THREE SATHYA SAI ORGANIZATION MISINFORMERS
OF THE SATHYA SAI ORGANIZATION
Three close devotees of Sathya Sai Baba - prominent among his 'special guest VIPs', Steen Piculell, Thorbjørn Meyer and Jack Hawley) - have claimed that Sai Baba is innocent of all the many charges of sexual abuse brought against him by alleging victims of sexual molestations and very serious homosexual abuse. This conviction is necessarily held by all other office-bearers in his Organization or else they are 'excommunicated' immediately! The claim to know such matters is transparently self-destroying. It is simply a cherished belief, because none of those who assert it have been able to monitor Sai Baba's activities in more than a few dozen interviews lasting an hour or so. Otherwise they can only see him for rather limited periods in public during half-hour daily darshans, or at festivals and the like. No observation of Sai Baba’s activities can cover more than a tiny fraction of the time at his disposal, and not even one minute of his nightly withdrawal behind locked doors. The ex-Prime Minster of India - Atal Vihari Vajpayee - should have realised this when, without any investigation whatever (See here), he published a statement with former Supreme Court judge Bhagwani and others claiming the allegations against the Baba were baseless!
The leader of the Sathya Sai Organization in Northern Europe, Mr. Meyer, was caught out in a blatant untruth by Danish National Broadcasting's TV news journalist when he said he had investigated the sexual abuses, but was shown not to be telling the truth by his own subsequent answers to continued questioning (read here and see a DRTV news video clip). His belief in Baba’s purity is fundamentally and overwhelmingly based on subjective faith and is of a zealous religious kind. Desperately relying on him as a guru and saviour and overwhelmed by his charisma and the personality cult around him where fabulous stories of his miracles abound unchecked by any investigation or critical reasonsing, Steen Piculell, Thorbjørn Meyer and Jack Hawley are obviously in psychological denial, like all other with them who remain with Sai Baba years after the damning evidence against him has been surfacing and mounting for many years.
Steen Piculell, a Danish businessman who is the Coordinator for the Sathya Sai Organization in Eastern Europe gave a halting and confused radio interview in which he defended Sathya Sai Baba. Here is a brief excerpt from an interview with various victims and devotees from BBC Radio 4 which shows the extent of denial a devotee can suffer from... actually believing that Sai Baba has himself chosen to scandalize himself through devotees he has chosen for this as his 'instruments'.. all so as to test the faith of his followers in general.
No one can 'know' that Sai Baba is omniscient or an avatar, for such direct knowledge requires knowing everything oneself… which the persons involved most certainly do notd o not! I have experienced all such blind beleiving people long enough to realise that they have gradually rid themselves of their individual judgement, always trying to do what they are told to do and say what they are told to say… according to each their perceptions of Sai Baba’s will. Therefore their claims can have no validity whatever in deciding this matter of sexual abuses.
Were they actually capable of applying Baba's own advice and 'see only good in everyone', then surely they should not assume that those who tell of being molested are liars or deluded and deranged persons? Rather they should be treated with civility and sympathy and given a hearing, at least. But Sai Baba held, in his Xmas 2000 discourse, that his accusers lied about him for money. "Speak no ill of others", says Sai Baba, and proceeds to do so himself and lie brazenly about their courageously speaking out! This sweeping accusation by him is particularly unsavoury disunity between word and act. It is more or less incredible that 30 persons in different parts of the world should be found, convinced and paid by someone to make such charges on oath, especially as all would realise the trouble and criticism they would have to face in so doing. The new wave of allegations began thanks to the Internet, when former very close and extremely popular Sai follower, David Bailey, collected and published at least seven highly convincing e-mails he received alleging serious molestations, alsong with other investigations he had made after learning so many awful facts. It was well known in Sai baba's ashram Prashanthi Nilayam that he did not have the means to pay for what such a demanding smear campaign would doubtless have cost had it been to contrive false witnesses, even if he'd had a credible motive for so doing. He was a remarkable favourite of Sai Baba who took him to over 100 group and/or private interviews, and he knew he would lose all the apparent boons, blessings, benefits and ashram privileges that such closeness is believed by all devotees to give.
How could the preacher of truth, Sathya Sai Baba be lying about his accusers? Well, such deceitful behaviour by him is in fact reported quite widely in literature by devotees, not least by some who experienced it from Sai Baba‘s in very early days, such as by Smt. Vijayamma, Varadu, M. Krishna and others who were once very close to him.
Timothy Conway, former leader of the San Francisco Sathya Sai Centre, has criticised Jack Hawley for his deviousness as follows:-
Jack Hawley, a prominent Sai devotee, acclaimed author and successful management consultant, in December 2000 drafted a cryptic essay entitled “WE DON’T KNOW!” while in Prashanti Nilayam, apparently in response to the serious allegations about Sathya Sai Baba’s sexual activities with male youth and perhaps also in response to allegations of trickery in Baba’s “materializations.” Mr. Hawley never reveals what, exactly, he is talking about, so it is hard to pin him down.
On the face of it, this essay by Jack Hawley is a high-minded, tactful, and edifying call for us to see Baba’s activity in the most positive light. However, with no disrespect intended to Mr. Hawley’s person, I view his essay as being evasive, irresponsible, and laden with a certain conceit, as a close reading of his letter will clearly show. It also serves as dangerous propaganda at a time when the Sathya Sai Baba movement direly needs honesty, humility, and complete openness about empirical facts, victims’ rights and feelings, and the conventions of law and social justice.[see http://www.enlightened-spirituality.org/Sathya_Sai_Baba_my_concerns.html]