Taken and Translated from research article by Alexis on his French blog: Le Projet Sahaj Marg.
Comments and Insertions by 4d-don are in "red italics"
Personalities and Trends Related to Sahaj Marg
The linear transmission of spiritual power from Lalaji to Babuji and then to Rajagopalachari is a legend. (or not true, a fiction, a fantasy ... see Epitome of Sahaj Marg (see below for other links to this document) by Dinaysh Kumar Saxena, Dean of NaqshMuMRa and grandson of Lalaji or see document "Epitome of Sahaj Marg" document on this blog.) Things are much more complex. Descendants of Lalaji created the Tariqa Ramchandriya, a new Hindu Sufi order from his teaching. His nephews and his main disciples are behind several more or less syncretic movements between Sufism and Santmat, which spread everywhere, from northern India and to the United States. Since 1984, Babuji's children are engaged in a legal battle without mercy with Rajagopalachari, from their stronghold of Shahjahanpur, and recently publicized it on the web. The senior preceptors of Babuji, meanwhile, took their distances from the two parties since 1994. Fewer and fewer, they move from one group to another of the diaspora of the disciples of Babuji, always very present and refusing any compromise with the followers of Rajagopalachari.
Note: The spelling of names have been deliberately simplified, as it sometimes changes with each documents.
Lalaji, His Family And Their Disciples
Ram Chandra of Fatehgarh, aka Lalaji (4/02/1873-14/08/1931) met his master, Hujur in 1891 and spent 16 years in his company. Hujur (1857-1907) gave him full powers on October 11, 1896, but Lalaji only started teaching in 1911, relates his grandson (Dinaysh Kumar Saxena). His works are compiled in two volumes titled: "The Complete Works of Ram Chandra Maharaj Lalaji. The second volume, published in July 2001 with 7,000 copies printed, relates his Sufi and Santmat experience. Exciting but virtually untraceable, is the subject taboo at the Shri Ram Chandra Mission?
The list of movements which came out of his teaching is fairly long. His grandson mentions five of them: NaqshMuMra, Ramashram Satsang, Akhil Bhartiya Santmat Satsang, Golden Sufi Center and of course the Sahaj Marg. To this list we can also add the movements of Saral Hari Marg of Dr. Harnarayan Saxena (1908-2003) or that of Dr. Chandra Gupta, who also claims the legacy of Lalaji. Their relationship with the Sahaj Marg is indirect, only because Babuji said that it was Lalaji who gave him the order to create this movement.
Lalaji had only one hundred to two hundred followers. Among those who have reached the central region or approached it closer, from the spiritual point of view, some have circulated his teaching from the centers of the movement of Ramashram Satsang, mainly in northern India, Sikandrabad, Gazhiabad, Shyam Nagar, Jaipur or even in Mathura. Derived from Lalaji their power is rooted in the Sufi order of Naqshbandiya, but he later re-integrated it with Santmat (or bhaktimat).
Thus, Ranajit Saheb, 101 years old, and probably one of the last contemporary living disciples of Lalaji operates from Shyam Nagar (blog created April 13, 2009 on http://ramashramsatsangshyamnagar.blogspot.com/). Thakur Ram Singhji (3/09/1898-15/01/1971), who also long frequented Lalaji's nephews Lalaji (Radha Mohan), is operating from Jaipur. Dr Chaturbhuj (3/11/1883-24/09/1957), the most famous of them, was charged by Lalaji to help spread his teaching in 1919, initially from Etah in 1923 and then from Mathura in 1951. Dr Krishna Lalji (15/10/1894-18/05/1970) from Sikandrabad was in turn appointed by Lalaji as his successor in 1921. We note in passing that Babuji has attended the Ramashram Satsang at Mathura and Sikandrabad between 1931 and 1944, where he probably created his "competitors and enemies" (see a collection of excerpts from the Autobiography of Ram Chandra, by SP Srivastava which contains 80% of Babuji's Journals, as opposed to SRCM (California-1997)'s version, which contains 20%... literary "cleansing"??).
Today, the Ramashram Satsang of Jaipur is headed by the son of Thakur Ram Singhji, Narayan Singh, who has chosen to use the method of the great Yogi Aurobindo. The Ramashram Satsang Mathura is headed by the son of Dr. Chaturbhuj, Hemendra Kumar. It has long been present on the web (http://www.ramashramsatsang.org/), as is the Ramashram Satsang of Sikandrabad, but only since February 2008 (http://www.spiritual-meditation.org/).
The father of Lalaji, Harbaksh Rai Chaudhary, had a second son, almost as famous. Raghubal Dayal Chachaji (7/10/1875-7/06/1947) also followed the teaching of the Sufi master Hujur. His family is located in Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh) and he has had three son: Brij Mohanlal Dadaji (1898-01, 17, 1955), Radha Mohanlal Guruji (? - 1966) and Jyotendra Mohanlal. Brij Mohan was the favorite of Hujur, who saw him succeding Lalaji as head of the Sufi Brotherhood of Mazhariya, even if eventually, Lalaji preferred (and appointed) his own son.
A disciple of Brij Mohan, Yashpal (5/12/1918-3/04/2000), created the Akhil Bhartiya Santmat Satsang movement in 1969 at Anangpur (ABSS on http://www.abssatsang.org). For his part, Radha Mohan was at the founding of the California Golden Sufi Center of Irina Tweedie and Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee (http://www.goldensufi.org/). Radha Mohan is the 35th in the lineage of this Sufi order. With his wife Sushila Devi, they had three son, Virendra, Satendra and "Baboo" Narendra Nath Saxena. She named her 2nd son Satendra to succeed his father.
As for Lalaji, he had two son and eight daughters. His eldest son, Harish Chandra, died at two or three months. Only the second, Jagmohan Narain (2/11/01-28/08/44) is known to us, Lalaji having preferred him to his nephew Brij Mohan as his successor to head the new order of Mazhariya Ramchandriya (NaqshMuMRa). Too young to succeed him immediately, his uncle Chachaji which took the reins of NaqshMuMRa before him. Jagmohan himself had two son, Akilesh (28/06/41-15/05/74) and Dinaysh or Dinesh Kumar Saxena (born 28/10/44), who in turn succeeded one another in the order the NaqshMuMRa. Akilesh Kumar was not three years old at the death of his father and died before 33 years, but this did not prevent him from creating a periodical entitled "adhyaatma dhaara.
Dinaysh Kumar Saxena, retired from the railway since 2002, aged 65, is the present dean of NaqshMuMRa still residing at Fatehgarh. With his son, Himanshu Vikram, he created "NaqshMuMRa Nexus", a website where he mentions the movements that he believes are related to the teaching of his grandfather (http://www.laalaajinilayam.googlepages. com /). Included in this list is Sahaj Marg, the same way as Dinaysh is listed as a preceptor of Sahaj Marg. And a blog created by Himanshu Vikram shows us pictures of Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari and Dinaysh gathered together in 2006 (http://www.laalaajinilayam.blogspot.com/).
See Epitome of Sahaj Marg on the NaqshMuMRA Nexus web site or see document "Epitome of Sahaj Marg", document on this blog.
On a website created last February 26, 2009 (http://www.adhyaatmadhaaraa.org/) Dinaysh tells us that he has created a charitable organization, the Charitable Trust Laalaaji Nilayam (LNCT). Its goal is to raise funds to rehabilitate the "holy places" that have marked the life of Lalaji and organize tourism pilgrimages. It is therefore planned to renovate the house of Lalaji (laalaaji Nilayam) and increase its capacity to receive, to erect a life size statue of Lalaji and to acquire many other places of worship.
Although both previous movements seem to have no direct link with the Sahaj Marg, the collusion between the grandson of Lalaji and Rajagopalachari is great. And Dinaysh makes it clear that this is the Shri Ram Chandra Mission of Manapakkam (Chennai) and not that of Shahjahanpur. The link is established between Dinaysh and Rajagopalachari, and in no case with the descendants of Babuji, Umesh Kumar and Navneet Saxena, whom he ignores.
Yet in 2009, Dinaysh publishes a Babuji letter dated February 14, 1963 where he clearly expresses his feeling that the Indian Sufism is completely obsolete and is replaced by the Sahaj Marg. One way to highlight the divide imposed by Babuji between the movements from Lalaji and Sahaj Marg. So what is the connection between Rajagopalachari and Dinaysh? For what purpose did he deliberately chose to publish this letter?
And who will be at the head of NaqshMuMRa and LNCT tomorrow? Apparently, the descendants of the brother of Lalaji are excluded. Then, on the basis of blood ties established by Lalaji, will it be the son of Akilesh, Vinay (born 17/07/65) or Samir Kumar (born 30/07/70)? Or will it be the responsibility of the son of Dinaysh, Himanshu Vikram (born 30/06/80), or one of his two sisters, although, are women excluded a priori?
According Shashwat Pandey, who has interviewed him in 2009, Dinaysh would be in fear. His son, Himanshu Vikram, worked in Chennai for HTC Global Services, headed by a close associate of Rajagopalachari. The Shri Ram Chandra Mission has probably invested funds in the LNCT for shares in the house and the Lalaji Ashram at Fatehgarh. Has Dinaysh become a puppet in the hands of Rajagopalachari? He asserted, however his independence in 2008 before the old disciples of Babuji ...
On September 29, 2009, Dinaysh stated that Sahaj Marg is a schism. All the disciples of Lalaji met the philosophy and principles of his teachings, except for the Shri Ram Chandra Mission, where the emphasis has been placed on the living master, which has degenerated into a "cult of a personality". Also according to him, Babuji dreamed of Lalaji in his sleep, nothing more, and then falsely claimed that Lalaji never had a spiritual master.
Finally, it is perhaps Rajagopalachari who wants to take over the official inheritance of Lalaji so that his Sahaj Marg becomes the head of the NaqshMuMRa.
Babuji, and his Progeny of the SRCM Shahjahanpur
Shri Ram Chandra of Shahjahanpur aka Babuji (30/04/1899-19/04/1983) is the son of a senior judge. He contracted typhoid in childhood, studying philosophy and married at 19 years. He met his master Lalaji June 3, 1922, then entered the service of the Court of Justice in 1925. Babuji had six boys and three girls, but three of them died during their childhood. The four surviving boys are named Prakash, Dinesh, Umesh Kumar and Sarvesh Saxena, while his two daughters are named Smt Indira Maya Saxena and Smt Chaya.
His father died in 1933 and one of his uncles decided to manage his property in his place, but Babuji and his brother opposed it and he became their bitter enemy until his death in 1956. He harassesed Babuji, "trying to drag him to court and using the gang to harm him by all means possible," reads the website of the ISRC of Narayana. Babuji had included his young elder son Prakash in the list of founding members of the Shri Ram Chandra Mission, when he registered its statutes in 1945. His wife, who was a "constant irritant", died in 1949 and his second son Dinesh committed suicide in 1958.
In 1980 his son Umesh goes on tour in the U.S. with two full preceptors of his father, Raghavendra Rao and Ramachandra Reddy, with no delegation of Babuji. On April 16, 1982, he secretly designates Umesh as his successor in a letter addressed to him. Yet, everyone (many) agrees that the children of Babuji did not participate in weekly group meditations and have never shown any sign of interest in things spiritual until the early 1980's.
Babuji died April 19, 1983. At the Working Committee which meets in July in the stress that follows, his elder son Prakash presents his own son Sharad as successor to Babuji. This request is rejected by the committee which accepts however, Umesh and his secret letter of appointment of February 1984. The family opens a legal battle against Rajagopalachari who also claims the succession, and the Presidency of the Shri Ram Chandra Mission and all the properties that are attached to it.
They recall the statutes of the Shri Ram Chandra Mission, which stipulate that its headquarters is to be in Shahjahanpur and the president who will take the position will be in line of succession, what they interpret as "blood ties". They add that the purported letter of appointment of Rajagopalachari is false because it is backdated, makes no reference to Lalaji, which Babuji apparently never would have done, and as well, the phrase "President of the Sahaj Marg system" does not mean anything, and that the Canadian Donald Sabourin, the so-called witness to this appointment, could not attend on that date.
Currently in 1984, the state of Uttar Pradesh introduces the legal requirement for registered organizations such as the Shri Ram Chandra Mission, to have elections to elect their presidents. After the vote, SP Srivastava is elected. According to the son of Umesh Chandra Saxena, Srivastava has been appointed Chairman of of the Working Committee, BD Mahajan and his secretary (the latter held the post of Secretary for Indian Affairs since 1982), to avoid an explosion of the movement, because of Kasturi's statements favorable to Rajagopalachari. The ashram undergoes a first failed attempt at a takeover by force by the clan of Rajagopalachari in 1988.
In 1994, Umesh Chandra is elected President in place of SP Srivastava, and KV Reddy becomes secretary of the Mission. In 1997, another attempt to take back the power from the ashram fails. Umesh is walking armed in the ashram. In 1998, one of his preceptors, who left for the United States to represent him, opens a website titled 'sahajmarg.org'. This gives rise to an additional quarrel with the Rajagopalachari clan. The American Arbitration Commission on domain names delivers an opinion in favor of the Umesh clan, in 2000, but the site is abandoned due to pressure (legal threats) from the Rajagopalachari clan.
Umesh Chandra Saxena dies, November 3, 2003. (poison??) His son Navneet Kumar Saxena is appointed the next president, KV Reddy is confirmed in his post of secretary. The Rajagopalachari clan tries unsuccessfully to seize the ashram again four days later, November 7. At once, one does not enter easily into the ashram, even with express recommendation, the clinic and the Babuji Memorial Public School is closed. Until the ashram is finally taken on April 2, 2006 by the Rajagopalachari clan, which now places at its head, Sarvesh, brother of Umesh. The trial continues, from appeal to appeal, but Navneet decides also to speak on the web in January 2007, first on the blog (http://srcmshahjahanpur.blogspot.com/) then creating his own website 'srcmshahjahanpur.org'. This time, the Indian arbitration panel ruled in favor of the Rajagopalachari clan, in July.
Today in late 2009, Prakash and Umesh have died. Prakash's wife attends the satsanghs led by Kasturi in Lucknow. Sarvesh, who appears with his wife on the list of preceptors of Rajagopalachari had already joined him in 2005, opens the ashram of Shahjahanpur to all those who wish to attend. Navneet's brother, Puneet and his mother have recorded their testimonies against the methods of the Clan Rajagopalachari in videos shot by Shashwat Pandey (see Youtube: Sahaj Marg) . And we are still waiting for the outcome of the trial ...
The Diaspora of Senior Preceptors
Professor of Philosophy now retired, SP Srivastava taught yogic science at the University of Lakhimpur (Uttar Pradesh, India). His meeting with Babuji dates to 1948-49. He chaired the working committee of the Shri Ram Chandra Mission, Shahjahanpur for ten years, from 1984 to 1994, taking advantage (of his tenure) to publish the second part of the "memoirs" of Babuji. Then he walked away from the sons of Babuji and the teaching of Sahaj Marg. He wanted to abolish the border between so-called hard sciences, yoga and spirituality. To this end, he created an association who's Belgian branch was called Shri Ram Chandra Memorial International Society Promoting Spirituality As A Science (INSPSAAS).
The Shri Ram Chandra Mission Shahjahanpur quickly becomes an empty shell after his departure. Raghavendra Rao and Ramachandra Reddy had Umesh Chandra Saxena accompanied on his tour of the U.S. in 1982, but it was more in opposition to Rajagopalachari as in loyalty to the son of Babuji. The behavior of Umesh is not pleasant and annoys. Gradually, the senior preceptors take their distance. The real Sahaj Marg is now taught by a galaxy of preceptors spread across the country through such a network without head or structure, traveling from one community to another, including abroad.
Raghavendra Rao gave up his place in the Working Committee which he had held since 1984. This full preceptors now remains at his ashram of Raichur in Karnataka, where he teaches the Sahaj Marg of Babuji to all those who come to see him, until the end of his life in the spring of 2006. With the complicity of the police, some armed thugs of Rajagopalachari immediately grabbed his ashram. Shortly after, Suresh Kumar Makam has created a blog to his memory (http://makamsureshkumar.blogspot.com/). Karnataka is rich in old preceptors: in Gulbarga, the full preceptor Narayan Rao, born around 1922, continues his teaching, while Dr. Rao Shiam steps back for some time. In Bangalore, the former judge of the High Court of Justice, the full preceptor Vital Rao, affectionately nicknamed "Judge", also continues his teaching despite his age (he was born around 1924).
Ramachandra Reddy, meanwhile, also abandons his place at the Working Committee and returns to Cuddapah in Andhra Pradesh. The full preceptor creates the Chandraji Shri Ram Maharaj Seva Trust, a separate structure on behalf of the Mission to avoid any legal dispute, and teaches the Sahaj Marg until his death in 2008. This structure is currently headed by lawyer Srinivasa Rao TV. Jogarao a very old preceptor born about 1913, dies the year before at Hyderabad.
In Europe, Poray Andre (born about 1909 and dies at more than 90 years of age) is one of the first Westerners to have met Babuji. First a friend of Rajagopalachari, this full preceptor from Sanary Var (France) took his distance from him in 1980-82, then on tour with Babuji in Munich and Paris. He then established a society under the non-profit society act 1901, called "The Road to Reality" where he taught a Sahaj Marg slightly tinged with Tibetan Buddhism to which he was particularly attached. Rajagopalachari had initially ordered him to join him, before his removal from the office of preceptor, which had given him a good laugh, like other preceptors.
As in India, today there are independent groups in France in Lyon, Tours and Paris, in the south west and the Alps Maritimes, but also in Spain at Barcelona, and even in Switzerland. Each year, a European meeting is held in October in Sanary. These disciples of Babuji receive from time to time the visit of these great preceptors, or attend their meetings in India depending on their whereabouts. In late 2008, Cyrille Roux emerged from the shadows to speak on the Web and make known the existence of their groups. Why?
Narayana and Kasturi, unlike the previous, have always thought that Babuji had prepared Rajagopalachari as his successor as president of the Shri Ram Chandra Mission. Consequently, they never followed his son Umesh. However, they deny anyone the right to proclaim to be the spiritual representative of Babuji, as today Rajagopalachari.
Kasturi Chaturvedi, full preceptor and "Saint" of Sahaj Marg in the words of Babuji, first meets him in 1949. From Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh), she teaches the Sahaj Marg of her timeless master with a certain degree of independence vis-à-vis the Shri Ram Chandra Mission, having always stayed away from its management and administration.
On April 30, 1995, she delivered a memorable speech at Madras (Chennai) before Rajagopalachari and 12,000 of his followers where she first recognized that Babuji prepared Rajagopalachari as his spiritual representative and President of the Mission, adding that Babuji dictated to her his statement of the nomination of Rajagopalachari for the presidency - it is the taking of this position of Kasturi which would have led to the withdrawal by Umesh 1984 and Srivastava was appointed in his place, in order to avoid a possible explosion of the Mission . But after this introduction, all the rest of her speech focused on the fact that she can no longer accept Rajagopalachari as his idol worshipers have made of him with their propaganda.
Interviewed by telephone Shashwat Pandey February 20, 2009, she now says that Rajagopalachari is not the master of the Shri Ram Chandra Mission, but only his manager. She now claims she has never seen his letter of appointment and the only master of the Mission is Babuji. (see interview with Kasturi and/or transcript) She then denounces in very guarded and yet acerbic tone, everything that Rajagopalachari (celebrations of weddings, large ashrams, calls for donations, the publication of Whispers, etc..). She also says she knows about all the ashrams established at time of Babuji that were taken by force by supporters of Rajagopalachari, that a trial opposes him to the descendants of Babuji, all because there is a lot of money involved, hence the current evolution of the Mission which she regrets, and that she has left. Despite this, Kasturi is an authoritative figure in the movement of Sahaj Marg, Rajagopalachari has kept her on his list of preceptors. She also adds that Lalaji has nothing to do with Sahaj Marg, one of her disciples adding that Lalaji is Santmat.
Her disciples, Akshat Gupta Somesh and Pandit Ji have created a blog devoted to her in November 2006 (http://kasturibhenji.blogspot.com/), reserved for its own members since the spring 2009. You can find a presentation of her books on http://kasturibhenjibooks.blogspot.com/ and some of her speeches on http://kasturibhenjitalks.blogspot.com/. In France, after Cyril Roux are also Denise and Jean-François Minceta, from Tours and exiled to Canada in Victoria, British Columbia, in late 2008 who suggest that some groups are linked to her, and who translate some of her texts, etc.. Why do they come from the shadows now after 25 years of silence?
After Babuji and Kasturi, Dr. KC Varadachari (14/08/1902-30/01/1971) is probably one of the greatest historical figures of Sahaj Marg. The meeting between Babuji and Dr. Varadachari dates from 1955 and rapidly turned into a deep friendship. Holder of the famous Vivekananda Chair at the University of Madras (Chennai) , and professor of Philosophy at Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh) he created the Sahaj Marg Research Institute in 1965 and contributed to the spread of Sahaj Marg to the general public and its re-anchoring around the Hindu Raja Yoga. But in 1970, he warns Babuji about the risks of the drifting of the teachings of Sahaj Marg due to its rapid expansion.
Karumbur Chakravarthy Narayana is his third child, born June 11, 1939. He met Babuji at home for the first time in 1955 and was introduced to Sahaj Marg in December, 1956 at the age of 17. Babuji asked him in 1979 to assist Rajagopalachari after his death in his duties as president of the Shri Ram Chandra Mission, which he performed up to 1991. He has even taken the lead in 1989 of the Sahaj Marg Research Institute founded by his father. But he eventually quit to found the ISRC (Institute of Sri Ramchandra Consciousness) in Hyderabad in August 1991. He complains of his developing an unhealthy "cult of a personality" through the concept of the living master and spiritual representative of Babuji, which he is not.
With the ISRC (http://www.sriramchandra.org/), KC Narayana Sahaj Marg teaches ideas heavily borrowed from his father Varadachari, the Pranahuti Aided Meditation. The ISRC has approximately 150 instructors, mostly in India and the USA, two of them reside in France. It has also created its own research and training center called Imperience (http://www.imperience.org/) and its own Sahaj Seva Foundation samsthdna (http://www.sahajsevasamsthan.org/), which manages a hospital, schools and the manufacturing of various products.
Present on the web for a long time, the ISRC and Narayana have also created a website dedicated exclusively to Doctor Varadachari (http://drkcv.org/), which can be easily understood because of his reputation. But on June 23, 2008, a self promotional website of Narayana is born (http://www.kcnarayana.org/), contradicting by the facts a teaching supposedly focused on Babuji and totally depersonalized. So he does not hesitate to list for us his qualities, by quoting Babuji's words of praise towards him, as supporting evidence, then he talks about his career and his family ... In short, all the ingredients to customize and to personalize the ISRC spirituality are now in place!
Recap. Today, with the disappearance of one (senior preceptor) and the other over time, there remains little more than the grand-sons of Babuji, Navneet and Puneet Kumar Saxena, head of a mission that has become virtual since the taking over of the ashram at Shahjahanpur, in lawsuits against the California Mission of Rajagopalachari. Besides the diaspora of senior preceptors, are also the aging full preceptors Kasturi in Lucknow, Narayan Rao in Gulbarga and Vital Rao in Bangalore, with many scattered communities in India and abroad, not forgetting the very structured ISRC of KC Narayana . For his part, Rajagopalachari seems more or less to be manipulating the last surviving son of Babuji at Shahjahanpur, Sarvesh, and the grandson of Lalaji, Dinaysh Kumar Saxena, at Fatehgarh.
(See Epitome of Sahaj Marg by Dinaysh Kumar Saxena)
If document: "Epitome of Sahaj Marg" is missing or has been removed (Dinaysh was ill), by his family, see it HERE or is discussed HERE...
Rajagopalachari and His "Clan"
Parthasarathi Rajagopalachari was born July 24, 1927 near Madras (Chennai) in southern India. He met Babuji in 1964, became secretary of the Shri Ram Chandra Mission in 1970 and entices him in various travels around the world at 1972. Removed from office in 1982, he brings together a dissenting Working Committee in Hyderabad after the death of Babuji and has himself appointed president. He retires in 1985 at the age of 58 years old.
Rajagopalachari has the unanimously the senior preceptors against him. While the children of Babuji accuse him of trying to poison their father several times and call him a usurper, Kasturi calls him a manager and complains of what his idol worshipers have made of him, Narayana rejects the cult of personality that he has helped shape around himself.
When Babuji said about Kasturi that she was a saint, he immediately added that Rajagopalachari was a bachelor of science. " Indeed, the smoker of American cigarettes holds a bachelor of science degree and worked in chemical engineering before heading a subsidiary of the Indian industrial conglomerate TTK & Co of Krishnamachari. Very westernized, this man of the south has traveled the world multiple times in the course of his work, spending two years serving in Yugoslavia or in international technical committees.
Clever entrepreneur, Rajagopalachari knows how to lead men and manage his affairs. He develops valuable relationships with prominent Indian heavyweights and integrates them into his Committee representative of justice, police officers and entrepreneurs. He selects his lieutenants by their ambition and pushiness.
On April 29, 2005, Rajagopalachari chooses to write the letter of appointment of his successor, Ajay Kumar Bhatter, a young businessman from West Bengal and Member of the President's Executive Committee since 2003, chosen by Babuji and confirmed by the hierarchy of Sahaj Marg, signed and ratified by sixteen other personalities. Rajagopalachari announces it publicly the following day at Tiruppur (Tamil Nadu), on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the Mission and the day of the 106th anniversary of the birth of Babuji, in a speech entitled "Securing the Future of the Mission" as he reaches his 78th year.
While the organization is required to manage all this little world, the danger is great to focus too much on the organization. Therefore, the Mission is guided in its work by a single person, both President and the spiritual representative of the Grand Master Babuji. This person must be chosen carefully to address both the physical work and the spiritual work, as well as his own spiritual growth. AK Bhatter has been chosen by Babuji, he was trained for it for years and will be even throughout the life of Rajagopalachari. He then will succeed him as Babuji's spiritual representative and President of the Mission throughout the world.
Reaching the zenith of his power, Rajagopalachari has named his successor in 2005. The following year he took over almost all the Indian ashrams which were not subservient to him, by cunning or by force, using his henchmen. He seems to manipulate at will the grandchildren of Lalaji and Babuji that are Dinaysh and Sarvesh. He has included on his list of preceptors, Kasturi despite her disagreement.
Uma Shankar Bajpai and Arokiasamy P Durai, retired policemen, are his henchmen, often at the forefront of the force taken in the ashram takeovers and all the dirty tricks. His only son PR Krishna, the wealthy heir and grand "bagman" of the Shri Ram Chandra Mission, manages the land and the buildings of the Mission as his own. Santosh Khanjee, the eminence grise, organizes and manages the mission.
Besides these, there are also the historical faithful, those who went to join him in India and the other international leaders of the mission ...
All these people are his close circle. Some of them are also contenders to succeed him. He has appointed AK Bhatter in 2005 to better calm things down, but he is only a puppet. His legitimacy will extinguish itself at the death of Rajagopalachari. Legitimacy is acquired, it can not be decreed. Besides Rajagopalachari himself worries about it, and reveals it in January 2009. He said a cancer was eating away at the Sahaj Marg from the inside, and that the organization is threatened with disintegration. He has nightmares where he sees the Shri Ram Chandra Mission disintegrating into 240 small missions.
In the succession race, his only son PR Krishna, with his grandson Bhargava and his granddaughter Madhuri are well placed. But his "eminence grise", (power behind the throne) Santosh Khanjee who knows all his secrets and keeps an iron grip throughout the organization and its foundations also has his opportunities. As for the outsiders, the best positioned is obviously the grandson of Babuji, Navneet Kumar Saxena. But the recent media exposure of the son of Dr. Varadachari, KC Narayana, suggesting he intends to pull his piece from the game.
And if Kasturi remains outside the power play, this is perhaps not the case with her staff. And what about Srinivasa Rao as head of the Shri Ram Chandraji Maharaj Seva Trust Cuddapah? As for the grandson of Lalaji, Dinaysh Kumar Saxena, what is he seeking by completely exposing himself the way he does?
Rajagopalachari has accumulated such a financial power and domination over men that the greed has became almost too large for his succession to go smoothly. The share market of Sahaj Marg™ and the SRCM ™ make it more of a dream. And in those circumstances, Ajay Kumar Bhatter can be swept away like a common straw ...
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Thursday, January 14, 2010
The REAL Shri Ram Chandra Mission History (Part 2)
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