The HISTORY OF SAHAJ MARG
Elodie's blog: http://pourquevivelesahajmarg.blogspot.com/
Alexis's Blog: http://shriramchandramission.blogspot.com/
This is a translation (Google Translate) of the comments on Elodie's blog by Alexis. (see part 1 and part 2 in Archives)
Part 3- The Time of Divisions (1974-2007)
To attempt to write the recent history with so little background data, is a challenge. The facts which are reported to us are contradictory, often impossible to check, while many witnesses have not expressed themselves yet…
1 The “Contradictory Facts” (Which one wants to tell us… )
Babuji and Chari multiply the tours during the seventies. They will often appear in the company of Andre Poray and Dr. Hans Gangloff.
On March 3, 1974, Babuji names Chari as his successor in front of witnesses, Donald Sabourin and Kasturi. In 1976 the ashram of Shahjahanpur is built. Babuji files a complaint about the loss of 4 blank letterheads of the SRCM. In 1979, Babuji confides to Narayana that he will have to work at Chari’s sides in the future. In 1980, in Munich, he declares to JM (?) that he named Chari as his successor, but André Poray seems a serious rival to Chari. Babuji is less available for the groups of abhyasis and Chari becomes silent. Always about 1980, Babuji relieves Chari of all his functions.
In 1981, the senior preceptors, Raghavendra Rao and Ramachandra Reddy, start a non-official tour in the USA with Umeshchandra Saxena, son of Babuji who is not even preceptor. On April 16, 1982, Babuji however writes a letter of appointment of his son, Umeshchandra as his successor.
At the time of the voyage of Babuji in France in 1982, all becomes very dark. André Poray is everywhere in front of the scene, Chari who was not invited is relegated to the sidelines. Babuji is very sick. He announces to Kasturi that he has named somebody as his successor, without specifying his name and he wants to go to the police because someone wants to make an attempt on his life, which he will finally not do. On September 2, he writes to MD Jahagirdar that Chari is drifting from the initial teaching, that he is presenting himself illegitimately as his successor and that he has tried on several occasions to poison him for 4 years, but that he had found his successor. He does not name him but also announces that he (his successor) will have to be accompanied by Srivastava, Narayana and Kashi RAM Agarwal like Nasib Chand.
In 1983, contradictory messages from the various factions flow, including some from other successors of Lalaji. Babuji dies on April 19. Chari immediately presents his letter of nomination. Raghavendra Rao and Ramachandra Reddy, with Umeshchandra at their head, declare that the letter of Chari is a counterfeit. The family of Babuji immediately does not propose Umeshchandra, but his elder brother Prakash, then his grandson, Charad. A legal battle for the control of the ashram begins. Chari travels to the west to seek support there.
Everyone is found in Shahjahanpur for the birthday of Lalaji in February 1984. A “Working Committee” is set up in haste, on February 6th and 7th. An alleged attempt at poisoning of the clan of Chari takes place, (at that time or at another time is not clear).
Narayana who belongs to the Working Committee considers that the letter of the son of Babuji is a fake and that that of Chari is valid. The grandson of Babuji recognizes that it is a forgery. Kasturi decides in favour of Chari. But the Working Committee decides to name Umeshchandra Spiritual Representative. SA Sarnad, charged to inform everyone, sends a circular to some centers, then joins the clan of Chari, before he has finished sending the circular.
SP Srivastava is named president of the Working Committee while waiting for the spirits to calm, because the positioning of Kasturi in favour of Chari, inter alia, starts an open conflict between the factions.
Under these conditions, Chari constitutes another “Working Committee” in Hyderabad where he is proclaimed president. A new Californian SRCM will be thus created in San Luis Obispo.
In 1987, Chari again tries to seize the ashram of Shahjahanpur, but without success. SP Srivastava publishes the 2nd part of the autobiography of Babuji (1987-89). In August 1991, Narayana leaves the clan of Chari and creates the ISRC.
In 1994, Umeshchandra shows SP Srivastava his letter of nomination and lets it be known that Chari’s letter is a counterfeit made from one of the stolen letterheads. He also accuses Chari of poisoning his father. A senior preceptor accepts the letter of Umeshchandra, all then accept it and Srivastava leaves his place to Umeshchandra Saxena who then chairs the SRCM of Shahjahanpur.
One of his preceptors leaves for the USA in 1996, and creates an Internet site “sahajmarg.org” where he publishes the two (2) letters of nomination of Umeshchandra and Chari. A conflict then opposes the two (2) SRCM on the domain name, and the arbitration is pronounced in favour of the clan of Umeshchandra in April 2000. The clan of Chari then engages a large law firm and carries the business before the federal Court of Virginia. The clan of Umeshchandra prefers to give up partly due to the lack financial resources.
In 2000, Kasturi suddenly opposes Chari after she is rejected by him. She then teaches Sahaj Marg from Lucknow by herself.
Umeshchandra moves around in the ashram of Shahjahanpur with a revolver because he is afraid for his life. In 2003, he dies of unnatural causes. His son Navnnet Kumar Saxena succeeds him, but his younger brother is victim of a suspect road accident only 13 days later.
Navneet Kumar himself is the victim of an attempt at poisoning on February 3, 2006. Chari’s clan invades the ashram of Shahjahanpur on April 2. Then, after the death of the senior full preceptor, Raghavendra Rao, invades also the Ashram of Raichur, and names AP Durai as the head of the Ashram on May 7. Testimonials in favour of Babuji’s family’s clan appears on the Web.
At the end of 2006, the grandson of Lalaji, Dinesh Kumar Saxena, preceptor of Chari, but more especially representative of NaqshMuMRa, of the Sufi lineage resulting from Hujur Maharaj and Lalaji, makes his appearance on the Web. This web site is soon followed by that of a disciple of Kasturi, himself always a preceptor of Chari, and a site by a disciple of Raghavendra Rao.
On January 18, 2007, it is Navneet Kumar’s turn to expres his opinions on the Web. On February 7, the Supreme Court of India rules: “Arguments heard. Orders reserved.” And Navneet creates his own site (SRCM-Shahjahanpur) on February 22, where he publishes the 2 letters of nomination and the mail addressed to DM Jahagirdar where Babuji accuses Chari of all the evils.
2 Decoding of the Historical Context
a) The Battle of the Chiefs (1974-1984)
The last tne years of Babuji’s life are particularly troubled. Did he start by naming Chari to better repudiate him later for the profit of one of his sons? There one finds the Babuji of beginnings of SRCM, mysterious and and paranoid. All the conditions are met to create confusion.
i) The Attraction to Power
In addition to the ambiguities nourished by Babuji, the other great reason which will unleash the battles of the chiefs is the attraction to power.
After decades of stagnation, the leadership of the SRCM evaporates. If one believes Chari, there were less than 50 disciples when he arrived in 1965. In 1970, the number of preceptors was multiplied by 7 and in 1983 again by 4. One would then arrive at a figure from 4,000 to 5.000 followers.
Babuji from now on is surrounded by a permanent court of admirers who a huddle around him. The worship of the personality which he contributed to create and let happen then finally takes effect: he lures the contenders to his succession.
ii) The Bursting After the Unity
There is thus not just one, nor two, but three Missions which claim spiritual heritage from Babuji: the Mission of Umeshchandra from Shahjahanpur, the California SRCM of Chari and the ISRC of K.C. Narayana (son of Dr. Varadachari). Without speaking about the disciples of Babuji who remained relatively autonomous in their respective areas, such Kasturi with Lucknow and Raghavendra Rao in Raichur.
For the SRCM of Shahjahanpur, taken over by Srivastava, Umeshchandra Saxena then Navneet KUMAR, Babuji will never be replaced, there cannot be another living Master and the SRCM must remain in Shahjahanpur.
For the SRCM of Chari, he is the president and he also will become gradually the Living Master, successor of Babuji. Narayana accepts his (Chari’s) presidency but is opposed to his role of “spiritual representative”. For him also, there cannot be another living Master, Babuji is the one and only Master.
b) Triumph of Chari (1984-97)
i) The Cigarette Smoker
Chari is a man from the south, one of these occidentalized cigarette smokers occidentalized, who arrived with the opportunists and the other go-getters, when the SRCM and Babuji were becoming known (famous).
Vis-a-vis the seniors preceptors of traditional north, Chari runs up against these attitudes: he is young person, modern and opportunist. The rejection by the old guard is such that he will decide to go and develop his own Mission abroad, with the Westerners whom he knows so well.
His success is obvious. He won the battle of the numbers: 20.000 disciples in 1991 according to Narayana, 50 to 55.000 in 1995-97 according to Chari.
Contrary to the official history, Chari is thus only one of the many successors of Babuji, but he is the one who succeeded best.
ii) A Teaching Adrift
One is already far from the initial Sahaj Marg, the famous method for the individual use of spiritual seekers. It avails itself of an objective of Universal appeal: to make the world tumble towards spirituality. And that will not be able to take place before the number of followers reaches a certain threshold..
To carry out this new objective, the ten commands are insufficient, one needs new tools. The death of Babuji comes to reinforce the liberty of action of Chari. He has the genius to make a success of instrumentalising the already subjacent worship of the personality and to relegate the ten commands to the level of maxims, without causing the bursting of the movement. The only late but noticeable exit will be that of the son of the late Dr. Varadachari who creates a dissenting movement.
Little by little, Chari subtly modifies the preponderance of the various tools and creates the new ones. The worship of the personality explodes thanks to the ambiguity carefully maintained between Master and Divine, with the development of the “constant remembrance” and the incentives to see the Master. The manipulation thus followed and is reinforced by the incentive to hold a journal and work on one’s character.
The quality of the teaching is forsaken for the profit of a simple varnish. The preceptors undergo the pressure of the leader to multiply the number of new recruits. It is the hour of triumphant proselytism!
c) In Search of a New Respectability (1997-2005)
At the beginning of the Nineties, the strategy of conquest marks time and the “worship of the personality” does not manage to mask the drawbacks any more. (creation of sheep, not of lions). Between 1995 and 2000, the numerical growth greatly slowed down and only 75.000 followers are reached. Chari limits his voyages abroad and concentrates his actions on India.
To re-start again the “stopped growth”, it is necessary to increase the effectiveness and the visibility of the movement as well as its respectability. It is the last great offensive of Chari: a very structured organization, a reinforced physical presence and new forms of action.
Santosh Khanjee, his grey eminence, will be the administrator of this strategic reform which requires a total reorganization of the movement and important foundations. Beside the SRCM which is supposed to manage the spiritual aspects, they create Sahaj Marg Spirituality Foundation, spearhead of all these innovations. He invests overall, in the search for new forms of proselytism such as in new real estate. He collects and manages the necessary funds.
In 1997, the construction of the current Babuji Memorial Ashram begins on a lot acquired in 1989. Work of the BMA ends 2 years later and the inauguration takes place on April 30, 1999, its cost is estimated around 2 at 3 million euros.
The SRCM recovered and reorganized its laboratory of ideas founded by Varadachari, the SMRTI, to try to concretize its ideas. Its brightest success is the use of the VBSE for the creation of very visible and respected inaugurated school, LMOS on June 24, 2005. Its attempts to use the school to promote peace among the children in order to lure people of UNO and to thus buy back a respectability, gives one a “cold on the shoulder”.
Under the cover of training and education, after having flirted with the world of the business and the field of personal development, the Foundation multiplies also real acquisitions (centers of formation and retirement, standard CREST). It ventures even in humanitarianism (centers of light with free food and care for abhyasis and their families).
In 1997, Umeshchandra Saxena, sons of Babuji, estimate the assets of the Mission at a billion Indian rupees (nearly 200 million euros), with 700 centers and 70 ashrams. In 2003, Chari announces to have multiplied by 3 the number of Indian abhyasis in 3 years. The money flows from the Occident towards India. The figures announced between 2004 and 2006 fluctuates between 200 and 300.000 followers with 2, 000 to 3.000 preceptors.
3 The Re-awakening of the Vultures (from 2005)
Chari is aging and he is conscious of it. On April 29, 2005, he names Ajay Kumar Bhatter to succeed him. But history repeats itself eternally. Chari will celebrate his 80th birthday, and he is sick and tired. The Mission grew considerably, it grew rich. And history repeats itself, the lieutenants of Chari are now the new opportunists: Ajay is the designated successor, Krishna the wealthy heir, Khanjee the “grey eminence” and lastly, Durai, the henchman.
How to resist the covetousness which this small empire causes inevitably? The appetites are insatiable, there is such a potential for power and money within the reach of one’s hands. The grandson of Lalaji leaves the shadows of anonimity, the partisans of Kasturi push her forward and the grandson of Babuji counterattacks.
Who will win?
Is this the environment of the End of the Reign… or the era of a New Beginning?
4 Bibliography –
SRCM®: www.srcm.org
SRCM Shahjahanpur: www.srcmshahjahanpur.org
ISRC: www.sriramchandra.org
Blog on Kasturi: http://kasturibhenji.blogspot.com
Blog on Raghavendra Rao: http://makamsureshkumar.blogspot.com
