On Mon, 20 Sep 1999 14:29:20 +0200 you sent a letter dated 19 Sep:

>>This is in response to a recent e-maiI related to Sahaja Yoga finances that has been circulated on the Internet. We, the Sahaja Yoga finance committee have compiled this reply on our freewill and are fully responsible for the information included herein.

Methinks that you protest too much. This letter bears all the hallmarks of having been dictated by Mataji: the Indian-sounding English, the pseudo-legalese, the wild accusations, the weak arguments, the denigration of those of 'low background', etc. It would be in character for Mataji to hide her authorship behind a fictitious committee as she has previously signed her letters with far-fetched authors such as "All the Sahaja Yogis of the World".

>>>It is a known fact that Sahaja Yoga doors are open for every individual. Sometimes we get people who are very sinful, hypocritical, cheats and have very low type of background. After getting realisation many of them do rise end get transformed but some do get lost. These are the people who publish such wrong things about Shri Mataji.

Despite your self-proclaimed omniscience, you don't even know who we all are, so how can you make such a blanket condemnation? Can't you accept the possibility that there might be those who disagree with you who are not sinful, hypocritical cheats?

>>>As the question is asked we would like to inform you that there is a finance committee which collects all the money and maintains regular record.

None of us have ever heard of a "Sahaja Yoga finance committee" and nor have the practising and ex Sahaja Yogis that we have consulted. When was this committee formed and who is on it?

>>>>From time to time from this money, following things have been purchased:

a.. House at Centrassi, Italy

b.. Farmhouse at Daglio, ltaly

c.. Hangar at Albera Ligure, Italy

d.. Grounds at Albera Ligure, Italy

e.. Ashram at New Jersey, New York

f.. Grounds at Canajoharie, USA

g.. Ashram at Vancouver, Canada

h.. Ashram at Melbourne, Australia

i.. Lands in Ganapatipule, India j.. Hospital in Vashi, India

k.. Two ashrams in Delhi, India

l.. Plots in Delhi, India

m.. Land at the foothills of Himalayas, India

n.. Lands for the school in Maharastra, India

o.. Lands for destitute woman in India

p.. Land for the adult farmer education in India

q.. Land at Vaitarna, India

r.. Ashram et Ealing, England

s.. Music Academy in Nagpur, India

t.. NGO hospital in India

u.. School in Rome, Italy

v.. School in Dharamsala, India

w.. Sahaj Projects all over the world

x.. And many more...

How many of these are held in Mataji's name and how many are held in the names of the various 'charities' she has set up for sake of tax exemption? I notice that the castle in Cabella isn't mentioned although it could be covered by x.. - are there any other properties that have not been mentioned?

I see the school in Rome is mentioned yet the money came from one Sahaja Yogini, therefore I can't see how it can be counted as expenditure of the "finance committee". Was the money stolen from Mr E also counted as expenditure of the "finance committee"?

>>>Apart from that 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. We would like to let you know that for about fifteen years Shri Mataji was not interfering with Sahaja Yoga finances. Even today she never touches the collective money. The finance committee is dealing with her money and can assure you that all the calculations shown in the e-mail message does not have any base and are fictitious numbers. The accounts are open and absolutely transparent, She has only in one occasion borrowed money from a Sahaja Yogi, which was immediately returned.

We notice that not one single figure is mentioned in your letter. If our figures are wrong then please supply the correct figures. Why not publish your accounts on the internet for all to see?

>>>Knowing all the good she has done to humanity we would like to ask you: "do you expect her to spend her own personal money for all these ventures?". She has her own family to look after.

If the properties are in Mataji's name, and she has not made arrangements for them to pass on to the SY collective when she dies, then we would certainly expect her to spend her own money on them.

>>>Have you not seen all miracle photographs and the good She has done to the humanity?

Have they been verified as miracles by photographic experts?

>>>She has done no harm to anyone and saved so many people.

Some of those harmed and robbed by her would disagree.

>>>Thus we have five to six people of thousands all over the world who are providing this wrong information.

Only a dozen or so have provided it to the Internet community, hundreds of others know it to be true.

What follows in your letter is a series of slurs. Some of these are incomprehensible to us and others appear to be wilfully distorted versions of reality. They appear to be shameless attempts to discredit the testimonies on the "Sahaja Yoga: Facts" website. We find it extraordinary that such personal slurs should be within the remit of a "finance committee". However, we can understand why a false guru under threat of being exposed should want to lash out indiscriminately. We respond for the sake of truth and clarity.

>>>Mrs. C... herself wanted to marry and decided to divorce because the first wife of her husband got cured and this lady was very unbalanced. Mr. G... can tell you much more about it. Shri Mataji felt that the children should stay with the natural mother rather than such abnormal arrangement. Do you know how many people Shri Mataji has happily married in Sahaja Yoga!

In fact Mrs C's marriage to, and divorce from, Mr G were both initiated by Mataji. Mrs C happily agreed to the marriage but was devastated by the divorce which Mataji ordered without giving any reason or recourse. During the marriage, Mataji sent the children to the Rome school and prohibited the natural mother from seeing them. Mataji had told them that they now had 'a new Mummy' but did not let them stay with Mrs C and Mr G for more than a maximum of three weeks per year - apart from the 5 to 6 month stay immediately prior to the divorce.

>>>There's another one Mr. R... from Canada, whose wife was very much tired of him and wanted to divorce. He was evading taxes and living on the wages of his wife.

Mr R has had nothing to do with the revelations about Sahaja Yoga on the internet. None of us know who Mr R is so we are unable to give him the chance to respond to your accusations. We can only note the apparent contradiction between 'evading taxes' and 'living of the wages of his wife'. The fact that you mistakenly associate him with us is further evidence that your 'vibratory awareness' does not work.

>>>There was one Mr. E... who had an accident and gave the name of a Sahaja Yogi who was in India at that time. When group photograph was shown to the lady who was injured in the accident she immediately recognised Mr. E.... Police caught hold of him. Then he came out with vengeance as a serpent and started troubling us, but we ultimately won the case. Same fellow was carrying on secretly with a rnaidservant from South America and that is the reason he was sent away.

Mr E also had nothing to do with publicising the accusations although the fact that he was robbed by mataji of 200,000 Swiss francs is mentioned on the Sahaja Yoga: Facts. The only trouble this 'serpent' caused was asking for his money back.

The story that you drag up to discredit him is grossly distorted. Nobody was hurt in the slightest but the lady's car was scratched. When asked to give his name Mr E allowed the lady to take his registration number but, in a lapse of judgement, gave the name of A de K. He did this because of a grudge he bore against A de K because A de K colluded with Mataji in robbing him of 200,000 Swiss francs and reported to the police the illegal immigrant status of Mr E's future wife (previously illegally employed by A de K).

When the lady contacted Mr E, he apologised to her, explained his actions and paid for the car's repair. The police recognised that Mr E had made no serious attempt to hide his identity and there was no legal case.

>>>His brother was spreading homosexuality and was a double standard.

The 'double standard' accusation is incomprehensible to us so further elucidation would be necessary before we can comment. Regarding the spreading of homosexuality, Mr E's brother has never initiated homosexual contact with anybody. Mr E's brother has had no homosexual contact in Sahaja Yoga that was not initiated by one of the World Leaders appointed by Mataji. These corrections are not to suggest that we share Mataji's homophobic prejudices.

>>>We the finance committee ask you to understand the great work done by Shri Mataji. You can only understand Her better by reading Her book The Meta Modern Era.

If you are offering us a free copy we are happy to accept. However, we are unwilling to pay money into, what we suspect to be, an illegal organisation.

>>>Sincerely, Sahaja Yoga finance committee Italy

We look forward to your response.

Yours faithfully,