Shri Mataji and Money

This partial estimate of Shri Mataji's profits does not include:

• Donations for the running costs of recruitment and Shri Mataji's world-wide tours.
  
  
• Donations of real estate, donations of money for the purchase of real estate, and appreciation of real estate due to free renovation work and market shifts.
  
  
• Donations to pay for Shri Mataji's many expensive presents (usually self-chosen).
  
  
• Shri Mataji's unpaid loans and shopping bills which fall upon unfortunate followers.
  
  
• Profits from sales of audio and video tapes other than those of puja talks and puja music (eg public programmes and songs by Sahaja Yogis), CDs, books, magazines, photographs, chakra charts, vibrated goods (eg gold bangles and ayurvedic products) and fares for chartered airplanes.

Where do the profits go?

Tax

Tax is one drain on profits that Shri Mataji, like some other well-known gurus, has been able to scrupulously avoid. All Sahaja Yoga national leaders make transfers of money for national pujas, India Tours, collective presents, school fees and other 'international projects' into Shri Mataji's personal accounts. Only a select few are trusted with the cash-stuffed briefcases. No honest account of this income is available to tax authorities or devotees.

Shri Mataji's brother, who was a chartered accountant and partly responsible for handling Shri Mataji's accounts, once revealed that Shri Mataji spends three months of the year in India to avoid Italian taxation. Import duties on large numbers of presents have been avoided by dividing them up between Sahaja Yogis travelling between countries. Sales tax (VAT) has been avoided on building materials delivered at night.

Running Sahaja Yoga

Given that this vast income is largely untaxed, what are Shri Mataji's outgoings? The day-to-day running costs of Sahaja Yoga - including advertising and renting recruitment venues as well as Shri Mataji's travel and hotel expenses - are covered by donations to various tax-exempt charitable trusts [eg Life Eternal Trust (UK) and Vishwa Nirmala Dharma (US)]. Even Shri Mataji's much-loved shopping expeditions usually conclude without Shri Mataji having opened her own purse.

Shri Mataji and her husband have contributed some of their 'own money' to Sahaja Yoga trusts. In the past this has usually been limited to a few thousand US$ here and there. However, in October 2000 the Sahaja Yogis trumpeted gifts from Shri Mataji of 114 acres of land to Vishwa Nirmala Dharma (US) and £150,000 ($240,000) to Life Eternal Trust (UK) towards buying an official Sahaja Yoga Centre. While these donations clearly show that Shri Mataji has a surprising amount of her 'own money' to give out, the total of these donations over the last 20 years is only a tiny percentage of her profits during the same period.

However, it seems that Shri Mataji may not even have to give up this small percentage - a scheme has now been hatched for Vishwa Nirmala Dharma to "refuse Shri Mataji's generosity" and buy the 114 acres from her at its current value. Thus Shri Mataji has bought the land using the Sahaja Yogis' money, used their money and free labour to increase its value, and is now selling it on to them at the increased price!

Living Expenses

Shri Mataji needs no money for a comfortable private life as her husband has a substantial pension and they sold their London home for approximately £1,000,000 ($1,600,000) in the mid 1980s.

Shri Mataji has also inherited wealth - when she was asked at a recruitment meeting why she didn't sell her diamonds to help the poor, she said she couldn't because they came from her family (the questioner was then removed from the meeting by a Sahaja Yogi).

Sundry Items

Given that this vast untaxed income is not used for the day-to-day running of Sahaja Yoga and is not needed for Shri Mataji to live a comfortable private life, where does it all go? Shri Mataji's Response to Criticism addresses the "question [of] where the money has gone" with an unsubstantiated claim that the profits have been spent on "Sahaj Projects all over the world" plus some sundry items. Before dealing with the 'Sahaj Projects', let us look at the sundries of which the Response to Criticism states:

Shri Mataji has also provided audio/video equipment and other electrical goods with her own money. Even the silver items and ornaments for puja ceremonies are brought from her money. She has continuously showered lavish presents to all the Sahaja Yogis. So this is the answer to your question where the money has gone.

Here Shri Mataji both suggests that these sundry items are paid with her 'own money' and that they are paid for by the profits from Sahaja Yoga. This confirms our view that Shri Mataji makes no distinction between her 'own money' and profits from Sahaja Yoga - a view based on the fact that profits are funnelled into bank accounts and properties that are in Shri Mataji's name. Given that Shri Mataji is referring to profits from Sahaja Yoga when she refers to her 'own money', we can still ask how far these sundry items eat into this vast untaxed income.

'Lavish Presents'

The 'lavish presents' that Shri Mataji 'showers' upon her followers are insignificant. They consist mostly of liquidated stock and cheap kilo-sold items from developing countries that are often bought with donations from Sahaja Yogis that is not included in our calculations.

Silver Items

During the annual India Tour 'finale' in Ganapatipule, Shri Mataji does distribute silver items to national centres for use in her worship. The quality and quantity of these items has increased since the 1980s. We estimate that 40-60 presents at an average of $200-400 each costs Shri Mataji $8,000-24,000. This is petty cash when compared to the $350,000-700,000 that Shri Mataji profits from each India Tour.

Audio/Video Equipment

We are unsure of what Shri Mataji means when she claims to have "also provided audio/video equipment and other electrical goods with her own money." For many years all the audiovisual recordings of Shri Mataji's appearances were paid for by a rich donor, although we are unsure of the present arrangements. It may also be that there has been some expenditure on audiovisual equipment for recruitment meetings in poor countries, although we have not heard of it. Usually any expenditure from Shri Mataji's 'own money' is widely trumpeted. Whatever the case, the expense of 'audio/video equipment and other electrical goods' is unlikely to exceed that of the petty cash spent on silver items.

Sahaj Projects

Given that these sundry items - like the day-to-day running costs of Sahaja Yoga - make no serious impact on Shri Mataji's vast untaxed income, can her profiteering be justified by spending on "Sahaj Projects all over the world" as suggested in her Response to Criticism? Her Response certainly gives us an impressive (though incomplete) inventory of her current real estate portfolio. However, this portfolio was almost entirely built up in the 1990s, while Shri Mataji has been collecting guru dakshina and money for 'projects in India' since the beginning of the 1980s. By the late 1980s, all there was to show for the small fortune donated was a roof over a small shrine in Ganapatipule (estimated cost $70).

Donor Contributions

When land was acquired for the Dharamsala school, many assumed that it was bought with 'Projects in India' money, yet it was actually donated by a wealthy Sahaja Yogi. This is one of a number of purchases listed by Shri Mataji in her Response to Criticism as paid for by the mythical 'Sahaja Yoga finance committee', that were actually largely financed by donations from Sahaja Yogis. Another example is the school in Rome.

On 9 November 1999 we received threats of legal action from a rich Sahaja Yogi who wrote, "When we meet in court I can disprove with written documentary banking evidence your libellous lies about Sri Mataji's purchases of houses as I financed them from my own wealth." While this donor certainly did not finance all the purchases himself, it is clear that much of Shri Mataji's real estate portfolio has been financed by donations that are not included in our estimates of her profits. Another example of the financing of real estate from outside our estimated profits, is the purchase of the Palazzo Doria in Cabella Ligure (Italy) with the help of a loan of over 200,000 Swiss Francs ($130,000) from a Sahaja Yogi that was never paid back despite repeated requests.

Shudy Camps

Shri Mataji's first big purchase was Shudy Camps Park House in Cambridgeshire (UK) for £300,000 ($480,000). The original idea came from the English Sahaja Yogis who wanted to buy Shri Mataji a house in England in the hope that they would continue to see her regularly after her husband retired from his UN job in London. They intended that the house should be owned by Life Eternal Trust (UK) Limited but Shri Mataji decided that the house should be in her name.

The English Sahaja Yogis were sent details of loan companies and managed to collect £250,000 ($400,000), further donations came from abroad. The building was completely overhauled by unpaid Sahaja Yogis, initially working 11 hours a day with only Sunday mornings off for pujas. The amateur renovation work led to the destruction of a historic 300 year old listed ceiling.

Shudy Camps hosted the 1987 international Guru Puja and was declared by Shri Mataji to be the New Jerusalem. However, Shri Mataji spent little time there, an attempted Sahaja Yoga hospital failed and the planned school never materialised. The only saving grace was that property prices went up enough for Shri Mataji to sell up for £1,000,000 ($1,600,000) and shift the capital abroad. None of the donors who had financed the project to give their Goddess a home in England were consulted or offered their money back.

Unjustified Accumulation

Shudy Camps set a precedent for buying properties with donations and putting them in Shri Mataji's name. Many (if not all) of the properties listed in Response to Criticism - as well as the Los Angeles house and the Cabella and Jausiers chateaux - are held in Shri Mataji's name (or that of her husband) rather than Sahaja Yoga's charitable trusts. While some boy-gurus collect Rolls-Royces, it seems that this girl-guru prefers houses.

All this undermines Shri Mataji's claim that her profiteering is justified by spending on "Sahaj Projects all over the world". However, some of the profits we have calculated do go into Shri Mataji's real estate portfolio (or that of her husband). For example, Sahaja Yogis attending the 1999 international Diwali puja in Greece were told to pay in French francs. This unusual request was due to the purchase of a chateau in Jausiers (Alpes de Haute Provence, France) for 2.5 million French francs ($416,000) in the name of Shri Mataji's husband.

Neither Shri Mataji's devotees, nor her ex-devotees, have seen her will so they do not know where her death would leave her real estate portfolio or the Sahaj money in her personal bank accounts.

It is also noteworthy that many of the "Sahaj Projects all over the world" - such as the schools, music academy and ashrams - actually generate income. Even properties like Shudy Camps and the Cabella Palazzo have increased Shri Mataji's profits from international pujas by cutting overheads. Any re-investment of personal wealth in money-making projects that are heavily subsidised by donations and bad loans does little to justify Shri Mataji's profiteering from Sahaja Yoga.

Shri Mataji's Motivations

This section attempts to answer the question of whether Sahaja Yoga is simply Shri Mataji's money-making scam.

Shri Mataji could have made little money from Sahaja Yoga during its beginnings in the 1970s and her claims that she initially had to invest her personal wealth may have some truth in them. Then it seemed inconceivable that a member of India's charmed high society who had a house in Brompton Square (Knightsbridge, London), a woman who claimed royal descent and was married to the Secretary General of the UN International Maritime Organisation, should devote so much time to her followers for the small pickings then available.

Although wealthy she was not ostentatious and was ever ready to draw comparisons between herself and other gurus who had fleets of Rolls Royces (eg her own former teacher, Rajneesh). However, as is clear from this webpage, millions of US dollars are now being channelled into Shri Mataji's bank accounts.

Opinions differ among ex-Sahaja Yogis over whether Shri Mataji was motivated by profit from the beginning, or whether she became corrupted over time. The testimony of those who knew Shri Mataji in 1970 suggests that she was motivated by the egotistical desire to become a celebrated guru (like Rajneesh or Muktananda) and to have all that goes with it.

Her greed may not have been primarily for money, but more for power and public adulation. There is evidence that such a goal would fulfill Shri Mataji's childhood fantasies as her younger sister recalled:

Our mother had to take all of us in the car whenever she and father had to attend the meetings of the then Congress and I remember that [Shri Mataji] held similar meetings at home for us and, imitating the leaders, she delivered speeches from the 'home stage' (Nirmala Yoga, 1985, #25)

There is always the possibility that Shri Mataji is insane enough to believe her own claim to Divinity. But then one has to ask whether such a belief is compatible with the profiteering, and why her brother and husband have been involved in the business while professing to be believers.

Shri Mataji's younger brother ran the Nagpur Academy, and a French chateau was recently purchased with 2.5 million French francs ($416,000) of Sahaja Yoga funds in the name of Shri Mataji's husband Sir C P Srivastava.

Mass Weddings

Weddings are usually performed twice a year - in Cabella and in Ganapatipule. The bridegroom pays a marriage fee which pays for the different items needed for the wedding ceremony such as the bride's cheap jewelry and sari. The fee also includes guru dakshina and a collective present for Shri Mataji.

Rents of Ashrams

Shri Mataji mentioned owning 6 ashrams in her Response to Criticism. She probably already owns more and can certainly be expected to add more to her real estate portfolio. Although the downpayments are financed by donations and Shri Mataji's profits from Sahaja Yoga, the number of occupants and their rents are kept high to pay for the mortgage and maintenance as well as generate profit.

Belapur Hospital in India

Also known as the Nirmala Devi Hospital, this project is so close to Shri Mataji's heart that she has altered Sahaja Yoga dogma in order to justify it. Previously she had told her followers that they were able to diagnose and treat their own problems. Now they are told that they need diagnosis and treatment from the 'medical experts' at Belapur. The Belapur Hospital treats 50 to 70 patients per year with candles, ice, oil, etc at 4 star hotel prices. 1998 charges were IRS1,500 ($35) per day plus a substantial admission fee and additional charges for some treatments (eg lemons & chillis). Shri Mataji's previous attempt to start a clinic in the UK failed.

Sales of Audio and Video Cassettes

The sale of cassettes has developed into an organised industry that generates substantial royalties for Shri Mataji. Subscriptions can be taken out for 12 puja talks and/or 12 music programmes on video or audio tape. Cassette sharing or copying is forbidden. Since 1995 the Sahaja Yoga international newsletter, Divine Cool Breeze, has only carried brief synopses of Shri Mataji's talks so as not to hit tape sales (see Letter from the Editors in Vol 9, Nos 3&4). Video tapes are sold for about $20. Each audio tape is sold for about $10 of which $6 goes toward royalties and digitisation. Given the low cost of digitisation, the lion's share of this $6 flows straight to Shri Mataji's purse. Other than the main puja talks and music programmes, other tapes are sold of Shri Mataji's public (recruitment) meetings, Sahaja Yoga songs, etc. These auxiliary tapes may yield less profit, thus they have not been included in our estimate.

The India Tour

Taking place each December, the month-long India Tour was perhaps Shri Mataji's first cash cow. Transportation is by train and bus, food is basic, accommodation is tents and toilets consist of two planks slung over a trench of liquid faeces. 1999 prices were £650 ($1,040) for adults from 'rich countries' and £350 ($560) for children or adults from 'poor countries'. This price does not include travel to and from India. Anybody who has travelled in India knows that these prices are extortionate as the actual cost is unlikely to exceed $250. Despite this gap, many costs of the India Tour are paid for by numerous whip-rounds. Many Sahaja Yogis are conscious of this gap and do not tell outsiders how much they pay for their trips to India.

Sahaja Yogis who cannot afford the time are allowed to attend the 10 day finale in Ganapatipule, a seaside resort south of Bombay where Shri Mataji owns parcels of land. Originally they were expected to pay the full tour cost, but Shri Mataji relented and allowed a slight reduction to £600 ($960).

Schools, Youth Camp & Music Academy

The $349,000 to $611,750 estimated annual profit is from the following four institutions:

The International Sahaja Yoga School in Talnoo, India

Hosts 200-250 boarders, aged 6 to 16 years, paying an initial $1,000 admission fee plus $300 per month (1993 prices). As Sahaja Yoga charges can be expected to increase with (or above) inflation, annual turnover can be expected to exceed the $770,000-960,000 that would be predicted from the above figures (given 50-60 new admissions per year).

Start-up costs were low because the land was donated by a disciple, Sahaja Yogi architects worked for free, and Shri Mataji does not pay labourers above the low local rate. Running costs are also low eg the salary of an Indian private school teacher rarely exceeds RS5,000 ($120) per month.

It is generally believed in Sahaja Yoga that disciples should not benefit financially from services provided by Shri Mataji. Therefore Western parents are expected to pay costs comparable to those of privately educating their children in the West.

The Pre-school in Magliano Sabina, Italy

Hosts 50-75 boarders, mostly aged 4-6 years (though sometimes as young as 1), paying $250 per month (1992 price). The school is the compulsory preparation for the children's studies in India. In the early 1990s the fees were the main source of income for the 30-40 adults living in the ashram so Shri Mataji's profits may have been nil. However, since then the school may have become more productive.

International Sahaja Yoga Youth Camp, Daglio, Italy

Around 100 children attend the 3 week summer camp at Shri Mataji's farmhouse in Daglio, Italy. Fees are 550,000 Italian liras per child ($282), with discounts if more than one child comes from the same family. Accomodation is free and the entertaining adults are not paid. We estimate a profit of $100-150 per child.

The Sahaja Yoga Arts Academy, Nagpur, India

Started with only 3 students in 1995, but rose to 100+ students by 1999. Shri Mataji's brother, who ran the school, has now died so it may be moved to a new location.

Puja Ceremonies

The $710,475 to $1,924,244 estimated annual profit is from the following sources:

International Pujas:

About 10 international pujas a year are celebrated in the presence of Shri Mataji (not including those that are part of the India Tour). About 6 of these are performed at Cabella, Shri Mataji's Italian palace. Each Sahaja Yogi contributes £108 ($173), usually plus £12-22 ($19-35) for extras eg musicians. Children pay half of this amount and there are reductions for Sahaja Yogis from 'poor countries'. This fee includes basic accommodation, simple food, guru dakshina (offering of money during Hindu guru puja rites) and course a contribution to Shri Mataji's self-chosen present and sari from the international collective. Shri Mataji decides whether she prefers an expensive present or to keep the cash.

Because of varying overheads, international pujas are best differentiated according to whether they take place at Cabella or not.

Cabella international pujas:

Shri Mataji decided to host most international pujas at Cabella so as to reduce costs - especially for accommodation and food. Previously, international pujas were performed in various cities and only $21 ($34) out of the £108 ($173) puja cost (transport not included) was explicitly offered to Shri Mataji as guru dakshina. From 1991 most European international pujas were held at Cabella where food was prepared by the Sahaja Yoginis of the organising countries and participants slept on the rocky floor under a second-hand circus tent, or later a Sahaja Yogi built hangar. While saving on costs, Shri Mataji kept the puja fee unchanged thus increasing profit markedly.

Non-Cabella international pujas:

Shri Mataji still performs 2-4 international pujas away from Cabella that are combined with public (recruitment) programs given by her (eg Diwali pujas in Turkey, Portugal and Greece). They are generally well attended as they provide added tourist interest, but are less profitable because of the additional overheads.

National Pujas

Performed world-wide in conjunction with international pujas. The puja is performed to Shri Mataji's photograph and a photograph of her feet following the same protocol as, and in synchrony with watching, the video of the previous year's international puja. The ceremony includes giving dakshina, generally in local currency. In the UK this is usually £7 ($11) per adult while in the US it is $21 and paid whether or not the puja is attended.

Pujas in India

Thousands of disciples attend Shri Mataji's pujas mainly during the India tour, the Ganapatipule seminar, Mahashivaratri puja and Shri Mataji's birthday puja. The Indian puja fee is substantially lower (IRS 200 = $5) than that paid by Westerners. However, 3,000 to 5,000 Indian participants can be estimated for 4 pujas per year.

Local Pujas

Performed on a bi-monthly, monthly, weekly or even daily basis by Sahaja Yogis world-wide. The dakshina is much lower than for official pujas but allows country leaders to regularly hand Shri Mataji envelopes containing substantial sums of cash - often prior to Guru Puja (July) and/or the India Tour (December). The envelope's thickness is associated by both leaders and Shri Mataji with dedication, and is therefore a matter of national pride!

*** Disclaimer ***

Our estimates of turnover are based on direct experience of Sahaja Yoga and leaks from within the organisation. However, Sahaja Yoga finances are intentionally kept secret (even from members) and security has been tightened to stop us from getting accurate figures. For example, the cost of pujas is not included in puja invitations, sensitive information is not transmitted by email and, in the UK, address lists are no longer circulated below leader level.

In her Response to Criticism, Shri Mataji claimed that Sahaja Yoga "accounts are detailed and open to everyone" yet no Sahaja Yogi would even think (let alone dare) to ask to check the figures. Sahaja Yoga officials have not responded to our challenge to publish these accounts which we now believe to be non-existent. Nor did Sahaja Yoga respond to our request for corrections to our previous estimates, despite Shri Mataji having described them as 'fictional'. (Although, since we first publicised Sahaja Yoga financial information, Sahaja Yoga has responded by trumpeting the openness of non-controversial funds such as national funds and that of the non-profit-making Theatre of Eternal Values.)

Calculations of profit rely on the further estimation of the real costs of goods and services supplied by Sahaja Yoga. Thus, despite our best efforts at accuracy and the wide margins of error we have left between minimum and maximum estimates of profit, there is still the possibility of errors. We welcome suggestions from readers that help us to achieve greater accuracy and/or comprehensiveness.

Indian Express, Poona, 28-12-89

by A Staff Reporter

ALL GODMEN ARE FAKE

Adressing a press conference here on Wednesday, the Mataji said all gurus and godmen, who earned their living out of people, were fake. Calling Rajneesh alias Osho and Maharishi Mahesh Yogi as 'Bilandar' (rascal) and 'Mahachor' (thief), and Satya Sai Baba as a 'liar', she alleged that the gurus exploited their innocent followers. "I have no large following because I do not seek money from my followers," she said.