The recent sex scandal involving Indian “godman” Swami Nithyananda, who has many followers in Greater Vancouver, and a Tamil actress has given one pause for thought.
Kripalu Maharaj and Prakashanand Saraswati in Barsana Dham in 2007
RISHIKA
OCTOBER 23, 2012′
OCTOBER 23, 2012′
Photo taken of Kripalu Maharaj and Prakashanand Saraswati when Kripalu visited Barsana Dham in 2007. Prakashanand built the ashram, renamed Radha Madhav Dham after his escape from justice, for Kripalu, his guru for 60 years.
Prakashanand Saraswati is a notorious person among members of the transcendental meditation community who were in Fairfield, Iowa, in the 1980s. That’s when he arrived in the U.S., and tried to recruit followers away from the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of TM. In one infamous advertisement, Prakashanand even equated the Maharishi to Satan and in lectures claimed he was “bringing people into darkness.”
It was a curious comment, since he and the Maharisihi briefly shared a guru in the 1950s — the Jagadguru Shankaracharya Brahmanand Saraswati, known as Guru Dev. He was the Shankarcharya of Jyotirmath, a very prestigious religious seat in India. The Maharishi was his secretary for many years, until Guru Dev died in 1952.
As for Prakashanand, according to his official biography, he claims he was offered the guru’s official seat, even though he was only 22 and had known him for less than two years. What’s more, there were several official successors to the seat. Nonetheless, here’s how Prakashanand stated his version of history in his bio:
“At the age of twenty-one, in 1950, he (Prakashanand) renounced the world and went to Jyotirmath in the Himalayas. In 1951 he took the order of sanyas. Seeing his esteem of renunciation and deep feeling of God consciousness, in 1952, he was offered to be the successor of Jagadguru Shankaracharya of Jyotirmath which is one of the most renowned religious thrones of India. He very politely refused by saying, ‘My final desire is to go to Vrindaban. I have given my life for the service of Radha Rani, so I cannot live forever in the math.’”
Four years later, Prakashanand met Kripalu Maharaj and instantly became his devotee. Kripalu welcomed Prakashanand into his fledgling “spiritual” organization, recognizing a fellow conman when he saw one. The two had a love-hate relationship over the next 60 years as they both struggled to build a following. But it was all love between them when Prakashanand began bringing his devotees to Kripalu in late 1999.
Prakashanand had a relatively small following compared to many gurus who come to the U.S. However, most of his “devotees” were ready to hand over large sums of money to Kripalu, who was billed as “God incarnate,” specifically “the incarnation of Radha-Krishna,” but who cared a lot about cold hard cash — as well as the warm bodies of women and girl. Kripalu was nearly salivating as so much Western money began flowing into his coffers (India-based trusts) and helping him build massive temples, along with the many new women and underage girls he welcomed into his bed.
Notable among the most wealthy of Prakashanand’s small group of Western followers were a handful of former TMers, three of whom were minting money in the infomercial trade and giving large sums of it to the gurus: Peter Spiegel, Katie Williams, and Marsha Kent.
The two conmen’s business partnership flourished in the 2000s, culminating with the completion of the largest temple in Vrindaban, India, built by Prakashanand to glorify Kripalu. They spared no expense for the massive structure, importing marble from Italy and emerald pearl from China, among two of the many extravagances. The total bill for the building is estimated to be one billion dollars — all which was collected from followers who were told the money was going to “build hospitals.”
However, their illicit partnership was overshadowed by Prakashanand’s arrest in 2008 for molesting children who lived in is U.S. ashram, formerly called Barsana Dham (the name was changed to Radha Madhav Dham in April 2011). In March 2011, Prakashanand was convicted of his crimes, but before he could be sentenced, he ran for the border into Mexico and escaped from justice with the help of several of his followers.
A recent article in the Austin American-Statesman announced a report filed by the U.S. Marshals in September 2012 about Prakashanand’s escape into India. The details of the report were published on this blog.
Twenty days after the article was published, Kripalu’s organization in India, called Jagadguru Kripalu Parishat, issued a press release denouncing all association with Prakashanand. The news article stated the following:
Jagadguru Kripalu Denies Link with Wanted Godman Prakashanand Saraswati
New Delhi, Oct.14 (ANI): A trust founded by Jagadguru Kripalu Ji Maharaj issued a statement over the weekend, refuting and rejecting suggestions and allegations of his link with wanted godman Swami Prakashanand Saraswati.
Saraswati has been declared a criminal in America, and a spokesman for the Jagadguru said that the spiritual leader was not in the habit of accepting or making disciples.
‘It is to be noted that Prakashanand Saraswati is a disciple of Jagadguru Shankaracharya Brahmanand Saraswati (a sanyasi). Jagadguru Kripalu Ji Maharaj is a family man and is a Vaishnava,’ the statement said.
According to the trust, several people in India and abroad claim to be their guru’s disciples, impressed by his actions and his ‘irrefutable devotion towards god.’
‘Under such circumstances, creating a misconception, and thereby, deluding the public by saying that a wanted criminal is his disciple or associated with any of the trusts functioning under his guidance, is definitely a condemnable action,’ the trust statement said.
This proclamation is, of course, a complete lie — easily refutable by anyone with an Internet connection. For example, use the Wayback Machine to find all the old website content such as this page.
The only person “deluding the public” is Kripalu himself, who has a very dark history, chronicled in my memoir, Sex, Lies, and Two Hindu Gurus — How I Was Conned by a Dangerous Cult — and Why I Will Not Keep Their Secrets.
Interestingly, but not surprisingly, at the same time as the release of the U.S. Marshal’s statement, the Radha Madhav Dham website deleted the last remaining evidence that Prakashanand had founded the ashram, including removing his books from the online bookstore.
Kripalu and Prakashanand are notorious historical recreationists — spouting whatever nonsense fits there needs at the moment. What Prakashanand’s devotees think of this latest fraud perpetrated by Kripalu is anyone’s guess. They’ve shown a history of being in lockstep with the utterances of both deceptive and dangerous con men.
And, in fact, they’ve swallowed the new lie hook, line, and sinker as shown on a childish Facebook page where they *suddenly* started announcing that Guru Dev was actually Prakashanand’s guru. This cult would be a complete joke if it wasn’t so dangerous.
Learn more about the truth of Kripalu and Prakashanand — partners in crime for 60 years — in my book. www.sexliesandtwohindugurus.com.
Swami Prakashanand Saraswati flees US to escape molestation charge – Indian Express
Agencies
Posted online: Wed Sep 26 2012
Posted online: Wed Sep 26 2012
Houston : An 83-year-old wheel-chair bound Indian spiritual guru, a fugitive after being convicted of groping two young girls, may have sneaked clandestinely into India, a US court has been told.US Marshals, still looking for him, suspect that Prakashanand Saraswati, known to his devotees as Swamiji, may have fled America in connivance with his close associates.Just days after a Hays County jury in Texas convicted him in March 2011 on 20 counts of indecency for molesting two teenagers, the self-styled guru has been missing.
A judge sentenced him in absentia to 14 years in prison on each count and the guru also forfeited USD 1.2 million in bond and promissory notes.
Newly filed court documents reveal that Prakashanand, who moves around in wheelchair apparently crossed over into Mexico two days after his conviction while being at large on bail and may have used a network of devotees to make his way to India.
Eighteen months later, federal officials are still unraveling the mystery of how he got out of the country and who helped him.
Deputy US Marshal Robert Marcum, who is leading the investigation to track the guru down, called his flight with the help of his religious adherents in Texas, Pennsylvania, California and Florida as “the most sophisticated scheme I’ve seen as far as fugitive investigations go. They were very smart about what they did.”
Marcum added it is likely some of the guru’s devotees will be charged with harboring a fugitive, aiding and abetting escape or making false statements to a government agent.
The information, as well as detailed accounts of how guru’s followers moved him around the country while evading law enforcement, is part of the documents filed recently in court.
One of the girls, who was kissed and groped by the guru, said his escape to India effectively ends the case against him. “I feel the door is closed on it,” she said.
“There’s nothing more to be done.” She added: “I’m sure we’d all sleep better if he were locked up. But he’s in his own little prison.”
Karen Jonson, who this year published “Sex, Lies, and Two Hindu Gurus,” a book about her life at the ashram, said: “While a measure of justice was served by his conviction, it would still be the right thing for Prakashanand to have to endure the result of his crimes against children, to serve his punishment as determined by the courts of this country.”
Still, she added, “as long as he is alive, there will always be hope for his capture and return to Texas.”
According to US Customs and Border Protection records, the suspicions that fugitive Swami may have used the Mexico route was strengthened by the fact that his Radha Madhav Dham ashram employees frequently crossed the Texas-Mexico border throughout 2011.
When contacted by marshals investigators, most either declined to be interviewed in detail, or “stated that they did not believe guru was guilty of the convicted offenses, and they hoped he would evade capture and never go to prison.”
One of the devotees named in the affidavit, Jenifer Deutsch, also called Vrinda Devi, has been a spokeswoman for Radha Madhav Dham.
She traveled from Austin to Nuevo Laredo and Tijuana a half-dozen times between March and November 2011, according to the court filing. Deutsch didn’t return a phone message left at the ashram.
But Chirag Patel, the ashram’s managing member, said, “We have no knowledge of anyone at the ashram supporting (Prakashanand’s) escape.”
Late last year, federal investigators began to receive hints that Prakashanand was no longer in Mexico, the court filing shows.
In December 2011, for example, marshals learned that his personal aide, Vishwambhari Devi, who seldom left his side, “had recently activated a life insurance policy in India,” the affidavit said.
Six months later, Marcum said he heard from two confidential sources that Prakashanand had made it safely to India.
Over the following months, the affidavit said, two other sources confirmed that the spiritual leader had successfully fled Mexico sometime in November.
“We were about a week behind him” when he escaped, Marcum said. “We were pretty close.”
Mexico and India both have extradition treaties with the US, but the US marshals don’t have an office in India. However, Marshal Robert Marcum said the disappearance of wanted Swami would be actively probed.
Swami Prakashanand Saraswati flees US to escape molestation charge – Indian Express