to him.

Also read: SC take note! Singh brothers can pay off $500 million to Daiichi, provided the money is recovered

Daiichi has enfored an arbitration order in Singapore that ordered the brothers to pay Daiichi $500 million towards alleged non-disclosure of crucial information during the sale of Ranbaxy Laboratories to Daiichi in 2008.

With this order, the Delhi HC has expanded the scope of people from whom the money owed by Singh brothers to Daiichi can be recovered to honour the arbitration award.

Besides the Dhillon family, the Delhi HC is issuing 'garnishee orders' against several Dhillon and RSSB associates' companies, including Prius Real Estate, Addon Realty, Payne Realtors SGGD Projects, Luminous Holding. A garnishee order is an order against a third party to recover money to settle a debt or dues.

Garnishee order prevents these entities from alienating any assets. The dues will now be paid to Delhi HC instead of Singh brothers and their entities to whom it is owed.

BusinessToday.In has reported the flow of money from Singh brothers to entities owned and controlled by Gurinder Singh Dhillon - the head of the Radha Soami Satsang Beas - his family and assocites of RSSB. RoC filings and terms sheets say between 2011 and 2014, Rs 1107.5 crore from the Rs 9,576 crore sale proceeds of Ranbaxy to Daiichi Sankyo was paid through RHC group firms RHC Holding Private Limited, Oscar Investment Limited, RHC Finance Private Limited and Fortis Healthcare Holdings Private Limited into two group entities ANR Securities Private Limited and Ranchem Private Limited.

Thereafter, this money was transferred to Prius Real Estate Private Limited controlled by Dhillon family associates and RSSB functionaries through optionally convertible debentures (OCD). The money invested in other Prius group entities called Prius Commercial, Payne Realtors, SVIIT Software and Sharan Hospitality whose preference shares worth Rs 875.53 crore were subscribed to by Prius Real Estate. Both the OCDs and preference shares were to be redeemed between August-November, 2018 at a hefty premium.

Delhi HC had concluded the hearing on May 28. The written order was issued on June 10.

Also read: RSSB chief Baba Gurinder Dhillon's associates threatened me with life, alleges filmmaker Sheetal Talwar

Also read: RSSB chief Dhillon beneficiary behind corporate veil in Religare fund diversion: Filmmaker Sheetal Talwar tells Sebi

Now, this story doesn't point out that the flow of money into the pockets of Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family occurred fraudulently through a conspiracy involving people both at the sending end (public companies) and receiving end (shell companies cited in the story).

The story does note that those shell companies were controlled by Dhillon family members and RSSB functionaries. So likely the RSSB guru and his family face additional legal problems.

I'm pleased that justice is being done in India. No one should be above the law, even if a person is considered to be God in Human Form, as the RSSB teachings proclaim Gurinder Singh Dhillon to be. 

It's also pleasing to be able to say I told you so to the many religious devotees who have been leaving comments on my blog posts about this financial fraud saga along the lines of "The guru can do no wrong" and "You're rushing to judgement."

Well, actually the guru has done wrong, and it isn't a rush to judgement to analyze stories in the Indian financial press.

It's been clear for many months that the fraudulent loans ended up in the pockets of the RSSB guru and his family, so it was only a matter of time before the Indian legal system would force the Dhillon family to repay the illegally-obtained money.

This shows the power of critical thinking.

I and others (such as Spence Tepper, a frequent commenter on this blog) could see clearly what was happening because our viewpoint wasn't clouded by religious fundamentalism. On the other hand, ardent devotees of the RSSB guru failed to recognize facts because what they believed about the guru was at odds with facts about the guru.

Lesson: be a devotee of truth, not of religion.

RSSB guru identified as beneficiary of fraudulent funds

As has been evident to those of us who have been following the saga of the Singh brothers and Gurinder Singh Dhillon (the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas), the trail of money that was fraudulently siphoned out of public companies is leading right to Dhillon's pockets.

Here's a Business Today story that someone told me about today. It's short, so I've copied it in below. I couldn't resist boldfacing the parts that point to Dhillon's legal culpability in this financial mess. 

I've been wondering how long it would take until investigators in India would focus on the ultimate beneficiaries of the massive amount of money (about $332 million) this story says was diverted from Religare.

It's been widely reported that the Dhillon family used that money to invest in real estate deals that went bad, but so far the focus has been on Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, Sunil Godhwani, and others who orchestrated the fraudulent loans that ended up in shell companies controlled by Gurinder Singh Dhillon, his family, and close associates.

So it's good to see that Sheetal Talwar and his attorneys are telling SEBI, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, that the RSSB guru was the beneficiary of most of the illegally diverted $332 million, which means, almost certainly, that Dhillon also was part of the conspiracy to siphon off those funds from Religare.

Read on.

NRI film producer Sheetal Vinod Talwar has submitted to Sebi that Radha Soami Satsang chief Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family allegedly benefited the most from Religare's Rs 2,300 crore fund diversion. Sebi's forensic audit via probe agency MSA Probe Consulting had identified diversion worth Rs 2,315.09 crore.

Talwar's Vistaar Entertainment and Religare Enterprises were partners in India's first SEBI-registered film fund - Vistaar Religare. Earlier, in March, Talwar had approached the Economic Offences Wing of Mumbai alleging he was threatened with life after his lawyers pursued repayment of $1.25 million paid supposedly towards Dhillon's treatment abroad.

Talwar has told Sebi that even though its Religare investigation via forensic audit firm MSA concluded fund diversion and large scale irregularities and illegalities, the probe did not lift the corporate veil to disclose the ultimate beneficiaries of the diversion.

Advocates & Solicitors Kartikeya & Associates-representing Talwar-have submitted to Sebi on 29 May, 2019 that, "...the persons who have benefitted the most and/or on whose instance the said illegalities and irregularities were and/or have been committed have yet not been identified. Please note that the persons and/or the shadow promoters of REL, RFL and their other group companies is one Gurinder Singh Dhillon (GSD/Babaji) and his family".

Sebi's original investigation against alleged fund diversion at Religare Enterprises & Religare Finvest was triggered by Talwar's primary complaint to RBI (later forwarded to Sebi) dated 12 April, 2017. In his complaint, Talwar had informed RBI about alleged "irregularities and illegalities committed by the promoters and/or board of directors" of the two companies. RBI forwarded the complaint to Sebi which ordered the probe via MSA.

Talwar's complaint to Sebi has also levelled a grave charge of a serious conflict of interest among Religare's then board  members. "...the fact that the companies shared common directors to the GSD family as well as were all run by GSD followers eg. Just a quick review would point to the fact that during the diversion of funds, Vitoba, Platinum and Devera entities to which fund were diverted would reveal that Yuvraj Narain Gorwaney alias Mithu is on the board of these companies-not only is Yuvraj...the secretary of RSSB, he also sits on the board of Logos Holding along with GSD and Shabnam Dhillon. Many such associations exist between the entities named and GSD family."

Talwar is a National Film Award winning global film producer and angel investor. His first feature film 'Dharm' secured the National Film Award. It premiered at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. Talwar has produced films such as 'Rann' starring Amitabh Bachchan, 'Mausam' with Shahid Kapoor, 'Rakta Charitra' starring Surya. Among international films, he produced 'The Joneses' starring Demi Moore, the Martin Freeman starrer 'The Eichmann Show', 'Romans' starring Orlando Bloom.

Religious believers aren't happier than everybody else

Hard on the heels of a great blog post comment I shared a few days ago in a post of its own, here's another great comment that was left on that post. 

Nice! We've got a Great Comment Breeding Ground.

I heartily agree with everything "J" says below. This matches with my 35 years of going to meetings of Radha Soami Satsang Beas devotees, and talking with countless (almost) RSSB believers during that time.

As a wise RSSB representative used to say -- recall it was Roland deVries -- satsangis, meaning RSSB initiates, are just ordinary people. For sure. 

Here's J's comment. Sant Mat refers to the RSSB belief system.  Satsangs are RSSB meetings.

Hi Jen. I didn't mean to say that people in Sant Mat are unhappy, or that Sant Mat doesn't provide a relative sense of fulfillment to those who take it up. No doubt, people find meaning in Sant Mat, and right living, and meditation, and community.

These are all undeniably positive things.

But in nearly 40 years of going to satsangs of various Sant Mat groups, I haven't seen evidence that any group of satsangis are happier than people who follow other religions, or even happier than people who follow no religion.

Sant Mat makes the grandest claims for its meditation and masters, and yet we don't see sangats made up of people who exemplify truly exceptional serenity. They seem no more or less content than congregants at a Mormon worship service or a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous.

"Happiness" in respect to religious belief is admittedly hard to quantify.

While many people find a relative advantage in being believers in whatever path, there are many accounts of people who were ardent believers in this or that guru or religion, who lived the tenents of that path fully for decades, who felt they completely believed that their path or guru was the summit of the highest Truth, said they were fortunate to have found it, etc...and then one day, these ardent believers leave that particular faith, and say that they are much happier apart from it. And they never go back.

There are many such stories in all religions, including Sant Mat.

These former ardent believers found that their happiness wasn't genuine happiness, and that's because they ultimately discovered that their belief and devotion to their guru of path was actually slavery to an attractive but unrealistic ideal that conflicted with their deeper nature.

Ideals that conflict with our deeper beliefs always compromise our happiness.

What they took for happiness was the payoff they got from being true believers. Human nature is such that there's a huge pull to be yoked with an attractive ideal. We get a certain measure of satisfaction from fulfilling that instinct, but it's questionable whether that fulfillment is genuine happiness.

Many years ago a satsangi made an astute observation of his experience with his fellow RSSBers -- "satsangis often go around like they have this huge problem."

I concur, and would add that the typical satsang is really little more than a lament of  huge problems that Sant Mat theology puts upon its believers. Every RSSB satsang is an ode to how we are all failures but must keep trying to find a victory that no one dares speak of attaining.

Satsangis are sold on trying to realize an impossible ideal. The ideal is no doubt very attractive, wholesome, and "logical," but the ultimate unrealizability of that ideal has to create frustration.

Thoughtful criticisms of Sant Mat

Ned just left a comment on a recent post that was so thoughtful and well-written, I wanted to share his criticisms of Sant Mat right away.

Thanks, Ned. You expressed yourself beautifully. I heartily agree with the three conclusions in your comment:

I was initiated when I was a kid and hadn't had much to do with Sant Mat for a long time (decades).

I spent the last month doing an experiment, doing Surat Shabd Yoga meditation for long periods of time, reading the old literature, and so on. I also went to one of Ishwar Puri's talks. I really liked the talk and I liked him. What led to that experiment is another story.

For the most part, however, my conclusions about the Path haven't really changed. I could sum them up in three points:

(1) Creating levels of mystic experience is a block.

About 20 years ago, I had set aside all the stuff I had learned about inner planes from Sant Mat and Theosophy and started practicing Zen. I kept it real simple, just counting my breaths.

What I found surprising was that I had what I would consider my first legit spiritual experience.

And I think it was because I wasn't expecting anything. I wasn't waiting to see the Master or to fly around the astral plane. I also wasn't beating myself up for not having those experiences. The expectation and guilt go hand-in-hand.

(2) Believing in Perfect Living Masters is a form of spiritual authoritarianism.

There is an emotional and intellectual dependency that is quite damaging to a person. It is something that I still struggle with.

There are extreme examples of people being abused by gurus, but there are subtler problems. Like the belief itself that there are perfect people and you're not perfect, and no matter how hard you try you can't become perfect; the belief creates a neurosis that can show up in all sorts of weird and unhealthy ways.

The demand in Sant Mat, as with many religions, is that you need more faith. Master or God or Jesus will make you perfect if you just submit and obey. It is your selfishness and disobedience, that's the problem.

You don't become more perfect, just more dependent. This might be the oldest game in the book.

(3) Subjective experience is not proof of anything.

The atheist position is that they will not believe something unless there is empirical proof, which automatically eliminates most if not all subjective experience as a premise for belief.

This seems pretty simple and obvious, but for a person like myself who has been stooped in this kind of spiritual woo for most of my life, the idea is revolutionary. Not only does subjective experience not justify belief, it doesn't justify authority either.

Humility in spiritual and religious circles is about thinking less of yourself and more of God or Guru or whatever, but I think this is a false humility.

The scientist or secularist who reviews the facts and comes to the conclusion of what is probably true, with the understanding that their information and ability to analyze data is limited, comes to what I think is a sincere form of humility.

Which is that there is a lot more that we don't know than we do, and of what we do know is continuously up for revision. I don't know how much this has to do with Faqir Chand, but I've been wanting to say this for awhile.

Sunil Godhwani, close associate of RSSB guru, detained at Delhi airport

Interesting news in the financial fraud case involving the Singh brothers and the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, Gurinder Singh Dhillon.

Sunil Godhwani, who has been described by a RSSB insider as the personal treasurer and right-hand man of the Guru, was detained at the New Delhi airport by the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi police.

Here's the CNBC TV18 story:

Former Religare Enterprises chief Sunil Godhwani was stopped at Delhi Airport from flying overseas on Thursday. Godhwani has been taken into custody by Economic Offences Wing.

It is learnt that Godhwani was flying to the US to visit his son.

Sources aware of the developments told CNBC-TV18 that the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) had issued a look out circular (LOC) against him.

A complaint was filed against Godhwani in the case of Religare Enterprises, which is under the scanner for alleged financial irregularities. Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL) and Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL) had filed a complaint against him.

In his submission to the MCA, Godhwani had claimed that the complaint is part of a conspiracy hatched by the current management out of their ulterior motive to cover up their nexus between the erstwhile promoters and the majority shareholder of the company.

In his petition filed with the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), former Fortis Healthcare promoter Shivinder Mohan Singh had alleged that elder brother Malvinder Mohan Singh and Godhwani together conspired to divert Rs 750 crore from Religare Finvest Ltd, Religare’s wholly owned subsidiary, and Rs 473 crore from Fortis Healthcare to RHC Holding Pvt Ltd.

Last week, founder of Jet Airways, Naresh Goyal and his wife Anita Goyal were stopped from leaving the country by the immigration officials at the Mumbai Airport. It is learnt that Goyals were travelling for London via Dubai. From Mumbai, they were to board an Emirates flight EK 507, which was going to Dubai.

The MCA had issued a look out circular (LOC) against Goyal and his wife after a fraud was detected at the airline, sourced told CNBC-TV18 on Monday.

The government has decided to tighten the noose around companies, promoters, directors involved in serious fraud and irregular transactions, said the sources.

The MCA will continue to issue more look out circulars to curb potential flight risk, added the sources, who did not want to be named.

This story fails to note that Malvinder Singh's criminal complaint names Godhwani as a co-conspirator with Gurinder Singh Dhillon and others in orchestrating the financial fraud that resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars being siphoned into the pockets of the Dhillon family from public companies once controlled by Godhwani and the Singh brothers.

Earlier this year it was reported that the Delhi police were investigating that criminal complaint, which, again, accused the RSSB guru and Sunil Godhwani of financial fraud (also, a death threat by Dhillon).

It looks like the Indian authorities are taking the various complaints in this saga quite seriously, since Godhwani has been stopped from leaving the country and apparently is being questioned.

It'll be interesting to see how all this unfolds. An Economic Times video about Godhwani's detainment describes this as a "Bollywood potboiler" involving a spiritual guru, among others.

For sure.

More details surface about financial fraud involving RSSB guru

I readily admit that it's difficult to keep track of the complex web of  financial wrongdoing that ended up with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of rupees being funneled into the pockets of Gurinder Singh Dhillon (guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas), his family, and close associates.

But those interested in this Bollywood'ish saga  -- filled with tales of greed, a gurudom up for sale, death threats, family bickering, and much more besides -- will want to read a Bloomberg Quint story someone emailed me today.
Download Bloomberg Quint Story

The story provides more details  about the complaint filed by executives of Religare against the Singh brothers,  Malvinder and Shivinder, who are cousins of the RSSB guru.

Also, against  Sunil Godhwani, the guru's close associate, who was installed as head of Religare by Gurinder Singh Dhillon -- after which Godhwani orchestrated massive financial fraud that enriched the guy who put him in charge, Dhillon.

Here's a screenshot of part of the Bloomberg story that echoes what I've pointed out in other posts.  Religare is seeking an investigation into where the money they lost went, with the goal of getting the money back. 

Since it appears that the Dhillon family got most of the money, but lost it in bad real estate deals, it sure seems like there will be more twists and turns in this saga.

Anyone who considers that all this is just a simple tale of the Singh brothers making loans to a relative, who has failed to pay them back, needs to read the Bloomberg Quint story.
Download Bloomberg Quint Story

It restates what already was discovered by investigators in India: the money that was funneled into shell companies controlled at the time by Dhillon family members and their associates resulted from highly suspicious, and likely illegal, accounting tricks.

Below is a screenshot of part of the criminal complaint filed against Gurinder Singh Dhillon, Godhwani, and others by Malvinder Singh. It mentions Religare Finvest, which is the centerpiece of the Bloomberg Quint story. Keep in mind that Godhwani was in charge of finances at Radha Soami Satsang Beas before the guru made him a Religare executive.

And here's a Business Today graphic that illustrates some of the money flows into the Dhillon family pockets.

 

Devotion to RSSB guru is less important than seeking truth of his wrongdoing

So if a religious leader you're devoted to is acting illegally, or at least unethically, should you pretend that behavior doesn't exist?  No, of course not. 

Seeking truth is much more important than religious loyalty. Bad things happen when True Believers turn a blind eye to wrongdoing by supposedly "spiritual" leaders. 

Child abuse by Catholic priests is a notable example. So is Jonestown, where devotees died by drinking poisoned kool-aid, their devotion to a crazed leader was so extreme. And there's plenty of examples of gurus acting badly in India, yet sometimes their followers riot after they've been convicted of serious crimes.

On this blog I've been reporting regularly on massive financial fraud involving the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, Gurinder Singh Dhillon -- who has been accused in a criminal complaint of conspiring to commit fraud and making death threats.

Yet devotees of the guru are amazingly adept at ignoring those facts. They consider that he can do wrong, so obviously he must be innocent of wrongdoing. 

That sort of circular argument is laughable. However, the dangers of religious fanaticism aren't funny. History teaches us that.

Below are two recent comments by Spence Tepper on posts I've written. Tepper is a good example of a spiritual seeker who is also committed to recognizing wrongdoing by the RSSB guru. 

His first paragraph below is ironic, by the way. Tepper is illustrating the head-in-the-sand mentality of many Radha Soami Satsang Beas initiates, who are known as "satsangis." "Baba Ji" refers to Gurinder  Singh Dhillon.

Here's the first comment.

Hi Dungeness, every Satsangi sincerely interested in rising above attachment, and living for spirituality, must now tell themselves they don't really know what happened, that Baba Ji is a mystery.

Whatever you think of Baba Ji, stuff is going on with fraud on an international scale. And he and his family were recipients of most of those fraudulent loans.

The fact that you believe you don't have enough information to conclude he was involved in stuff no Satsangi should go near is very sad.

Truth invites inspection.

Baba Ji has a duty to model for us how to live. And that never includes privileges afforded to the rich, powerful and 'perfect'.

Yet today, in order to defend Baba Ji, Satsangis must every day make excuses to themselves, with justifications for why he would be the central recipient of fraudulent monies year after year, and why he 'doesn't need to repay, since he's god and it all belongs to him anyway.'

Too close to the excuses Christians in Germany gave to Hitler, and to themselves for turning a blind eye.

The Lord comes as one of us, to our level. They act as though they are responsible for their children, and not the other way around.

What you and others are doing is demonstrating why religion rarely leads the way and often becomes an obstacle that allows harm to innocent people, even exploitation of them.

I'm afraid Dungeness you have no idea of the harm that is actually being done even now.

But when do the disciples of a fake Guru figure it out?

Almost always they are the last, after so much damage has been done.

Baba Ji, pay your bills.

And here's the second comment.

Ahimsa, there are few if any conspiracy theories here.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India ruled that fraud and falsification had been committed by the Singh brothers, both Malvinder and Shivinder, in their efforts to provide loans largely to the Dhillon family and other RSSB associates.

The new Religare board also conducted their own audits and went further in their EOW to the Delhi police and the court, stating that their information proved the recipients of the loans knew and participated in fraud.

The unpaid loans at Fortis threw that healthcare company into financial distress leading to efforts to gain a buyer.

Further, it is a matter of legal court documented testimony that RSSB transferred a new 200 bed charitable hospital mid-construction to Fortis.

If the Dhillon family would simply pay their debts, that would be a step towards living up to the vows.

It is not unusual for Gurus and others, charismatic and loved by many, to have human failings and flawed character.

But it is also the case that this is psychologically near impossible for their loving followers to consider.

And that is understandable.

However, from a psychological and spiritual perspective, the excuses we make for the Guru do not help them in the least. They are actually excuses for our own weaknesses and nothing more.

We only enable our own addictions and shortcomings making claims of spiritual perfection for others when we are unqualified to make such assertions, nor would a true teacher of the highest truth ever allow such claims.

And the reason is simple. The Truth is greater than any individual personality, and should be regarded above any individual.

A person merged in that truth is not magnified, but perfectly humbled, law abiding in every sense, and near invisible socially.

Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru who accepts fraudulently-obtained money and makes death threats

Fortis seeking money that ended up with the Dhillon family

It's been a while since the Indian financial press has reported on the financial fraud saga involving the Singh brothers, Malvinder and Shivinder, along with their cousin, Gurinder Singh Dhillon -- the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, whose family reportedly ended up with  close to a billion dollars worth of ill-gotten rupees.

But recently someone emailed me a link to a LiveMint story,  "Fortis plans moving court to recover ₹403 cr from Singh brothers and promoters."
Download Fortis plans moving court to recover ₹403 cr from Singh brothers and promoters

Here's how the story starts out:

Fortis healthcare Ltd is likely to approach the Delhi High court seeking to recover ₹403 crore, which was allegedly siphoned off from Fortis by its former promoters, two people aware of the matter said.

The move follows an order dated 17 October by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) that directed Fortis to take necessary action to recover ₹403 crore along with due interest from the former promoters, Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, and various promoter companies within 90 days. With the deadline being missed, Fortis is likely to approach the court in an ongoing case by Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo Inc.

Daiichi had moved the high court here seeking direction to the brothers to take steps towards paying its ₹3,500 crore arbitration award, including depositing the amount. It had also urged the court to attach their assets, which may be used to recover the award.

In its plea, Fortis is likely to urge the court that if any direction related to payment of the award is taken, Fortis funds and the Sebi order should be kept in mind. The case is likely to be taken up on May 10.

The amount Fortis is seeking, 403 crore rupees, is about $58 million.

That's how much SEBI, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, had determined was siphoned off into shell companies, some of which (maybe all) were controlled at the time by members of the Dhillon family and close associates. These excerpts from the story should worry Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family.

Apart from the brothers Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh, the Sebi order named RHC holdings, Shivi Holdings Pvt. Ltd, Malav Holdings Pvt Ltd, Religare Finvest Ltd, Best Healthcare Pvt. Ltd, Fern healthcare Pvt. Ltd and Modland Wears Pvt. Ltd. 

...In its 13 February petition, Fortis asked the regulator to invoke the law under which a person can be arrested and held in prison. Under the same provision, properties can be attached from defaulted entities, including bank accounts of their heirs, successors, legal representatives to the extent of the full loan accounts and interest thereupon.

Now, I'm not sure what "entities" refers to. Is it the shell companies alone, or is it also the people who were the recipients of the money that was fraudulently diverted to the shell companies?

This graphic from a February LiveMint story, "Fortis fraud may exceed ₹2,000 crore, says SFIO," illustrates the situation.

Note that three of the Fortis companies named in the SEBI order are shown as having funneled money into the pockets of the Dhillon family. So it will be interesting to see whether the companies have the $58 million being sought by Fortis, or whether that money needs to be recovered from the Dhillon family if Fortis is to be paid.

A Money Control story was brought to my attention, "Digging Deeper: the Singh brothers and the saga of Fortis." It doesn't have any new information, so far as I could tell, but rather is an overview of previous stories about this subject.
Download Digging Deeper: The Singh brothers and the saga of Fortis

Here's excerpts where the RSSB guru and his family are mentioned. If you get confused, don't worry. This is a highly complex financial fraud saga with many moving parts and numerous  actors.

Quartz, in early 2019 carried a piece about one of the many feuds the two brothers were embroiled in where the elder of the duo, Malvinder Singh, reportedly filed a criminal complaint against brother Shivinder, with whom he once, yes, as we all know, ran the pharmaceutical giant Ranbaxy Laboratories.

The piece spoke among other things about the complaint registered with the economic offences wing of the Delhi Police where Malvinder claimed that Shivinder, Gurinder Singh Dhillon—the spiritual head of the Radha Soami Satsang—and others committed financial fraud and sent him death threats. He also sought Rs8,742 crore ($1.2 billion) as compensation.

The complaint also claimed that Shivinder had manipulated finances because he aspired to the status of a spiritual head within Dhillon’s organisation.

...The unexpected thread in this story is that nearly Rs 2,700 crore from the Ranbaxy proceeds have been allegedly routed to entities owned by Gurinder Singh Dhillon's family. Dhillon is the spiritual head of Radha Soami Satsang Beas and the money was routed allegedly to companies associated with senior Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) functionaries over three years. Of that, Rs 2,000 crore was invested in two firms, Prius Real Estate and Prius Commercial Projects.

Separately, says the piece, Rs 1,750 crore wad invested in Religare Enterprises (REL) and about Rs 2,230 crore in Fortis - again from the Ranbaxy proceeds - to fuel their growth. All these turn out to be fatal mistakes.

We quote, "The money transferred to Dhillon and associates - estimated to be between Rs 4,000-6,000 crore, with interest, depending on who you ask - remains unpaid to the Singhs. The rapid and reckless expansion spree that REL and Fortis embark on lands them in a debt trap when the slowdown hits in 2009. That's the beginning of a vicious cycle of mortgaging assets and equity in group companies to raise loans to pay off their previous liabilities."

...In February 2019, Malvinder, narrates the piece, filed  a criminal complaint against Shivinder, the Dhillon family as well as the Godhwani kin - Sunil and Sanjay (who headed loss-making REL subsidiary Ligare Aviation). In the complaint filed before the Economic Offences Wing he seeks Rs 8,742 crore owed to him by the alleged accused.

...In his 2018 statement and the NCLT filing, Shivinder said he took “public retirement” in 2015 to serve in spiritual organisation Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) and that, until October 2017, he was “not involved in the strategic operations” of companies like Religare or RHC.

Yet,  says Prabha, it is Shivinder’s involvement with RSSB that Malvinder alleges is the main cause of the depletion of the Singhs’ wealth.

Shabnam Dhillon, Gurinder Singh Dhillon’s (the 'Baba') wife, was a director in Prius Real Estate and Prius Commercial Projects until August 2016, shows the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA).

“I say that these loans and advances have become due, however, due to the differences within the family, the recovery process for the same has been blocked… In order to further strengthen the recovery process, I have even initiated criminal proceedings against some of the borrowers who owe money to the judgment debtors before the Economic Offences Wing,” read Malvinder’s affidavit.

His EOW complaint alleges that Shivinder, along with Sunil Godhwani and Dhillon, conspired to “siphon” money from RHC and settle the Dhillon family’s debts and dues by absorbing them in RHC. This includes an alleged plan by the younger Singh to take over six companies, including Modland Wears, Best Healthcare and Fern Healthcare, “without initiating any financials and legal due diligence”. The EoW complaint further alleged that the six companies in question had extended loans exceeding Rs 1,000 crore to the Dhillon and Godhwani family.

Modland, Fern and Best — in which the MCA says Shivinder is a director — were involved in “fictitious and fraudulent” transactions of over Rs 400 crore withdrawn from Fortis through ICDs, according to the Sebi.

We quote, "Malvinder claimed his younger brother signed a “family settlement” with Dhillon agreeing to “absolve” him of “any wrongdoing whatsoever and agreeing that no liabilities or legal proceedings or criminality would be attributable” to the RSSB chief under any circumstances.

Furthermore, Daiichi in 2018 alleged that the brothers had siphoned funds through a complex “web of companies”, to render its award, now valued over Rs 3,500 crore, a “mere paper decree”. In October last, Daiichi rushed to the Delhi High Court asking it to attach properties of several companies currently not a party to its ongoing case against the Singhs. Its lawyers alleged in court that the siblings, via companies controlled by them, were routing funds to downstream companies that further used the funds to settle debts of land-owning companies. Over Rs 2,500 crore was diverted this way, they alleged.

...In a Live Mint piece, former minister Kapil Sibal said something interesting and we quote, "Their nearly ₹6,300 crore has been siphoned off by some 'baba'. These children have been duped.''

However as multiple news sources have implied, there was nothing innocent about any of the players.

...As Forbes' Megha Bahree reported, the ongoing sibling slugfest between Malvinder and Shivinder Singh has returned yet again with a new round of allegations.

We quote, "Malvinder Singh, former chairman and managing director of Fortis Healthcare, has filed a criminal complaint against Shivinder, among others, alleging they had made death threats and committed fraud. Apart from his younger brother, Malvinder has leveled his accusations at Gurinder Singh Dhillion, a spiritual guru they follow, and a few of his family members as well as the former chairman of Religare Enterprises, Sunil Godhwani.

In the complaint, Dhillon stands accused of threatening to kill Malvinder if he failed to agree to his demands, as per the news report. It was not clear exactly what those demands were. This is the first time that Malvinder has publicly accused the family's spiritual guru of impropriety. The rift between the brothers became public when Shivinder formally disassociated himself from his brother who he blamed, along with Godhwani, for problems at the group."

Hard to remember, isn't it that the brothers once helmed a fortune once valued in excess of $2 billion and could have built the kind of  legacy that the founders had envisaged when they first founded a small but ambitious company.

Faqir Chand believed in removing people from church

Faqir Chand is my kind of guru.

Though he started off with traditional ideas of what being a guru was all about, Chand came to realize that the mystical powers devotees attribute to gurus are merely manifestations of their own mind.

And as you can read below, Faqir Chand favored removing people from church, rather than bringing people into a church. Exactly how I feel! Churchlessness is the way to go.

This is my third post about Chand's philosophy, the previous posts being here and here. 

I've been focusing on Faqir Chand recently because I know that quite a few visitors to this blog are interested in the "guru game."  I stopped playing it about 15 years ago, but I realize how alluring it can be, and how difficult to give up.

Chand is sort of like a halfway house for those addicted to guru devotion. His teachings contain both some praise for gurus and also a lot of criticism.

In my current churchless frame of mind, I don't need any convincing that supernatural visions and mystical powers don't exist, being the product of delusions, illusions, or outright fraud. However, in my true believing days I would have benefitted from Chand's philosophy, since he ended up as a guru who exposed how gurus deceive devotees. 

I much appreciate the numerous comments David Lane has been leaving on my blog posts about Faqir Chand, since he is an expert on Chand. Other people who have a stake in the guru game have written some comments about Chand that are untrue, so I'm glad Lane has been correcting the Chand'ian record.

Here's some comments from David Lane that I found especially interesting. I've boldfaced portions that struck me as deserving of emphasis. 

Several years ago we had long discussions on Faqir Chand on RS [Radha Soami] studies and what he taught. I have long tended to favor the later Faqir writings and his most iconoclastic views, especially when he pointed out how little we actually know.

However, MBW and others pointed out that a close reading of Faqir shows he had a multi-leveled approach. Where for those in the beginning stages would indeed do dhyan, simran, and bhajan, and even have deep devotional feelings towards their chosen Istha-deva/guru.

But after this was achieved, Faqir would then stress realizing that the whole game was a projection of one's own mind and that we should let it go. I know this from personal experience as Faqir knew when he first met me that I was attached to Charan Singh and was in a very devotional frame of mind.

He then predicted the following (direct quote from the book published by Manavta Mandir called The Master Speaks to the Foreigners):

"There are two schools of thought. The aim of one school is to bring people into its circle. They bring people into their church. But I remove the people from the church also. To be in a Church is a blessing but to die in a Church is a curse. You cannot understand my views as yet, because you have to do a lot of work in your worldly life as yet. The present devotional ideas which you have now, will change after some years and then in the old age you will come to this line. This is my prophecy about you."

I think, of course, Faqir was right.

One begins to see through the "dogma" of RS and realize that much of what we believe is our own projection, our own desires. We think at first the guru is perfect or all knowing. Later, we mature a bit and see the humanness of it all. Which I think is a healthy and altogether wise thing to realize.

Now, at one end of Faqir's writings there is the advocacy of more typical Sant related ideas and then at the other, more radical end, there is a realization to go beyond it. This one can see in Faqir's classic HANGING ON THE GALLOWS metaphor:

"So, when did I realize the element? Since I have come to understand that I do not go anywhere. So, who goes in their inner visions? It’s their own mind, their own faith. So what do I do now? Because I was searching for my final abode or source, I leave the mind. When I go within and meditate, I leave the shapes, forms and colors. There is no form of the guru, no shape, nothing else. Only light and sound remain.

The entity that is inside me listens to the sound within and sees the light, that entity is something else entirely. The sound is something else. The light is something else. You listen to the sound within – you are separate from the sound. You see sun or moon inside, see light within. Light is separate from the one witnessing the light. When I search for that entity or witness, I CEASE TO EXIST."

Now, it should be acknowledged that Faqir was also quite traditional in some ways, especially on his views relating to sex. I have a couple of great stories relating to this that I should share one day. I will say this, however. Only someone like Faqir would say in open satsang at the age of 89 or so that the night before he had a "wet" dream and said that even at his age such things happened.

I can well imagine how the sangat "heard" that one! It was Faqir's transparency on his humanness that makes him so valuable, not whether he was enlightened or not (since that it is a theological question and open to endless debate).

In my conversations with Darshan Singh, for instance, I noticed he told me things in private that he would most likely NEVER say in public. So I am not in the least surprised that these gurus (from Charan to Kirpal to Darshan to whatever) would confess honestly about not knowing of their respective appearances.

We even have Charan on record saying he was unaware of appearing to a woman in her prayers. Sawan in Spiritual Gems saying something similar as well. Faqir's point is an obvious one and we have overwhelming proof that these gurus know much less than is advertised.

No need to mention a current guru losing 700 million dollars (jk)! I think of Faqir as an existential guru. As Faqir said near the end, "In the process of evolution, I appeared or manifested. Similarly, you also appeared. I did not exist before, and I won’t exist again."

Or, more poetically, "In that place there is no happiness or unhappiness, no truth or untruth, neither sin nor virtue. There is no day or night, no moon or sun, There is Radiance without Light." P.S. if you wish to understand the "humanity" of Faqir, his last letter from the hospital before he died is remarkable for its utmost honesty..... will post that later.

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Dear Dogribb, Faqir even criticized his own guru as not being as forthcoming as he should. While Faqir acknowledges that there are various levels of instructions, the most radical part of Faqir is when he wishes to question why these gurus were not as forthcoming as they should be. Here is a quote from a 1980 satsang in London,

"Today’s gurus – they don’t tell us anything. They keep repeating – Shabad, Shabad, Shabad, Guru, Guru, Guru. Look at the lives of Gurus. Nirankari guru died and gave his throne to his son. The Beas ones put their grandson on the throne. Hansa established his son as a successor. In this world, may Paramatma or supreme lord save us from these gurus. These gurus have fooled us and looted us. They did not tell the truth."

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Since Ishwar Puri is fond of making stuff up about Faqir Chand that is completely not true, I think it is important to set the record straight.

(1) Faqir Chand did not appoint anyone of his family as successors. Instead he appointed several of his disciples to carry on his teaching, including Dr. I.C. Sharma (whom I have met on several occasions), Yogini Mataji (Tripta Devi), and Bhagat Munshi Ram.

(2) As for Faqir's son, Faqir told Mark Juergensmeyer this: "My own son is well placed. He draws about Rupees 2500 per month. He is a big metallurgist, Russia returned." He never worked as a guru. Ishwar simply made that story up.

(3) As for Yogini Mataji, she refused to continue being a guru and wouldn't initiate anyone and went into relative seclusion. Here is the only movie I know that has film of her....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NYQXjIRBfs

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What may look like a miracle (and I am sure it seems like such to the person who has such experiences) is, according to Faqir, isn't due to any guru as such, but rather the intense faith and devotion which (using Faqir's own words) becomes "creative" and produces the desired effect.

Faqir gives a number of quotes relating to this. Here is just one:

"The individual worships, adores and makes offerings to some living guru, image, god, or goddess according to his own faith, belief and devotion; in return he gets the fruit of his own devotion and faith. The guru, of the worshipped, gets credit and involves himself in the false prestige and fame. While the worshipper achieves his end, or motive due to his own faith and belief. In fact, the guru or the worshipped does nothing to fulfill the desires of the devotee; it is all the faith of the latter."

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I don't think visions of Faqir or related incidents are miracles at all. Rather, they are merely projections by various individuals who then ATTRIBUTE such things to Faqir or to other gurus. The mind is a great conjurer and it is us (usually after the fact) that then attribute this or that apparition to one guru or another.

A good example of how this works is provided by Faqir Chand himself, where to his great credit he tries to see if he could come up with a rational explanation for why he had a vision of his guru Shiv Brat Lal before ever meeting him and even then getting the "correct" address of his ashram.

Here is Faqir's narrative:

"In the meantime I got a permanent job in the Indian railways and was posted as Assistant Station Master at Baganwala. But my craving to see the Lord did not diminish; rather, during this time it reached its peak. Once I wept for twenty-four hours continuously for a glimpse of the Lord. Doctors were called in. They administered medicine to me. At about five o'clock in the morning I saw in a vision the form of Maharishi Shiv Brat Lal. He drew water from a nearby well and helped me take a bath, and then told me his address in Lahore."

Now on the surface that seems somewhat remarkable given that Faqir consciously wasn't aware of Shiv Brat Lal (he was then a relatively obscure guru) and got his address correct.

But later Faqir reasoned that because Shiv Brat Lal was a prolific writer, then he may have come across one of his writings or magazines and in so doing got a picture of what he looked like and also the address which was listed in one of those writings.

These two things (picture of Shiv Brat Lal and the address)--though not consciously remembered--manifested in his dream-vision and Faqir took that as a wondrous sign. Faqir deflated the miracle.

I suggest that what seems paranormal looks less paranormal the more information we get about what really happened. I know from my own life that this is true, since I have written extensively about how my own Teaching Assistant, Michelle Lopez, had a vision of Charan Singh dying almost exactly at the time he died.

It is a remarkable story, no doubt, but one that I believe can be explained rationally without having to invoke miracles and the like.

I also got a chance to go through much of Faqir's correspondence which he shared with me back in 1978 where there were many letters about him appearing to so and so and how it was amazing. Faqir would at each turn tell me that he knew nothing about it.

Thus, these stories about Faqir are not miracles, though the disciples may believe such. They are what the mind can produce under stressful circumstances.

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Dear S, Concerning Charan Singh and not knowing about him "appearing" to a woman in her prayers. It is an interesting story. Here is what happened.

Back in 1984 I published a two part article entitled "The Enchanted Land" for FATE Magazine. It described my visit with several shabd yoga gurus, including Charan Singh, Partap Singh (Tarn Taran), Yogini Mataji (Tripta Devi), Faqir Chand, etc.

Well, the chief editor of FATE magazine wrote me an urgent letter and said that a Catholic woman from Oklahoma was trying to [get] in contact with me. They asked for my permission for her to call me. I said yes, not knowing exactly what all the fuss was about.

It turns out this woman, who was deeply Catholic, was praying one morning when she had an unexpected vision of a spiritual being with a turban and a long beard who told her that she would learn more about him the next day. She then reads the current issue of FATE magazine (I think she looked through it at the magazine store) and in it she saw a picture of Charan Singh that was embedded in my article.

She was wonderstruck since she claimed that it was the same person she had a vision of in her prayers. She wanted to talk to me about it so we had a long chat on the phone. She knew absolutely nothing about Radhasoami or Sant Mat or even eastern philosophy.

I wasn't sure what to make of it (being skeptical by nature), so I suggested she write Charan Singh directly about it and see what he said concerning it. She did and Charan wrote a 4 page letter back to her (a bit unusual, given that his letters were not more than a page or two).

She then contacted me and we went over the letter line by line. In that letter and in no uncertain terms Charan explained that he was UNAWARE of appearing to her or to others who claimed such things. He suggested that it was a product of her own mind and he had nothing to do with it. Hope this helps.

Faqir Chand

More straight talk from Faqir Chand about inner visions

Here's a follow-up to yesterday's post, "Faqir Chand was a guru who exposed how gurus deceive devotees." That post stimulated some comments in which questions about Chand were raised.

Pleasingly, David Lane responded with some highly informative comments.

Lane is responsible for a book about Chand's life and philosophy, after asking the guru if he would write his story before he left this world.  So Lane is deeply knowledgeable about all things Chand'ian.

Lane's comments are shared below.

Naturally they will be of most interest to those interested in the Indian spiritual paths of Sant Mat and surat shabd yoga. But since Faqir Chand doubted the validity of inner visions, which figure prominently in traditional Sant Mat, Chand's views on this subject are of general spiritual interest also.

Here's the first comment from David Lane. I've corrected a few typos in the comments.

Dear Spence, you write the following: "Further, he was pressed to assume the role of true Master when he knew he hadn't attained that. But as his teacher assigned it, he had no other choice but to accept it. From that he presumed the other gurus hadn't attained anything either"

Actually, this is not what transpired.

Rather, Faqir talked directly with Charan, Kirpal, and many other shabd yoga gurus and asked them in private whether they too were "unaware" of their appearances to their respective disciples.

Each of them also acknowledged that they did NOT know. It was from such experiences that Faqir formed a larger hypothesis.

But even here, to Faqir's great credit, he asked other gurus to correct him if he was wrong. But they never did on this point. Here is a direct quote from the Essence of Truth by Faqir on this point:

"Sh. Jagan Nath is present here. He offered me Rs 403/- for the Manavta Mandir. He told that I awakened him at 1:30 A.M a day before. But I did not go to awake him nor do I know any things about it. Possibly, other mahatmas and Gurus might have the knowledge of such instances of manifestations of their forms. At least I remain unaware. Many of the present Gurus have admitted before me that they remain unaware about such instance."

You also write, "his projection on what other people have experienced is also just his projection."

This is not entirely accurate since Faqir sought out what other gurus had experienced and it was from their own confessions to him in private and elsewhere that Faqir formed a more general view. In addition, even to the very end of his life Faqir pointed out that he could be wrong and welcomed others to correct him.

It was a very refreshing quality of his.

A few little tidbits that are not widely known:

1. After Faqir was appointed by Shiv Brat Lal to be his successor and a guru, he went to Sawan Singh since he didn't feel right about doing it, since he would speak the truth about what he knew. Sawan Singh then garlanded him and backed him in his ministry. However, after 1942 Faqir stopped initiating anyone and instead gave satsangs about his realizations.

2. In the 1940s Faqir even gave satsangs at the Dera when Sawan was alive.

3. Jagat Singh and Faqir Chand were friends. Faqir also knew Charan and Charan would visit Faqir whenever he came to Hoshiarpur.

4. Faqir refused to live at his own ashram since he didn't feel it was right for him to get free room and board. Instead he lived a number of blocks away and would take a bicycle rickshaw to the ashram in the morning.

5. One time when Faqir was sick and had to stay over at his own ashram, he paid for his stay.

Faqir Chand was so forthcoming and so disarmingly honest that it would make even his closest followers uncomfortable.

Hope this helps a bit.

And here's the second comment from David Lane.

Dear Brian, thanks for blogging about Faqir Chand. He is a very interesting subject.

Before I go on, I think it is important to realize that all these gurus (of whatever stripe) are human beings, with all the different quirks and distinctive personality traits that go with it.

Having met lots of shabd yoga gurus during the past forty years, I found Faqir Chand unique.

You could ask him any question and he would never shy away from it. Moreover, Faqir (to his great credit) consistently said that he could be wrong and that his point of view was not final. That was entirely refreshing to me.

I say this because one can see a progressive quality in Faqir's writings from the earlier days to near his death.

So here are some answers to the questions that both Spence and Brian posed:

1. First, Faqir came to believe that all the inner regions were ultimately illusory and that even the inner sounds were illusory. As Faqir said in London in 1980:

"Like I said yesterday, I have realized that all these stages of Sahasraradala Kamal, Trikuti, Sunn, Maha-sunn are the play of this mind. Visions are based on the thoughts one keeps. This play of whatever one sees within (i.e. visions) is based on samskaras (impressions and suggestions). They are not the same for everyone. Visions or images vary from person to person."

2. Faqir was appointed a guru by Shiv Brat Lal some 21 years before his guru's death. As he himself confessed:

"Hazur Data Dayal Ji called me in his room. I was already waiting for the moment. I went inside. Lo! His Holiness with a strange blend of affection placed in my hands one coconut, five [coins], made a frontal mark on my forehead and bowed himself to my feet saying, 

'Faqir, you are yourself the Supreme Master of your time. Start delivering spiritual discourses to the seekers and initiate them into the path of Sant Mat. In due course of time, your own satsangis will prove to be your True Guru,' and it is through your experiences with them that the desired secret of Sant Mat will be revealed to you.'

Touched by these words, I experienced both joy and sorrow within me. Hazur noted both expressions on my face and asked for clarification.

I humbly said, 'Your Holiness, I am myself ignorant of the Truth, how can I lead others on this sublime path? And when the thought that I have become a degree holder and would deliver discourses and initiate people flashed within my mind, I felt that I had become something and thus a spark of joy.'

Hazur then said, "Faqir, you may be suffering from ninety-nine shortcomings, but one sure virtue of Truth which is within you will lead you to your goal in life. You will not only redeem yourself but will help many others to attain release."

In 1981, Faqir said,

"Further R. S. Dayal writes that he heard the conch-shell sound and the omkar vibration inside. I have explained in a book why a meditator hears inside him sounds of bell, conch, omkar, flute and sitar. All these are manifestations of the mental plane.

Since this knowledge came to me, I ceased to be caught up in the whirlpool of the mind and transcended it. Now, I took upon all these manifestations as mere maya. Therefore, now, even if I try to catch these sounds, I do not get them, because their value, as something real, has vanished for me who has transcended the mind."

3. Faqir stopped initiating anyone formally after 1942, but he continued to give satsang and tried to argue that we should go beyond the mind, even beyond light and sound, and find the source from which all this appears.

Faqir explained his own way of speaking:

"I believe that the intensified faith of these devout persons becomes creative and produces these results. Many so-called gurus misappropriate the credit for similar happenings, which take place in their disciples, whose own true faith should be held responsible for those results.

By the lack of moral, courage and honesty on the part of pseudo-gurus, credulous disciples are kept in the dark and fleeced under fake pretenses.

I alert the faithful but simple minded satsangis, to beware of such sneaks and their false claims. I had been commanded by my Gurudev [Shiv Brat Lal] to introduce plain speaking into religion, so I am duty bound to proclaim the truth behind these miracles, and to save the simpletons from exploitation.

If I do not reveal the truth, I can, by keeping satsangis in the dark, extract from them large sums of money by claiming fake credit, for the miracles that no doubt do happen."

Brian is correct to ascertain that Faqir argued for something beyond light and sound, and in this way dovetailed with the Tibetan Book of the Dead.

He called it hanging on the gallows.

Here is a quote:

"What conclusion did I reach? When I found out that I do not manifest or appear within anybody, then I also leave the mind (and all its appearances). Then remains light and sound. Every two or three months or sometimes every three days, when I go and search for that entity that listens to the sound, then my being disappears.

What remains? Nothing.

Now I think to myself – if I have become something by reaching that place, if I can do something, then I should be able to remove all the problems that the world is facing right now.

If they could, the ancestors from the past would have removed their problems or difficulties. Baba Sawan Singh would have removed his troubles. Swamiji would have alleviated his disease. Kabir had kidney problems for ten years in the old age.

So what did I understand? What is my realization of this supreme element (Tatva)?

I am a bubble of the supermost consciousness. In the process of evolution, I appeared or manifested. Similarly, you also appeared. I did not exist before, and I won’t exist again. Only one element will remain from which this bubble came into existence.

That element is Sound. It’s name is Naam.

That Naam is not the sound of bells or conch. It’s not the sound of Veena. It is the principle sound (Saar Shabad). This is what the bani of saints mentions – Saar Shabad.

So after reaching this, what happened to me? What did I gain? I found peace. What did I gain at this age of ninety-four? Peace."

Will write more tonight..... particularly in response to Jay (hi Jay, always good to read your ideas!).

Faqir Chand

Faqir Chand was a guru who exposed how gurus deceive devotees

I used to follow a guru. Now I don't. So I don't need any persuading that gurus are completely unnecessary to live a spiritual life or to meditate in a satisfying fashion.

But if you're someone who still clings to the idea that gurus possess special wisdom or powers, the message of Faqir Chand could help you wean yourself from those erroneous assumptions.

Until I ordered a book about Chand from Amazon about a week ago, what I knew about him came from a few essays and videos by David Christopher Lane, who brought this book into being: "The Unknowing Sage: The Life and Work of Faqir Chand." 

In the summer of 1980 Lane asked Chand if he would write his life story before he left the world. Chand agreed. Good timing, since Chand died on September 11, 1981, leaving a description of both his life and spiritual philosophy that makes up the bulk of "The Unknowing Sage."

Basically, Faqir Chand came to an understanding that bears a lot of resemblance to Buddhism: the essence of spirituality is realizing that you are not an individual "self" (or soul). Without that realization, any mystical or inner experience, no matter how profound, leads one astray, since it merely is a reflection of your own mind and possesses no objective reality.

Instead, Chand viewed himself as a "bubble of super consciousness." However, the bubble doesn't possess any mystical powers, not does it know the secret of the universe. So after practicing surat shabd yoga for many years, at the age of 92 Chand said "I do not care for the sound and light too."

He goes on to say:

Now, after having a long experience of my life, I feel that most of the past mahatmas and the present gurus by keeping the secret Truth unrevealed/undisclosed have been unfair to the public and have often exploited them. They have taken undue advantage of the ignorance of the people.

They have built their own big buildings. They have made air-conditioned rooms for themselves. These gurus enjoy themselves and the poor people being ignorant give their hard earned money to these gurus at the cost of their comforts and those of their children.

I love Faqir Chand's frankness and commitment to speaking the truth. I plan to share more quotations from him in other blog posts. For now, here's how "The Unknowing Sage" starts out.

This introduction is unsigned, but I assume it was written by David Lane. It's a good overview of Chand's unknowingness that he attained near the end of his life. I've boldfaced parts for emphasis.

Faqir Chand [1886 to 1981] was a remarkable Indian sage who spent over seventy-five years practicing an ancient meditation technique, popularly known today as surat shabd yoga, which attempts to induce a consciously controlled near-death experience,

Mastery of this experience, according to adepts of the tradition, enables one to experience regions of light and sound beyond the normal waking state, providing glimpses into higher realms of consciousness. 

After the end of World War One, Faqir Chand was recognized by his own guru Shiv Brat Lal and others in the movement to be an advanced shabd yoga mystic. According to Faqir's own account, he could almost daily leave his body at will and experience exalted states of awareness. 

Nevertheless, Faqir Chand was not satisfied with these attainments and sought something higher and more permanent. 

Eventually Faqir realized that no matter how subtle or blissful a meditation experience may be, it did not in and of itself constitute the ultimate in spiritual realization. Rather, the ultimate truth was that no experience could capture or contain the transcendental mystery of Being.

In the highest stages of development man does not develop a keep sense of omniscience, but a radical and irrevocable understanding of unknowingness. 

In sum, one realizes that he or she is nothing but a mere bubble in a sea of existence that is infinite in all directions. As such, the bubble simply surrenders its entire being to that Power which is, in truth, living it.

Thus Faqir Chand became quite outspoken about how gurus, masters, prophets, and mystics, posing as all-knowing beings, have deceived millions of followers by duping them into believing that they have omniscience and omnipotence when in fact they have neither.

What enlightened sages possess, rather, is access experientially to a higher spectrum of awareness, which, in turn, reveals not final or absolute truth, but a growing awareness of how truly mysterious life really is. As Shiv Dayal Singh, the founder of Radhasoami, poetically put it: "Wonder, Wonder, Wonder: Wonder hath assumed a form."

Coupled with Faqir's tacit realization of unknowingness, he also exposed for the first time in the Sant tradition how visions of religious personages are the products of one's own inner development. 

For instance, when one undergoes a near-death experience and beholds a Jesus or a Nanak or an Angel in the middle of the light at the end of a long, dark tunnel, it is not the esteemed figure who is himself orchestrating the encounter. Rather it is the neophyte who is projecting the sacred personage on to the light from his/her own biological and cultural history,

The light may indeed be a transcultural phenomenon, part and parcel of a higher order of awareness or merely a neurological event, but the interpretation of who resides in that light (Is it Jesus?  Is it Nanak?) is entirely a personal affair, shaded by the nuances of  an individual's sojourn for tens of years on a planet we call Earth.

Faqir is perhaps best known for his frank admissions of ignorance surrounding his miraculous appearances to disciples during times of need. He unilaterally confessed that he was never aware of appearing to his devotees.

Nor did Faqir Chand claim that he had understood the secret of Reality.  As he said on many occasions, echoing the words of such greats as Lao Tzu, Socrates, and Nicholas of Cusa: "How can I make any claims about attaining the Ultimate. The truth is that I know nothing."

Hence, Faqir Chand raised the slogan of "Be-Man," arguing that to become a human being, endowed with discrimination and compassion, is a great thing in itself. To be spiritual, Faqir would assert, necessitates that one become a true man (or woman) first.

The Mt. San Antonio Philosophy Group, while not advocating any one position in philosophy or religion, established the Faqir Chand Library Series in honor of vichar, "clear thinking." As the late Sardar Bahadur Jagat Singh, a contemporary of Faqir's once stated, "Clear thinking is 90% of spirituality." 

Future volumes in the series will include works in both science and religion that promote the Chandian spirit of honest and frank criticism. this volume, The Unknowing Sage, represents the first comprehensive study of Baba Faqir Chand's life and work in English.

Gurinder Singh Dhillon should respond to allegations of his criminality

In a recent post, "RSSB guru responds to allegations of criminality (weirdly)," I shared a report of what Gurinder Singh Dhillon said to a questioner who asked the guru what to say to someone who has questions about allegations of Dhillon's financial fraud.

Tell him my baba was getting bored he needed some excitement and he came with a bang. 

OK, that's a response. But not a very good one. About eight months ago Dhillon said he would respond to allegations "at an opportune time." A  time, obviously, that hasn't arrived yet.

Here's two comments on this subject that were shared today on the recent post by "In Search Of." See here and here.

They're pleasingly thoughtful, so I'm sharing them below. "Georgy Porgy" is  another commenter. I've added a few links to the comments that provide further information. 

Georgy Porgy, for someone who knows very little about RSSB, you seem to have a very healthy understanding of what RSSB is. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were an RSSB hack. Until an official comment denouncing any of these allegations is presented by RSSB, then it's open season.

By RSSB not providing even one sentence denying any of this, it automatically creates these speculations. The findings of the SEBI report are indeed factual. No disputing that. The fact that they point directly through shell companies to GSD's immediate family is another fact. All he has to do is release a press release that says: It's all false. DONE. Right?

When there is no response to allegations, you leave it to the general public to surmise, extrapolate, insinuate... you get my point.

Recollections of answers GSD gives during Q&A are left for interpretation. We weren't there. But the one about the child being molested by the father, and GSD's response to that, is unacceptable.

He could have said, in response to her, I will meet with you after the programme and talk directly. This would have let the sangat know it was serious, and a personal direction to her as to what she she should do, ie: call the cops and kick his ass out on the street.

No amount of serious discussion will sway you, or anyone steeped in the RSSB doctrine to have any effect.

Make a statement and move along is what I would recommend to GSD. Maybe you can send him the message though your contacts at Beas.

Cheers!

---------------------------

Those relatives on the board of those shell companies and siphoned monies are his two sons, his wife. The other members of the boards of these companies were high ranking RSSB management types and personal friends of GSD.

Sunil Godhwani is GSD's right hand man in financial decisions and he himself said he takes his orders from the guru. So what's your answer for that?

You actually want to say that all these people were not influenced by GSD and what has transpired? They tried to get away with transferring funds and got caught in the real estate bubble. Why is he involved in accumulating wealth?

Most members of the sangat have an unhealthy relationship with money. It's supposed to be bad and hankering after it is detrimental to your meditation. Really? Do as I say, not as I do.

It seems the closer you get to GSD's inner circle, the more the greediness and running after money you seem to get.

Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru who needs to answer questions about his alleged criminality

RSSB guru responds to allegations of criminality (weirdly)

Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, has been decidedly silent about allegations of criminality (financial fraud, death threats) made against him by his cousin, Malvinder Mohan Singh.

But someone emailed me this exchange that reportedly occurred on April 10, 2019 during a surprise visit by the guru to a meeting of the Singapore RSSB group. I won't even attempt to comment on it, since the guru's responses are so weird.

Q: Babaji:  what do you have to say about the financial scandal?

A: RSSB has nothing to do with it. In case you want to read we have an article on the website. 

 

Q: In case someone asks what should we say?

A: Tell him my baba was getting bored he needed some excitement and he came with a bang. 

 

Q: Are you sure I say this?

A: Yes, it’s up to you whatever you want to believe.

 

Q: How come you have been silent on it and made no comments?  

A:  If I don’t tell you to react then how can I react.

 

Gurinder Singh Dhillon

Gurinder Singh Dhillon ignores sexual abuse of a child

Below you can read an email message I received yesterday from someone who observed first hand how Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, essentially endorsed a father's sexual abuse of his child -- by telling a tearful wife, "Don't involve the authorities." 

Now I'm sure some fundamentalist devotees of the RSSB guru will excuse his disgusting behavior by saying things like "No one can question the wisdom of the guru" and "Gurinder Singh can do no wrong, being a perfect master."

That's bullshit. To show why, let's imagine this scenario: 

A woman goes to a minister and tells him that her husband is sexually molesting their daughter. The minister tells her to be more loving and affectionate to her husband, and not to go to the police or a child welfare agency.

Wouldn't you think this was exceedingly bad advice by the minister, likely even criminally bad advice? (Here in Oregon, as in many other states, clergy are required to report child abuse or neglect.)

After all, almost all jurisdictions here in the United States require various professions to report child abuse.  Failure to do this can result in criminal and civil legal liability. So I don't see how anyone can defend the guru's indefensible action, since he is viewed as a trusted advisor by those who believe in him.

Read on for the details. (Here's a link to a recent post alluded to below, "How many people has Gurinder Singh Dhillon indirectly killed?")

Hi Brian,

I’ve been wanting to get back to you. I'm so disturbed by the posts of the last couple of days, I’m going to get this down on paper now. Please publish it if you think it relevant. It’s this:

 

I first came to the path in 1970 during Huzur’s North American tour. [Huzur is a title of respect for Charan Singh Grewal, the RSSB guru who preceded Gurinder Singh Dhillon.]

 

I was a devoted seeker, got initiated by Huzur Maharaji, visited Dera 7 times, was a multi-term secretary, a treasurer and a local & regional speaker, which is where, if you remember, Brian, we were first acquainted.

 

I am heartbroken by the recent revelations of criminal (there’s no other word for it) financial conduct by the Dhillon and Grewal (Charan Singh’s surname) family. Shivinder and Movinder are Huzur’s grandsons; their mother Nimi is Huzur’s daughter, BBJ is Huzur’s sister’s son and therefore 1st cousin once removed to Shivinder and Movinder Singh. 

 

[BBJ stands for Baba ji, an Indian  honorific that means father. Here it refers to Gurinder Singh Dhillon.]

 

I, however, wish to relate the incident prior to their fraud, which was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me.

 

It was in 2013, at the Haynes Park, UK international satsang weekend.  The audience numbering maybe 1,500-ish people were seated on folding chairs, in a very large tent, on the grounds of the estate.  This is what I observed first hand:

 

A succession of young, pretty Indian girls came to the mic, one after the other, for Q&A. There was Baba ji’s usual, flirty and lame attempts at cleverness, and the giggly, giddy responses from the girls, despite the call for serious, spiritual questions only. 

 

Then came an Indian woman in western dress, mid-to-late 30s.  She was crying.

 

She proceeded to tell BBJ (and all of us) that her husband was sexually molesting their daughter.  The woman couldn’t leave the house to go to work because the daughter feared being left alone in the house with the father.

 

“What shall I do, Baba?” she tearfully asked.  "Should I go to the authorities?”

“No” replied the guru. “These things are better handled by being more loving and affectionate to your husband” (yuck!!) “Don’t involve the authorities in a family matter, blah, blah, blah…”

 

That was it for me.

 

In that moment BBJ made himself an accessory to a crime by advising the mother to remain silent. Needless to say, something Huzur Maharaji would never have said, if for no other reason than he was an attorney.  BBJ also made every person in the room, who heard this disclosure of criminal child abuse, an accessory after the fact.

 

(No, I’m not a lawyer but I was 2nd in my class at law school so not completely uninformed in common law.)

 

What BBJ did was not only heartless and ignorant. It was a crime and advice of the worst sort; as any mental health professional will tell you pedophiles do not quit. Pedophilia is a psychiatric compulsion with an almost non-existent rate of “cure”.

 

This is only one example of the many instances of disastrous advice BBJ is always anxious to espouse.

 

At least Huzur had the humility to preface the common sense advice he’d reluctantly give when asked, with the declaration that he himself was no expert in family matters and can be heard on audio tape admitting to be a poor example of a husband and parent.  

 

BBJ however fancies himself an expert in all things, above the law of man and blithely gives the most jaw-dropping and disastrous advice imaginable. The fact is BBJ's “advice” has caused satsangis I know personally the most painful consequences imaginable. 

 

In Spiritual Perspectives vol. 1, Huzur responds to questions about the end of this line of RS [Radha Soami] gurus by explaining that this institution and this line of masters is just like everything else of this world: impermanent.  

 

He says that one day this line will come to an end, the teachings will be bound into a religion, and a new line of sat gurus will rise up elsewhere to enlighten seekers about meditation according to Sant Mat principles.Most satsangis who have heard Huzur’s satsangs have heard him say as much.

 

It is clear from current events that time is at hand.  BBJ needs to just go home to Singapore, enjoy his ill-gotten gains and await the coming karmic retribution for being such a poor steward of Huzur Maharaji’s legacy.

 

Due to the violent fanaticism of so many readers, please just sign me:

Awake

Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru who thinks sexual abuse of a child is no big deal

I just made this comment

I just made this comment to someone who tried to justify the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas' unfeeling response toward people with suicidal tendencies. See here and here. 

I'm curious if anyone disagrees with what I said. It sure makes sense to me.

Dungeness, you're presuming that being "spiritual" is something different from being a decent human being. I heartily disagree. Being a decent human being is the foundation of spirituality.

Absent that, it's possible to justify lies, deceit, abuse, and other things that gurus sometimes engage in.

When someone shares a serious personal problem and seeks support/advice, I've never heard a decent human being say, "Stop feeling sorry for yourself" or "That's a sin."

Yet Gurinder Singh Dhillon said those things.

This shows that at least when it comes to talking about mental health issues, including suicide, the RSSB guru doesn't act like a decent human being.

Like I said, spirituality should enhance the qualities of a decent human being, not negate or lessen them.

If the RSSB teachings negate/lessen those supports of positive qualities, obviously someone should run from those teachings as rapidly as possible.

How many people has Gurinder Singh Dhillon indirectly killed?

Yesterday a commenter called "BlackRose" asked the question that I made the title of this blog post.

It's impossible to know the answer.

All we can be sure of is that Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, lacks both normal human compassion and the most basic understanding of how to talk with someone who was, or is, suicidal. 

UPDATE: I just made this comment to someone who tried to justify the guru's unfeeling response toward people with suicidal tendencies. I'm curious if anyone disagrees with it. It sure makes sense to me.

Dungeness, you're presuming that being "spiritual" is something different from being a decent human being. I heartily disagree. Being a decent human being is the foundation of spirituality. Absent that, it's possible to justify lies, deceit, abuse, and other things that gurus sometimes engage in.

When someone shares a serious personal problem and seeks support/advice, I've never heard a decent human being say, "Stop feeling sorry for yourself" or "That's a sin."

Yet Gurinder Singh Dhillon said those things. This shows that at least when it comes to talking about mental health issues, including suicide, the RSSB guru doesn't act like a decent human being.

Like I said, spirituality should enhance the qualities of a decent human being, not negate or lessen them. If the RSSB teachings negate/lessen those supports of positive qualities, obviously someone should run from those teachings as rapidly as possible.

Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the uncaring guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas

BlackRose commented on a post I wrote a few days ago, "Why a guru shouldn't give mental health advice." In it I shared a tale from a woman, Sonya, who told Dhillon about her attempts to commit suicide and got a response from the guru that included these unfeeling words:

"Stop feeling sorry for yourself."

Below you can read about another instance in which the RSSB guru turned a blind eye toward someone who told Dhillon that she was thinking about suicide. 

His reported response: suicide is a sin.

A few years later, this person killed herself. Neither her mother, who accompanied her to the interview with the guru, nor Dhillon, did anything to help the woman.

This is beyond shameful.

It borders on criminal negligence, failing to take the most basic steps to help someone who is thinking of taking their life. If a counselor or teacher had behaved the way the guru did, dismissing someone's cry for help with a curt "suicide is a sin," they'd be guilty of professional malpractice.

A guru should manifest the best of human qualities, not the worst. Rightly or wrongly  (I'd say wrongly), many people trust what a guru says.

After all, why did this woman and her mother ask for an interview with Dhillon? Almost certainly, because they believed the RSSB guru would offer some wise words.

Instead, the suicidal woman got worse than nothing.

Compassion, understanding, empathy -- that's what she needed, along with being told that it was imperative she get professional psychological help as soon as possible. The Mayo Clinic describes what should be done if someone is suicidal.

Dhillon did the exact opposite. He didn't tell the woman to get help. He wasn't compassionate. Instead, he was judgmental. Read on for what BlackRose said:

I really resonate with this post. A few years ago my cousin committed suicide. At first it came as a huge shock as it was very sudden and I thought no one knew she was suffering. Turns out I was wrong.

Both her mother and Gurinder Singh knew and did nothing. After the suicide my cousin's mother revealed that two years prior to the death she had gone with her daughter for a private interview with him where my cousin confessed to him that she was thinking about suicide.

I did not hear this story first hand but he apparently told her that suicide was a sin and her mother yelled at her for saying such things. I do know that no action was taken.

Neither Gurinder nor my aunt told a single soul about this at the time and so no one took action to get my cousin the help she needed. If Gurinder Singh, who my cousin believed was god incarnate, was compassionate to her and encouraged her to get help she may still be alive today.

The surprising thing is that there is another satsangi young person tangentially related to the same family who I have heard is suicidal. I don't know her name or know her personally but I sincerely doubt she is being given the help she needs either because of Gurinder's denial of depression as a real thing people all over the world of any class experience.

How many people has he indirectly killed because of this? I feel deeply sad for my cousin and the other girl.

What's also disgusting is how another commenter, "Grateful one," tried to make it seem like Gurinder Singh Dhillon was blameless in the woman's death. 

Below you can read a confirmation that the RSSB guru said suicide was a sin -- a horrible thing to say to someone contemplating taking their own life. 

The uncaring attitude shown by "Grateful one" makes me exceedingly grateful that I no longer put any faith in gurus. True believers like "Grateful one" are unable to recognize how blind they are to a guru's shortcomings, instead going to great lengths to excuse inexcusable behavior. 

As you can read below, "Grateful one" is deluded enough to argue that a suicidal person wasn't depressed or had any problems. That is flat out insane. Because devotees of the guru believe he is God in human form, they consider that the guru can do no wrong. 

But he did.

Gurinder Singh Dhillon did nothing to help a suicidal woman. Yet somehow "Grateful one" believes he wasn't involved in the situation at all. That's a lie. In a personal interview he told the woman suicide is a sin, and did nothing to help her. So it is entirely appropriate to ask, how many other people has the RSSB guru indirectly killed?

Here's the comment from "Grateful one."

Blackrose, I’m sorry but I know your cousin she was a very good friend of mine and I know the entire family as well. Yes she may have mentioned to her mother that she had these thoughts but her mother did not take it seriously as she never thought she would do it and I also know for a fact that Babaji was very sympathetic to her situation and told her clearly that suicide is the biggest sin and one should not do it.

She even asked this in a q and a and I heard his response myself as I was there. Your cousin(my good friend) was neither depressed nor had any problems. I find it’s very easy to blame someone else(in this case the master) for what she chose to do to herself.

That is very wrong as he was not involved in this situation at all. Your cousin wasn’t initiated or followed the path or any vows so how can this be related to the Master or his teachings? I know first hand because my friend stayed with me and we talked about it. This is the problem with these kind of comments where people write whatever they want which is non factual and only hearsay and many people tend to believe.

Religare is committed to getting its money back. Bad news for RSSB guru.

Given my goal of bringing readers of this blog all the news in the Indian financial press about the Singh brothers'/RSSB guru's misdeeds that's worth sharing, here's a mildly interesting story in The Economic Times, "New management committed to ensure good governance, says Religare Enterprises."

Below are a few excerpts relating to Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas. Dhillon orchestrated the installation of Sunil Godhwani as CEO of Religare, after which Godhwani proceeded to illegally funnel money from Religare into shell companies controlled at the time by the Dhillon family and close associates.

Since most of the money reportedly ended up in Dhillon real estate ventures that went bad, it isn't good news for the RSSB guru and his family that Religare is committed to finding out how the fraud took place and getting its money back. The story says:

Religare Enterprises Friday said the new management team is committed to ensure that good governance and accountability are the hallmarks of the group as it dubbed allegations made by its former chief Sunil Godhwani as an attempt to divert attention from fraudulent transactions.

..."The company has the full support of its shareholders to bring to justice the erstwhile promoters and management and recover all the monies siphoned away by them," it added.

It also said that the new management team is committed to ensure that going forward the ethos of good governance, ethics and accountability become the hallmark of the Religare Group.

"Religare Enterprises has suffered over the years on account of unbridled mismanagement and misappropriation of funds orchestrated under the erstwhile promoters (Malvinder Mohan Singh and Shivinder Mohan Singh) and Sunil Godhwani," the statement said.

Why a guru shouldn't give mental health advice

There are many reasons to be wary of gurus.

An overarching reason is that often, if not usually, devotees of a guru trust them way more than is justified -- since gurus obviously are human beings, flawed and imperfect like we all are.

Below you can read the experience of "Sonya," a regular commenter on this blog who shared a comment today that I felt deserved to be featured in a blog post. 

Gurinder Singh Dhillon

Sonya describes how Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (an Indian religious organization), responded after she courageously asked him about suicide. His response was uncaring, factually wrong, and distasteful.

Gurus shouldn't give mental health advice. If you wouldn't trust a guru with no medical expertise with telling you how to deal with a physical health problem, why would you trust what they say about a mental health problem?

I say this as someone who has been married for 29 years to a woman who was a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in private practice for quite a few years. My wife counseled people with a wide range of problems. Previously she worked as a school counselor, and before that, at a mental hospital.

(I have a Master's Degree in Social Work also, but I never actually worked as a social worker after graduate school, going into health services research instead.)

Reading Sonya's comment made me simultaneously sad and angry.

Sad, because she was treated so badly by Gurinder Singh Dhillon. Angry, because no one should make light of suicide or depression, especially someone in a position of authority -- like a guru.

The good news is that the experience led to Sonya losing faith in the RSSB guru. I enjoy hearing "deconversion" stories about how people come to the realization that spirituality is best practiced independently, rather than within the confines of a religious organization.

Here's Sonya's story. I've corrected some typos and added some paragraph breaks, but didn't change her comment otherwise. "Satsangi" means an initiate of Radha Soami Satsang Beas. "Dera" refers to the RSSB headquarters. "Sant Mat" is the RSSB philosophy.

Hi Arjuna and Jen, OK, I'm going to attempt to respond to both of you with one very long answer. :)

At the Dera during a Q&A session I asked Gurinder what happens to a soul when it commits suicide because I had tried to commit suicide twice in a 6 month period when I was 26.

I asked him this because I thought maybe my thoughts and actions of self harm during that period of my life and my continual self loathing that existed after that event might be at the root cause of my panic attacks which I had been suffering from for 15 years. They started about a year before I became a satsangi.

I was diagnosed with severe panic disorder because the attacks would last longer than an hour. One attack lasted 8 hours and I had to go to the hospital. It took me 6 months after that to feel like a normal human being again.

It felt like one day I was a normal person, then I had an 8 hour panic attack and the next day I was paraplegic. I wasn't really paraplegic, it's just that's how much my life had changed and permanently changed. I guess having a really long panic attack is like going through battle and then you have PTSD from the panic attack.

BTW, It was a miracle that I lived both times because I was truly very happy that I would never wake up again. I didn't leave a note... it wasn't a cry for help. I tried to make sure no one would find me till it was over.

And if you ask me why I tried to commit suicide (looking back it seems really dumb), I was really depressed after my boyfriend and I broke up. We had a very serious relationship... I was madly in love... He asked me to marry him and then I found out he was seeing someone else.

You know, the usual.

Anyway, yes I am fairly blunt and outspoken and the only reason I shared something this personal was because there was no way for me to get an interview with him [Gurinder Singh Dhillon] and I wasn't sure I'd ever be back at the Dera.

He said "Nothing happens to the soul. It's just the mind. Depression is a first world problem. You don't see poor people getting depressed because they're too busy working. Stop feeling sorry for yourself." That's what he said. Just like that.

The weird thing is that I had really been starting to question Sant Mat and him. However, even then I was very much in awe of him and somewhat "in-love" in a Master/disciple kind of way. I thought he would be the last person on earth that would ever hurt me.

My heart was absolutely broken and if my husband hadn't been with me I guarantee you I would have taken the 3 months supply of sleeping pills that I happened to bring with me. I would have taken them all at once right after that happened.

So, I went from the memory of one betrayal and broken heart to the realization that there isn't really anyone you can totally trust in this world. So, maybe I deserved it.

The reason I think he was so harsh was because I had been talking with some ladies after one meeting about how inappropriate he had behaved. They brought it up and I joined in because we all witnessed the same thing. Basically he was just being super flirtatious with some young women but it's not like he "took them home or anything". It just seemed a bit off-color.

And I think the word got back to him that some people were concerned about it.

Of course, that may not be it at all. He may never have even heard about it. Maybe I just needed someone to tell me that I was a selfish fool for trying to commit suicide twice over some stupid guy (I didn't tell him about the guy - I didn't say exactly why I did it--just told him I had been depressed).

And maybe I needed to realize that a guru isn't going to be there for you either to comfort you. Maybe he wanted me to learn that it's a mean, mean world, and that only the god inside of me can ever comfort me. Maybe he also wanted me to understand that love is bullshit.

He also told me that mental health problems are a first world problem. He made that very clear over and over. During that session someone asked him about people with serious mental health problems (like it was their family member or something) and he just shook his head and said you don't want to know what I think about mental illness.

He said that. Exactly like that.

So, I would never ask him about depression or anxiety if I were you. And God forbid you mention anything more serious like bipolar or schizophrenia. I think besides being born blind at birth, having a serious mental health problem like bipolar or schizophrenia are the only other things that will keep you from being able to be initiated today.

Now all that is very dark. It's hard for me to see how I could have been in such a dark place like that at one time in my life when I'm usually really happy these days. I also don't have panic attacks anymore.

After that experience I left Sant Mat for good and when I left Sant Mat I stopped having panic attacks. The panic attacks were horrific and I no longer have them, nor do I have depression.

So, yes Jen, I think you're right. He gave me exactly what I needed. And what I need is not him.

I shared some other comments by Sonya in another post, "Being worshipped leads Gurinder Singh Dhillon to behave badly." Here's how that post starts out:

I no longer believe that any person deserves to be worshipped. Respected, yes. Everybody is deserving of respect. But worship, no. 

For a long time, though -- some 35 years -- I was a member of an Indian religious organization (Radha Soami Satsang Beas, or RSSB) headed by a guru who is considered to be God in human form.

Just imagine how Christians would act around Jesus if he appeared on Earth. Worshipful, right? Well, that's how RSSB devotees act around Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the current guru. 

Recently Dhillon was accused of criminal conduct by his cousin, Malvinder Singh. Defenders of the guru are fond of saying that the death threats and massive financial fraud are just allegations. That's true, but they're believable allegations, given what's been previously reported on this blog about Gurinder Singh Dhillon.

To put it charitably, Dhillon doesn't act like the traditional RSSB guru. Less charitably, Dhillon acts very much like many other powerful men: full of ego, greedy, controlling, using women in less than admirable ways. (The Me Too movement has done a lot to raise awareness of this.)

Below is a comment left by Sonya on a recent post.

She does a good job of explaining why Gurinder Singh Dhillon behaves the way he does, given that he's worshipped everywhere he goes. Of course, other men are worshipped who don't end up behaving badly: the Pope, Dalai Lama, many others. 

The RSSB guru, though, is treated like the god he is believed to be by his devotees, while the Pope and Dalai Lama are just considered to be holy men. Of course, this doesn't excuse Dhillon's behavior -- it just helps to explain it.

Here's the first comment from Sonya. I'll share another one also.

RSSB You Tube channel has exactly zero content from Gurinder Singh

I usually don't publicize social media of religious organizations, but since I used to be a member of Radha Soami Satsang Beas before I saw the clear light of atheism, and quite a few visitors to this blog either have been or still are associated with RSSB, here's a link to the organization's recently unveiled Official You Tube Channel.

You Tube says the RSSB channel has 882 videos. Clicking on the "Videos" tab, I was curious to see how many videos were from the last four gurus of Radha Soami Satsang Beas.

It wasn't possible to tell exactly, since the titles of many of the videos are truncated online, so the person in the video isn't always shown.

Still, this is what resulted from a search of the first names of Gurinder Singh (current guru), Charan Singh (previous guru), Jagat Singh (guru prior to Charan), and Sawan Singh (guru prior to Jagat).

Gurinder... zero
Charan...162
Jagat...12
Sawan...30

It's decidedly weird that Gurinder Singh, who has been the RSSB guru for 29 years, has never, to my knowledge, written anything public, been in any public videos, and does his best to prevent photographs from being taken of him. 

Yet his name is all over the Indian financial press, since he and other members of the Dhillon family reportedly are the recipients of almost a billion dollars in loans that were either fraudulent, or at least decidedly suspicious. Plus, he's been accused of making a death threat against one of his cousins, Malvinder Singh.

So I can understand why Gurinder Singh doesn't want to speak publicly about his financial and legal troubles. It just seems very strange that a guru whose job supposedly is to guide people to knowledge of the highest spiritual realities is so unwilling to say anything on the record.

Maybe it is because Gurinder knows that he doesn't really any possess any special spiritual knowledge. Another theory is that since he appears to have been markedly changing the RSSB teachings, at least in talks to non-Indian audiences, he doesn't want to make it obvious how what he says differs from what is in the RSSB books.

Shabnam Dhillon, RSSB guru's wife, implicated in financial fraud

Well, today there was another story in the Indian financial press about the Singh brothers' fall from riches and how their involvement with Gurinder Singh Dhillon, guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, has contributed a lot to the legal trouble they're in.
Download Malvinder and Shivinder Singh and the ‘missing’ funds of a billion-dollar empire | Business News

The Indian Express story contains intriguing details about the involvement of the guru's wife, Shabnam Dhillon, in financial dealings that a criminal complaint filed by Malvinder Singh says were fraudulent.

Here's an image from the story that shows her connection to several shell companies that allegedly engaged in illegal transfers of money.

As you can read in the following excerpt from the story, Malvinder says that Prius Real Estate and Prius Commercial Projects engaged in a "wrongful loss" to RHC Holding. 

In the image above, the blue boxes indicate companies where Shabnam Dhillon was a director until August 2016. Those include Prius Real Estate and Prius Commercial Projects.

It's hard for me to believe that she was the mastermind behind the shady financial transactions. But she could be held legally responsible, unless her husband, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, breaks his silence and admits that he helped orchestrate the fraudulent transfer of funds.

Here's the excerpt from the Indian Express story. I've boldfaced parts for emphasis. Rs 6,000 crore is about $863 million.

The ‘Baba’ Factor

Earlier this year, Malvinder filed a complaint with the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), pointing fingers at his younger brother and RSSB spiritual head, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, for causing “wrongful loss” to him and shareholders of RHC Holding.

Malvinder’s affidavit filed in the Supreme Court this year claims over Rs 6,000 crore in loans and advances are to be recovered from “various individuals and entities belonging/controlled/linked to a few major companies and individuals, not a party to the arbitral award”. These include companies like Prius Real Estate and Prius Commercial Projects, Sunil Godhwani as well as the RSSB head himself, it alleged.

Shabnam Dhillon, Gurinder Singh Dhillon’s wife, was a director in Prius Real Estate and Prius Commercial Projects until August 2016, shows the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA).

“I say that these loans and advances have become due, however, due to the differences within the family, the recovery process for the same has been blocked… In order to further strengthen the recovery process, I have even initiated criminal proceedings against some of the borrowers who owe money to the judgment debtors before the Economic Offences Wing,” read Malvinder’s affidavit.

His EOW complaint alleges that Shivinder, along with Sunil Godhwani and Dhillon, conspired to “siphon” money from RHC and settle the Dhillon family’s debts and dues by absorbing them in RHC. This includes an alleged plan by the younger Singh to take over six companies, including Modland Wears, Best Healthcare and Fern Healthcare, “without initiating any financials and legal due diligence”. The EoW complaint further alleged that the six companies in question had extended loans exceeding Rs 1,000 crore to the Dhillon and Godhwani family.

Modland, Fern and Best — in which the MCA says Shivinder is a director — were involved in “fictitious and fraudulent” transactions of over Rs 400 crore withdrawn from Fortis through ICDs, according to the Sebi.

Malvinder claimed his younger brother signed a “family settlement” with Dhillon agreeing to “absolve” him of “any wrongdoing whatsoever and agreeing that no liabilities or legal proceedings or criminality would be attributable” to the RSSB chief under any circumstances.

Furthermore, Daiichi in 2018 alleged that the brothers had siphoned funds through a complex “web of companies”, to render its award, now valued over Rs 3,500 crore, a “mere paper decree”.

Summary of Singh brothers saga features misdeeds by Gurinder Singh Dhillon

Today someone sent me a link to a The Week story about the saga of the Singh brothers' financial downfall that contains several mentions of Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas who has been accused of criminal wrongdoing in this unholy mess.
Download Malvinder Shivinder Singh: The boom-to-doom saga of the brothers

You can read the entire story below. I've added some comments of my own after several sections in red italics. 

One thing I learned from the story is that seemingly Malvinder and Shivinder Singh aren't nephews of Gurinder Singh Dhillon, because the story says that their mother, Nimmi, is the guru's cousin.

I'm terrible at genealogy, but a person who is more knowledgeable than me emailed me last year, saying that the relationship of the Singh brothers and Dhillon is first cousins once removed. Some news stories say Dhillon is their uncle, and I've gone back and forth between "uncle" and "cousin" in my blog posts.

Now, though, I'm going to stick with cousin. Here's the story. I've boldfaced parts that relate to Dhillon.

LOVE AND VIOLENCE. Faith and betrayal. Goons and gurus. The boom-to-doom saga of brothers Malvinder Mohan Singh and Shivinder Mohan Singh is peppered with all these in good measure.

Once the poster boys of India Inc (their pharma company Ranbaxy Laboratories and later ventures Fortis Hospitals and Religare Enterprises had all crossed billion-dollar valuations under their watch), they messed it up big time, as their businesses collapsed in just about a decade.

Yet, as the drama plays out at the highest court of the land, it is clearly symptomatic of the many lacunae in India’s corporate regulatory framework.

It all started with money, lots of it. And greed.

On the face of it, the amount that is making the headlines—Rs 3,500 crore the brothers are ordered by the court to pay Japanese pharmaceutical company Daiichi Sankyo—is grave enough. But it is loose change in comparison to the Rs 22,500 crore the brothers are said to have blown up since they sold Ranbaxy to Daiichi Sankyo in 2008 and ventured into a blitzkrieg of business expansion into multifarious areas.

They lost control of their businesses—some sold to the highest bidder, while some were taken over by lenders. Even their sprawling bungalow in Lutyens Delhi was sold to pay the dues.

“We would now like to fight for our justice and pride... and not for economics,” the brothers said in a joint statement a few months ago. But that was before they turned on each other, even coming to fisticuffs. “He assaulted me. He injured me,” Malvinder alleged in a video he posted online, showing his injuries, last December.

A few months earlier, Shivinder had alleged that Malvinder forged his wife Aditi’s signature in some documents, but they kissed and made up after their mother, Nimmi Singh, intervened.

The seeds of disaster were sown right at the time the brothers sold their family business, Ranbaxy, to Daiichi Sankyo. Ranbaxy had made a killing in the generic drug business to become India’s most valuable pharmaceutical company. At that time, Japan was modifying its drug laws to facilitate generic drugs, and acquiring a company specialising in it seemed like a fast way in for Daiichi Sankyo. Also, Daiichi got a drug maker with access to the lucrative American market.

The brothers got solid cash, nearly Rs 10,000 crore, and they promptly ploughed a chunk of it into their new businesses, Fortis (Rs 2,230 crore) and Religare (Rs 1,750 crore), which then kicked off an ambitious acquisition and expansion spree.

A similar amount of money (one report puts it at Rs 2,700 crore) was transferred to companies owned by the family of Baba Gurinder Singh Dhillon, head of the Radha Soami Satsang Beas, a Punjab-based spiritual sect that commands lakhs of followers in northern India and abroad.

It was only the beginning of a stream of cash flow from the Singhs to Dhillon, who is Nimmi’s cousin. The brothers say Dhillon was like a father to them, especially after the death of their own, Parvinder Singh, in 1999. On Dhillon’s advice, they appointed Sunil Godhwani as the head of Religare Enterprises.

Along with the Singh brothers, Godhwani has been booked by the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police on charges of cheating, criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust. So Gurinder Singh Dhillon's advice hasn't worked out very well, legally and ethically. 

At first, all seemed hunky-dory. Fortis grew rapidly—once even crossing Apollo to become India’s biggest hospital chain—and Religare’s multiple wings performed well. Dhillon, on his part, invested in real estate, cashing in on the spiralling land rates in Delhi’s satellite towns in 2010 and 2011. More money flowed in to the many companies floated by him from the Singhs or through a complex maze of their companies and subsidiaries.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India has found that the "complex maze" alluded to above resulted in fraudulent loans made to shell companies controlled at the time by members of the Dhillon family and close associates. A Business Today story gives some details about this.

Then, disaster struck.

As the real estate bubble burst in 2011, Dhillon’s investments came a cropper, leaving him with huge debt. The rapid expansion of Fortis and Religare, all funded by massive loans, suddenly came back to bite the Singhs as the slowdown took hold.

“Appropriate risk, appropriate growth, transparency in financial dealings and having an independent board which could question their actions were all steps that could have contained their greed,” said N. Chandramouli, CEO of the business consultancy TRA Research. A vicious cycle of mortgaging assets and shares to pay off initial debt plunged them deeper into the debt hole. According to information with the Registrar of Companies, assets worth more than Rs 15,000 crore were pledged, many of them possibly to pay off earlier debts.

To make matters worse, Daiichi Sankyo alleged that the brothers did not disclose that the US government was investigating Ranbaxy when it acquired the company in 2008.

A few months after the deal, the Federal Drug Administration, America’s powerful drug regulator, banned medicines from two Ranbaxy plants in India and launched an investigation into the company’s practices. In 2014, Daiichi sold Ranbaxy to Sun Pharma.

In 2016, a Singapore tribunal directed the Singhs to pay about Rs 2,500 crore to Daiichi Sankyo (the total amount now is around Rs 3,500 crore, including interest and legal fees). The brothers, however, delayed the payment, prolonging the wrangling and setting the stage for the denouement at the Supreme Court.

In between, the Singhs lost control of both Religare (taken over by equity investors) and Fortis (bought by Malaysia’s IHH Healthcare last year).

Religare now is seeking to get its money back, which involves tracing the flow of money that ended up in the hands of the Dhillon family.

A month ago, in a complaint to the economic offences wing of the Delhi Police, Malvinder accused his brother, Dhillon and Godhwani of criminal conspiracy, cheating and fraud. He claimed the outstanding from Dhillon was Rs 8,646 crore as of 2016, and that he was threatened by Shivinder every time he asked for it.

Malvinder also has accused Dhillon of making death threats against him.

“Shivinder initiated these actions and permitted siphoning and malfeasance of funds with the ulterior motive of gaining control of the seat of the spiritual head of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, which was promised to him by Dhillon in lieu of the financial gains,” he said. Shivinder, however, said the fraud happened while Malvinder was running the company. Shivinder had renounced his corporate posts to join the ashram. He returned in 2015.

This appears to be a lie by Shivinder, though it is possible that Shivinder did join the Radha Soami Satsang Beas ashram at some point prior to when documents show he was actively involved in corporate affairs.

“It is not about individual honour... it doesn’t look good for the country’s honour,” said the Supreme Court while hearing the case against the Singhs. Corporate India’s recent track record when it comes to payments has not been very good.

It begets the question, what needs to be done? “Corporate laws are well formed, but poorly implemented,” said Chandramouli. “It is difficult for those erred against to get justice. In a world which works solely on trust, it is important that transgressors of trust be taken to task.”

Singh brothers stay out of jail. Malvinder's attorney says RSSB guru duped them.

Here's the latest news in the saga of the Singh brothers and the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, Gurinder Singh Dhillon. First, a Business Today story, "Singh brothers get a breather from top court." Here's how it starts out.

The Supreme Court (SC) has reserved its order on a contempt plea filed by Japanese pharma company Daiichi Sankyo against the Singh brothers over non-payment of Rs 3,500 crore arbitration award. However, the apex court said it was deciding the issue of 'contempt of court' only. During the hearing, Daiichi told the SC that former Ranbaxy promoter Malvinder Singh had given undertaking in the Delhi High Court, and that the value of their "unencumbered assets" was only Rs 452 crore.

The top court on March 14 had asked the duo to submit a concrete plan for repaying the Japanese firm as well as consult their accountants and financial/legal advisors and appraise it by April 5. But during the hearing on Friday, the bench was miffed at the responses given by the Singh brothers.

Senior lawyers Kapil Sibal, representing Malvinder, had told the bench that the brothers had been duped and that "nearly Rs 6,300 crore has been siphoned off by some 'baba'", while requesting that properties of the contemnor be sold under the instruction of the court. To this, the bench had responded saying that the court will "only adjudicate on the violation of our orders", adding that they can sell their own properties.

Not being familiar with Indian legal language, which differs some from what's used here in the United States, I'm assuming that "reserved its order' means that for now Malvinder and Shivinder Singh aren't being served with a contempt of court order, even though they haven't paid the Rs 3,500 crore [$507 million] arbitration award to Daiichi Sankyo.

So it appears they're being given more time to come up with the money, though the story goes on to say that the Supreme Court justices weren't happy with the progress made by the Singh brothers on this front.

The "baba" who duped the Singh brothers, according to Malvinder Singh's attorney, is Gurinder Sigh Dhillon -- who allegedly siphoned off Rs 6,300 crore from companies once controlled by the brothers. That's $913 million.

It looks to me, from the last paragraph in the excerpt above, that Malvinder wanted the court to order the sale of properties owned by the Dhillon family (and maybe others also) that were bought via the siphoned/fraudulently-obtained Rs 6,300 crore worth of money.

But the court said, "No, you sell the properties on your own."

Much, if not most, of the above-mentioned money went into real estate investments made by the Dhillon family. Another Business Today story, "How Singh brothers got into trouble -- bit by bit," includes mentions of the RSSB guru and his role in the downfall of the Singh brothers business empire. Here's excerpts from the timeline.

June 2008

The Singh brothers sell their family firm, Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd - at the time India's largest drugmaker - to Daiichi for $4.6 billion. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cracks down on two of its plants just months later, a development that only snowballs into a bigger mess.

...2009-2012

Nearly Rs 2,700 crore from the Ranbaxy proceeds are routed to entities owned by Gurinder Singh Dhillon's family and companies associated with senior Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) functionaries over three years. Dhillon, better known as 'Babaji', is RSSB's spiritual guru. Of that, Rs 2,000 crore is invested in two firms, Prius Real Estate and Prius Commercial Projects.

Separately, Rs 1,750 crore is invested in Religare Enterprises (REL) and about Rs 2,230 crore in Fortis - again from the Ranbaxy proceeds - to fuel their growth. All these turn out to be fatal mistakes.

The money transferred to Dhillon and associates - estimated to be between Rs 4,000-6,000 crore, with interest, depending on who you ask - remains unpaid to the Singhs. The rapid and reckless expansion spree that REL and Fortis embark on lands them in a debt trap when the slowdown hits in 2009. That's the beginning of a vicious cycle of mortgaging assets and equity in group companies to raise loans to pay off their previous liabilities.

...November 2016

Troubles mount at the Singhs' NBFC REL, under the helmsmanship of family confidante Sunil Naraindas Godhwani, who had come on board on Dhillon's recommendation. The promoters, who had not been on REL's board since April 2010, return this month after subsidiary firm Religare Finvest writes off Rs 794 crore due to non-receipt of dues from Strategic Credit Capital associated with ABG Shipyard. The loan and the write-off are under regulatory scrutiny.

...February 2019

On February 5, Malvinder Singh files a criminal complaint against Shivinder, the Dhillon family as well as the Godhwani kin - Sunil and Sanjay (who headed loss-making REL subsidiary Ligare Aviation). In the complaint filed before the Economic Offences Wing he seeks Rs 8,742 crore owed to him by the alleged accused.

Seemingly the Supreme Court is doing its best to insure that the Daiichi award is paid by the Singh brothers. If they could come up with the $507 million on their own, surely they would have done so by now, since a contempt decree and jail time could await them if they don't pay up.

Thus the spotlight is on Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family, since they appear to be the ones who ended up with almost a billion dollars siphoned through fraudulent means from companies once controlled by the Singh brothers. 

Given that Malvinder and Shivinder are nephews of Dhillon, as well as initiates of the guru, there must be a lot of heated discussion among members of the Dhillon family about this unholy mess. Maybe one day we'll learn about what's going on behind the scenes, if only to provide more of a basis for the plot of a Bollywood movie about this scandal.

Shivinder Singh lied about becoming a full-time RSSB sevadar

Here's another twist in the oh-so-fascinating big-money drama involving the Singh brothers (Malvinder and Shivinder), the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, and a host of supporting characters.

A Business Today story says, "Singh brothers case: Shivinder drew Rs. 9 crore salary during 'retirement'; misled SC about 'Sanyaas.'" (9 crore is about $1,300,000; SC refers to the Supreme Court of India)
Download Singh brothers case: Shivinder drew Rs 9 crore salary during 'retirement'; misled SC about 'Sanyaas'

Here's how the story starts out:

Singh brothers Malvinder and Shivinder are on the verge of being thrown behind bars on April 11 when the Supreme Court hears contempt proceedings against the two in the $500 million order given in favour of Japanese pharma maker Daiichi Sankyo.

In the run-up to the proceedings, Shivinder's affidavit before the Supreme Court claimed that he had been on a 22-month Sanyaas - a sabbatical devoted to serving at the Radha Soami Satsang Beas - starting January 1, 2016. Hence, the contempt proceedings should not be applied to him as he was not in control of the affairs of the group. "...Deponent is not and at all material times was not in control of the entities against whom any contempt is alleged," he said in his affidavit.

However, fresh evidence available with BusinessToday.In suggests that Shivinder had never dissociated from the group. Instead, he was not only keeping abreast of and directing crucial decisions in the group but was also drawing salary from two group companies.

Hopefully this drama will be made into an Bollywood movie, because the plot lines are so complex and deliciously scandalous. I've hugely enjoyed following the saga for quite a few years. 

In February 2016 I wrote a blog post, "Billionaire Shivinder Singh plans to volunteer for Indian guru." At that time Shivinder reportedly planned to be a full time sevadar/volunteer at the Beas headquarters of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, giving up his business responsibilities.

In July 2018 there was a rumor in the Indian financial press about Shivinder becoming the next RSSB guru, succeeding his uncle, Gurinder Singh Dhillon. I wrote about this in "Gurinder Singh's billionaire nephew rumored to succeed him as RSSB guru."

Then, in February 2019, Shivinder's brother, Malvinder Singh, filed a criminal complaint against Shivinder, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, and several others.

Part of the complaint alleged that Dhillon, the RSSB guru, was willing to pass on the leadership of Radha Soami Satsang Beas to Shivinder in return for Shivinder forgiving a massive amount of money that was fraudulently loaned to the Dhillon family.

When Malvinder refused to sign the family settlement, he says a death threat was made against him by Gurinder Singh Dhillon -- which sure doesn't seem like a "spiritual" thing for a guru to do.

So now the Business Today story says that Shivinder Singh, who wanted to succeed Dhillon as RSSB guru, lied about giving up his business responsibilities to devote himself to volunteer work at the Dera.

However, documents in possession of BusinessToday.In suggest that in the period January 1, 2016 to September, 2017 when he said he was not involved with the affairs of the group as he claimed to be in 'full time charitable service', he was in fact drawing a salary from group firms ANR Securities & Ranchem.

Shivinder's Form 16 submitted to the Income Tax Department suggests that he drew a gross salary of Rs 21.75 lakh per month each from the two subsidiaries of RHC Holding - the group holding firm. Together, the two firms paid him Rs 9.12 crore in the period January, 2016 - September, 2017 as gross salary and Rs 5.9 crore as net post-tax salary during the period of 'retirement'.

Besides, multiple documents suggest that, far from retirement, Shivinder was deeply involved in the group's affairs, directing deals, advising board meetings and schedules and often intervening in discussions, even leading them at times.

It's an unholy mess, for sure.

Likely the Supreme Court isn't going to look kindly on Shivinder making false statements to the court -- especially since Shivinder tried to use his supposed stint as a full-time RSSB volunteer to get out of a contempt decree issued by the court.

It's interesting that someone appears to have leaked documents to Business Today regarding Shivinder's ongoing business involvements while he supposedly was on a spiritual sabbatical. It could well be that more leaking/whistle-blowing is going to occur.

People in the know could have various motivations for doing this.

Such as: not approving of what the Singh brothers, the RSSB guru, and others have been doing; wanting to cooperate with authorities to avoid being implicated in the wrongdoing; revenge for having been treated badly by Malvinder, Shivinder, and others involved with this scandal.

It's virtually certain that more twists and turns are going to occur in this drama. Hopefully justice will win out in the end.

New Delhi police investigating criminal complaint against RSSB guru

Here's a Bloomberg story from February that escaped my notice until a Google search brought it to my attention yesterday. Someone mentioned the story in a March comment, but I didn't read it in full until now.
Download Indian Tycoon Accuses Brother and Spiritual Guru of Fraud - Bloomberg

Those of us who've been associated with Radha Soami Satsang Beas for many years (35, for me) are marveling at the fact that the current RSSB guru, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, is the subject of a criminal complaint being investigated by the New Delhi police.

This is a fact that I don't recall seeing in other stories about Malvinder Singh's complaint against his brother (Shivinder), Dhillon, family members of the guru, and several close associates of the guru.

Sure, defenders of the guru like to say that so far he hasn't been convicted of a crime.

But that's a really low ethical standard for a a guru who supposedly is God in Human Form, according to the RSSB teachings. No previous RSSB guru has been accused of massive financial fraud and making a death threat.

Not even close to anything like that.

And part of the criminal complaint alleges that Gurinder Singh Dhillon was willing to sell his position as guru to Shivinder in return for Shivinder forgiving the money owed by the guru.

How anyone can see this guy as a "spiritual" leader baffles me. He's used his position as RSSB guru to enrich himself and his family, while failing to take responsibility for his unethical actions.

It'll be interesting to see what happens with the investigations into financial wrongdoing that benefitted Dhillon and his family. In my opinion, it's likely that Dhillon was involved in the scheming that funneled money into shell companies once controlled by the guru's family and associates.

I could be wrong, though. Just as those who say "The guru can do no wrong" also could be wrong.

Here's a screenshot of the story's headline, and excerpts from it. I've boldfaced parts relating to the guru.

Former Indian billionaire Malvinder Singh has filed a criminal complaint accusing his younger brother of siphoning funds from their family holding company and fraudulently diverting them to a renowned spiritual guru, the latest twist in the unraveling of a $2 billion empire.

Shivinder Singh allegedly directed the holding company to acquire debt-ridden firms which collectively lent 10 billion rupees ($140 million) to the family and associates of their guru, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, according to a complaint filed to the Economic Offenses Wing of the New Delhi police seen by Bloomberg. In return, the younger Singh was promised he would succeed the guru as head of one of India’s most powerful spiritual sects, according to the document.

The public fight between the former billionaire brothers follows the collapse of one of India’s most storied business families that once controlled the nation’s top drugmaker and second-largest hospital chain. The siblings have lost much of their corporate empire to debt, and are still being chased by creditors. Meanwhile, India’s stock market regulator and fraud office have open investigations into wrongdoing at companies the brothers used to run.

New Delhi police have opened an investigation into the complaint, said a police official. A criminal prosecution would be pursued if the probe establishes criminality, he said. Malvinder and Shivinder have declined to comment on the allegations in the criminal complaint. The brothers have previously denied any wrongdoing at their companies.

Dhillon’s lawyer and the secretary of his spiritual sect did not immediately respond to text messages seeking comment on behalf of the guru and his family members referenced in the allegations.

The criminal complaint alleges that the 43-year-old Shivinder “initiated” as well as “permitted this siphoning and malfeasance of funds entrusted to him with the ulterior motive of gaining ultimate control of the seat of the spiritual head of the Radha Soami Satsang Beas,” promised to him by Dhillon. The spiritual sect, founded almost 130 years ago and based on a commune in north India, boasts four million followers worldwide.

...In his criminal complaint, Malvinder claims Dhillon had threatened him to sign a settlement absolving the guru of any wrongdoing and abstaining from any legal or criminal action against the spiritual leader. Malvinder alleges Dhillon, through his lawyer, told the tycoon he "would be eliminated by persons from the Radha Soami Satsang Beas," if he did not proceed as demanded, according to the complaint. The elder Singh claims he has recordings of these threats and is "fearful for his life."

Besides Shivinder and Dhillon, the complaint also names as references Dhillon’s wife, his two sons, and four alleged associates in the allegations.

More focus on RSSB guru in Singh brothers financial scandal

Following up on yesterday's post, "Bad karma: Singh brothers may go to jail if RSSB guru doesn't pay up," here's two additional mentions of Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, in the Indian financial press.

Someone sent me this image of a Hindustan Times story with the mention of the guru outlined in orange:

"Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing one of the brothers, said 'some babaji' has siphoned off the money of the two brothers and they have been duped."

Babaji clearly refers to Gurinder Singh Dhillon. Kind of strange that the attorney wasn't willing to say his actual name. Sort of reminds me of Lord Voldemort, the Dark Lord in the Harry Potter series, who was sometimes called He Who Must Not Be Named.

And I came across a story in The Times of India, "Will send you to jail, SC warns Singhs; to hear contempt plea." Screenshot of excerpt:

The second paragraph fits with what I said in yesterday's post about there being a contest between Daiichi and Religare for money owed to them by the Singh brothers -- which seemingly would include the massive amount of money owed by the RSSB guru. In that post I mentioned various "actors" in this financial scandal drama.

 

It's dawned on me that the relatives of the Singh brothers and their uncle, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, also have a role here. Likely leaders of the family are shocked that Malvinder and Shivinder could go to jail if Uncle Gurinder doesn't pay back the money he got from them via fraudulent means (allegedly).

 

Sure, squabbles happen in every family. But usually they don't lead to prison time. Or death threats, since Malvinder has filed a complaint against the RSSB guru that says this happened after he refused to sign a letter his uncle prepared that appeared to absolve the guru of having to repay hundreds of millions of dollars in shady loans.

 

So the drama continues. It sure seems like the RSSB guru is going to face continued scrutiny by both financial and criminal investigators. After all, the Dhillon family was the recipient of about $900 million in ill-gained money, and it's very unlikely that those who got the money weren't involved in the illegal scheming.

 

If marked money from a bank robbery turned up in someone's bedroom closet, they'd have a lot of explaining to do. It's possible that someone gave them the money and they had no clue about where the money came from, but that would be extremely unlikely. 

And in the case of the Dhillon family, we know that some of them were directors of the shell companies that got the fraudulently obtained money from companies once controlled by the Singh brothers. That makes claims of innocence even less believable, especially since the shell companies were active participants in the fraud.

Bad karma: Singh brothers may go to jail if RSSB guru doesn't pay up

I'd love to be able to listen in on what Malvinder and Shivinder Singh are saying right now about their uncle, Gurinder Singh Dhillon -- the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas. 

According to the India Supreme Court, it seems that the only way the Singh brothers are going to stay out of jail is if Dhillon repays a massive amount of money that was loaned to him by Malvinder and Shivinder, seemingly in a fraudulent manner involving the siphoning of funds from companies controlled by the Singh brothers and the guru's right hand man, Sunil Godhwani.

So says a NDTV story, "Will Send You To Jail," Ranbaxy Singh Brothers Told By Court: 10 Points."
Download Ranbaxy Laboratories: Will Send You To Jail Ranbaxy Singh Brothers Told By Supreme Court-10 Points

NEW DELHI:  The former promoters of pharmaceutical company Ranbaxy, Malvinder Mohan Singh and his brother Shivinder Mohan Singh, were told by the Supreme Court today that they could go to jail for disobeying orders to pay dues to Japanese firm Daiichi Sankyo. "We will go into the issue - why you violated our orders. We will send you to jail. We have given you a chance but you are unable to pay," the court said.

Here's the first three points. I've boldfaced the mention of the RSSB guru.

1. The top court was hearing a petition by Daiichi Sankyo which is seeking to recover Rs. 3,500 crore awarded to it by a Singapore tribunal in its case against the estranged brothers.
2. Last month, the top court had asked the brothers to inform it on how they plan to comply with the order passed against them by the Singapore tribunal.
3. One of the Singh brothers today told the Supreme Court that his assets can be sold and that he is yet to get dues to the tune of Rs. 6,300 crore from Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the head of the Radha Soami Satsang. "You may be owning half of the world but there is no concrete plan as to how the arbitral amount would be realised. You said that somebody owed you Rs. 6,000 crore. But this is neither here nor there," a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said.

In US dollars, Rs. 3,500 crore is about $505 million, while Rs. 6,300 crore is about $939 million. So a heck of a lot of money is at stake here.

It's difficult to tell what happens next in the financial drama, or more accurately scandal, involving the Singh brothers, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the Dhillon family, and Sunil Godhwani, the guru's right hand man who was installed as the CEO of a company, Religare, that siphoned vast amounts of money into shell companies controlled by the Dhillons and close associates.

Everybody involved in this unholy mess has a different interest and motivation.

Daiichi Sankyo. The Japanese firm that won the above-mentioned $505 million award from the Singh brothers, after a court ruled that Malvinder and Shivinder covered up problems with adulterated drugs prior to their sale of Ranbaxy to Daiichi, wants to get the money they're legally owed. Likely Daiichi doesn't care how the Singh brothers come up with the money, so long as it is paid. If the Singh brothers go to jail, that means no money for Daiichi.

Malvinder Singh. He has filed a criminal complaint against the RSSB guru, alleging that Gurinder Singh Dhillon orchestrated the fraudulent loans, then made a death threat against Malvinder after his nephew refused to sign a "family settlement letter" that seemingly would have absolved Dhillon of the responsibility to repay the loans. Malvinder doesn't want to go to jail. He wants Dhillon to pay back the $939 million owed him. But...

Religare. The board of a Religare subsidiary has filed a complaint with the Delhi Economic Offences Wing alleging that the Singh brothers, Godhwani, and unnamed other co-conspirators (some of whom appear to be Dhillon family members) engaged in a conspiracy to siphon money from Religare into shell companies.

Religare, like Daiichi, wants to get its money back. And it seems that this will only happen if the RSSB guru pays back the money that was funneled to him and his family. So it looks like Religare and Daiichi are both competing for the same pot of money.

if I'm right, it's an interesting legal tangle.

Leaving Indian law aside, which obviously I'm not familiar with, it seems that Religare has the strongest moral case, since the money that ended up in the hands of Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family came from Religare coffers. It doesn't seem right that Daiichi could be paid by the Singh brothers if the RSSB guru somehow was able to come up with the $505 million, since this was money obtained fraudulently, it appears.

Shivinder Singh. Malvinder's complaint says that at one point Shivinder was in line to replace Gurinder Singh Dhillon as the RSSB guru in exchange for Shivinder forgiving the money owed him by the Dhillon family. It's unclear whether Shivinder still has a close relationship with his uncle, the guru. What does seem clear is that Shivinder and Malvinder are at odds. Last year Shivinder filed a complaint against Malvinder that seems to be more or less a mirror image of Malvinder's complaint against Shivinder and others. 

Sheetal Talwar. He's sort of a bit player in this drama, being owed only $1.5 million by Gurinder Singh Dhillon. But he's also filed a criminal complaint alleging that a death threat was made against him by someone associated with RSSB.

Gurinder Singh Dhillon. The RSSB guru is a centerpiece of this scandal, but so far I'm not aware that he has made any public statements. Perhaps his attorneys have advised this. I suspect that he is hoping that even if his nephews go to jail, no one will be able to prove that he was involved, or even the ringleader, of the conspiracy to funnel fraudulent loans into the pockets of the Dhillon family.

Well, good luck with that.

In my opinion the odds are stacked against Dhillon, though there's a chance he could escape at least some of the criminal charges -- especially if he was able to repay the $939 million, or a big chunk of the money. That might be the price of Malvinder requesting that his complaint against the RSSB guru and others be dropped.

But if Dhillon was able to repay the loans, seemingly he would already have done so. Instead, it appears that real estate deals made with the fraudulently-obtained money have gone bad, or bad enough to leave the Dhillon family unable to provide the money the Singh brothers need to satisfy the Supreme Court and Daiichi.

The Religare complaint makes it quite clear that in addition to getting the money back that was siphoned out of this public company, Religare wants to get at the bottom of who orchestrated the massive financial fraud and benefitted from it. That's a finger pointing directly at Gurinder Singh Dhillon, since it is difficult to imagine that Dhillon's wife, his sons, or close associates would have engaged in the fraud on their own.

So my bet is that the bad legal karma currently focused on the Singh brothers will eventually migrate to the RSSB guru. Naturally I could be wrong about this. It's just an educated guess, based on what has been reported in the Indian financial press about Dhillon's involvement in this scandal.

Gurinder Singh Dhillon

I'm an atheist with more faith than any religious believer

A week ago I came up with the title to this blog post.

The next day I wrote a comment in reply to someone who goes by "In Search Of" that ended up being a good start to explaining why I consider that atheist me has more faith than religious believers.

Here it is.

Following my comment you'll find excerpts from one of my first Church of the Churchless blog posts from way back in 2004, "Just have faith." I'm pleased that while I've become more of an atheist over the past fifteen years, my basic faith in reality hasn't changed.

In Search Of, you asked: "Brian, help me out here. Am I being unreasonable? Why can't I get an intelligent response to my question? Are we unable to differentiate between logic and faith? Or are the two at opposite poles? Is this the real question we're trying to answer? And is it an answerable question?"

Great questions. Interestingly, I came up with the title of a future blog post yesterday that I wrote down for future reference: "I'm an atheist with more faith than any religious believer." In brief, here's what came to mind that led to the idea for this blog post.

I have faith in reality.

Not just bits and pieces of reality, but reality as a whole -- the entire unimaginably vast cosmos, including the aspects that we humans currently know about and also the parts that remain a mystery. Sure, I also have faith in discrete entities. My doctors. Scientists. My VW GTI. My MacBook Pro.

But it isn't possible to have 100% faith in anything discrete.

For example, every finding of science is open to revision if new facts are revealed. Ditto for my faith in my car, which has had defects that needed to be fixed. And certainly ditto for religious leaders, even those like Gurinder Singh Dhillon that are supposedly "perfect masters."

Yet even given all that, I believe in a cosmos that operates according to some beautiful laws of cause and effect.

This applies at the quantum level also, though the laws appear to be more probabilistic than deterministic. Still, probability is a law, or quantum mechanics wouldn't be such a precise science that's responsible for much of our modern technology.

So my mantra is: "I open myself to reality, however it may appear." I wrote a blog post about this: "An atheist meditation that pleases God."

Where I went astray during many of my 35 years of being devoted to RSSB and the Sant Mat meditation practice was having undue faith in a particular aspect of reality. Namely, RSSB and the gurus in that tradition. My observation is that many others fall into the same trap.

They ignore evidence that doesn't fit into their mental model of what reality is like.

But reality doesn't give a shit about our mental models. Reality is simply what it is: reality. As another favorite saying of mine from Philip K. Dick puts it, "Reality is that which, when we stop believing in it, doesn't go away."

The guru's financial dealings/wrongdoing aren't a matter of belief. They're well documented. But RSSB devotees are so used to relying on belief, they aren't able to accept that no matter what they believe, reality remains.

So no, I don't believe that faith and reason are opposed.

At least, not in how I view faith: as trust in a reality that exists independent of our beliefs about it. Thus my view is that it's up to us humans to do our best to understand reality, not for reality to comport with our beliefs about it. That latter option leads to magical thinking.

I see it all the time in comments on this blog. RSSB devotees feel that if they only scream loudly enough into cyberspace, "The guru did nothing wrong! The guru is God! Stop criticizing the guru!", somehow this will change the reality of the guru's behavior.

All of our mental models are false to some extent.

However, we get so attached to them, often there is no crack in the mental model armor where greater and more accurate knowledge can enter.

Religious people are especially prone to this, because their need to believe that not only this life, but also their afterlife, is in the hands of a higher power is so strong, so compelling, so desperate, their reluctance to adjust their mental religious model is equally strong.

With my VW GTI, which I like a lot but am not hugely devoted to, I still found it difficult to accept that a creaking in the sunroof really was a major defect. I tried quite a few ways to fix it before it finally dawned on me, and my dealership, that the whole thing needed to be replaced, basically. See: "My VW had a creaky sunroof. Here's the tale of a 5-week repair."  

There's an analogy here.

Sometimes an entire mental model needs major refurbishing, or even replacement. That's what happened with me and the RSSB teachings. Well, looks like I just wrote a good portion of the above-mentioned planned post. Thanks for giving me that head start.

And here's the excerpts from the above-mentioned "Just have faith" post.

Faith is wonderful.
Faith is all we need to be spiritual.
Just faith. Faith alone.
So we shouldn't have faith in anything other than pure, naked, empty faith.

...Here's how to tell the difference between true faith and false faith:

Imagine that you are standing in the middle of a bare windowless room. Two doors lead out of the room. Both are closed, but can be opened with a turn of the doorknob. The doors are marked with signs that describe what awaits on the other side: (A) Reality, (B) Belief

After you open a door, you have to walk through it. The door then will shut and you never will be able to leave the place you have entered.

Choose Reality and you will know things as they really are, from top to bottom of the cosmos.

You will know whether or not God exists and, if so, the nature of this ultimate divinity. You will know whether death is the final end of your existence or if it is the beginning of another form of life. You will know whether there is a meaning to the universe beyond what human beings ascribe to it.

Or, choose Belief and you will know only what lies within the confines of your current suppositions about the nature of the cosmos.

For the rest of your life you will be confident that what you believe to be true, really is. Any evidence to the contrary will not make an impact on your mind. You will remain doubt-free, faithful to the beliefs you now hold about God, creation, life, death, and the purpose of human existence.

Which door would you choose to walk through?

Before answering, consider carefully the potential ramifications of your choice. Reality is an unknown, a mystery. It could be frightening or fabulous, painful or pleasurable, warmly loving or coldly uncaring. Do you want to embrace absolutely real reality? Or would you rather hold on to your beliefs about what is real?

Someone with the type of faith extolled by the Church of the Churchless would unhesitatingly choose Door A and boldly stride into Reality. For their faith is not in anything particular, but is a faith that truth can be known, should be known, and, indeed, must be known.

Gurinder Singh Dhillon isn't adhering to the message of "Honest Living"

Below is a recent comment written by Radh(er Not) Soami that struck me as well worth sharing as a blog post. The comment points to something important that I feel has been overlooked by defenders of the Radha Soami Satsang Beas guru who are fond of saying, "Innocent until proven guilty!"

(If you're not familiar with what the guru, Gurinder Singh Dhillon (GSD), has been accused of, it is a conspiracy to commit massive financial fraud and death threats. A criminal complaint filed against the guru is discussed in "Legal filing against Gurinder Singh Dhillon is fascinating reading.")

The important thing being overlooked is how strange it is that a spiritual leader with millions of followers, who is considered to be God in Human Form according to the teachings of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), is at risk of being convicted of engaging in financial fraud and making death threats against people who demanded their money back.

Nothing remotely this scandalous has ever occurred in the lineage of RSSB gurus. And as you can read in the following comment, RSSB has even published a book called "Honest Living" whose message is decidedly at odds with how the guru who leads this organization has been conducting his life.

Read on for what Radh(er Not) Soami says. The family settlement letter mentioned in this comment can be read in this post. 

@jay, you wrote:
"So far no one has disputed the accuracy of the bad news about the RSSB guru"
Brian, this pinpoints where we disagree. Strictly speaking, the facts (a thing that is known or proved to be true) presented have all [been] about the associates of the RSSB guru. But they're not facts about the actions of Gurinder Singh himself.

Does the letter written by GSD talking about the Family Settlement, reversal of properties, and settling of accounts constitute "facts" with some "accuracy of the bad news", or at least admission of some "facts" with some "accuracy" of the news, whether bad or not?

To all RSSB defenders, please help me in putting this scandal in the context of Honest Living. As opposed to the previous RSSB related dramas, this one cuts directly to the heart of what the head himself does in his private life, something 99.99% of the sangat is not privy to, and something that he has not been transparent to us at all, ever.

Not in their books, wikipedia page, or even on their own website. Not even now! And here I thought Saints like Nanak and Kabir show openness and transparency to set themselves up as good role models for the followers.

Most people tend to think that GSD has (or had) business in Spain. And that is all, the end of thinking and discussion.

Honest Living book:
Page 21: Honest living necessitates self-control. It requires that we exercise restraint in all our dealings, that we use our sense of judgement, our God-given gift of discrimination, to shape our lives. Honesty implies being faithful to our spouse, or, if we are not married, being faithful to a chaste life. It implies fairness and justice, openness and transparency, the absence of deceit—in contrast to wealth, power and passion, which lead to oppression, extortion, deception and pain.

Page 34: The extreme subtleties of the law. The law of karma is inexorable and subtle beyond our imagination. For example, even if we are party to someone else’s dishonourable actions, we too are culpable as an accessory to the suffering caused.

The second quote clearly highlights the reason for our moral, ethical, spiritual, and legal dilemma here - allegedly a fraud on such a grand scale, discomfort due to this round of news cycle that is not even remotely in the league of previous RSSB related controversies (and I thought I had heard it all ever since joining this mission), and inability to easily shake it off when put in the context of "spiritual before material wealth", "living within one's means" and "not even a single grain..." mantra of Honest Living.

If one were to say this drama is all his wife's or sons' doing as far as his family involvement is concerned, then they are not the ones writing a signed letter to Singh bros either. And they are not the ones to whom Malav [Malvinder Singh] has addressed his reply letter either. They are also not the ones with whom Shivinder is siding with, and Malav going to court against.

That alone should tell you about who likely pulls all the strings on the Dhillon empire side and the level of involvement.

The language in the GSD letter also does not suggest or say "my wife and my sons or family got a loan and would like to settle with you" or appear to act on their behalf. When asked about being called as the third brother of Singhs, Sunny G [Sunil Godhwani] also says his allegiance is to the guru and guru alone. Perhaps that could also give you some hint.

And then you look at the other RSSB characters involved. A natural question arises about who the fountainhead of all these activities is or the head cooks involved in baking this dish are. Even if only occasional gusts of wind have blown (yet), the picture does not seem to be rosy behind the curtain.

To me, this letter and the "fact" that a coterie of RSSB leaders were installed on most significant and top positions of Singh empire, indicate that the crisis could not have come from and just due to the actions of GSD family members alone on the Dhillon side.

But that he himself was involved to a large extent, even if not in day to day activities (more like a 36,000 ft view than a bird's eye view). But he simply could not have been passively involved as a mentor or business consultant. And if actively involved, should he then not be "culpable as an accessory to the suffering caused" due to "someone else’s dishonourable actions" like in the quote above?

So GSD's involvement for sure is there, what needs to be ascertained is a) how much, and b) whether it was knowingly malign at any point during this saga or simply a cruel fate resulting from vagaries of economic cycle.

Even if that is settled, what needs to be truthfully questioned - as if our soul's fate depended on it, which actually it is if we go by GIHF-moksha formula - is that, as an RSSB Saint, should he have indulged in all these affairs to such a ginormous extent, lest the name of the organization is tainted even by remote association?

This is not to say that you can't run a business. To the best of our knowledge, he already was running a small business. But then when the scale of effort goes from 1X to 1000X or more, then how do you rationalize the involvement in gathering of such large scale material wealth, particularly when you are a spiritual head. What is the objective?

It is one thing to have a cool business idea where you can rationalize you are helping society in some way or bringing something new and along the way a misstep or two inadvertently occured.

But it is totally different when it is simply garden variety real estate hoarding on a massive scale and that too done with questionable practices like Trump family's bankruptcy strategies. Most stable and well-known businesses expand on a 2-3X scale.

Some here are confusing loans with donation! I am sorry, even if these were donations, they were not routed to RSSB. And if it were to him or his family, how could he even accept it as a living honorable Saint?

What happened to those stories that Saints don't take a penny/paisa even if a King comes to their door and leave gold bullions, diamonds, etc? Weren't they supposed to earn their own wages for themselves and their family? And that they live within their means and not covet what belonged to others..

And then how do we square these revelations with the mission: as the spiritual head, who best to show us the way to live within one's means, to set himself up as the best example of what is taught in "Honest Living", and to focus on spiritual gains more than on material wealth?

It's also equally absurd to think that somehow the master is arranging/planning a grand heist to shake us from our beliefs and concepts and see who the true believers are or separate the wheat from chaff. What an aweful way to do it and that too pulled off on a decade and a half long initiative, with suffering of many non-satsangis (yet curiously enrichment of some satsangis).

This kind of reasoning is a cousin to the beliefs of Jesus fanatics thinking Grand Canyon or dinosaurs or fossil records were put by him to mess with our beliefs and test our faith. Is Earth really 6000 years old and really flat? If they have to test it, they can equally walk into a bar or put an alcohol bottle with some chicken tandoori on the satsang dais and see what happens, without this much scandalous pain.

Or is it simply what it appears on surface, the classical mantra: "Do as I say and not as I do"!

Relevant to this critcal question of ethics, morality, and spirituality, which to my mind is even more important than the legality of the situtation, is if the Singhs' direct relatives (Huzur and his family members) did not get involve in business initiatives with Ranbaxy empire - likely a carefully considered position - then why did GSD agree to work with the Singh brothers on such a large scale and not follow the path of his predecessor?

Clearly, it wasn't just mentorship. And it's not like GSD's sons or his wife were India's most successful businessmen or had the experience necessary that led to the fateful decision by the Singhs that parting ways with nearly 1/3rd of their hard earned money (actually their fathers') for a lucrative business, is a no-brainer!

His sons were just in the 20's during this time frame (in 2009, Gary would be 24 and Gurkirat just 18) and had not done any serious venture of any sort to showcase their talent. This would be true of GSD's wife as well. On what grounds were the Religare shares awarded to the two GSD sons in 2006?

Even some in the RSSB inner circles seem to think that GSD's wife lives the life of a sevadar and can't possibly do this on her own. (Was that snippet in the orginial Bloomberg article?)

MMS [Malvinder Mohan Singh] also doesn't seem to be targeting or talking about his sons or wife but rather refer to him being involved as a mentor and allegedly a behind-the-scene business partner, an involvement that has turned into a legal (and unholy) quagmire.

Evidently, the whole conglomeration transpired because of GSD due to his experience in dera activities, real estate dealings as well as the experience of dera head honchos who regularly conducted such dealings.

A degree of youthful naivete and trustfulness of Singhs coupled with the experience of GSD/RSSB honchos likely lured the Singh bros into marrying mentorship with business. The awarded shares in the names of wife and sons were likely a dowry for this marriage. They were not in his own name to present a clean image to sangat and avoid probe. But the timely sale of Rabaxy sealed the fateful path.

One's you ponder over it, you will see why many of us are uncomfortable with these revelations and are seriously questioning not only his pivotal role and the involvement of dubious practices but even the very decision to participate in such a large-scale wealth gathering effort in the first place.

Again, what is the objective? And if his heart was clean, then as a spiritual mentor, why did he not call into question or intervene in the dubious practices by his family, Godhwani, and the Singh bros?

It does not appear that he was not acquainted with issues cropping up, given the settlement plans first discussed in 2013, then in 2016, then 2018 letter, followed by Malav's rebuttal letter. Undeniably, there must have been more discussions involved than what just appears on paper.

I applaud what Brian is doing here. He is surely not a saint and can be rightly biased, but then how else do you reveal the truth than by asking tough questions?

“Truth has nothing to do with the conclusion, and everything to do with the methodology.” ― Stefan Molyneux

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him will believeth in anything. - Hitchens 3:16”
― Christopher Hitchens

“When we blindly adopt a religion, a political system, a literary dogma, we become automatons.”
― Anaïs Nin

If you care for truth, then I say right now your heart and mind should say: "I want truth and nothing but the complete truth". It is better to die living with an uncomfortable truth than living with "ignorance is bliss". So ask we must, and ask as assiduously as we can to peel behind this curtain. If there is nothing to be seen, well then how lucky will we be!

India's business reputation is at stake in Singh brothers/RSSB financial saga

It's a tale that deserves to be made into a Bollywood movie. But the plot line has some serious consequences for how India is viewed by investors and businesspeople worldwide.

Here's how a potential investor in an India enterprise might view the tangled web of illegal financial dealings involving Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, a.k.a. the Singh brothers, and their uncle (or maybe cousin) -- Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB).

Hey, I like your business plan. But I've been reading about how an Indian guru installed his right hand man as CEO of a company controlled by his billionaire nephews, who also were devotees of the guru. Then the guru's guy, Sunil Godhwani, orchestrated hundreds of millions of dollars of illegal loans to shell companies managed by the guru's family and close associates. They never repaid the loans, and now the company the money was siphoned from, Religare, says Godhwani was part of a criminal conspiracy. This is freaking weird stuff. How do I know that some guru isn't going to take control of your company and rob me of my investment?

A Bloomberg story shared in the Washington Post, "India's Crony Capitalist Edifice is Creaking," helps explain why the Singh brothers/RSSB financial wrongdoing has broader implications. Here's how the story starts out. I've boldfaced the mention of the Singh brothers and their guru.

A smug, entitled business class driven by greed and hubris, but sorely lacking in resources to legitimize their control. I could be describing the India Inc. of today – or 1959. Nothing much has changed.

Jet Airways Ltd., India’s oldest surviving private-sector airline, is about to crash land. Founder Naresh Goyal neither brought in enough new equity of his own to rescue the debt-laden carrier, nor did he allow a timely sale to suitors who wanted the business, albeit without him. Jet may yet survive, but it’s touch-and-go. Or take the country’s second-largest hospital chain, put into the trauma room by its founders’ 4 billion rupee ($56 million) fraud. Fortis Healthcare Ltd. wants brothers Malvinder and Shivinder Singh arrested. Complicating matters, Malvinder has accused Shivinder of siphoning funds from the family holding company and diverting them to a spiritual guru. The whole thing is an unholy mess.

For at least six decades, scholars and policy makers have been aware of the strain placed by India’s feudal system of corporate governance on capital formation, job creation and growth. Yet the last major reform was in 1969, which ironically was also when India was nationalizing banks and lurching toward a more virulent socialism. Subsequently, globalization caught up with India, the economy opened up and attracted hundreds of billion dollars in foreign capital, but the foundations of corporate structure stayed weak. It’s only now, when the edifice is showing cracks, that it’s becoming clear a fresh coat of paint alone won’t suffice.

This helps explain why the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court said this to the Singh brothers recently:

The court, then referring to the foreign tribunal award in the favour of Daiichi, told Singh brothers: "It is not just about Rs 4000 Crore or individual honour It is a question of honour for the country. It doesn't do good for the country. You were once the flag- bearers of this country. Pay your debts and come out of this."

So why are the Singh brothers having so much difficulty coming up with the Rs 4000 crore, which is about $577 million? A big reason is that around $870 million is owed them by guru Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family via illegal loans that haven't been paid back.

Here's a graphic from India's Business Today that I included in a post, "Financial dealings of RSSB guru relate to India Supreme Court hearing."

The good news for India is that investigations are being conducted into the financial fraud with the twin goals of (1) recovering the money that ended up in the pockets of the guru, his family, and associates, and (2) learning who was responsible for the fraud besides Shivinder Mohan Singh (SMS below), Malvinder Mohan Singh (MMS below), Sunil Godhwani (SG below), and N.K. Ghoshal (NKG below).

Here's an excerpt from a complaint filed recently with the Delhi Economic Offences Wing by Religare Finvest Limited (RFL), one of the public companies that lost money when the illegal loans were made to the Dhillon family and others. REL stands for Religare Enterprises Ltd. I've boldfaced parts for emphasis.

22. In this context it is relevant to mention that RFL is ultimately owned by REL which in turn is largely held by public shareholders. Any loss caused to RFL is a loss to public shareholders. 



It is evident from the replies of the aforesaid 7 entities that they did not intend to return the loan to RFL from inception of the transaction. The MoUs signed were documents created dishonestly to give the colour of genuine transactions to sham transactions the purpose of which was only to siphon away /misappropriate money(s) of the Complainant Company. 



It appears that SMS, MMS, SG, NKG and other unknown persons (being the directors and employees of the 7 entities at the relevant time) colluded to wrongfully gain at the expense of the Complainant Company. 



SMS and MMS breached the trust reposed in them by the Complainant Company, its shareholders, including REL and the public shareholders of REL. 


Since it appears that Dhillon family members at one time were directors of some of the seven entities mentioned above, the guru's wife and sons now could be the target of investigators, as I wrote about in "Family of RSSB guru at risk of charges of criminal conspiracy."

A major remaining question is whether the guru himself will be implicated in the conspiracy. Almost certainly his family and devotees will do their best to protect Gurinder Singh Dhillon, since it would be a huge blow to the reputation of Radha Soami Satsang Beas if the organization's spiritual leader turned out to be a crook. 

But if this happened, it would be good for India as a whole. Like I said, investors and businesspeople throughout the world need reassurance that India isn't a place where gurus, or anybody, can get away with stealing money from public companies.

Family of RSSB guru at risk of charges of criminal conspiracy

Here's a follow-up to yesterday's post, "RSSB insider Sunil Godhwani charged with criminal conspiracy."

In that post I noted that a document I got of the complaint filed by attorneys representing Religare, the company from which funds were fraudulently siphoned, was difficult to read due to the formatting.

But someone sent me the document in Word format, from which I was able to first produce paragraph breaks that made the document much easier to read, and then export the file in a PDF format. Here it is:

Download Religare Complaint PDF

It's more than 20 pages long, yet well worth reading if someone wants to get a close look at how the financial fraud was committed, and what its consequences were to Religare, a public company.

One of the people specifically named in the complaint is Sunil Godhwani, who reportedly was installed as CEO of Religare at the behest of Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas.

Godhwani then used his position to illegally funnel money into shell companies, some of which have been reported to be controlled at the time by members of the Dhillon family, including the guru's wife and sons. That money then was used by the Dhillon family, at least in part, to make real estate investments -- according to stories in the Indian financial press. 

What should worry the guru and his family are several references in the Religare complaint to additional people involved in the alleged criminal conspiracy. Following are some excerpts from the complaint. I've boldfaced parts for emphasis.

ll. The facts mentioned below disclose a well thought out and organized criminal conspiracy by which a financial scam of huge magnitude has been effected by the Accused Persons namely 

(a) the 'promoters' of Religare Enterprises Limited (REL), including Mr. Malvinder Mohan Singh (MMS), resident of 'Vistas' - 26, Maulsari Avenue, Westend, Green Farm, Rajokri, New Delhi — 110038; and Mr. Shivinder Mohan Singh (SMS), resident of 1, Southend Lane, New Delhi, 110001;

(b) directors and other officers of entities owned / controlled / associated with the promoters;  [p. 3]

-------------------------------

It appears that SMS, MMS, SG, NKG and other unknown persons (being the directors and employees of the 7 entities at the relevant time) colluded to wrongfully gain at the expense of the Complainant Company. [p.17]

-------------------------------

26. The aforesaid facts appear to disclose commission of the offences of cheating, breach of trust, criminal misappropriation, criminal conspiracy, money laundering and forgery by the persons mentioned in this complaint on account of which the Complainant Company has suffered unlawful losses and such persons and other unknown persons and associates of the accused persons have obtained unlawful gains.

In view of the same, I urge you to kindly register a First Information Report basis this complaint against the accused persons mentioned hereinabove for various criminal offences committed by them, investigate the same and bring to book the perpetrators of such a large scale financial fraud. It is in public interest to investigate the aforesaid facts such that interests of public shareholders are preserved.

Thus if this complaint by Religare is investigated by Indian authorities, and it sure seems like it will be, those "unknown persons and associates of the accused persons" appear to be subject to criminal charges. 

I find it hard to believe that Gurinder Singh Dhillon's wife and sons were ringleaders of this massive financial scam. I also find it hard to believe that Godhwani and the Singh brothers funneled money into the above-mentioned shell companies without the knowledge of the RSSB guru.

Dhillon is noted for frequently saying "It's my way or the highway" in his spiritual talks.

And he was viewed by his inner circle as a trusted advisor, given his supposed status as God in Human Form, according to the RSSB teachings. Yet because his name apparently wasn't listed as a director of any of the shell companies, defenders of the guru like to claim that he was an innocent bystander in the financial fraud that benefited him, his family, and his close associates.

Again, hard to believe. 

It could come down to this: if Dhillon's wife and sons end up being charged with criminal conspiracy, will they speak about the guru's level of involvement in the financial fraud? (Ditto for Sunil Godhwani.) And if this happens, will the guru himself take responsibility for the fraud, which might lead to lesser charges being made against his family members?

Another possibility: Likely people not associated with RSSB were either involved with the fraud, or had knowledge of what was going on. Seemingly they would be motivated to cooperate with investigations into who was responsible for the siphoning of money from Religare, and who ultimately benefitted from the illegal money transfer.

Reading the Religare complaint, it struck me as decidedly odd that the perpetrators of the financial fraud thought they could get away with it. After all, transfers of money usually can be tracked by skilled accountants/investigators, even if criminals attempt to hide those tracks.

It may be that because some of the accused were devotees of the RSSB guru, somehow they assumed that the guru's supposed spiritual protection would extend to their financial wrongdoing. Well, if they made that assumption, it isn't working out very well for them.

 

RSSB insider Sunil Godhwani charged with criminal conspiracy

The wheels of justice in India keep inching closer to the guru who heads up Radha Soami Satsang Beas, Gurinder Singh Dhillon. A story in The Economic Times reports, "Delhi Police books Singh brothers & others on charges of cheating and criminal conspiracy."

(Scroll down for another blog post I just wrote relating to the RSSB guru, "Sheetal Talwar talks about death threat made from RSSB satsang office.")

One of the "others" charged with criminal conspiracy is Sunil Godhwani, who has been described as Gurinder Singh Dhillon's right-hand man. 

Someone in the know about RSSB goings-on had this to say about Godhwani and a Singh brothers company, Religare, he ran as CEO. I've boldfaced parts for emphasis.

I hope you know that the Guru and his family are the largest shareholders of the company : Religare. The business model was conceived by Gurinder, and the Singh brothers are just a front-face of the company. In the second quarter of 2009, some members of the Religare top-brass understood that ' orders ' were coming not from the CEO but from a ' higher source ' and that the CEO was nothing but a pawn in the hands of a ' Guru ' who was taking all the decisions - but was actually incognito.

They soon discovered that a shareholder by the name of ' Gurpreet Dhillon ' who was tucked away in the London office was actually the son of the leader of a large spiritual sect. A little more inquiry lead to further details that uncovered Gurinder Singh Dhillon of RSSB as the founder and ' hidden ' head-honcho of Religare. (How the leader of a spiritual sect managed to set up and drive a billion dollar company is another issue, one that I'm not going to talk about at the moment.)

Now, lets talk about Charlie's Angels. The CEO of Religare Enterprises Ltd. is an initiate named Mr. Sunil Godhwani - the personal treasurer and right-hand man of the Guru. He is also the Guru's long-time friend. Closed-door meetings are often held at Mr. Sunil Godhwani's farmhouse in New Delhi and the Guru is constantly in touch with him on the phone when they're apart. (Even the chauffeurs know about this !)

A 2018 Economic Times story had this to say about Godhwani. "Dera" refers to the headquarters of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, which is led by Gurinder Singh Dhillon.

So it's a big deal that Godhwani has been charged with criminal conspiracy, given that the conspiracy illegally siphoned money from companies controlled by Godhwani and the Singh brothers into other companies controlled by the Dhillon family, and thus into the pockets of the RSSB guru and his relatives.

Here's excerpts from the new Economic Times story. REL stands for "Religare Enterprises Ltd.", the company Godhwani was the CEO of. 

The complaint, which forms the part of the FIR — accessed by ET— alleges that Singh brothers, in collusion with the co-accused, had “orchestrated the financial scam in or around 2016”.

It accuses the two brothers of hatching “a well thought out and organised criminal conspiracy by which a financial scam of huge magnitude has been effected (sic)”. The complainant has sought tracing and restitution of its properties. Singh brothers were promoters of REL till February 2018 and, as promoters, they “exercised deep and pervasive control over the management of RFL since it was a subsidiary company”.

The complaint (part of the FIR) further reads “REL is of the belief, also shared by RFL, that Singh brothers and Sunil Godhwani colluded and siphoned off funds from REL and its subsidiaries which include RFL and committed corporate fraud”.

...The complainant has said that despite red flags raised by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Singh brothers did not take corrective action and continued with the “financial scam”.

It adds “from records it is apparent that RBI from time-to-time had expressed concerns regarding the CLB portfolio of RFL. But these concerns were not addressed by the promoters. RBI had specifically raised concerns about the promoters using their influence for disbursal of high-value unsecured loans to entities with no financial standing (but controlled or associated with the promoters) and breach of corporate governance norms.”

Now, though Gurinder Singh Dhillon isn't mentioned in the complaint, he and his family should be deeply worried about this new development. 

Let's note a few things in the "Singh Bros in the Soup" image above.

First, "Complainant has sought tracing and restitution of its properties." Thus the reconstituted board of Religare wants to know what happened to the money that was siphoned off by the Singh brothers, Sunil Godhwani, and unnamed other people. The board also wants to get the money back.

Second, "REL and RFL have filed a separate complaint with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs for an investigation into the said fraud." So there's going to be more digging into how the criminal conspiracy operated.

Someone sent me a copy of the complaint, but the formatting makes it really hard to read. Here's the PDF file:
Download Religare complaint

I did manage to read enough of it to find a mention of some of the companies that got the fraudulently diverted money from Religare. There are many shell companies mentioned in the criminal complaint. Here's two screenshots.

The screenshot below gives an overall description of the fraud. MMS refers to Malvinder Mohan Singh, SMS to Shivinder Mohan Singh, and SG to Sunil Godhwani. The complaint says that the loans were never intended to be repaid by the shell companies.

This screenshot mentions some of the shell companies. Note that Prius Real Estate and Modland Wears are two of the companies. Also, that Modland admits getting the fraudulent money, which was then disbursed to the "intended recipients."

So let's turn now to a post I wrote in 2018, "Business Today reports about Gurinder Singh Dhillon's suspicious financial dealings." Here's excerpts I shared from the Business Today story. I've boldfaced some parts for emphasis.

Dhillon has headed the [RSSB] sect since inheriting it in 1990 from maternal uncle Charan Singh who was the spiritual guru between 1951 and 1990. Charan Singhs daughter Nimmi Singh is Malvinder & Shivinders mother and wife of Late Parvinder Singh. Thus, Dhillon is the brothers' maternal uncle.

In comes confidante Godhwani, who was recommended and backed by Dhillon to run non-banking finance company Religare Enterprises. The Singhs often referred to him as their third brother but he once said he owed his allegiance to nobody except Dhillon.

...Once the proceeds of the Ranbaxy sale were received, the Singh brothers paid nearly Rs2,000 crore in taxes and previous loan repayments. Of the remaining Rs7,500 crore, Rs1,750 crore were invested in Religare to fund its growth; about Rs2,230 crore was invested in Fortis' growth.

But most importantly, Rs2,700 crore were transferred to companies owned by the Dhillon family, Gurinder Dhillons wife Shabnam Dhillon and companies associated with RSSB's senior functionaries. While Religare and Fortis are examples of reckless expansion and its consequences, the money transferred to Dhillon and associates-which (with interest) is now estimated to be between Rs4000-5,000 crore-remains unpaid to the Singhs.

It isnt clear why this money was never returned. Dhillon and the Singh brothers did not respond to detailed questions on whether this money was owed to Dhillon and associates for any previous transactions or was only loaned to them.

...'Prius Platinum, Ground Floor, D3, District Centre, Saket, New Delhi-110017' could pass off as a nondescript address. Until you notice a striking similarity: Company after company registering it as their official address in the RoC records. At least 16 at last count. Many of them have even declared the same email ID in the RoC records: [email protected]; and are also being audited by the same firm.

Prius Real Estate, Prius Commercial Projects, Best Healthcare, Modland Wears, Fern Healthcare, Addon Realty, Hillgrow Infrastructure, Bestest Developers, Platinum Infrastructure. Even the Singh family's holding companies, RHC Holding and Oscar Investments, have declared it as their address.

Nearly Rs2,700 crore was routed to these Dhillon-RSSB functionaries companies between 2009 and 2012 through a layered and complex web of subsidiaries. Of that, Rs2,000 crore was invested in two firms--Prius Real Estate and Prius Commercial Projects.

RoC records say Prius Commercial is 84 per cent owned by Dhillons wife Shabnam and 16 per cent by RSSB Delhi head Yuvraj Narain Gorwaney. Prius Real Estate is 50:50 owned by Dhillons elder son Gurpreet and RSSBs Rajveer Singh.

Thus it sure seems like the Dhillon family is facing some additional legal challenges. They were owners of shell companies mentioned in the Religare criminal conspiracy complaint as having participated in the fraud, and the Dhillons also were recipients of the fraudulently obtained money.

Sheetal Talwar talks about death threat made from RSSB satsang office

I've got a couple of stories from the India press regarding the RSSB/Singh Brothers saga to share today. Scroll up for the story regarding a criminal complaint (once it's written).

The one I'm sharing in this post relates to another criminal complaint alleging a death threat made against filmmaker Sheetal Talwar after he tried to recover a $1.25 million loan he made to Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB). See yesterday's post, "RSSB guru made death threats, says India filmmaker."

Now, it was associates of the guru who made the death threats, not the guru himself.

This is what also is alleged to have happened after Malvinder Singh refused to sign an agreement that apparently would have absolved the guru of having to repay a much larger amount of money. Read all about this in the other criminal complaint filed against Dhillon, which I wrote about in "Legal filing against Gurinder Singh Dhillon is fascinating reading." 

Here in the United States we've learned a lot from investigations into wrongdoing by our hopefully one-term president, Donald Trump. 

Legal analysts commenting on the investigations frequently point out that organized crime bosses, such as a Mafia boss, often don't give direct orders to their underlings. Instead of saying, "Kill Joe Brown," they'll say something like "It would be best if Joe Brown couldn't cause problems for us anymore."

The bosses' underlings know what he wants them to do: kill Joe Brown. So they do this.

Trump's long-time attorney, Michael Cohen, has testified that Trump would do the same thing. Everyone would know what Trump wanted them to do, even without Trump explicitly saying it. 

It's possible this is what occurred in the two death threats made by people associated with the RSSB guru. Alternatively, the guru could have issued a direct order that the death threats be made. We won't know unless the criminal complaints are thoroughly investigated.

Here's excerpts from a Masala story, "Producer Sheetal Talwar Alleges Death Threats From Godman Followed by Shahid Kapoor and His Family." My comments are in red. 
Download Producer Sheetal Talwar Alleges Death Threats From Godman Followed by Shahid Kapoor and His Family -

What is the nature of the threats you are getting from RSSB chief Baba Gurinder Dhillon and why ?
It was a simple and powerful threat, that if I did NOT stop pursuing my debt and did not withdraw my case against the directors and the company Megabrave (where the money was lent), I would face dire consequences and so would my immediate family.

Of course in my mind, this threat could not have been from Babaji, but would have been from an over-enthusiastic member of his inner circle - which is why I documented it down on e-mail to his team and marked even his assistant. To my surprise, no one even attempted to get to the bottom of it, specifically as the call was from a landline in their satsang office, which would obviously have CCTV cameras.

Well, if the RSSB guru ("Babaji") didn't have anything to do with the death threat, it sure seems like Dhillon would apologize to Talwar and vow to get to the bottom of this, punishing the "over-enthusiastic member of his inner circle" who caused the threat to be made. Instead, nothing was done, which reeks of criminality. It would have to be someone very close to the guru, if not the guru himself, since how many people would know about the loan and Dhillon's refusal to repay the $1.25 million?

...Do you think this incident reflects on the growing criminalizing of religion in our country ?
I think this reflects not on not only the criminalizing of religion, but if you move to the genesis of it, it actually stems from the growing endemic mix of spirituality, politics, business and money. The power in being a guru or then being thought of as God in Human form by millions of followers is absolute - and like in any other field - such belief and power corrupts.

I heartily agree with Talwar. A Mafia boss commands tremendous loyalty from his underlings without them considering the boss to be God in Human Form. Just imagine what would happen if, as Talwar says, they did view the boss in this fashion. This is the case with the RSSB guru, which is why so many of his devotees are willing to do anything for him. Even unethical or criminal things. Yes, belief and power corrupts. 

RSSB guru made death threats, says India filmmaker

Looks like a pattern. When Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) is asked to repay money he owes, he doesn't pay up, then makes death threats against the person who wants their money back. 

This is alleged by Malvinder Singh in a criminal complaint filed against the RSSB guru. And now Sheetal Talwar, a filmmaker, is alleging that he also received death threats after trying to recover a $1.25 million loan given to the guru.

A Business Today story tells the sorry tale. I've shared it below. 

Astoundingly, Dhillon requested the money in 2015 to help pay for his cancer treatment. But now this supposed "spiritual" leader not only won't repay the money, his associates are threatening physical harm to Talwar and his family.

I'm baffled by how anybody can consider this guy to be God in Human form, as the RSSB teachings claim. Not only isn't he God, Gurinder Singh Dhillon isn't even as moral as a normal human being.

Most people would be grateful that someone loaned them money for cancer treatment. But Dhillon isn't. While serving as the RSSB guru he and his family have sucked in almost a billion dollars from other fraudulent loans, yet he won't pay back the $1.25 million loaned him by  Talwar. 

What a jerk.

This includes the people who do the guru's bidding without asking themselves, "Is this wrong? Should I really do what the guru wants?" They've surrendered their inherent human morality to a fake guru who cares much more about gaining worldly wealth than doing the right thing. 

Here's the Business Today story. I've boldfaced some especially disturbing parts.

In a curious twist in the ongoing saga of Singh brothers' missing billions, an NRI film producer Sheetal Vinod Talwar has approached the Economic Offences Wing of Mumbai alleging he has been threatened with life after his lawyers pursued repayment of $1.25 million paid supposedly towards Radha Soami Satsang chief Gurinder Singh Dhillon's treatment abroad. "I was coaxed into parting with $1.25 million towards Gurinder Singh Dhillon's treatment and allied expenses in 2015. Dhillon spoke to me twice to help with funds," Talwar told BusinessToday.In in a written response. Money was given to Hong Kong-based company Mega Brave Limited run by RSSB's Lakhi Samtani & Manoj Sabnani.

This is the second criminal complaint against the Baba and RSSB associates. Earlier, on Feb 5, Malvinder Singh had approached the Economic Offences Wing in Delhi accusing Baba Dhillon of threatening through lawyer Ferida Chopra that Malvinder would be eliminated. Malvinder had sought payment of Rs 8,742 crore towards money loaned to firms owned by Dhillon, his family and RSSB associates.

Dhillon did not respond to a detailed email seeking response to Talwar's allegations. Sources close to Shivinder have called the allegations "false" and "rubbish".

Talwar though is a National Film Award winning International film producer and angel investor. His first feature film 'Dharm' was acknowledged with the National Film Award. It premiered at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. Talwar has produced films such as 'Rann' starring Amitabh Bachchan, 'Mausam' with Shahid Kapoor, 'Rakta Charitra' starring Surya. Among international films, he produced 'The Joneses' starring Demi Moore, the Martin Freeman starrer 'The Eichmann Show', 'Romans' starring Orlando Bloom.

During Sunil Godhwani's tenure at Religare, Talwar launched India's first SEBI-registered film fund - Vistaar Religare.

In his complaint before the Economic Offences Wing of Mumbai on 20 November, 2018, Talwar has alleged that in 2015, Sunil Godhwani and RSSB's Sharan Bhojwani introduced him to directors of a Hong Kong based company Mega Brave Limited-Lakhi Samtani & Manoj Sabnani. He was told Samtani and Sabnani were intimately connected to RSSB. When they found him reluctant to lend, Talwar says Dhillon spoke to him to assure that the money repayment should not be a problem as the borrowers were "extremely wealthy in their own right and it was only because of some immediate restrictions and his health that they were unable to transfer the said amount of $1.25 million".

The complaint filed by Talwar's lawyers Probus Legal alleges Dhillon "took advantage of Mr Talwar's faith and respect towards him and lured him into parting with such a huge amount of money". The petition says despite the fact that "the said advance was a short term loan, our client (Talwar) did not receive any money".

In his complaint before EOW, Talwar annexed an email he wrote to RSSB's Sharan Bhojwani on March 20, 2017, detailing the threatening call: "I am shocked at the turn of events. About 30 mins ago I got a call from a Delhi no. threatening me with dire consequences if I pursued the legal option at Hong Kong. I and my family at Delhi were threatened with physical harm if I did anything that troubled Babaji."

"I was told that Sunny (Sunil Godhwani) and Babaji could not make the payments as it (Religare) had hit the LERMS limit. And that I would be reimbursed when the fiscal began. The requests came from Sunil Godhwani, Sharan Bhojwani and Shivinder. However, I have not been paid the full amount till date inspite of repeated reminders. I have received life threats on phone when my lawyers pursued the balance payments," Talwar told BusinessToday.In in a written response.

"My various emails/calls reminding them about repayment fell into deaf ears and were ignored. This forced me to approach the EOW and take appropriate legal action", Talwar adds in his response to BusinessToday.In.

A RSSB believer shares a balanced view of the guru's financial dealings

Ah, it's so refreshing to see the following comment from someone who appears to be an initiate of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, yet is bothered by mindless defenses of the RSSB guru (Gurinder Singh Dhillon), who is linked to investigations of massive financial fraud.

The comment was posted by "In Search Of" today.

I like the pen name. We're all in search of something. Hopefully that includes the truth, and willingness to listen to a variety of opinions. Plus, embracing new facts about reality as we learn them, then adjusting our view of the world accordingly.

The only thing I'll note regarding this comment was the reference to the Singh brothers needing about a billion dollars to fulfill their legal obligations.

This is close to the roughly $800 million worth of loans made to the Dhillon family by the Singh brothers through their holding company. (See image at end of this post.) And Malvinder's criminal complaint alleges that at least some of those loans were made in a fraudulent fashion.

Here's the comment. Baba Ji refers to Gurinder Singh Dhillon.

Uh oh, looks like the crazy fanatical RSSBers are starting to latch on to the posts here. The reason for this is that these posts are the only information and discussions happening on a live basis. One can immediately see the ones posting with blind faith and regurgitating the same mindless stuff discussed at house parties and so on.

No one knows anything really. Even if there is a response from the Dhillon family, it will be viewed with bias. But the comments displayed on this post and the most recent one by Brian have responses that are nonsensical and don't add anything to the debate/conversation.

Comment by Sorav : "You have got no right to talk against about my god" Baba Ji would not stand for that comment. Nor the other crazy comments on the other posts. Relax folks. Have a normal conversation and discuss the possibilities, view the numerous angles and probe the reasons and morality of the situation.

Just spouting off nonsensical stuff like that above serves no purpose and only intensifies the belief by every other person not associated with RSSB that we are all mindless beings just trolling and not presenting any meaningful insight.

No one knows what Mr. Dhillon was thinking, doing, or what his involvement was in this. Clearly there is something, but what? When your name and family members are on the board of these companies transferring obscene amounts of money back and forth, the board members must be privy to it. There's is no doubt about it.

The daily day to day running of the Dera goes through the management team and so to say Baba Ji has his hands on everything day to day is not true. He handles the exceptions or when he personally sees them. I know for a fact he is more involved in the outside centers being built around the world, than he is in the day to day running of the Dera.

When the media was asking the Secretary at the Dera about Shivinder being the next in line, and his response to it saying that as a Secretary he would know if anything like that was going to happen. I call BS on that. The secretary is not going to be in the loop on that discussion, bet you $1 Billion dollars on that. He'll be in the dark until the last minute.

So everyone just freaking take a deep breath and think it through. Take the RSSB filter off the head and just look at the facts.

Is it 100% for sure that the Dhillons orchestrated this mess? Probably not 100%, but definitely well over 50% chance.

Which for me is quite unsettling and more so disappointing. But the faith in the teachings still holds hope that there is slim chance it's not what it seems. The mounting info and SEBI findings are definitely pointing in the direction of finding fault the Dhillon's actions..

Spence has done a great job in parsing through the data and flow of money.

One thing I have to point out is that the $1 billion dollar amount includes the Daiichi settlement. Which is not part of the Dhillon scenario. The implication is that Malav and Shivi don't have the assets to pay the $500M dollar settlement, UNLESS they can get the money owed back from loans from the Dhillon companies. That's the rub.

Great discussions though, and when we stick to the findings by SEBI and the court orders, we can only use that to find any conclusions.

As for me, I'm just disappointed that it's come to this. I don't discuss this with my elderly mother who's entire life has revolved around satsang and seva, and she would be devastated by the news. She would probably deny it anyways... as most RSSB flamers have proven on this blog.

Just simply disappointed.

UPDATE: here's another thoughtful comment from "In Search Of."

There's a saying in Punjabi. Guru is like a raging fire. One should keep their distance from the Guru. Stand too far away and you won't feel the warmth of the fire. Stand too close and you'll be burned.

For the sangat or followers of RSSB that have never been up close and observed the guru have no idea what his private life is.

He is an enigma to the 95% of followers. That 5% that are close, get a glimpse. Even sometimes that's not the real Gurinder Dhillon. There are a few among that inner circle who know what he does and they are so close and embedded that they can't back out or withdraw. Due to guilt, faith, I'm not sure.

But the real person Gurinder Dhillon is, I believe, a far cry from the persona projected before the masses.

Maybe he's realized the RSSB books have been "cleaned" to such an extent that the reality has been lost in the dogma now permeating the sangat. Not sure, but it looks like he's trying to make a sea change in the thinking process of the followers and realized that the old guard will not change but the younger followers aren't convinced or unwilling to go on blind faith.

Maybe he gave up on it after going thru the cancer treatment, who knows? Perception is sometimes more powerful than the truth. Works both ways sometimes.

Even if Baba Ji comes out of this without any dirt on him or his family, the perception is there. It's been tainted and I don't honestly know where i would go from there. The trust and faith has been tampered with. May be a good opportunity to take the good things from RSSB and mate them with some introspection and exploration. Will have to wait and see.

Why the RSSB guru is alleged to be involved with criminal activity

I'm grateful to commenters on my blog posts for reinforcing my conviction that religiously-minded people often are incapable of recognizing reality. Not always. Often. 

Case in point: some regular commenters, who I assume read my posts before they comment on them, keep on ignoring facts about the scandalous drama concerning financial dealings involving a Bollywood-like cast of characters. Here's an overview of the drama.

-- The once-billionaire Singh brothers, Malvinder and Shivinder, whose business empire has been reduced to almost nothing following a string of poor decisions and fraudulent loans.

-- The Singh brothers are relatives of the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), who came to be both their spiritual guide and father figure.

-- The guru, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, orchestrated the installation of his right-hand man, Sunil Godhwani, as the leader of some Singh brother business entities. Family members of Dhillon, plus other RSSB insiders, controlled shell companies that got fraudulent loans from Singh brothers' entities.

-- Malvinder Singh has filed a criminal complaint against the guru, Godhwani, and Dhillon family members.

-- SEBI, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, has uncovered "fictitious and fraudulent" financial transactions that need to be repaid. Separately, the Supreme Court of India is requiring the Singh brothers to fulfill a legal settlement that can't happen unless the guru and his family repay almost a billion dollars in loans.

Documentation of all this can be found by reading posts in the "Radha Soami Satsang Beas" category of this blog. (See right sidebar.) Of course, that's if you care about facts. If you just want to mindlessly defend the RSSB guru, you're free to remain blissfully ignorant of those facts.

One religious delusion that I find especially amusing is the theory a commenter recently threw out that the RSSB guru is acting so badly because he wants to demolish the belief among RSSB devotees in a "perfect living guru." Um, wouldn't it be easier for the guru to simply state, "I'm not a perfect living guru"? Of course, that way he couldn't rake in hundreds of millions of dollars.

Spence Tepper is a frequent commenter who does pay close attention to facts, and has been doing a good job of sharing information about this massive financial scandal. Here's some recent comments of his where he responds in a recent post to someone who uses the assumed name of "Just The Facts." I've corrected  few typos.

Hi Just The Facts:

You asked
"Is anyone alleging criminal activity by the mafia boss and Guru? not repaying a loan in time is not a crime"

The loans given to Gurinder family members were given under fraudulent circumstances by the Singhs, but with the active participation of the shell companies, which at the time, had Dhillon family and RSSB leaders among their directors.

Not repaying a loan is not a crime, but defaulting on several hundred million loans might be, if it was done with intent.

We don't know that yet, only that several hundred million dollars loaned to the Dhillon family have gone unrepaid, and worse, checks from the shell companies that gave them the loans were written in a circular fashion back and forth to cover for these Dhillon family loans to make it appear they are making loan payments when they actually were not being paid at all.

So, the SEBI has audited and called this "Fraudulent and Fictitious Activity" and ruled that both the Singhs and the shell companies are guilty and must repay these loans immediately. They gave 90 days, and no loans were repaid.

In that duration, Malvinder has made several accusations against Gurinder and [the Dhillon] family regarding their complicity in the fraud. However, since Malvinder is a party to that fraud his accusations are of questionable value. No doubt he is desperate because he can't repay the money. But he can't repay the money because the Dhillon family, whom he helped, albeit fraudulently, hasn't repaid, either.

The Supreme Court of India has also stepped in to order both the Singh Brothers and the Shell companies to repay, and gone further by sending Garnishment orders to those who took the loans, and that would by definition, include Dhillon family members, though that detail is not mentioned in the press. Al we know is that these shell companies gave several hundred millions to Dhillon family and associates in "loans".

The loans themselves were fraudulently given over several years by the Singhs (though Gurinder's son was also an operating executive at Fortis at the time) without any collateral, in violation of both Fortis policy and SEBI law. These were accepted by the Dhillon family throughout the last nine years or so.

The Garnishment orders are to repay Fortis directly, and not the shell companies, nor Malvinder.

This is where we stand today.

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Hi Again, "Just the Facts"

Here are some links so that you may see the information for yourself, which I have attempted to sumarize:

The Securities and Exchange Board of India's audit and ruling of Fictious and Fraudulent Activity:
https://www.sebi.gov.in/enforcement/orders/oct-2018/order-in-the-matter-of-fortis-healthcare-limited_40755.html

The Supreme Court of India's order for repayment, and identification that the debts were far larger than the initial SEBI audit demonstrated:

https://www.businesstoday.in/current/corporate/sc-take-note-singh-brothers-can-pay-off-usd-500-million-to-daiichi-provided-the-money-is-recovered/story/326995.html

And some additional review of the Supreme Court ruling related to payment of the Daiichi fraud settlement.

https://hinessight.blogs.com/files/sc-take-note-singh-brothers-can-pay-off-500-million-to-daiichi-provided-the-money-is-recovered.pdf

And more about the loans given to Gurinder family and Malvinder's claims about their intent:

https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/fortis-fraud-may-exceed-rs-2-000-crore-says-sfio-1550522937932.html

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One more point, "Just The Facts"

While late payment on a loan isn't a crime, and defaulted loans isn't a crime IF you agree to a satisfactory repayment plan, it is a crime to accept such loans if they were fraudulently obtained.

The recipient of the monies obtained from fraud is in fact an accessory to a crime, and subject to criminal prosecution.

This is only one layer removed, but if it happens repeatedly, then it becomes more difficult to prove you "had no idea" the money was obtained in such a way.

When your wife and sons are actively participating in obtaining the monies through fraud it is even more difficult to claim that you knew nothing..

And if you are a perfect Master, even less credible.

So, yes, we are talking about criminal activity and the potential for the biggest recipient of that fraud to be considered an accessory to that fraud.

But all we have now are the garnishment orders and the ongoing criminal investigation by the SEBI crimes wing, and the documented fact that both the Singhs and the Dhillon family were the biggest beneficiaries of that fraud for over a decade.

This Live Mint image gives an overview of the massive amount of money that was siphoned into the pockets of the Dhillon family. 1000 crore rupees is about $145 million.

RSSB guru's shady financial dealings were known on this blog 5-9 years ago

Last year I shared 27,000 words worth of comments left on this blog by "Tara," someone who had an up close and personal view of both Gurinder Singh Dhillon (photo below) and the RSSB organization prior to them becoming disillusioned by what they saw, which led to this person leaving the RSSB fold.

As noted in the post, "Devastating criticism of Gurinder Singh Dhillon by a RSSB insider," the comments were written between 2010 and 2014. That was five to nine years ago, before the RSSB guru's massive questionable loans and alleged criminality came to light in the Indian financial press.

Defenders of the guru go to great lengths to excuse his inexcusable behavior.

In hopes their eyes can be opened by reading what someone wrote about him considerably before the current scandals have come to light, below I've copied in some of the comments from "Tara" that related to Gurinder Singh Dhillon's involvement in companies with ties to the Singh brothers. Other comments in the 2018 post are equally disturbing in various ways.

I've boldfaced passages that struck me as being of particular interest. 

This comment is a reply to the sender of the email that Brian has posted above - July 20, 2010 at 8:00pm. Sender, please excuse me if at any point you find my tone offensive. SENDER says - In your post ' RSSB's ties to Religare mix money and spirituality... ' what proof do you have that the RSSB Guru ( Baba Ji ) literally runs the company ? That he makes all the important decisions and spends a considerable amount of time driving the business ? And if he is making millions for his family and kids, is that such a big crime ? In America we do that, we call it capitalism.

Reply - I hope you know that the Guru and his family are the largest shareholders of the company : Religare. The business model was conceived by Gurinder, and the Singh brothers are just a front-face of the company. In the second quarter of 2009, some members of the Religare top-brass understood that ' orders ' were coming not from the CEO but from a ' higher source ' and that the CEO was nothing but a pawn in the hands of a ' Guru ' who was taking all the decisions - but was actually incognito.

They soon discovered that a shareholder by the name of ' Gurpreet Dhillon ' who was tucked away in the London office was actually the son of the leader of a large spiritual sect. A little more inquiry lead to further details that uncovered Gurinder Singh Dhillon of RSSB as the founder and ' hidden ' head-honcho of Religare. ( How the leader of a spiritual sect managed to set up and drive a billion dollar company is another issue, one that I'm not going to talk about at the moment. )

Now, lets talk about Charlie's Angels. The CEO of Religare Enterprises Ltd. is an initiate named Mr. Sunil Godhwani - the personal treasurer and right-hand man of the Guru. He is also the Guru's long-time friend. Closed-door meetings are often held at Mr. Sunil Godhwani's farmhouse in New Delhi and the Guru is constantly in touch with him on the phone when they're apart. ( Even the chauffeurs know about this ! )

Mr. Godhwani's residence is the Guru's home for all ' unofficial ' visits into the capital. How do I know this ? A close family has a relative who works for Religare, and I'm good friends with people who are well connected with the ' inner circle ' members. This information has also been confirmed by a dozen well known people from the Indian financial sector.

You're talking about capitalism ? This is not capitalism, this is a big guerilla coup ! Usually, there's always something shady when someone is hiding something, and your ' Baba Ji ' clearly has a lot to hide. Otherwise, why hasn't he come out in the open ? Why is this something that needs to be rationalized ?

SENDER says - You've heard of Rev. Joel Osteen, I'm sure, http://www.joelosteen.com or maybe seen his weekly TV programs. He is a Christian minister, and spiritual leader from Houston, Texas. I'm sure he's very savvy when it comes to business and making money, and there's no doubt in my mind that he's a multimillionaire. I'm sure his kids are millionaires too, thanks to Joel. His books have been on the NY Times best selling author list - many times. He's rolling in money !

Reply - I doubt if Joel's bestsellers would be describing him as a GIHF and he probably not handing out ' rennet free cheese ' lists to his faithful.

SENDER says - My question to you is this - Does it spiritually matter that Joel Osteen is making big money for his family and kids and still running a big Church like Lakewood ? I'm sure he has lots of insider trading tips from his Texan buddies and Christian associates too. That's called networking, and we all do it.

Reply - Does it spiritually matter... ? Sorry, but I think your idea of morality can do with some kindergarden basics, seems like you missed ' ethics ' class in school.

SENDER says - Yet, when an eastern Master like Baba Ji does the same thing, we are quick to blast him and criticize him. We think that the eastern Guru should be in sandals, simple, poor, and his family should be poor too. Why the double standards ?

Reply - I do not want my spiritual Master to be poor, but I think I'd expect him to practice what he preaches. Gurinder Singh's business operations are a clear departure from the teachings of RS Sant Mat. I think your ' Baba Ji ' is the one who has double standards - he talks about detachment, but silently runs a billion dollar company.

SENDER says - Anyhow, I'm sure Baba Ji and his family are giving lots of money to help run the Dera, and all the centers he has around the world. Its not cheap to run these places. I know that I stayed at the Dera for a month once and didn't have to pay a dime for the room and board.

Reply - That is totally incorrect. Dera is a self-sustaining economy which is run by the money that comes from donations by the Sangat and all operations are carried out by volunteers. RSSB centers ( in India and around the world ) are built and maintained by volunteers, so it is rather cheap to ' run ' these places. It is all monetary or physical ' Seva ' by the Sangat in every way, but it is the RSSB trust that owns these properties. RSSB has cut back on all charitable activities, so it is not likely that the Guru's family are giving anything at all !

----------------------

Yes, financial oscillations between RSSB and Religare are a very likely scenario. Money going to and fro, borrowing and lending — it may all be happening. That would also help explain why the Singh Brothers gave Religare shareholding to no other relative, other than Gurinder. The RSSB purse-strings are solely in his hands and the RSSB-trust is mega cash-rich, and a tax-free pot of gold.

So, my take is that the Singh Brothers put in their capital and Gurinder was given a preferential allotment of equity based on his three-fold role : One, the promise of the " support of the RSSB-trust " as and when required. Two, Gurinder brought to the Religare table a band of RS loyalists ( like Sunil Godhwani, now Group CEO of Religare ) and RS board members who would keep everything under wraps and unquestionably sign any document.

( I'd like to add here that they're obviously not doing a very good job of keeping their secrets secure — I learnt from a top level employee, on a condition of anonymity, that there was some " backstage Guru " who was taking all the important decisions. This informer eventually quit Religare citing questionable business practices, poor governance and the risk of public exposure. )

----------------------

My additional thoughts are : Gurinder ordered the Ranbaxy sell-out, and as a faith policy, Shivinder and Malvinder do not over-rule anything HE decides. The final " go ahead boys " was given by Gurinder. I know this because the celebratory cheers resounded with a boisterous " Baba-ji does not make any mistakes ! " that came from none other than Sunil Godhwani, Baba-ji's right-hand man.

Before the news hit the press, everyone knew that a chunk of that booty would be pumped into Religare. Of course, Ranbaxy's health was generously inflated, but the sell-out was the best possible move from a financial standpoint — considering that the Singh Brothers made quite a mess of the succession when they inherited the company, which subsequently reflected in the company's performance over the years.

There was a joke in the corporates circles here that Parminder Singh was in a big shock in heaven when he learnt that Gurinder had advised his sons to sell Ranbaxy. His reaction was : " What ? Who the f*** is he ? " ( LOL ) This entire Religare affair that Gurinder's having with the Singh Brothers is in direct conflict with his role as a Guru, whether he's teaching 1.0 or 3.0. His insatiable appetite for wealth is sick, specially when there is no charitable initiative for the poorer sections of the Sangat that make up for ninety-five percent of his following.

IMO, Gurinder wants them to remain hungry and foolish otherwise they will not be interested in the salvation promise, which is why I think that Sant Mat 3.0 will never be introduced to the langar. You are absolutely right about the Mc-Donald's style of operations at Fortis. Also, the services they provide are the Micky-D's equivalent of fries and nuggets. It is all about the money, with little regard for ethical practice and human life.

But, it is interesting to note that post Ranbaxy, none of the Singh Brothers' businesses have been particularly profitable. It is too early to call, but Fortis is struggling. And, going forward, the competition will intensify. Religare is hemorrhaging under the acumen-devoid leadership of Sunil Godhwani and is showing no signs of recovering. Religare continually gets mini bail-outs from the huge cash reserves that the Singh Brothers are currently sitting on, but the well could dry-up in less than a decade if their current run continues.

It is also possible that Gurinder could make some bad ( not-so-GIHF ) decisions. Our comments here are forming a valuable archive for those who will seek to find out more, specially after the radical shift in the Sant Mat teachings.

----------------------

If you look at Page-94 of the Religare Prospectus you will find a board member and initiate named Mr. Deepak Ramchand Sabnani who has the foreign directorship of the ( RSSB ) Science of the Soul Study Centre International Limited which is an RSSB registered charity. What is a non-profit RSSB subsidiary doing on the corporate prospectus of Religare ? This is another link that proves that Religare board members who are initiates have also been given important roles within RSSB. I have learnt that business is preferentially given to the Guru's " inner circle " members who are also his close friends. http://www.sebi.gov.in/dp/reldraft.pdf http://www.scienceofthesoul.org 

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I met another one of Gurinder's old friends, a gentleman who now lives in Scotland. He told me that he was shocked when he learnt of his Guru-friends' recent wealth !

 

He also added that Moga ( as Gurinder is fondly called by his pre-guru-days friends' circle ) is living on the edge with his growing tide of greed and that land-grabbing has now become a common RSSB practice.

Believers, your " Master " is a fraud — that's as simple as it is. Much exploitation is possible in the name of " spirituality " and for the sake of the millions of followers who bow to his pretentious backside, I wish that this cult comes crashing down and Gurinder has no where to hide.

Singh brothers' staying out of jail linked to $870 million owed by RSSB guru

Another story in the Indian financial press points to the siphoning of funds from companies affiliated with the Singh brothers into the pockets of Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family as being key to Malvinder and Shivinder's ability to comply with legal rulings.

This shows that defenders of the guru, some of whom leave comments on my blog posts wrongly claiming that this is just a "family affair" that doesn't harm anyone else, need to recognize how serious the financial wrongdoing involving the RSSB guru is.

Here's some excerpts from "Time may be running out for Singh brothers to pay up, even as the blame game continues." I've boldfaced the part relating to Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his right-hand-man, Sunil Godhwani.
Download Time may be running out for Singh brothers to pay up even as the blame game continues

The Singh brothers may need close to a billion dollars to pay Daiichi Sankyo’s arbitration award and comply with the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI’s) order to return funds diverted from Fortis Healthcare and Religare Enterprises, if they want to avoid a possible imprisonment.

The Supreme Court on March 14 asked Malvinder Mohan Singh and Shivinder Mohan Singh, referred to as Singh brothers, to consult their legal and financial legal advisers and revert to the Court by March 28 as to how they propose to secure the award, which has been passed against them.

...Not long ago, Singh brothers were on the Forbes richest Indian businessmen list, with a net worth of $1.4 billion in 2016. Now, they have lost most of that wealth. Their shareholding in Fortis Healthcare and Religare Enterprises has now fallen to around a percent,

Given the meltdown of their wealth, it looks a tall order for Singh brothers to arrange those funds.

But a person who knew brothers told Moneycontrol said a significant portion of their wealth is locked in real estate assets. “A large portion of the money the brothers received through sale of Ranbaxy was routed into buying real estate,” said a person who didn’t want to be named.

But there is a problem, says the above person, as “the investments into real estate was made through an intricate web of companies and it’s opaque.”

...Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the spiritual head of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), his family members and companies controlled by them are said to be in control of some of these properties. Dhillon is a father like figure for the Singh brothers.

Malvinder Singh in his affidavit to the Supreme Court, alleged that Dhillon, his family members and companies controlled by him used funds from the Ranbaxy sale to buy real estate and loaned over Rs 6,000 crore [$870 million].

Singh brothers also blamed former Religare top executive Sunil Godhwani for the group’s troubles. In a joint statement, they earlier said that Godhwani was the architect of the financial structures, including the loans to the Dhillon family and companies, that led to their financial troubles.

I keep writing blog posts about this financial saga because it shows the danger of believing that a guru, or anyone for that matter, can be trusted completely as a "perfect being" -- which is what Gurinder Singh Dhillon is supposed to be, according to the teachings of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, or RSSB.

Malvinder Singh's criminal complaint against the RSSB guru and others associated with him describes a really disturbing pattern of behavior by Gurinder Singh Dhillon. 

Malvinder and Shivinder are relatives of the guru.

After their father's death they viewed Dhillon as a trusted father figure. They also are initiates of the guru, so that was a factor in their trust. The RSSB guru is considered to be God in human form. After initiation, the guru supposedly takes charge of his initiates' karmas, or destiny. 

The guru's commands are viewed as sacred by devotees, not to be questioned. I know this for a fact, because I was a member of RSSB for 35 years and did a lot of volunteer work ("seva"). No one ever wondered if what the guru wanted should be done. It just was done, without question.

So when Gurinder Singh Dhillon put his close associate, Sunil Godhwani, in charge of companies affiliated with the Singh brothers, it isn't at all surprising that Malvinder Singh and his brother trusted that Godhwani and the guru would make wise decisions.

However, this isn't what happened.

As noted in the above-mentioned story, Dhillon and Godhwani, among with others associated with RSSB, siphoned almost a billion dollars into shell companies that made risky real estate deals that now apparently have gone bad. Or at least, semi-bad.

It's an unholy mess. I'm confident the Singh brothers never thought that doing what the guru wanted would leave them in such financial and legal troubles. But this is what can happen when religious leaders are viewed as divine, even godly.

When skepticism departs, fraudulent behavior can walk right through a true-believing door.

Vipassana vs. Surat Shabd Yoga meditation. I pick a winner.

Arguably it doesn't make sense to consider that meditation styles can be classed as winners or losers. But, hey, that's no fun! So in this post I'm going to choose a winner after considering a question I got in an email message recently:

Do you have any opinion as to whether vipassana is more or less equal to RSSB's simran?

Well, of course I have an opinion.

I'm a blogger. Opinionating is what I love to do. I've got opinions on just about everything. Heck, on one of my other two blogs I rated the grocery carts at the three stores in south Salem (Oregon) where I do the weekly shopping for my wife, dog, and myself.

First, let's get some terms defined. Vipassana is a Buddhist meditation practice that is basically what is now called "mindfulness." Sure, there's more to it than that, as discussed in a Tricycle article, "What Exactly is Vipassana Meditation?"

The distinction between Vipassana meditation and other styles of meditation is crucial and needs to be fully understood. Buddhism addresses two major types of meditation. They are different mental skills, modes of functioning or qualities of consciousness. In Pali, the original language of Theravada literature, they are called Vipassana and Samatha.

Vipassana can be translated as “Insight,” a clear awareness of exactly what is happening as it happens. Samatha can be translated as “concentration” or “tranquility.” It is a state in which the mind is brought to rest, focused only on one item and not allowed to wander. When this is done, a deep calm pervades body and mind, a state of tranquility which must be experienced to be understood.

Most systems of meditation emphasize the Samatha component. The meditator focuses his mind upon some items, such as prayer, a certain type of box, a chant, a candle flame, a religious image or whatever, and excludes all other thoughts and perceptions from his consciousness. The result is a state of rapture which lasts until the meditator ends the session of sitting. It is beautiful, delightful, meaningful and alluring, but only temporary. Vipassana meditation addresses the other component, insight.

Simran is one component of the Surat Shabd Yoga meditation practice taught by Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), along with other sects that fall into the general category of Sant Mat. Simran is the repetition of a mantra, so it falls into the Samatha or concentration category, as noted in the passage quoted above. 

The other components of Surat Shabd Yoga are dhyan, visualization of an image (usually the face of the guru who initiated the practitioner), and bhajan, listening to a supposed celestial or supernatural sound.

The simran part of Surat Shabd Yoga is what I was asked about, but what follows really is a comparison of Vipassana and Surat Shabd Yoga in general.

I practiced Surat Shabd Yoga diligently for about 35 years, meditating every day from 1 1/2 hours to 2 1/2 hours. For the past 15 years or so my morning meditation has been Vipassana/mindfulness oriented. 

The key difference between Vipassana and Surat Shabd Yoga is the goal.

As noted in the passage above, Vipassana, or mindfulness, aims at being clearly aware of whatever is present within one's consciousness.

It isn't other-worldly, unless sensations of another world are present. Typically awareness of the breath is used to calm the mind, though thoughts and emotions aren't rejected in mindfulness meditation, since they can be another object of awareness.

Surat Shabd Yoga, on the other hand, is very much other-worldly. The goal is to withdraw one's consciousness from the outside world, including sensations of one's own body, and bring awareness completely "inside."

Once there, at the eye center or Third Eye, supposedly one's soul consciousness rises to higher realms of spiritual reality, considered to be five in number. 

Now, I've used supposed and supposedly to describe Surat Shabd Yoga meditation, but not to describe Vipassana or mindfulness meditation. 

This points to the central reason I consider Vipassana to be superior: it deals with what is actually present in consciousness, not with what might be there. Surat Shabd Yoga, on the other hand aims at leaving this world behind in order to gain a supposedly better one.

Even the simran or mantra repetition aspect of Surat Shabd Yoga has an other-worldly connotation, since the Five Holy Names repeated by the practitioner supposedly are associated with characteristics of the aforementioned five higher realms of reality.

So the benefit of Surat Shabd Yoga meditation is much reduced if, as I consider highly likely, the supernatural regions it posits actually don't exist.

Meaning, if there's no supernatural side to reality that human consciousness can become aware of, then Surat Shabd Yoga basically is Samatha or concentration. There's a benefit to being able to concentrate on a mantra or image to the exclusion of other sensations, thoughts, emotions, and such, but otherwise the Surat Shabd Yoga practitioner isn't doing anything special.

Ah, that word, special. 

This points to another reason why I now much prefer Vipassana/mindfulness meditation. There's nothing special about it, nor is there any claim that it's something special. It's simply an attempt to recognize whatever is happening with as clear an awareness as possible.

As I frequently hear on my Daily Calm guided meditation via my iPhone's Calm app, "breathing in, know that you are breathing in; breathing out, know that you are breathing out." (Also, as I've noted in a blog post, when locking my car, know that I am locking the car.)

So mindfulness is a universal approach to living.

In a very real sense, there's nothing higher or lower, better or worse, desirable or undesirable. If we're happy, we know we're happy. If sad, we know we're sad. Judgement is absent from Vipassana meditation, as I understand it.

If the mind wanders, we know our mind is wandering. When the mind is concentrated, we know our mind is concentrating.

By contrast, my experience is that Surat Shabd Yoga practitioners -- at least those in the RSSB organization -- consider themselves to be on a very special path that leads to God-realization. The RSSB teachings claim that those initiated by the guru, who is viewed as God in human form, are "marked souls." 

Marked, that is, by God as deserving of being put on a path that is guaranteed to lead to God-realization within a maximum of four lifetimes (which entails a belief in reincarnation, obviously).

The Surat Shabd Yoga goal of leaving this world behind to find a better one within the depths of one's consciousness also encourages an unhealthy disdain for everyday life among many devotees. The RSSB guru sometimes is adored more than an initiate's own family, in line with Jesus' supposed saying:

"Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." (Matthew 10:37)

Bottom line: I'm enjoying my meditation much more now that I've switched to a Vipassana/mindfulness approach. I feel more in touch both with myself and with other people. I no longer consider that I'm on a special spiritual journey leading to the highest divine realm that people who practice other forms of meditation are unable to reach.

It feels good to simply view myself as an ordinary human being living an ordinary life.

But if God or a supernatural divinity actually does exist, seemingly Vipassana meditation will help me be mindfully aware of it, should that divinity deign to make an appearance in my consciousness.

UPDATE: I neglected to mention another reason I prefer Vipassana/mindfulness meditation now. In accord with Buddhist teachings, Vipassana leads to a realization that there's no "self" inside our head, no enduring essence, nothing separate from ever-changing experience.

Surat Shabd Yoga, on the other hand, assumes we have, or are, a soul that is unchanging and eternal, even though there's no convincing evidence of this. So in addition to assuming that supernatural realms of reality exist, Surat Shabd Yoga also assumes that the soul exists. 

I want to know reality as it is, as clearly and fully as possible. Fantasies about what could be, but isn't, can be fun to engage in (that's why movies and novels are so pleasing), but they shouldn't be taken seriously.

RSSB guru now faced with repaying $909 million in allegedly fraudulent loans

The money Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, is expected to pay back so an arbitration award can be made in accord with an India Supreme Court ruling keeps getting larger.

A few days ago I reported that the guru owed $870 million. Now the amount has risen to $906 million, according to a Times of India story, "Will recover dues from Radha Soami head, others Malvinder tells SC."

The story provides further evidence that defenders of the guru are wrongly claiming that this is just a family affair. (Malvinder Singh is the guru's cousin; some say nephew, but I've been told cousin is the correct relationship.)

As you can read below in the screenshots I made of the story, the massive amount of loans and advances given to Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family is preventing payment of the arbitration award to Daiichi Sankyo.

Those loans and advances were made fraudulently with the connivance of the guru, his right-hand man Sunil Godhwani, and other RSSB members, according to the criminal complaint filed by Malvinder Singh. 

I keep writing about this Indian financial saga, which could provide the plot for a great Bollywood movie, because it shows up so clearly the hypocrisy of many religious leaders.

The guru who leads a sect that teaches the goal of life is to purify the soul and mind so they can rise to higher spiritual regions has devoted himself to amassing worldly riches in a highly dubious manner, using his position as the head of RSSB to make himself rich. 

It'll be interesting to see if Malvinder succeeds in getting the money back from the RSSB guru and others. Hopefully he will. Gurus can't hold themselves above the law, even though their devotees often try to excuse their actions with a variety of unconvincing excuses: "It's God's will...this is a test of our faith...gurus work in mysterious ways...blah, blah, blah."

Where there's RSSB financial fraud smoke, there's fire underneath

When someone leaves a thoughtful, lengthy, well-researched comment on this blog, I'm motivated to share it in a blog post so more people see it.

In this case, I also found the commenter's assumed name to be wonderfully creative: Radh(er Not) Soami -- a play on words, since Radha Soami is both a greeting used by members of Radha Soami Satsang Beas and shorthand for the group's philosophy.

Hence, "rather not" becomes Radh(er Not).

Here's this person's comment. I added some explanatory links, a few photos, and corrected some typos. "Shivi" stands for Shivinder Singh. "Malav" stands for Malvinder Singh. And I'm assuming Gurinder Singh Dhillon (GSD) is the other member of the "top Three."

These type of fraud activities on grand scale go too much in India. Nirav Modi case is another one that some of you folks may have heard about.

Nirav Modi

Somehow the business and cultural environment is such that these activities do not trigger legal alerts, let alone moral and ethical qualms, in anyone... so these folks seem emboldedened to think it as the cost of doing business (or shall I say make even more yuuge amounts of money).

It's not like it does not happen in US either; it is just that the regulatory noose is little tighter in US.

I doubt anyone in the upper echelons of the Dhillon-Singh empire [did] not know what was going on or how the money was being siphoned or how the loans were being payed off just on paper; it was just a normal practice when it was being done in real time.

Until these activities added up and the market downturn squashed the speculative bets to such an extent, with Daiichi-Sankyo playing the violin band on "Nearer, My God, to Thee", that everyone saw the Titanic sinking and no one knew what to do to get out.

It's unfathomable that whoever was writing in those checks and carrying out those transactions didn't alert others about the dark clouds hovering over the near-horizon and that info didn't vaporize all the way to the top Three.

Personally, from the fact that Shivi's announcement on Sep 23rd 2015 to go to dera - to become a "Sadhu" - was closely matched with first murmurs of problems cropping underneath their empire (check the press reports around that time), I think his going to dera may have been as much tied with how to sort this mess out as much as his inner calling.

Perhaps this sorting the mess out is tied to the potential succession plans (whether as part of or apart from the so-called Family Settlement). I don't think Malav is an innocent party either, even if he has gotten full throttle against GSD today (likely not out of honesty but as part of ploy to extract something out of this mess).

He likely (allegedly) fully knew what was going on and the reasons for Shivi's renunciation and pilgrimage to dera. But after s*** quickly hit the fan from there on, he decided to go a different route to reduce his culpability.

If Sunil Godhwani could intertwine Dhillon/Singh finances (something that Singh brothers should have known having created plethora of entities and the reasons to do so), then imagine what could happen if Shivi ended up on RSSB trust or as the head. Perhaps they saw a way to get out of trouble, particularly if the mess took a deadly turn.

Of course, this is conjecture on my part but where there is a smoke, there must be a fire underneath. Something was fishy all along and all this sudden renunciation, leaving the company in capable hands of Malav and Sunny, is just too naive to believe in.

For all those here who are on the fence and so much on the defense, just beginning of this year, I too was defending all these actions (and few others relevant to my life) that somehow this is all divine plan and so on despite my objectivity that seriously questioned it since the Bloomberg story.

So I thought of this way: what if all this was happening to someone else's guru?... say if Kirpal existed today, who otherwise posed as a decent guru, or perhaps Rajinder from his lineage today. Would the same thoughts and defense arguments originate in you, or would you be quick to point out (and likely gloat) that "we told you so... that it is a fake lineage"?

Would you not say "even if this was all legal, why is their guru amassing god-awful amounts of money while preaching Guru Nanak's message: the accumulation of wealth is not possible without sins; nor does it accompany the accumulator after death (Paapan baaj hoi nahi...)."

Would you not say that he should be instructing and hammering all his kins and near ones (particularly the dera elites) to adopt a simple honest living and focus on meditation than putting all the kins and close circle friends to the top positions of the empire?

That doesn't sound like someone acting as mentor to this duo but rather appears to be actively involved in all aspects when the top echelons of dera were recruited to run this empire. Perhaps you should listen to this satsang starting at 6:25 : "... what principles don't we sacrifice to amass this wealth..." indeed! But oh sweat Lord, what an irony!  

[It's in hindi but some of you seem to know it].

Ram Rahim

If you look at some of the comments posted by Ram Rahim followers even today on various forums/apps, you will see the real denial in action despite such clear evidence of his wrong-doing and doing time. It seems for some folks facts and evidences just don't matter.

Or is it just like the classical loss psychology in investments? I still sometimes think that this is all just a Cosmic play and my RS stock will bounce back with full dividends. But I guess this is mind adjusting to the new reality, particularly when you were invested and thought yourself lucky to get a ticket back to Home.

Oh the five stages of grief!

I am the same way with my stocks, I just can't get rid of them when they lose, particulary when you like the company's product but not its management or its policy or its CEO. Tesla anyone? Looks like I need to diversify my spiritual stocks like Brian is doing these days. Any good spiritual mutual fund or ETF, people?

Common sense talk about the RSSB guru and the Singh brothers

When I read the first sentence of a comment by "Hidden Agenda" on a recent blog post of mine, "Malvinder: RSSB guru's loans of over $870 million are due," I strongly suspected I was going to find what this person wrote was interesting.

Let's piece the whole story together using common sense. 

Below is the comment, with a few typos corrected. I consider that everything Hidden Agenda says does indeed make common sense. This person fits together bits of pieces of the Dhillon family/Singh brothers financial saga in a fashion that makes for a coherent tale.

Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the RSSB guru, could throw light on the saga if he'd ever hold a press conference and answer questions from Indian financial journalists. But he hasn't done this, and may never do this, so that vacuum understandly is being filled with theories such as you'll read below.

Singh brothers and Gurinder Singh Dhillon

Back in 2010 I wrote several blog posts about members of the Dhillon family receiving shares in Religare from the Singh brothers, which is the first part of Hidden Agenda's comment. See:

Religare's money connections with the Radha Soami guru
Radha Soami Satsang Beas guru makes $254 million

As the second post notes, it was a holding company controlled by the Dhillon family that held shares of Religare worth $254 million. It seems entirely reasonable that one of Gurinder Singh's sons was enriched by the same amount, as the comment says. 

The first post says that the guru's sons got Religare stock for 23 cents a share, which is less than the $1 a share price mentioned in the comment. Regardless, the Singh brothers essentially gifted the Dhillon family shares that soon after ballooned in value.

Read on for the common sense talk from "Hidden Agenda."

Let’s piece the whole story together using common sense.

First of all, this began back when Gurinder’s sons received shares in Religare or some company just before they were floated on the stock market.

The Singh brothers sold the shares to them for $1 each and they became worth $100 each after the flotation. This made one of the sons $250,000,000 – a quarter of a billion.

Nobody just gives anyone that kind of money for no reason. This was obviously a business transaction. There was obviously a second part to that deal, whereby Gurinder’s family does something in return that is of more value to the Singh brothers.

What could that be? What could Gurinder give them that would be of more value?

Connections? People who can be trusted? My guess is that this was planned long ago. With key people in place that were not related to the Singh brothers, they could do transactions that would appear to be genuine business transactions. Of course none of this could be in writing – so it would have to be based on trust.

Gurinder would be the perfect partner for the deal. He could appoint a person like Goswami who was not a family member, yet Goswami would never steal from his spiritual guru. And maybe others like him that we may still be unaware of.

Funds could be siphoned into offshore companies that have complete secrecy. Nominee directors and shareholders – so ownership remains anonymous.

But something went wrong. The real estate market took a serious nosedive. Just at the same time the Singh brothers desperately needed funds otherwise they would lose the shares they had pledged to the bank.

Their normal bank accounts were frozen because of the Daiichi Sankyo case. So they could not make the bank payments. They most likely appealed to Gurinder to help them but he was unable to do so because they real estate market had dropped so dramatically.

From there, it all went downhill. The Singh brothers lost their billions – their biggest mistake was to pledge their shares. Obviously they knew at the time that they had plenty of money to make the bank payments – but they did not see the possibility of their bank account being frozen. Nobody could foresee that.

After that – the relationship with Gurinder most likely went sour as they perhaps blamed him for not helping. I doubt very much that the money given to the Dhillon family was theirs to keep – most likely it was an “under the table” deal to give money back to the Singh Brothers.

The Singh brothers would not just give money away for nothing – there was obviously some kickback payments due to them.

When things went wrong – all trust is gone and it’s each for himself. That is where they are now.

If the Singh’s bank accounts had not been frozen – this story would never have come out – even now. It could only be a joint effort by the Singhs and the Dhillons. They both stood to profit.

But business deals can go wrong and this one did.

Malvinder is bitter because he has lost everything and all that remains now is revenge. Shivinder is friends with Gurinder – so he’ll be okay but I doubt he will be the next guru. It would be a PR miracle if RSSB managed to pull that off.

Malvinder: RSSB guru's loans of over $870 million are due

I just made this update to the blog post I wrote yesterday, "RSSB guru had better have a big bank balance."

NEXT DAY UPDATE: A Live Mint story about the Supreme Court hearing reports that Malvinder Singh says the RSSB guru has loans of over ₹6,000 crore, $870 million, that are due. So the graphic above appears to be correct. Excerpt:

Malvinder Singh, in his 30-page affidavit, claimed that Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the spiritual head of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, his family members and companies controlled by him used funds from the Ranbaxy sale to buy real estate, and loans and advances of over ₹6,000 crore made to them were due. Malvinder claimed that though he made all efforts to sell his assets, these were thwarted by Daiichi Sankyo.

Sure wish I could be present when Malvinder Singh talks with Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the RSSB guru, about the money. Maybe Malvinder will say something like this:

Hey, cousin Gurinder, I've got a small favor to ask. No big deal really. I just need you to pay back the money you owe me, so I can comply with a court ruling. A check for $870 million made out to Malvinder Mohan Singh would be great. Well, maybe a bit more just to be sure we cover all your debts. Let's make it a nice round number, $1 billion dollars, but in rupees, naturally, and we'll call it good. 

I realize you might be a bit irritated by me filing a criminal complaint against you, but let's not let that stand in the way of a a little friendly -- OK, sort of friendly -- request to pay what you owe. And you're supposed to be God in human form, right? Can't you just conjure up a billion dollars with your divine powers? Also, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, I'd appreciate your stopping the death threats against me. I've got enough to worry about as it is.

Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the Scheming Saint of Radha Soami Satsang Beas

RSSB guru had better have a big bank balance

I'm sure defenders of the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas will have a different take on today's news from the Indian financial press, but the way it looks to me, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, his family, and associates are going to have to account for the hundreds of millions of dollars they've gotten from fraudulent loans. 

Well, more than account. Because it sure seems like there's going to be a lot of pressure on the Dhillons, et.al., to pay back the approximate US $800 million they've gotten from highly suspicious loans.

No, that isn't a typo. The amount reported by Live Mint was $782 million. With interest and/or penalties, $800 million is a wholly believable figure. 

So let's see why I believe the RSSB guru and others are going to have to come up with that money, much or most of which appears to have been spent on real estate deals, during the next few months.

First piece of evidence: A News18 story, "Since You Aren't a Sadhu Anymore, Start Thinking About Money, SC Tells Former Fortis Promoter." SC refers to the India Supreme Court.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday told former promoter of Fortis Shivinder Singh that since he is no more a sadhu, he should start thinking about the money.

Shivinder and his elder brother Malvinder Singh had been called upon by a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi in connection with a contempt plea moved by Daiichi Sankyo.

Daiichi has come to the court for securing Rs 4,000 crore of foreign arbitration award in the their favour and had got the stake sale of Fortis Hospital to IHH Healthcare Berhad, Malaysia stopped by way of an interim order of the apex court.

When the sparring brothers showed up on Thursday, senior lawyer Fali S Nariman, representing Daiichi, pointed out that while Malvinder claims is trying to pay off all debts, Shivinder says he has become a sadhu.

Interacting with Shivinder, CJI Gogoi said: "You are telling us that you have nothing to do with business anymore and that your brother is looking after it since you have renounced the world. If you have a debt to pay, your renouncing the world wouldn't matter to us." At this, Shivinder's lawyer PS Patwalia submitted: "Mr Shivinder has come back to the world in December 2017."

"Oh! That's good. Now that your lawyer says you've come back to the world, start thinking about money," retorted the CJI.

The court, then referring to the foreign tribunal award in the favour of Daiichi, told Singh brothers: "It is not just about Rs 4000 Crore or individual honour It is a question of honour for the country. It doesn't do good for the country. You were once the flag- bearers of this country. Pay your debts and come out of this."

It asked Malvinder and Shivinder to sit with their accountants and figure out a way to pay off their debts and honour their commitments. "We believe this was your first time in the court. Let your next appearance be your last. Come back with a plan," CJI told Singh brothers, adjourning the case to March 28.

How much is 4000 crore rupees? About $578 million. Do Malvinder and Shivinder Singh have anywhere near that much money? Almost certainly not.

There have been articles in the Indian financial press about the fall of their business empire. For example, a Forbes story, "How to Lose a $2 Billion Family Inheritance: The Tale of the Singh Brothers of India." Excerpt:

The Singh brothers were heirs to Ranbaxy Laboratories, which was then India’s foremost pharmaceutical company, founded by their grandfather Bhai Mohan Singh and stewarded by their father, Dr. Parvinder Singh, who died in 1999. The brothers, who each inherited one-third of the company, engineered its sale in 2008.

After that, they heavily invested the proceeds into the fast expansion of Fortis Healthcare and Religare Enterprises, two other public companies they owned.

They also loaned vast amounts of money to companies owned by a family headed by a spiritual leader whom they followed and who was a relative of theirs — Gurinder Singh Dhillon. Dhillon was a businessman as well, and he and members of his sect were central to investments made with loans from the brothers, including investments in a wide-ranging real-estate portfolio.

A Live Mint graphic that I've shared in other blog posts illustrates how massive the "vast amounts of money" loaned to the Dhillon family was.

The red circles total to 994 crore, or $136 million. The RHC Holding amount, a company controlled by the Singh brothers, is much larger: 5,482 crore, or $792 million. 

NEXT DAY UPDATE: A Live Mint story about the Supreme Court hearing reports that Malvinder Singh says the RSSB guru has loans of over ₹6,000 crore, $870 million, that are due. So the graphic above appears to be correct. Excerpt:

Malvinder Singh, in his 30-page affidavit, claimed that Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the spiritual head of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, his family members and companies controlled by him used funds from the Ranbaxy sale to buy real estate, and loans and advances of over ₹6,000 crore made to them were due. Malvinder claimed that though he made all efforts to sell his assets, these were thwarted by Daiichi Sankyo.

So where do the Singh brothers need to go to come up with the $578 million the Supreme Court of India says they need to pay Daiichi? It sure seems like the money they loaned to Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family is a likely source.

Second piece of evidence: a Business Today story, "SEBI directs RFL, REL to recall loans worth over Rs. 2,300 crore from Singh brothers, others."

SEBI Thursday ordered Religare Finvest and Religare Enterprises to recall loans worth over Rs 2,300 crore that were diverted to promoters Shivinder Mohan Singh, Malvinder Mohan Singh and 21 other entities after finding preliminary evidence of fund diversions.

Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL) is a subsidiary of Religare Enterprises Ltd (REL). At the end of December 2018, the Singh brothers were among the promoters of REL.

"It was observed that funds amounting to Rs 2,315.09 crore had been diverted from the books of RFL for the utilisation of promoters and promoter group entities of REL," the regulator said in an order.

Noting that a detailed investigation of the fund diversion is necessary to find out the role of each entity in the alleged routing of funds, SEBI said remedial action needs to be taken to protect the interest of shareholders.

...The regulator has directed the two companies to "initiate steps to recall all the loans amounting to Rs 2,315.09 crore" along with due interest within three months.

...Apart from the Singh brothers, the loans have to be recalled from 21 other entities. Those include OSPL Infradeal, Bharat Road Network, Platinum Infrastructure, Ad Advertising and Artifice Properties.

The other entities are Best Health Management, Devera Developers, Vitoba Realtors, Fern Healthcare, Modland Wears, Rosestar Marketing, Star Artworks, Tripoli Investment & Trading Co, Volga Management and Consultancy, Zolton Properties, Religare Comtrade, RHC Holding, Ranchem, ANR Securities, Shivi Holdings and Malav Holdings.

The markets regulator had received complaints of alleged financial mismanagement and fund diversions at Religare Finvest for the benefit of promoter group entities of Religare Enterprises.

I've boldfaced the names of three companies SEBI [Securities and Exchange Board of India] is requiring loans to be recalled from that are companies Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family got money from, as shown in the graphic above. 

If the Live Mint graphic is correct, the RSSB guru and his relatives could be required by SEBI to pay back 5,992 crore, or $792 million. That's a heck of a lot of money. I doubt Gurinder Singh Dhillon has it in his checking account. 

So it's going to be an interesting few months. The SEBI order speaks of 2,315 crore being recalled from loans made by the two companies, Religare Finvest and Religare Enterprises. It's unclear whether the loans made by 21 other entities are included in that amount.

I've assumed they aren't, but I could be wrong. Regardless, it appears that the Supreme Court ruling and the SEBI order mean that the RSSB guru, his family, and associates are going to have to account for the vast amounts of money they got from allegedly fraudulent loans.

Financial dealings of RSSB guru relate to India Supreme Court hearing

Well, the financial irregularities surrounding the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, (a criminal complaint has been filed against him) appear to be reaching the Supreme Court of India.

The court has asked Malivinder and Shivinder Singh, cousins of the guru who are enmeshed in his massive monetary dealings, to appear on March 14 to answer questions about what happened to 4,000 crore rupees Fortis Healthcare got from Malaysia's IHH Healthcare. Rs 4000 crore is about $574 million.

India's Business Today has a story about the Supreme Court hearing, "SC take note! Singh brothers can pay off $500 million to Daiichi, provided the money is recovered."

Download SC take note! Singh brothers can pay off $500 million to Daiichi provided the money is recovered

Gurinder Singh Dhillon features prominently in the story. I've boldfaced mentions of him.

Singh brothers are due to appear before the Supreme Court of India this Thursday in a case filed by Japan's Daiichi Sankyo to explain sale of Fortis Healthcare to IHH and possible contempt proceedings. Daiichi is enforcing an arbitration order in Singapore that requires the brothers to compensate Daiichi with $500 million (approximately Rs 3,500 crore) for alleged non-disclosure of crucial information during the sale of Ranbaxy Laboratories to Daiichi.

Days before the hearing, fund transfer details accessed by BusinessToday.In provide the most exact picture of the flow of money from Singh brothers to entities owned and controlled by Gurinder Singh Dhillon - the head of the Radha Soami Satsang Beas - his family and RSSB associates. Enforcing a repayment of the outstanding money could easily get Singh brothers off the hook by paying off the liabilities towards Daiichi at least.

RoC filings and terms sheets indicate that between 2011 and 2014, Rs 1107.5 crore worth of proceeds from the Rs 9,576 crore sale of Ranbaxy to Daiichi Sankyo made their way through RHC group firms RHC Holding Private Limited, Oscar Investment Limited, RHC Finance Private Limited and Fortis Healthcare Holdings Private Limited into two group entities ANR Securities Private Limited and Ranchem Private Limited.

From there, the money was transferred to Prius Real Estate Private Limited controlled by Dhillon family associates and RSSB functionaries through optionally convertible debentures (OCD). Those proceeds were used to invest in other Prius group entities called Prius Commercial, Payne Realtors, SVIIT Software and Sharan Hospitality whose preference shares worth Rs 875.53 crore were subscribed to by Prius Real Estate. Both the OCDs and preference shares were to be redeemed between August-November, 2018 at a hefty premium.

...Besides, his suit against Baba Gurinder Dhillon, Shivinder and Sunil Godhwani and others before the Economic Offences Wing, Malvinder has claimed that loans worth Rs 1006.3 crore have been given directly to Gurinder Singh Dhillon and family members through their entities Modland Wears, Devera Developers, Fern Healthcare and Best Healthcare, besides Adept Lifespaces and Rosestar Marketing.

Rs 1007 crore is about $145 million. So Business Today is reporting that the guru and his family have gotten a heck of a lot of money through allegedly illegal means, according to the criminal complaint filed by Malvinder Singh. The Rs 1006 crore in loans cited in Malvinder Singh's lawsuit may be in addition to this. 

SEBI, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, has determined that Rs 403 crore of these loans were "fictitious and fraudulent." Now the Business Today story reveals that the RSSB guru is involved to a much greater degree in the Singh brothers financial misdeeds. 

Here's a graphic from the story:

Per usual, Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family are unwilling to talk to the Indian financial press. The story says, "Dhillons did not respond to a detailed e-mail Business today.In sent to them." But in September 2018 Dhillon said he would answer questions about his financial dealings, which he has never done.

So this supposedly "spiritual" guru broke his word.

Lastly, someone emailed me today, saying that I've been using an official photo of Gurinder Singh Dhillon that doesn't capture his true personality. Here's a likeness included as an attachment to the email. Reportedly it was taken at a distance by someone close to the guru, then cropped and enlarged. 

 

RSSB devotees need to face facts about the financial fraud

Well, there's been an interesting exchange of opinions following recent posts I've written about the financial fraud involving Gurinder Singh Dhillon, the guru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, his family members, and close associates.

In general, RSSB devotees have been guilty of ignoring facts -- which, of course, was one of the points I made in my most recent post on this subject, "Why Gurinder Singh Dhillon is a lot like Donald Trump." 

Spence Tepper, a hospital consultant, has delved deeply into the details of the financial fraud uncovered by SEBI, the Securities and Exchange Board of India. He's been doing a good job of leaving comments on this blog that correct errors made by those who want to deny that the RSSB guru has any connection with the financial fraud.

Here's Tepper's most recent comment, where he responds to someone who doesn't accept the SEBI facts.

All I've done is refer to the information from SEBI. SEBI IS the law, and they have made their ruling. So if you continue to believe that this wasn't fraud, then, I'm sorry, you are not acknowledging the facts nor SEBI. If you acknowledge there has been fraud and fictitious cooking of books, then you are at least acknowledging the facts. You may interpret them as you will.

But claiming these are merely unpaid loans isn't true. And it ignores the SEBI's ruling. You are really working very hard to hide a crime, and why would you do that? I do see your effort to limit the scope, but I think if you understand that the scope includes all the companies involved, even those with RSSB members and Gurinder family members on the board...such as RHC, etc...then we are certainly in agreement.

The fact is someone set up this scheme. We do know that Malvinder and Shivender participated and kept it going. And we know that all the others at the least went along with it. Many other people gained richly from this scheme. Who is to blame? They all share some of the blame. It's very sad when people steal money. That's what happened here.

But it's also sad when people deny it. Who are you to deny justice when people's [health] care is now in jeopardy? Let's not place the blame on any one person. Legally, that hasn't happened yet. But legally, a crime was committed. Several corporate robberies. That should not be dismissed.

Because right now a healthcare system is struggling to survive due to the impact of these robberies. If you can dismiss robbery, what other harmful things can you dismiss? Where is your value system of right and wrong? And if that doesn't exist, how do you expect to be treated fairly? Or do you believe you should be treated special, for some reason? On what grounds?

When others are harmed, do you view them as untouchables? As none of your concern? I can't say how you were raised, but that wasn't how I was raised. The capacity to judge right from wrong is the duty of every adult. And to teach our children how to ascertain right from wrong is the first lesson in teaching them to advocate for the wronged, defend those without voice, the weak, the sick, the crippled.

You and I have a different value system. Very different.

As I noted in a comment of my own, some defenders of Gurinder Singh Dhillon and his family are pointing out that they and their close associates aren't listed as directors of the three shell companies that SEBI identified as illegally siphoning funds from Fortis: Best Healthcare, Fern Healthcare, Modland Wears. 

Here's Tepper's cogent response. (I've corrected a few typos.)

The SEBI order refers to the Singhs [Malvinder and Shivinder] as well as to the specific shell companies, and RHC where the Singhs and Gurinder share majority holdings. The SEBI made a legal determination that the Singhs and these companies had engaged in fictitious and fraudulent activity.

At the time, those shell companies were run by Dhillon family and RSSB associates leadership. The Singhs had no direct ties to those shell companies at that time, according to the SEBI audit. This precisely served the purpose of laundering money. The Singhs gave loans to these companies that at the time they had no legal ties to.

These were Gurinder family/RSSB leadership owned companies. And these companies have been ordered to pay the money they and the Singhs had fictitiously booked as repaid while under Gurinder family/RSSB leadership control. The judgement of guilt is legal and has already been made.

Since the time of this fraudulent activity, the leadership at these companies has changed hands.

There have been resignations and new directors assigned. This supports Malvinder 's testimony about Shivinder. In late 2018 there were resignations. For example, at Modland Wears, one of the shell companies started in 1991, directors resigned in 2018, and they are no longer listed on any information website.

We only know today that papers of resignation were filed in 2018, from the MCA India website. Malvinder claimed that Shivinder had encouraged Gurinder to sell the shell companies, indicating Gurinder owned them. Malvinder further claims Shivinder had offered to assume Gurinder's liabilities in exchange for something.

Malvinder claimed it was the Guruship that was the exchanged commodity.

This also directly implicated Gurinder as the previous owner of these shell companies. And thereby the source of his liability. It was this period under Gurinder's ownership that these shell companies engaged in what the SEBI has determined legally to be fictitious and fraudulent behavior.

Now we see that Shivinder, over the last 3-5 months, is a new director at least two of the three shell companies that had the legal judgment of being guilty of fictitious and fraudulent behavior. And there have been resignations of the prior leaders, confirmed by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs of India.

Though those documents are not immediately available to view, they are listed as a "resignation of directors" PDF in 2018. We still see RSSB leaders as directors, but Gurinder family members are no longer listed, and Shivinder is now listed as a new director on each.

Last month The Hindu had a story, "Whistle-blower makes fresh charges in Fortis matter." Here's some excerpts relating to where the money went that the SEBI investigation determined was "fictitious and fraudulent."
Download Whistle-blower makes fresh charges in Fortis matter - The Hindu

The Fortis Hospitals matter, in which the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) ordered the company to refund over ₹400 crore in December 2018, has taken a new turn, with the regulator receiving a complaint alleging that the real beneficiaries of the money were some of the top officials managing different businesses of the Religare Group. Initially, the money was believed to have moved from the listed entity to a subsidiary and thereafter to three borrower entities.

In a letter submitted to SEBI on January 17, a whistle-blower has named brothers Gurpreet Singh Dhillon and Gurkirat Singh Dhillon, along with Sunil Godhwani and Sanjay Godhwani, among others, as the main beneficiaries of the fund transfer.

Mr. Sanjay Godhwani is the brother of Mr. Sunil Godhwani, the former chairman of Religare Enterprises. Mr. Gurpreet Singh Dhillon is the CEO of Singapore-based Religare Health Trusts. Both, Mr. Gurpreet Singh Dhillon and Mr. Gurkirat Singh Dhillon are sons of Shabnam Dhillon and Gurinder Singh, the head of Radha Soami Satsang Beas.

This assumes significance as the SEBI probe that was initiated in February 2018 was based on reports that the promoters of Fortis Healthcare took out ₹500 crore from the company.

The SEBI probe further found that Fortis Hospitals had given loans to three borrower entities – Best Healthcare, Fern Healthcare and Modland Wears. The ultimate beneficiaries of the three entities, as per the SEBI probe, were RHC Holding and Religare Finvest, with the former being controlled by Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh, the original promoters of Fortis Healthcare.

The whistle-blower, in the letter, alleged that an advance of ₹155 crore that Best Healthcare received was disbursed to the Dhillon brothers. Further, Modland Wears is also alleged to have transferred ₹133.36 crore to a few people, including the Dhillon brothers. Meanwhile, Fern Healthcare, which received ₹114 crore from Fortis, transferred the money to the Godhwani brothers and Dhillon brothers, among others.

So when we follow the money, the money trail leads right to Gurinder Singh Dhillon, his family, and his close associates. (Sunil Godhwani has been described as the guru's "right hand man.") A Live Mint graphic that I've shared before makes this clear.

Yet fervent fact-deprived defenders of Gurinder Singh Dhillon say he had no involvement in the SEBI financial fraud that, according to the whistle-blower, funneled money to Dhillon's sons and RSSB associates. 

In September 2018 I wrote a blog post, "RSSB guru agrees to answer questions about his financial dealings." But I'm quite certain he never has. Most stories in the Indian financial press regarding the guru's financial follies say something like Questions directed to Gurinder Singh Dhillon were never responded to.

If Dhillon has nothing to hide, why is he so silent? Usually people who feel they've been accused of wrongdoing unjustly are eager to set the record straight. Maybe the RSSB guru has gotten advice from his lawyer to say nothing. Which makes sense, if he's guilty.

Lastly, the criminal complaint filed against Gurinder Singh Dhillon by Malvinder Singh contains a detailed list of loans extended to Dhillon and his family that appear to be separate from the fraudulent loans described in the SEBI investigation.

It sure seems strange that the RSSB guru keeps popping up in reports of serious financial wrongdoing. The amount involved, 1006 crore rupees, is about $144 million. This is an excerpt from the complaint.

Why Gurinder Singh Dhillon is a lot like Donald Trump

Here in the United States we get "treated" almost every day to new revelations about wrongdoing committed by President Trump and his cronies. I put that word in quotes because it certainly isn't a treat to learn how badly the leader of our country has been behaving.

Somewhat similarly, the Indian financial press has been regularly reporting on the financial follies of the guru who heads up Radha Soami Satsang Beas, Gurinder Singh Dhillon. Being familiar with the legal dramas surrounding both men -- Trump and Dhillon -- I see these commonalities.

(1) True believers refuse to recognize facts. Trump's approval rating among his Republican base remains very high, though not among Democrats and independents. Because Trump has done some things they like, such as appointing two conservative justices to the Supreme Court, his base ignores Trump's likely illegal and certainly unethical actions.

Dhillon's devotees are even more inclined to turn a blind eye to his wrongdoing, since he's considered to be God in human form with supernatural powers. Like, saving their souls.

(2) "He hasn't been convicted yet" is a familiar refrain. People all around Donald Trump have been accused, and convicted, of lying to investigators. Also, there's plenty of evidence that Trump's associates had close times with Russians seeking to undermine the 2016 election and help get Trump elected. But Trump himself hasn't been indicted. As a sitting president, he may be immune from indictment.

Likewise, Gurinder Singh Dhillon has had a criminal complaint filed against him by his cousin, Malvinder Singh. The complaint alleges that Dhillon made death threats against Malvinder and engaged in massive financial fraud, aided and abetted by Malvinder's brother, Shivinder, and close associates of the RSSB guru such as Sunil Godhwani. 

But since the criminal complaint hasn't been adjudicated yet, defenders of Dhillon on this blog are fond of saying, "Innocent until proven guilty!" Well, of course. However, as noted below, there's plenty of evidence that Gurinder Singh Dhillon, his family members, and his close associates have engaged in financial fraud. Whether Dhillon will suffer criminal penalties is a question that remains to be answered.

(3) Ethical standards keep being lowered. Donald Trump is notorious for scoffing at important, yet unwritten, standards for how a President of the United States should behave while in office. Because he lies constantly and does shameful things on an almost daily basis, Trump is doing his best to redefine what counts as "ethical" for someone who inhabits the White House.

Similarly, Dhillon is a decidedly untraditional RSSB guru. He's devoted himself to amassing wealth through unsavory means. He has altered the RSSB teachings to suit his own purposes. He's embraced a lavish lifestyle for himself and his family. As you can read below, there's little or no doubt Dhillon has actively participated in financial fraud. Yet his followers excuse this bad behavior.

Now I'm going to share some comments from a well-informed frequent commenter on this blog, Spence Tepper. Tepper has been a hospital consultant for 30 years, so has the background to understand the complex financial machinations that have gotten Gurinder Singh Dhillon in such legal and ethical trouble.

Recently Tepper wrote a series of comments in response to questions and assertions made by other Church of the Churchless visitors. I found them clear and insightful. I also have quoted Tepper in a blog post, "Excellent summary of Gurinder Singh Dhillon's wrongdoing," 

There's very little doubt that Dhillon, his family, and his close associates have engaged in financial fraud.

All you have to do is combine the stories in the Indian financial press, the SEBI ruling referenced below, and Malvinder Singh's criminal complaint. This graphic from a LiveMint story shows facts that appear to be indisputable, being based on solid investigations by SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) along with other reporting. I've included the graphic so readers can cross-reference the names of companies mentioned below in Tepper's comments with the money shown above that flowed to the Dhillon family from Fortis via those companies.

I want to point out that the LiveMint story, "Fortis fraud may exceed ₹2,000 crore, says SFIO," talks about the amount of money involved here being markedly higher than the ₹403 crore cited in the SEBI ruling. SFIO stands for Serious Fraud Investigation Office. Excerpt:

The alleged funds diversion at Fortis Healthcare Ltd could add up to more than ₹2,000 crore [$285 million], according to the trail of funds uncovered by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), a government official said.

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), too, suspects that the total size of the Fortis fraud could be much higher than the ₹403 crore it originally estimated, a second person familiar with the development said, requesting anonymity.

Sebi has already passed an order against Fortis to recover ₹500 crore from the Singh brothers for funds diverted to the promoter and promoter-related entities in December.

“At the heart of the alleged fund diversion is Gurinder Singh Dhillon, head of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, and Sanjay Godhwani, a former associate of Malvinder and Shivinder Singh. Six promoter-related companies were used to effect the funds diversion," the first person cited above said on condition of anonymity.

Here's the first comment from Spence Tepper. With each of his comments, I've corrected a few typos and left out the name of the person he was responding to.

You ask "Have actual documents been cited and examined by signatories and accredited financial experts?" Yes. Fortis has an independent accountant, as per legal requirements for a publicly held company, Deloitte. They refused to sign off on Fortis' annual statement, citing impropriety in the siphoning of funds which they had discovered.

Fortis engaged law firm Luthra and Luthra who then subcontracted with another accountancy, Grant Thornton Co., who confirmed and followed the loans to their destination. They were signed at Fortis by Malvinder and Shivinder, and by the loanee company principles (Shabnam Singh, Gurinder's wife, and other members of the Dhillon family).

Then the SEBI got involved, and confirmed these went with signed consent promising repayment, as zero collateral loans, to the Dhillon family companies.

And now the crime wing of that bureau is in the midst of their own investigation as well. But in October of last year, the Securities and Exchange Board completed their preliminary review, concluded that this was fraud, and further, ordered the Singh Brothers and the Dhillon-led companies to pay up quickly, or risk severe penalty.

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"SINGH BROTHERS, OTHERS ASKED TO REPAY RS 403CR TO FORTIS Wed, 10/17/2018 - 11:48 EDT - The Economic Times RDF10 NEW DELHI:

In a potential blow to former Fortis Healthcare promoters Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has directed the brothers and eight entities related to them to repay the hospital group over Rs400 crore that were earlier transferred as inter-corporate deposits.

SEBI's order on Wednesday, which came following a preliminary investigation into alleged diversion of funds from Fortis by the Singhs, has found these transactions to be "fraudulent" in nature.The regulator has sought a detailed investigation into the modus operandi of the entire fraud by way of which funds were allegedly diverted from Fortis to its promoters and also said that other third parties such as banks and auditors would also come under the purview of such investigation.

SEBI, in its interim order, has issued directions to Fortis to "take all necessary steps" to recover Rs403 crore [about $58 million] along with due interest within three months from the Singhs and entities controlled by them, including RHC Holding Pvt Ltd, Religare Finvest Ltd, Shivi Holdings Pvt Ltd and Malav Holdings Pvt Ltd.

The regulator has also clarified that the Singhs and these entities will jointly and severally repay this amount to Fortis within the stipulated time. Pending completion of SEBI's investigation and till further order, the Singhs and these eight entities shall not dispose of or alienate any of their assets or divert any funds, except to repay Fortis and for meeting expenses of day-to-day business operations, without SEBI's prior permission.

The Singhs have also been directed not to associate themselves with the affairs of Fortis "in any manner whatsoever, till further directions," stated the order.

SEBI began investigating the transactions in February following a news report that stated that the brothers had withdrawn close to Rs 500 crore from Fortis without the board's prior approval. According to its order, the regulator found that Fortis, through a subsidiary, had made ICDs of over Rs470 crore to three companies.

SEBI's order noted that the ICD transactions entered into by Fortis with the three entities - Best Healthcare, Fern Healthcare and Modland Wears - between 30 June 2016 to 30 June 2017 were "prime facie fictitious and fraudulent in nature". https://www.bullfax.com/?q=node-singh-brothers-others-asked-repay-rs-403cr-fortis

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Fraud by Gurinder and the Singhs has ALREADY been established by the Bureau. They have been given a small window to pay up, or suffer further legal action.

Here's Tepper's second comment:

The article I cited above detailed the order given by the Securities and Exchange Board of India. This is their legal ruling. 'Fictitious and Fradulent' is their legal judgment after several months of review of the loans between the Singhs and Gurinder's companies.

And their order for both to repay Fortis now is a legal judgment, holding both culpable.

According to Wikipedia "The Securities and Exchange Board of India is the regulator for the securities market in India. It was established in 1988 and given statutory powers on 30 January 1992 through the SEBI Act, 1992" And you may learn more about the legal powers of the SEBI here: https://www.sebi.gov.in/powers-and-functions.html

They have the legal power to search and seizure, to hold hearings, tender judgment, as well as to levy severe penalties, and they have done so already. Guilty.

Gurinder's companies and the Singhs in their loan transactions using Fortis money are found to be guilty of activity that was... "Fictitious and Fraudulent." They are both responsible and are both ordered to repay the loans now or suffer severe penalty. And in addition Fortis is ordered to aggressively pursue repayment from both the Singhs and Gurinder's companies.

Here's Tepper's third comment:

I have only cited the SEBI legal judgment and order. I think we can leave judgment to the government body responsible to make such legal judgments and penalties. They have already done their job. Legally, Gurinder is guilty and responsible. But as Gurinder has not come to the hearings, not offered his position, nor paid back the loans, the courts will likely be next. But as to guilt, that has already been established by the governing body responsible. Verdict? Guilty.

Here's Tepper's fourth comment:

Yes I think there is more to the story, certainly. But that can only explain why they engaged in fraud repeatedly, and who the actual actors were. With Dhillon family members involved at every step, the owners of the company are rightly responsible to repay the loans, Shabnam and Gurinder as owners share in that.

This wasn't just a one time accident, but a systematic series of decisions and actions. Baba Ji may not have known. But over years of time, any decent human being would have taken actions to stop the crimes and make every effort to make up for the harm done, to repay the loans.

It takes a true decent human being to step in and stop criminal activity among family members even when that includes taking responsibility for their crimes. But that hasn't happened here. We don't know the inner workings. We may never know.

But we do know that several fictitious shell companies where Gurinder's wife is the principle officer, and where Gurinder and his sons also are owners, engaged in fraud to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, they were given three months to repay and have remained silent and unresponsive.

When you take profit from an investment you own, you have responsibility for any damage to others that ensues. The responsibility has already been assessed by the agency responsible to do so. That's already done. Guilty of fictitious and fraudulent business deadlines.

And here's Tepper's fifth comment:

This is all we know so far : Several Gurinder owned companies are guilty according to the legal judgment of the SEBI of fictitious and fraudulent business dealings. The evidence for the judgment involves hundreds of millions of dollars over a series of systematic frauds engaged in by fictitious shell companies owned by Gurinder and his family. Nothing else can be concluded at this time.