Sanatan Sanstha counsels me

Sanatan Sanstha and one week at Devad

My flight from my home has been an exhilarating experience; aided actively by Sanatan Sanstha. I feel as if I am in a kind of stupor. But the next seven days bring me down to earth. I am stuck up at the Devad ashram. I am not allowed to even go out in the compound but kept all day inside the ashram. There are several counselling sessions but no spiritual activity. All sadhaks appear to be tense and uneasy. I get a very nervous feeling but think that my hyper-sensitive nerves are to be blamed. I am counselled by many people; advocates meet me and question about the nature of my husband. When I tell them that he is very docile, they appear to be disappointed. A lady psychologist speaks to me at length. Some people with considerable authority also meet me. The initial questions relate more about my family. I think they are trying to gauge their reactions or are they trying to provoke a particular reaction?

I was asked to keep in touch with my husband and was coached on what to speak and what to speak. I was also to invite them to visit me at the ashram. I and the sanstha were both surprised when this did not happen. My parents also never called me up, why?

This is around the same time that news about the abduction of two sisters by Sanatan Sanstha had broken in media channels. I never met them and I was told that they had been shifted to a safer place. The media attention was much appreciated as the sanstha got an opportunity to air their views. Yet, some people appeared tense. I realised much latter when I was on the other side of the table.

Transit to Ramnathi

Finally, after one complete week, I left for Goa. All arrangements had been made by Sanatan Sanstha, even ticket booking was done by them. They had also arranged for an auto to drop me to Panvel station. I was accompanied by two male sadhaks.

Finally, upon arrival at Madgaon railway station, I felt relief. I visualised Guru, Dr Jayant Athavale welcoming me and trust me I could feel him and his Chaitanya. A car was waiting to pick me up.

There were smiling faces in the ashram. I was welcomed and everybody rushed to welcome me. After Devad, this was very welcome. I could gauge the difference between Devad and Ramnathi immediately.

Why was there so much difference between Devad and Ramnathi? Why were sadhaks tense at Devad? Were they waiting for some unpleasantness? It appeared that they were looking forward to it and were disappointed when it did not happen. Was I the cause for all this? Was I expected to do something?

I did not dwell on these issues; I was busy soaking up the Chaitanya of the ashram. I felt as if I was reborn and the rebirth would now lead me on the right path.

Sanatan Sanstha and one week at Devad

My flight from my home has been an exhilarating experience; aided actively by Sanatan Sanstha. I feel as if I am in a kind of stupor. But the next seven days bring me down to earth. I am stuck up at the Devad ashram. I am not allowed to even go out in the compound but kept all day inside the ashram. There are several counselling sessions but no spiritual activity. All sadhaks appear to be tense and uneasy. I get a very nervous feeling but think that my hyper-sensitive nerves are to be blamed. I am counselled by many people; advocates meet me and question about the nature of my husband. When I tell them that he is very docile, they appear to be disappointed. A lady psychologist speaks to me at length. Some people with considerable authority also meet me. The initial questions relate more about my family. I think they are trying to gauge their reactions or are they trying to provoke a particular reaction?

I was asked to keep in touch with my husband and was coached on what to speak and what to speak. I was also to invite them to visit me at the ashram. I and the sanstha were both surprised when this did not happen. My parents also never called me up, why?

This is around the same time that news about the abduction of two sisters by Sanatan Sanstha had broken in media channels. I never met them and I was told that they had been shifted to a safer place. The media attention was much appreciated as the sanstha got an opportunity to air their views. Yet, some people appeared tense. I realised much later when I was on the other side of the table.

Transit to Ramnathi

Finally, after one complete week, I left for Goa. All arrangements had been made by Sanatan Sanstha, even ticket booking was done by them. They had also arranged for an auto to drop me to Panvel station. I was accompanied by two male sadhaks.

Finally, upon arrival at Madgaon railway station, I felt relief. I visualised Guru, Dr Jayant Athavale welcoming me and trust me I could feel him and his Chaitanya. A car was waiting to pick me up.

There were smiling faces in the ashram. I was welcomed and everybody rushed to welcome me. After Devad, this was very welcome. I could gauge the difference between Devad and Ramnathi immediately.

Why was there so much difference between Devad and Ramnathi? Why were sadhaks tense at Devad? Were they waiting for some unpleasantness? It appeared that they were looking forward to it and were disappointed when it did not happen. Was I the cause for all this? Was I expected to do something?

I did not dwell on these issues; I was busy soaking up the Chaitanya of the ashram. I felt as if I was reborn and the rebirth would now lead me on the right path.

Sanatan Sanstha – All attacking a poor underdog

A so called spiritual organisation; Sanatan Sanstha, appeared to be harmless, everyone was attacking this underdog. In fact, their preaching appealed to my spiritual nature. I was drawn to them, I was attracted to them, I felt that I belonged there. They could do no wrong, they were right. Yet, people were opposing them, day in and day out. Why was this sanstha so hated? Dr. Jayant Athavale only had the good of people on his mind yet people and media were out to malign him. Why do good people have to suffer?

Yes, I am talking about a tactic of Sanatan Sanstha. We all have protective feelings, we like to protect the underdogs, the people who are innocent but are being prosecuted. Have you ever observed a pack of dogs? They all attack the weakest one. This dog is defenceless; it is not even harming anyone. It is sitting silently on one side, minding its own business. Yet, other dogs harass it, attack it and prosecute it. Just for the fun of it, so that they get a few pleasurable moments. This dog is called an underdog. We, human beings, also do the same thing.

Is Sanatan Sanstha really an underdog?

Sanatan Sanstha projects an image of being an underdog. This was drummed into my mind in countless ways, day in and day out. Till any negative reference to Sanatan Sanstha made me think of only the underdog.

It started with very small things. The initial references were attacks on Hindu Dharma and the Hindu way of life. It can be seen everywhere. Hindutva is on the rise and people oppose even small things. Most of such protests are needed, we are being prosecuted. All our festivals are being administered. During Holi, we are told not to burn wood as trees are cut and pollution increases. During Rang Panchami, we are told about the harmful effects of colours and the wastage of water. Even during Diwali, we are advised that bursting of crackers leads to noise and air pollution and lakhs of rupees are spent on a few seconds of enjoyment.

Sanatan Sanstha highlights these issues on a larger platform and then turns our attention towards persecution of the sanstha. Let us look at some of these issues:

1.       Their main ashram is at Ramnathi, Ponda, Goa. The locals; villagers staying there, have been protesting about Sanatan Sanstha for quite some years. The sanstha says that these people hate the sanstha, they should visit the ashram as people from across the world are flocking to the ashram.

2.       There is already a movement to ban Sanatan Sanstha. Several political parties are seeking a ban, Congress and AAP are supporting the ban. The matter has been taken up by the Bombay High Court and they are asking both Central and State governments to place on record the various communications. Sanatan Sanstha says that these are misguided people.

3.       Incidents like incessant honking outside the Ashram premises are made out to as attempt to harass it. Inmates living there are always warned that they may be attacked, though no such incident took place during my stay there.

4.       There are 28 pages of search results on Sanatan Sanstha’s website if we search for “harassment of Sanatan Sanstha”. With 10 articles per search page, there are more than 280 articles on this topic alone.

5.       All their satsangs and dharmavarg sabhas have this common topic and incidents on such issues are highlighted.

The mentality is to project Sanatan Sanstha as an underdog. Why should a spiritual organization be so bothered about this? Are they hiding something; are they afraid of something? Why are they spending more time defending themselves than in the pursuit of spirituality?

Sanatan Sanstha and the Veil

What is Sanatan Sanstha

Sanatan Sanstha’s website states that it is a charitable trust. They seek to impart spiritual knowledge through personal guidance for spiritual upliftment and, also inculcate religious behavior. This is their stated aims. The sanstha is based at Ramnathi, a small village on the outskirts of Ponda, Goa, India. They have a huge ashram there and it operates as their headquarters. They have another ashram at Devad, Panvel near Mumbai, Maharashtra. Another ashram is said to be at Miraj, Maharashtra.

The sanstha operates through various branches. Sanatan Sanstha does not own any of them, these branches operate from the residences of the sadhaks – their followers. These branches may have several sub-offices under them. A typical hierarchical structure with a minimum cost of operations. There is very little information on the number of followers, the way things are organized and operations. All part of the veil. All information strictly on need to know basis, a secretive society formed with unknown intentions.

Hierarchy and Sanatan Sanstha:

 The hierarchy at the Sanstha is designed so the flow of information is easily controlled. Outsiders cannot get any inkling of the Ashram, why outsiders, even the followers are not aware of its true intent. Sanatan Sanstha wants to control everything and anything. I know because I was part of an inner circle, I was one constituent of a small wheel inside many wheels.

The reporting structure is very devious and is cloaked in spiritual terms. Yes, they use spiritual terminology as a cloak. They hide behind it, they use it to justify themselves and stop all unwanted, unwarranted questions. All followers – sadhaks report to a branch in charge. The branch in charge is decided by the reporting Ashram head. The branch in charge reports to another sevak who is based at one of the ashrams. The ashram has several coordination departments – called समन्वय विभाग. All prim and proper.

Flow of information:

Control, control and control. Three important words at Sanatan Sanstha. Not told to anybody, but practised day in and day out, every hour of the day and every minute of the hour. Need to know and question the need to know. But do not show this face to others. Let them think that we are open, everything is open.

And that also brings us to the title of the blog “sanatanveil”. More on that later…

The flow of information is one-way, from bottom to top. The other way is just instructions, what to do, when to do and how to do. Questions are encouraged if they support the set of instructions, instructions cannot be questioned, they must be followed. Instructions are all verbal, nothing is ever given in writing. Writing commits oneself, yes, we are instructed on this, but again I will come back at a later stage. Sanatan Sanstha is not open, it is very hierarchal society, it is very secretive.

Why should it be like this? Why is there no openness? What prevents them from being open about themselves? Why do they give an impression of being open when they are not open?

Questions, questions and more questions. Sanatan Sanstha does not like questions, it will not answer them, it is not supposed to answer them. You are not supposed to question Sanatan Sanstha Goa. Follow the instructions and you will get Mooksh. Question them and I become an evil spirit, a demon. I cannot be reformed; I should be thrown out.

I did and was thrown out. But I could not stop my conscience from biting me. I will not let my conscience bit me.