by Karen Jonson
57
Maharaji Leaves
The Beginning of the End
FINALLY, AFTER SIX WEEKS IN Barsana Dham, Maharaji left for the next leg of his “World Tour”—Trinidad and Tobago.
As soon as he was gone, the ashram became deathly quiet. But I felt a collective sigh of relief from the devotees after a month and a half of non-stop cooking, cleaning, chanting, and chasing after Maharaji. Everyone was exhausted.
But our relief was short-lived. A few days later, Swamiji called a meeting of all the ashram residents. We gathered in his bedroom. He said while most of us had done a lot of physical seva during Maharaji’s stay, the majority of us had not done our service with “the right devotional feelings.” He then informed us that we might get a second chance to serve Maharaji the correct way. “He might return to Barsana Dham for a couple of weeks before he returns to India. If he does, you will all have to work harder to get closer to him.”
One devotee asked: “Do you mean internally or externally closer to him?”
He shot her a dirty look. “Internally,” he barked.
Swamiji ended his talk with a curious statement: “Some of you have had personal experiences with Maharaji that are very private. Very, very private. And you must keep them private.” At this point, I still assumed he meant internal private experiences. But I was about to learn the truth.
I left his room miserable. He can’t be serious, I thought. Everyone is beyond exhausted. How can we whip the “Maharaji Show” back into action with no energy, no time, and no more money? And it wasn’t just me feeling negative this time. I looked around at the devotees’ faces as we filed out of Swamiji’s bedroom. They did not look happy.
In fact, no one was smiling now.
PART FOUR
In the Cult
Losing My Religion
“Filled with insatiable desires, full of hypocrisy,
Pride and arrogance, holding unwholesome views
Through delusion, they work with unholy resolve.”
— Lord Krishna, Bhagavad Gita, 16:10
“I heard many things in hell.”
— Edgar Allen Poe,
The Tell-Tale Heart
58
Bad News Rising
Maharaji Arrested
I HATE TO RECEIVE FOREBODING NEWS and then have to wait to hear the whole story.
On 25 May 2007, all Barsana Dham and Austin devotees received an email from the administration asking us to attend an important meeting that night after satsang. There was some “sensitive news” about Maharaji that was going to be shared. My gut told me something was very wrong. We were rarely told us anything at all, so why now? But even my instincts did not foretell how bad this news would be.
In the hours leading up to the meeting, curiosity was killing me. The minutes ticked by slowly. That evening when I went to the dining hall for dinner. Raj, an Indian devotee who lived in the ashram, was preparing the evening meal. He might know something, I thought.
“Raj, what is tonight’s meeting about?” I asked.
“You’ll find out soon,” he responded cryptically.
“Just give me a hint. I’ve been waiting all day. I’m a nervous wreck.”
He sighed.
“Please,” I implored.
“Something happened in Trinidad. A person accused Maharaji of something he didn’t do.”
“What happened?”
“Let Prabhakari tell you tonight. She’ll explain the whole story.”
Naturally, this tidbit only fanned my curiosity. The rest of the evening crawl by. Finally it was 9:00 p.m. As was the custom in Barsana Dham for group meetings, we gathered in Swamiji’s sitting room.
It took about ten minutes for all the devotees to gather. I sat on the floor against the back wall impatiently watching everyone meander in. When we were finally all seated, Prabhakari strutted into the room with her usual self-important air, casually holding a piece of paper. She sat on the floor near Swamiji’s couch in front of a microphone floor stand, and adjusted it with pomp and circumstance.
She began by setting the stage. She explaining how “when a great spiritual power appears on Earth, evil powers also appear to oppose him.” Then she gave us an abbreviated history lesson about the ongoing culture clash in Trinidad and Tobago. She told us how the country is roughly split between Indian and Black citizens, how there’s tension between the two groups, and how when she was there with Swamiji in the early 1990s, she’d been told one of the newspapers basically printed only sensationalistic stories and was always on the hunt for “yellow journalism.”
Then she told us this lowly newspaper had reported an incident that had occurred in Trinidad involving Maharaji and a young woman. Without saying the word “black” she made it clear that this particular woman was from the country’s non-Hindu population. Prabhakari stressed that the woman “was not even a devotee or a potential devotee,” but had accused Maharaji of “assault” and that he had been arrested six days ago. That was the only word she used to describe the incident—“assault.”
“The woman went to the home where Maharaji was staying for satsang, but was never alone with him,” explained Prabhakari. “Everyone knows Neelu is always with Maharaji. Many devotees were with him and know that nothing took place. We believe her story is a setup by a rival spiritual organization, which has been doing everything it can to sway public opinion against Hindus prior to an upcoming election.”
For one thing, I knew that Neelu was not always with Maharaji, so the story did not ring true. Then she told us how Barsana Dham was going to respond to the situation. She referenced a recent event about an Amish community in Pennsylvania, where a man had walked into a classroom full of children, taken them hostage, and killed several of them. It was widely reported that the Amish community’s reaction in the midst of their grief was to show compassion for the shooter.
Prabhakari said: “We’re going to take the high road like the Amish did when their children were killed. We are going to show compassion for the person who tried to slander Maharaji. We’re going to ignore the accuser and just feel sympathy for her.”
I found this reference curious because usually Swamiji would never let anyone compare his organization to any other, let alone admit to following in its footsteps for any reason. This was completely out of character.
Prabhakari added: “In response to the incident, we have prepared a statement from the organization and it has been signed by the members of our management committee. This is going to be our only formal reply to the accusation.”
Then she read from the paper she’d carried into the room. As she read the note, I could hear the ashram’s public relations minds at work. Part of the page-long statement said: “For the people responsible for fabricating this unfortunate and defamatory scenario, we can only feel pity that personal greed and political ambitions have driven them to such a terrible and hurtful act of trying to defame a great spiritual leader and to shake the faith of Hindus in their divine religion and greatest saints.”
Then she told us, “The good news is that so far, this story has not been picked up by the Western press. As far as I know, it is only being covered in the Trinidad papers and in a few of India’s news outlets.”
Prabhakari concluded saying, “I asked Swamiji what I should tell you, and he said: ‘Don’t think about it.’ Maharaji told me to tell everyone: ‘Don’t talk about it.’”
She then added her own opinion: “Personally, I feel no devotees should go on the Internet to read anything about this. That would be a transgression.”
Instinctively, I did not believe her evasive explanation of this shocking and upsetting event. I felt sure there was more to this story. After all, I had now experienced the secretive charan seva, and witnessed many strange and uncomfortable scenes in his bedroom. What else went on in there that I hadn’t seen? Rather than forcing me to toe the party line, this time her instruction had the opposite effect—this time I was going to find out exactly what
the hell was going on around here.
I was going on the Internet!
59
Con Realization
A Crack in the Façade
AFTER PRABHAKARI’S DISCLOSURE about Maharaji’s arrest, I returned to my office and typed three words into Google—Kripalu, Maharaj, and Trinidad—hit return, and watched my world shatter.
The search result was filled with news articles from Trinidad and India. The headlines were generally the same: “Visiting 85-year-old Indian Swami Charged with Rape in Trinidad” and “Indian Swami in Trinidad Rape Row Gets Bail.” The word “rape” jumped out at me like a flashing red light. Prabhakari had clearly said “assault,” which could have meant anything. Tape meant only one thing.
I continued to read, and realized that Maharaji had been arrested on May 20th. Why were we told five days after the fact? We were dedicated followers, but the rest of the world knew about this event before we did. Once again, the powers-that-be were treating us like children, while acting like the all-knowing parents.
I was in shock over the news. But a new emotion began to bubble up inside of me, like molten lava ready to erupt. I was angry. This emotion replaced my normal apathetic acceptance of the organization’s party line.
The news reports, revealed the real story. A twenty-two-year-old Guyanese girl had gone to see him at the home of the wealthy family with which he was staying. She had gone for spiritual benefit, but she was invited into his bedroom instead—first with a small group of ladies to press his legs, then later to spend time alone with him. During her private time with him, in which she thought she would be given private spiritual guidance, Maharaji told her to take off her clothes. He then sprayed her with perfume and told her to put his penis in her mouth. He then pulled her into his bed and penetrated her.
While this news was shocking in itself, it was the comments on many of the articles that sent my nervous system over the edge. There were dozens of comments written by people from around the world—the U.S., India, Australia, Fiji, Ireland, and more—many of which referred to long-held secrets about the man I had called my guru. As I read them I felt panicky, suffocated.
On May 24th, someone using the moniker “Satya” wrote a comment on Guruphiliac.com:
“You don’t know this guy, it seems. He was already charged with rape a couple of decades ago in India, where the newspapers were headlined Bhakta Bhalaat ke. I have the old news clipping and I know a bunch of people who he’s made sex advances to over the years which is why I’d like to see him pay for his crimes. One woman told me he tried to rape her just last year. How does anyone know how old he actually is? Seen his birth certificate? The guy’s a fraud through and through, he’ll tell any lie to get his ends. He fakes language difficulties, he may be faking his ‘aged frailty’ too. And ask any woman in India which men you have to watch out for with roving hands and eyes, the old or the young?”
The next day Satya added the following comment:
“I have an article from 1991 in Hindi, which I am not good at reading. It has a picture of this Ram Tripathi Kripalu surrounded by police and is headed Bhakta Bhalaat ki which in my limited understanding means something like ‘Holy Rapist’—Bhalaat means rape and Bhakta means devotee saint. I forwarded a copy of that article to journalists covering the court case. Other than that an American woman I know went to this ‘Jagadguru’ Kripalu’s ashram in India last year, lured there by an Indian woman who is a close devotee of the ‘Swami.’ After some days of prepping she was led into Kripalu’s bedroom where he grabbed her in ‘innapropriate places,’ but she was able to struggle free and get out of there. Outside, the disciples told her the Swami’s molesting was the pinnacle of his ‘mercy,’ and tried to make her pay a biwentll for the privilege of his inappropriate services…! 15 years ago I knew some women who went to Kripalu from the west to become disciples, but he told them they would have to sleep with him.”
I could barely comprehend what I was reading. But there was more. I learned that this was not Maharaji’s first arrest. He had been arrested before in 1991 in India for allegedly raping three underage girls. Along with being freaked out by this news, I also realized one curious coincidence: This happened at the same time that Swamiji had stopped talking about Maharaji.
I couldn’t help but search for more information either. I stayed up researching and reading comments until late in the morning. By 3:00 a.m., I had read all the news and commentary I could find. I shut off my computer and went to bed. I felt dizzy and disoriented with the avalanche of new information. In the past few hours, the world as I knew it had cracked, turned to dust, and been blown away by the wind. My mind was overloaded, racing with the news and revelations.
And I had no one to talk to about it—because to do that would be a serious transgression.
60
Where in the Hell Am I?
Gurus’ Secrets Spill
THE NEXT MORNING I WOKE UP with only one thought: Is there any more news?
Yes, there was. In fact, for the whole the next month, more and more news and comments kept spilling out online. I fell asleep each night only after I had read everything reported that day. Every morning I got dressed, ate breakfast, went to my office, and logged on to find new comments posted by people from around the world. Clearly, many ex-devotees and informed third parties had been holding in much pain and torment, and so many skeletons. Now, they had an outlet. It was as if someone had lanced a wound, and all the pent up disturbing secrets came pouring out. The dam that had held Maharaji’s secrets for so long had been breached, and people were unleashing decades of pent-up knowledge, experiences, and frustration.
My world had shrunk to the space of my fifteen-inch computer screen. Within days, I came to the conclusion that Maharaji was the diametric opposite of the kind of person we thought he was. The most revealing commentary was posted on June 22nd by someone using the name “Insider.” S/he opened up the door to Maharaji’s bedroom in a way that no one else had to date:
“I was an insider (I mean a real insider) in Kripalu Maharajji’s organization. I was extremely devoted to him and to his organization and had many spiritual experiences and great spiritual insights. I later found out that spiritual experiences arise out of your own sincerity and efforts and have nothing to do with the so-called guru or teacher. After all, God or Krishna (call him what you will) is still there, and He responds to sincere seekers regardless of how big a fraud the teacher is.
“My heart was broken and I was annihilated when slowly but surely, the fraudulent nature of Kripalu Maharajji’s mission became known to me. There were many, many examples of corruption of the mission that came before me, before I took the extremely difficult step of renouncing this teacher and organization. I could write a book on this, but I’ll simply sum-up some key points for those of you that have an open mind on such things. Trust me (actually trust yourself), without willingness to stand-up for the truth, you will never get anywhere spiritually.
“1. Kripalu Maharaj definitely has an obsession with sex, although he teaches others that there is no ‘anand’ (love) in this world. There have been many instances of very creditable reports and charges against him. Most of these are from very good and sincere people that are bastions of the community and really sincere to God. However, modesty, embarrassment and the fear of a powerful organization that could hurt them makes them hesitate to speak out. The father of the girls from Nagpur that took the case against him all the way to the Indian Supreme Court was a rare and very brave exception. This father could have settled easily for large amounts of money that Kripalu’s organization would have been too willing to pay to end this case. That he and his daughters fought and are still fighting for justice shows that they are not motivated by money or fame. They just want justice!
“2. This is how it works today. To sit in Maharajjis presence, to touch his feet, to have coffee with him, to drink charanamrit (holy water) and even to be hit by his slippers means that there is a charge. They call it �
��seva,’ but basically nothing is free. Have a chappal [slipper] hit you and enjoy the ‘grace’ of ‘chappal seva,’ then pay $100 for the privilege!
“3. However, there is one special ‘seva’ open only to women. A secret ‘seva’ called ‘charan seva’ that is free. For this, Maharajji’s preachers take all the unknowing women into the room where Maharajji is lying on his bed. The lights are dimmed and the women surround him and press his body. The most attractive women are positioned around his pillow and within reach of his hands. The lights are then turned-out completely, giving Maharajji the chance to grope the pretty women close to him. If they do not pull back, they are invited to stay behind!!
“4. Maharajji’s children and grand-children often travel with him at the cost of ‘devotees’ donations. Their slightest wishes, no matter how materialistic are again fulfilled at ‘devotees’ expense. Huge sums of money are raised through ‘sevas’ with little if any accounting of where it goes while no expense is spared for the ‘divine family.’ Any spiritual person can tell that this family is quite materialistic and have no spiritual virtues. Maharajji himself is driven around India in a Mercedes.
“5. Brainwashing is accomplished by telling ‘devotees’ to not read or listen to any other teachings and to limit their association with only ‘devotees.’ Maharajji wears special scents to create the impression that his body exudes divine fragrances and the entire field of senses is used to create the aura of divinity. His publicity department is the most professional and his preachers claim that he is the most divine descension ever, greater even than Krishna or Rama!
“6. In Trinidad, Maharajji’s organization is called Radha Madhav society. Its head in Trinidad is called Didiji. She is yet another fraud whose last organization in Oklahoma had to be shut down because of many sexual allegations against her and her relationship with Kripalu Maharaj. Even her web-site was erased so that nothing embarrassing about her would come out.”
