Here I want to cover some relevant points of the two trips I made to the Dera in India -
one in 1989 and the other in 1991:

THE 1989 TRIP - CHARAN SINGH

I went to the Dera for the first time during October-November 1989.  In fairness, from a
physical standpoint, let me say that the grounds and buildings where the foreign visitors stay
are beautiful.  It is a college campus atmosphere - neat and clean - with gardens and flowers
all around.  It is a peaceful place which makes one feel "at home".

One thing I had hoped for, of course, was to get an interview with Charan Singh.  However,
I was told this was essentially impossible and that only those in a serious life and death
situation were allowed to see the Master.  I accepted this but I sincerely regret not trying harder
and being more persistent as I later learned that those who were persistent did get interviews.
Charan Singh would die before my next trip to Dera.

Meeting Professor Puri

Another goal I had which I did accomplish was to meet Professor Puri - the brother of
the Professor Puri (who had died) who wrote "Mysticism - The Spiritual Path" - my favorite RS Book.  My reason for hunting down Professor Puri was that I had been told by David Lane
that there was an unpublished work by L.R. Puri - Volume III of "Mysticism - The Spiritual
Path" which he was allowed to read when he visited the Dera.  Of course, I wanted to read
it too.  However, Professor Puri informed me that no such book had ever been written and
did not exist.

We spent the rest of our time - I was with him for several hours - talking about UFO's.
He was totally fascinated by the concept of UFO's.  Had I seen one ?   What did I think  ?
Were they really here ?

It was much later, when I reflected on the UFO conversations, that it dawned on me that
something was not right here.  Puri's brother had written these detailed books on the inner
worlds from Earth to Anami (the highest possible region).  Now RS teachings state that
"at a very early stage one gains the knowledge of the entire history of the planet Earth".
This knowledge, certainly, would include any interaction between Earth and UFO's.
So why is he asking me ?   He is a senior resident of the Dera and is supposedly surrounded
by all these "evolved" souls led by a Master who claims to be Sat Purush.  Certainly
someone - especially his own brother who wrote detailed books - should have the
information he was seeking.  Clearly, something just does not add up here.

The Evening Meetings

I want to cover a couple of points from the evening meetings with Charan Singh.

Since I was not going to get an interview with Charan Singh, I decided to at least
ask him a question.  It was October 31st. - halloween - so I decided to ask him
a halloween question which concerned the technical reasons for the choice of
October 31st. as halloween.  This is supposed to be the day - in the cycle of the
relationship between the Earth and the Astral plane - where the two planes are
closest or most easily accessible to one another.  Hence, it is the best time out
of the year to attempt to make contact with the "other side".

Charan Singh did not answer the question - he just said we should not think about
such things.

However, in responding to me he kept calling me "Sister".   Everyone got a kick out
of that and the next day they teased me saying,  "Morning Sister - they have some
new dresses at the cloth shop".

I dismissed this event at the time giving Charan Singh the benefit of the doubt -
that perhaps the lighting was poor or his vision was not the greatest.  However,
as I look back on this event, I wonder about it.  In the RS books, it is claimed
that Charan Singh knew every thought and action of every initiate on a daily basis.
It is claimed that when he received letters he did not need to open them - he
simply held them to his forehead and immediately knew all about who wrote the
letter and the contents of the letter.  So, with all these powers, physical vision
should not have prevented him from telling a guy from a girl at a distance of 30 feet
or so.

The next event I want to discuss is a question from a satsangi to Charan Singh
at the evening meeting of November 8th., 1989.

This satsangi stated that when doing meditation he heard a buzzing sound and
then "zoom" and he was outside of his body looking at his body.  His question
was "What do I do now ?"

Charan Singh's answer was that he was doing it all wrong and should get back
in his body and do intense simran.

This is an extremely important question and answer.  I did not realize how important
until I read the material from Baba Faqir Chand which is available on David Lane's
web page.   This is the "smoking gun" - the validation of Faqir Chand's claims.
This person successfully got out of his body.  He looked for his Master to guide
him but could not find him.  Why ?   Because he not there.   The master is
imaginary - created by the student in his physical mind in his physical imagination.
The meditation techniques used by RS are NOT designed to lead to out-of-body
travel as is claimed but are only designed to create illusions of and in your own mind.
You create an imaginary playmate - the master - and then talk with your creation.
It is an illusion - pure and simple - as Faqir Chand explains.  If you happen to
really get out of your physical body, you are on your own and have no protection.
The reason RS techniques can be called "safe" is that they are NOT designed to
cause a real out-of-body experience and so - since you never go anywhere - no
protection is needed.

Observing an Initiation Ceremony

Some of us went to observe an Indian initiation ceremony.  Unlike western initiations,
which are "proxy initiations", Indians can come to the Dera and be actually initiated in
person by the guru, in this case Charan Singh.

Now the ceremony is in the native language, of course, and very few outsiders can
understand a word of it.  However, people communicate in many other ways besides
language and there were certain things that I came to understand very clearly.

The main thing I noticed was that these people were scared stiff - absolutely terrified.  You could
see it in their faces.  Two guys would hold them by their arms - one guy on each side -
and sort of  "shove them in front of Charan Singh".  He would then indicate whether
he accepted or rejected them for initiation at which point they would be shoved out,
either to the left or to the right depending upon the decision.  At the conclusion of this
process, the selected people were brought back in as a group and were initiated.

Other guests later informed me that it was their understanding that Charan Singh
was looking to see if the people brought before him were "marked souls", i.e.,
members of the elite group of 10% of all souls which RS doctrine claims God cares about.

I could not help thinking of this experience of watching the initiation the next time
"The Wizard of OZ" came on TV.  Watching Dorothy and her friends walk the long
hall to see the "Wizard" somehow instantly reminded me of the initiation ceremony.
 

Seva

People who visit the Dera are generally encouraged to help out in some way.  It's
only fair to chip in a bit - after all you are being treated to free lodging and food.
I explained I was good at electrical stuff and would be glad to help out in this area.
So, I was told to report to some men who were setting up lights in the tent we used
for evening meetings.

When I got there, I was sort of  looking around, and I asked them what I could help
them with.  Supriseingly, the answer was, "You American - you think you know
everything - you think you are superior !"  Then they said they did not need any help.
I really was not expecting that.  So I just left.

THE 1991 TRIP - GURINDER SINGH

The period for this trip was October-November 1991.

The first thing I heard when I arrived was that the new master, Gurinder Singh, had
outlawed bhandaras (claiming they were not spiritual events) and had refused to
bless things saying that for him to do such was "meaningless and had no spiritual
merit".  (It was customary, during Charan Singh's leadership, for the foreign guests
to bring things they had bought - like items of clothing - shawls were the big thing-
to the evening meetings and have them blessed by Charan Singh which -for the
satsangies - gave the items special meaning)
By stating this he implied that all the things previously blessed by Charan Singh
were meaningless and also that parshad - blessed food - which is a big deal among
satsangies was also meaningless.

Gurinder Singh re-affirmed this position - according to my notes - when questioned
about it at the evening meeting of October 28th., 1991.  However, on October 29th., 1991
he instructed Ms. Desal (who ran the lunch room) to inform everyone that he would,
in fact, begin blessing things starting that night.

Why the 180 degree shift ?   We will never know for sure but if I had to guess I would
guess that it was pointed out to him that western guests contribute great sums of money
and it would not be profitable to dis-illusion them.

Evening Meetings

One of the questions put to Gurinder Singh at the evening meeting concerned initiations.
It was a request for clarification of some points.

His reply was, essentiallty, "I don't know anything about initiations because I have not had a chance
to read the initiation instruction book yet.  Ask one of the representatives to help you".

Now, the problem here is that, in order to be considered a master, Gurinder Singh
must have an active inner connection with his master, Charan Singh, unless he has
reached the Anami region himself and is therefore a perfect master in his own right.
In either case he should not have to read an instruction book to know about
initiations, since to give initiations is his primary function as a master.

Blessing The Food Workers

We were told we could watch one of the daily events (duties) of the master which
is to have the women who prepare the food for the dera residents assemble to be
blessed.  (recall that previously Gruinder Singh said he felt blessing things was
meaningless and then changed his mind)

So we were escorted to an open area where the women were assembled to wait
for the master.  Soon he zoomed up in a car.  First plain clothed thugs with machine
guns got out and pointed the weapons at the women.  Then Gurinder got out and
stood behind the line of guards to do his "blessing".  We were standing behind
Gurinder so the machine guns were not pointed at us.  The women were singing
a cute little song in Hindi which I was later told was the Hindi equivalent of
"You Are The Wind Beneath My Wings" - a song of total submission and surrender.
After a minute or so he got back in the car and left.  But, instead of using the road,
he went off in the grass and zoomed over the top of a small hill (joy riding style).

I will never forget these women.  I've heard satsangies say how great it would be
if they could live at the Dera - yea, right!  This is ridiculous to treat these poor people
this way !   Security is one thing but these are not strangers or outsiders or unknowns -
these are the ladies who make the food.  I don't see how they put up with this stuff.

Sexual Harassment

The women with whom I shared a lunchroom table were discussing the fact that
young Indian men who they encountered when they left the protected area of the
Guest House would follow them and make a strange noise like "sut sut" with their
tongue.  It annoyed them, however they did not understand what was happening.

Later I read "The Kama Sutra" - the Indian sex instruction book - and found the
sound and method of making it described as the way Indian men ask women
for sex.  Therefore, it now appears that women who visit the Dera are being
propositioned quite regularly by the Indian men but simply do not understand
how Indian men ask women to sleep with them and so do not realize this is happening.

Seva

On this trip I worked with the "computer people".  This was new.  Gurinder Singh
reportedly worked at a computer store in Spain before he inherited ownership
of the Dera and its multi-national property holdings.  The computer people were
"special".  Although most people have to go all sorts of red tape to see the master,
the computer programmers said they met with him every day (I was not a programmer - just
a helper).  At that time all they had was a bunch of laptops run by exotic power
supplies and regulators because of the instability of the voltage in India.  They were
constantly calling back to the United States on the phone requesting spare parts
be sent with people who would be coming over to visit the Dera.

It is my understanding that now a new building has been constructed just for
the computer center and that the operations at the Dera - especially in the
area of Gurinder Singh's activities - have been totally computerized.

Of course,  during the period of Charan Singh there was no such thing as
a computer anywhere at the Dera and all records were maintained by hand.
 
 

Professor Puri

I checked in with my friend from last visit Professor Puri again.  We had another
long talk about UFO's.  I told him I had asked around and many people felt they
were real and coming here on a regular basis.  He was quite interested.

When I left Professor Puri's office some men (maybe they overheard some of the UFO
stuff) asked me if I was from the United States.  They said they were very interested in
any information I knew about US Satellite Surveillance Technology.  I told them that I
knew they had satellites but that I did not work for them and so couldn't really help them.
Later, when India managed to build a nuclear bomb and evade US Satellite detection,
it prompted me to recall this encounter.  I guess they found the information they wanted.

My Interview with Gurinder Singh

Well it was October 31, 1991 (halloween again) and my big moment had arrived.
I had been granted an interview with the Master.

So here I was - I went in, sat down, asked my question and...   and...   nothing !
Gurinder Singh just sat there - would not say a word.
After a minute or so I said thank you and left.

The Space Cadets

There were two - a man/wife couple - satsangies who were "disturbed".  They were
frightened - they could not remember from one minute to the next - they would lose
their way, forget where their room was, lose their key, etc.  And, their speech
was so dis-oriented that you could not understand them.  I nicknamed them
"the Space Cadets".   Anyway,  the master was contacted by the "management"
and asked what to do about them.  His solution reportedly was to call up the hospital that
the Dera operates and get some psychiatric (nut farm) drugs and force the couple
to take them.  They refused to take the drugs and hid out while volunteers searched
for them.  I think they were still on the run when it was time for me to leave.
Where's all that spiritual power when you need it ?   Kind of makes you wonder.
 
 

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