Why does Sanatan Ashram Ponda not allow journalists

The entry to Sanatan Ashram Ponda is said to be open to all. All are invited to visit the main ashram of Sanatan Sanstha. However, we are asked to keep a special lookout for journalists. Journalists who visit the ashram without informing us generally do not write positively about us. They are always on the lookout for some sensational news. After all, they are always demeaning Hindu religion and generally do not write anything positive about Dr Jayant Athavale.

Sanatan Ashram Ponda hides several secrets

Sanatan Ashram Ponda has several secrets that it does not want the public to see. It needs to control the information flow about the ashram, the activities going on inside and some of its occupants. Normal visitors; visitors who come to meet their relatives under the mind control of Sanatan Sanstha or visitors coming out of curiosity, are handled differently. They are given a well-defined tour of the ashram by a trained sadhak. Controversial locations are avoided and the sadhak bombards the visitors with sublime messages. These messages are intended to capture their mind and attack the sub-conscious mind. They generally ask harmless questions.

Journalists are a different breed altogether. We are trained to identify and isolate them. I have handled such instances during my seva at the swagat kaksh of Sanatan Ashram Ponda. Red lights go off whenever we detect such visitors. They are handled by very senior sadhaks and if they appear to be troublesome, they are immediately asked to leave the premises. Stories are also planted in the social media like Twitter.com and Facebook.com and print media. Dainik Sanatan Prabhat also highlights such intrusive visits. Sanatan Sanstha plays the role of the underdog to the full. The sadhaks all react with horror on hearing such stories.

Now, when I am free, relatively speaking, from the mind control tactics of Sanatan Sanstha, I realize the futility of such measures.

Cupboard of secrets in Sanatan Ashram Ponda

Agreed that Sanatan Ashram Ponda has several cupboards full of secrets. Most of the occupants are not aware of most of them. Hiding a fugitive from law enforcement agencies is only a small secret. Several secrets are more damaging. The point is that Sanatan Sanstha can devise a different manner to handle journalist visits. They can turn the visit into an opportunity.

Come to think of it, they really turn the visit into an opportunity. They are not targeting the outside public; that is handled by the sadhaks during the prachar seva. They are targeting the minds of the sadhaks and create an impression about oppression, first to the Hindu Dharma and our way of life. Then, they focus on Sanatan Sanstha and Sanatan Ashram Ponda. The real purpose of the visit is forgotten by everybody, we start believing in the lies spread by Sanatan and Dr Jayant Athavale turns our mind against media.

We lose ourselves into the truthfulness of Sanatan. The outside world is a dangerous world and only Sanatan Sanstha can protect us. We are safe only if we remain inside Sanatan Ashram Ponda.

Sanatan Sanstha and front organizations

Sanatan Sanstha uses several front organizations like Hindu Janajagruti Samaj (HJS) and Spiritual Science Research Fondation (SSRF). These organizations cannot be called offshoots of the original sanstha as their ideology is the same and they operate from the same premises. It is difficult for the common person to understand the reason for having such parallel organizations. Both these offshoots have differences created so that common man thinks that they are independent ones. It is a very cunning move followed by many organizations, spiritual or otherwise. People look at endorsement and if an organization is endorsed by another one, its value increases in our mind. Do we ever check if both are related?

Hindu Janajagruti Samiti

Sanatan Sanstha focuses its efforts on spiritual development while Hindu Janajagruti Samiti focuses on raising Hindu issues. They have even defined Hindu to mean the removal of darkness. They stress that the samiti and Sanatan are not connected. On one of their webpages devoted to the establishment of Hindu Rashtra, they state

“That the Hindu Nation will be established is an undisputed fact as per the times, and organisations like Sanatan Sanstha are taking care of the fight at the spiritual level essential for achieving this goal.”

HJS focuses on topics not covered by the sanstha. They are more into raising issues concerning Hindus and the persecution of Hindus the world over. They have different Facebook and Twitter accounts. They are mainly associated with five activities

• Dharma shiksha – education on Dharma
• Awakening of Dharma
• Dharma Rakshan – protection of Dharma
• Protection of the Nation
• Hindu unification

Routinely Sanatan Sanstha and Hindu Janajagruti Samiti support each other’s activities as if they are independent institutions.  They even have different organization structures. Anyone connected with either of them know that they are one and the same.

Spiritual Science Research Foundation

Sanatan Sanstha and Hindu Janajagruti Samiti are the public faces while Spiritual Research Foundation operates behind the scenes. SSRF provides the scientific spin to the activities of Sanatan Sanstha. They aim to “bridge the gap between the known and the unknown”.  They operate behind the scenes and acknowledge that Dr Jayant Athavale is the founder member. As most of us don’t read the fine print, we assume that the research foundation and the sanstha are different entities.

SSRF does not provide any detailed scientific data to support their findings. The research is always cloaked in misleading terms. Take for example this quote from one article dealing with spiritual healing

“Spiritual research has shown us that up to 80% of the problems in a person’s life can have their root in the spiritual dimension.”

There is no explanation as to how they reached the figure of 80%.

They carry out spiritual research on many things like

• Afterlife
• Death and Dying
• Ghosts

among other things. 

Many of the articles on the Sanatan Sanstha website aim to give the scientific reasoning behind Hindu traditions.

They also reason that scientific and spiritual research cannot be compared to each other as the principles of scientific research cannot be applied to spiritual research.

The different affiliated organizations seem to provide Sanatan Sanstha a cloak of respectability as they endorse each other. All the three organizations are same.

This is a guest blog, I, Amruta Acharya, have not written it. The author does not want to share his name and I respect his need for confidentiality.

Sanatan Sanstha welcomes my family

Sanatan Sanstha is keeping me so busy with different sevas that I appear to have lost count of time. I no longer remember the date or the day. There are no calendars around Sanatan Sanstha Ashram and it was really difficult to keep track of time. I had a mobile with me but I used it very sparingly, checking on it only once a day or so.

My husband visits Sanatan Sanstha

Anyhow, after about a week, I think, my husband finally came to see me at the Sanatan Sanstha Ashram. He had called the previous day to confirm if I am available. I was very excited about the visit as I would be seeing my daughter after almost a month. I could not sleep that night.

I took special care that day and woke up early at around 4 am. As per our daily schedule, we would wake up at 5 am and start the day with prayers and chanting. I woke up an hour early to thank my Guru; Dr Jayant Athavale. He had made this visit possible otherwise my husband would have never visited Sanatan Ashram Ponda. Now, he would feel the Chaitanya of the ashram and would understand my work. He would accept the sanstha totally and allow me to continue my good work and start supporting Sanatan. Maybe, he would also join me in the sanstha. I was a little bit worried that he would lose his temper and create a scene there.

Sanatan Sanstha prepares for the visit

I was assured by Sanatan Sanstha that he would not be able to force me back to my home. They counselled me that he would not join the sanstha though I wished for it. He was a total non-believer and would never support me. The sadhaks reminded me of the insults he had uttered against the sanstha. this was not correct, he had never insulted me or the sanstha, he had only opposed it. But I could not bring myself to reveal this to them. They were not willing to listen to me. They drummed up several accusations against my husband and they did it just before his visit.

I was also asked to make him wait for at least an hour before meeting him.

Sanatan Sanstha appeared to be instigating me very purposefully. I had no other option but to follow their instructions. After all, I could not think logically anymore.

As per their instructions, I made him wait for more than an hour before meeting him. I refused to meet him alone and insisted that a sadhak remain present with me always. I was very surprised to see him alone, I was expecting my daughter. He did not offer any explanations. The sadhak, I don’t remember his name, started by explaning to my husband the reasons for my flight. He heaped accusations on my husband and called him many vile names. As per the instructions, I also got into the act and accused him of gross negligence.

He was silent through-out the tirade, he did not utter anything in his defence. In fact, he was very calm and composed. Even when I refused to come back with him, he did not argue with me and neither did he cajole me to come back. After about an hour or so, another sadhak offered to show him around Sanatan Ashram Ponda. He only requested me to accompany him. I agreed as I was also emotionally drained and wanted to see his reactions. The tour ended in 10-15 minutes as he was not at all interested. I took him to the Dyan Mandir as I knew that he spent a considerable time in meditation even at home. After a couple of minutes, he left me and reached the Swagat Kaksh of Sanatan Ashram Ponda on his own.

I followed him downstairs but, in order to avoid spending time with him alone, I took another lady sadhak with me. He did not utter any words and I was waiting to see a positive reaction from him, one that would indicate that he had accepted my decision and had changed his attitude towards Sanatan Sanstha. There were no expressions on his face; neither of happiness, acceptance or even sadness. He handed me some clothes and some money. I felt like refusing him but I had little option. I was running out of money and I had no clothes of my own. He enquired about my health and asked me to take care of myself. He would always be behind me and would help me in all possible manner.

I felt like crying when he said this because I knew that he would keep his promise no matter what sacrifices he had to make. I told him that I just wanted to meet my daughter and if he could bring her to visit the ashram. He expressed some reservations about bringing her.

The visit was an anti-climax. I had tried my level best to provoke him into a fight. I had tried all my old tactics, but he refused to have a fight. Sanatan Sanstha had also provoked him and insulted him in front of me yet he refused to lose his temper. It appears that this round went to him, he succeeded and I failed. I was now afraid that Sanatan would take out their ire on me.

But for me, it was

Broken Dreams and Broken lives.

Sanatan Sanstha and my family

After about a fortnight, I get a call from my husband that they are coming to meet me at Sanatan Ashram Ponda. We have kept in touch through calls to each other and he had promised to bring my daughter to meet me. I am now very excited that finally I will be able to open my daughter’s eyes to the reality and she will join me at Sanatan Sanstha and carry on the good work. I am not very worried about my husband as I consider him a non-believer.

He does not inform me on any other details, but on the appointed day and time, I take special care with my appearance. I need to look serene and peaceful and full of spirituality. My body should convey Bhav (feeling) of spirituality. I should envelop them with the aura of spirituality just like my Guru, Dr Jayant Athavale does. I should represent Sanatan.

Sanatan Sanstha guides me

Once I inform Sanatan Sanstha about the impeding visit, they also make some special arrangements. I don’t know the exact details but with my experience on handling such visits, I can haphazard a guess. They must have stationed some male sadhaks around the reception area – called swagat kaksh in our parlance. These were to take care of any untoward incident.

In fact, Sanatan welcomes such untoward incidents; they publicise such incidents in all their publications, they discuss them during the subsequent satsangs and dharma sabhas. They welcome it if media becomes involved. They absolutely love it if the family involves the police. The entire circus provides them sufficient fodder to be used during months to come. They get free publicity. Other sadhaks who are contemplating such a step are motivated by the strong action of the sanstha as they project the incident as a fight between an underdog and powerful evil forces. The underdog being the sadhak and Sanatan Sanstha lead by Dr Jayant Athavale. The powerful evil forces are the family in question, the media and anybody supporting them. The sadhak is forced to give a statement supporting the sanstha and against her family. The family loses faith and loses out a valuable member permanently.

Sanatan Sanstha Plans the visit

Other arrangements, though unseen, were also carried out. Some of the media persons were briefed and asked to remain alert for “breaking news”. Some sadhaks with contacts with police stations were asked to remain alert.

Sanatan Sanstha treats such first visits as a battle cry. It rallies its cadre, arms its sadhaks and sounds the war bugle. In case of a physical confrontation, it is ready for a fight against poor unaware and underprepared families.

What if the family does not put up a fight? Well, Sanatan wins and the family has an option of joining the Sanstha. Many do when confronted with the imminent loss of a near and dear one. Some walk away, never to look back. Such families are insulted in the ashram premises, in front of the sadhak in question; by the sadhak in question. This is part of the initiation ceremony.

The sadhak has to come out with flying colors and prove her loyalty to Dr Jayant Athavale and Sanatan Sanstha.

Freedom at last

The transit and Sanatan Sanstha

Sanatan Sanstha has identified the route, has made fool proof plans and coordinated my escape. My escape from a stifling environment, from relationships that were binding me down and were not allowing me to fly away, were not allowing me to follow the spiritual path and were stopping me from going on the path of Moksha. I am free, totally free.

Why am I feeling empty inside me? Is it because of the tensions, is it because of the hunger (I have not eaten anything throughout the day) or is it the feeling of Chaitanya? Am I really free?

I reach Sanatan Sanstha ashram Devad. I am not accustomed to traveling alone but the sadhaks have told me that I have to make this journey alone. It is symbolic, very symbolic. I am touched, I have cried throughout the journey and am excited to have at last reached my destination. The Devad ashram is only a transit point, it exists to filter the essentials from the non-essentials.

I catch an auto from the bus-stop and reach the ashram. As per the instructions, I call up my husband and inform him that I am at Panvel and I am safe. Why should I tell him? I am leaving him finally. I don’t question the instructions, but the first doubt comes to my mind.

Why inform my husband?

The Sanatan Sanstha Ashram Devad is a welcome sight. I feel as if I have reached a holy place; I bow down my head and kiss the steps. Some sadhaks are loitering near the entrance. They ask my identity and immediately a couple of them take me to the main room. Others close the main gates arnd arrange themselves around it.

The first question I am asked is; have I informed my husband? Have I told him that I am at Devad ashram? Have I given a written statement at the police station? No questions about my health, if I have eaten anything, nothing? I reply to all their questions and take a look at the main room. There are several other sadhaks and all appear to be waiting for something to happen; they appear to be tense.

I am given something to eat and I retire for the night. I am accompanied by two or three female sadhaks. They too appear nervous but don’t discuss anything. We go to sleep, but I cannot sleep. I lie awake the full night thinking about my Guru, Dr Jayant Athavale and seekings his blessings.

The next morning, I again notice many sadhaks roaming around in the compound. All people appear to be tense. I have not yet switched on my mobile. Now, I am advised to do so and respond to all calls and tell everyone that I am at Sanatan Sanstha Ashram Devad.

This cycle repeats for one complete week. There are no activities throughout the day but only counseling sessions. The police phone me up one day to gather my whereabouts. I am told to expect the call and am also told to contact one person before responding. I reply as per his instructions.

What is Sanatan Sanstha waiting for? Why am I not allowed to proceed towards Goa?

How can you save Sanatan Sanstha?

• ·         The first step in Sanatan Sanstha’s inoculation campaign is to identify gullible people like me. People who has a holier than thou approach towards themselves – like me. I was so full of myself, so taken up by my vision of the world and my exalted position in it. They start slow. The first step is to attract spiritual persons or people with a spiritual bend of mind. We attend satsangs and are told to pray for the well-being of the nation.
• ·         The second step is now to reinforce this bond. They concentrate on Hindu Dharma or Sanatan Dharma. The attacks on Hindus are highlighted. The situation in the country and the prosecution of Hindus are discussed. Followers are encouraged to speak about the atrocities. Their website is full of such articles. I remember once when riding my two-wheeler, I dashed against a person from another community and he abused me. I spoke about this in one of the satsangs and the other sadhaks treated this as an attacked on a poor Hindu woman. I also started believing this.
• ·         Sanatan Sanstha knows that the bond is still weak. They now concentrate on my mind. They talk about the guru and gurushisha parampara. The importance of guru for spiritual upliftment is stressed repeatedly. “Saints” now join in for the discourses. The header of the main page of the website shows an image of a discipline offering respects to his guru.
• ·         I am asked to do naamjap, the sanstha says that naamjap – taking the name of Gods is different from meditation. Naamjap yields results. I believe them. Today, I know that meditation and naamjap are same as per Hindu Shastra; as per Hindu Dhrama. Sanatan wants to differentiate itself and hence shows that both are different.
• ·         Stickers with Gods and Goddesses’ names are purchased by me. I stick them all around my home. I think of the sanstha all throughout the day. This leads to the first conflict with my husband. Broken Dreams and Broken Relationships. A crack is formed; waiting to be exploited.
• ·         My family, my home, my fort no longer appeal to me. I think Sanatan Sanstha, I dream about my Guru and all my actions are dictated by the sanstha.
• ·         The focus now shifts from attacks on Hindu Dharma to attacks on Sanatan Sanstha. I am asked to do naamjap at different times. Someone phones me and informs me that evil spirits will be attacking the sanstha at a particular time. I can save the sanstha through my bhakti. I have done naamjap several times during nights, waking up at 2 am, 3 am or even not sleeping throughout the night. I became so habituated that I used to get up at 4 a.m. to do naamjap for many years.

The sanstha has gained control of my mind. I am no longer thinking rationally. I am their slave. I am a sadhak. I belong to Santan Sanstha.

Sanatan Sanstha – Propagating Myths

Mythological Santan Sanstha

Sanatan Sanstha has propagated several myths, all aimed at creating a distinct image about it. They use all resources at their hand. They produce newsletters – Sanatan Prabhat, Weeklies, fortnightlies, and monthlies. These are available in different languages – Marathi is the main language, but these are available in Hindi, Gujarati as well as Kannada. They conduct satsangs at all their kendras and upkendras. These are spread across mainly Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Gujarat. Satsangs are a good medium to propagate myths, Santan Sanstha has a docile and captive audience. They also conduct sabhas, dharmavargs and balsanskar vargs. They have a good presence across social media, they are on FaceBook, they are on Twitter and other social platforms. Their sadhaks – followers, write several blogs, they use their own Facebook and Twitter accounts to promote the sanstha.

Why are myths important to Sanatan Sanstha?

Sanatan Sanstha projects a bigger image than the reality through myths. It has created an Aura around itself; a sort of a halo under which many non-religious activities can flourish. A sanstha can operate only if it gets financial support. Dr. Jayant Athavale knows this, his spiritual aim is to create a name for himself. He wants his name to be written in history books, possible only through financial backing. Possible only if he can build an army of followers.

The second myth is about spirituality. The sanstha wants to show that it is providing spiritual education. It has been established to show the path for spiritual upliftment. Such lofty ideals, such lofty objectives. Their activities; their website, the satsangs, the dharmavargs and the periodicals propagate this myth. This provides them with a steady flow of manpower – in terms of followers, financial backing – donations, advertisements, government aid.

The third myth and equally important is that they are the underdogs. We, Hindus, get united when we see Hindu institutions being attacked. We rally ourselves behind such an organization; that time we do not look at the faces behind the veil. This is important to bind the sadhaks to a common cause and equally important to bind in such a manner that they stick together. Sanatan Sanstha uses the tag of attacks to rally their forces behind them. Do they lead from the front? No, not at all, the guru; Dr. Jayant Athavale remains behind the veil, behind the protective cover. The sadhaks are in the forefront. They carry the baton; the guru wants only the fruits.

The fourth myth is about invincibility. They cannot be touched by anybody. To the followers – sadhaks; they say that the guru is protecting them (Should it not be GOD? For the sanstha, the guru is everything). Any small incident is blown out of proportion. They hold demonstrations in front of police stations and hold dharnas. They give memorandum to the police, the collector and any other politician and publish the photos and articles in media as well as their website.

Sanatan Sanstha creates an impact:

There are several such myths. I have taken only those that were used to influence me and to convince me that Sanatan Sanstha is under attack. Yes, you are right. The focus has now shifted from attacks on Hindu Dharma to attacks on Sanatan Sanstha. This is drilled into my mind, the sanstha is under attack.

Do something to save it. You can do something to save it. You can save Sanatan Sanstha.

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?

Why does Sanatan Sanstha follow you?

Sanatan Sanstha enters your mind

The slow burning candle technique uses another strategy, one perfected by Sanatan Sanstha. They need to control your mind as well as your body. I am attracted by the sanstha and its preaching, I feel attracted and attached to them. The next step by Dr. Jayant Athavale is to reinforce these feelings and imprint them strongly in my mind. Again, the start is slow, remember time is on their side.

They have these harmless slips of paper with the names of Gods and Goddesses. I am told to stick them on all the walls of my home and look at them while doing everyday chores. Very harmless but very effective. Dr. Athavale has not missed a single trick in human psychology. He is really an expert in this field. He should use such knowledge for the good of people, instead he is misusing it on people like me and destroying our lives. Broken Dreams and Broken Relationships. What did he attain by breaking my life, my home, my peace of mind?

Why did he break me?

Slips of paper to slip in your mind

Yes, that is right. I purchased these slips of paper and stuck them all across my home. Their cost was very small I thought and the amount was insignificant. These slips of paper were everywhere, in all rooms except washrooms. I always looked at them throughout the day and whenever I used to look at them, I used to think of Sanatan Sanstha, Dr. Jayant Athavale and the sadhaks.

Mind control, nothing but pure mind control.

I had the first serious difference of opinion with my husband. He objected to them, he said that they spoilt the look of the home. It made him feel awkward. He asked me to remove them. I felt bad, very bad. My husband could not even tolerate such small things; he could not even understand me and did not even try to understand me? How could I call him a life partner?

I ran to Sanatan Sanstha and asked for their advice. I still remember the day, the time and the conversation. A senior person, we called them saints -  Sanatan Sanstha has already many saints, more than 60, advised me. She told me very strongly that the small and insignificant slips were already doing their work.

Tamasic forces at work

The saint -  I will not name her, said that they were attacking the tamasic nature of my husband. He was a tamasic person though on the face of it, he was also into spirituality and appeared to be religious minded. The names were creating an Aura around my home. However, my husband will not understand. As he is my husband, I should respect him and try to explain their importance to him. He will understand; he should understand. The other sadhaks now played their role. They said that how could my husband object to such small things; their husbands never objected, they supported them.

Sanatan Sanstha had opened a crack in my relationship with my husband. They would now work on making it deeper and deeper.

Broken Dreams and Broken Relationships.

Lies lies and more lies

Broken Dreams and Broken Relationships

This is the start of the end. Lies lead to mistrust. Mistrust in the persons who love you the most. People who really care about you. Mistrust leads to broken dreams and broken relationships. This is the beginning of the end. Sanatan Sanstha knows this, understands this, and most of all wants this. There is nothing spiritual about this, nothing religious about this, there is no linkage between Sanatan Dharma or Hindu Dharma. It is all about mind control.

Human beings are social animals, right. They want the company of others, others who are like them, who think like them, who act like them. The social acceptance theory comes into play. I started seeking others like me. More importantly, I left those who were not like me. It started with my friend circle. I saw them as inferior beings, engaged in futile pursuits. I was a superior being. I lost contact with them, I broke contact with them. My closest friends, some of them so close that they knew all about me. I did not keep in touch.

I had a friend, she was facing a crisis in her life, I went to her and told her to embrace Sanatan Sanstha. She was shocked, her husband had just died and she was worried about making ends meet, and I was advising her to leave everything behind. I was so inconsiderate. Today, she is helping me to live again, helping me to come to terms with life and to start a new life. She did, she fought against odds, she took risks. She is my helping hand, my guiding star.

Lying is a sin:

All religions including Sanatan Dharma or Hindu Dharma teaches us that lying is a sin. Yudhishthira, the Dharmaraj, uttered just one lie in his lifetime and still he had to offer penance before he got an entry in the Heaven. He had performed innumerable good deeds and accumulated good karma. Yet Sanatan Sanstha directly or indirectly motivates its sadhaks to tell lies or to speak untruths. Spiritual upliftment should start with honesty and truthfulness, the sanstha on the face of it, shows that it does not support such misdemeanors. Then why does it motivate people to speak lies? It is not only about mind control. They tell people like me that whatever you do in the sanstha, it is acceptable if it is for the good of the sanstha. The guru; HH Dr. Jayant Athavale is there to protect you.

Nobody can share one’s sins. Remember the story about Maharishi Valmiki? Maharishi Valmiki was a notorious bandit, he used to rob innocent people of their wealth. Once a saint asked him the reason for such evil deeds. Valmiki replied that he robbed so that he could feed his family. The saint then asked him whether his sins would also be shared by his family? Valmiki decided to ask them and was very much surprised by the answer. His family out rightly rejected him and told him that they would not share his sins. He realized his mistake and changed his path and took to spiritual pursuits and became the great Maharishi Valmiki.

Lying is a sin, no matter what is the outcome. And yes, nobody can share your sins, you have to carry the burden yourself. Even Sanatan Sanstha cannot change this, this is as per Sanatan Dharma. 

Sanatan Sanstha is not Sanatan Dharma. It can never become one, it can never come close to the Eternal Truth.

Attack against Hindu Dharma and Sanatan Sanstha

Evil spirits attacking us

The die is cast; the actors are ready and the main character is me. Sanatan Sanstha has identified a gullible candidate. I start believing that everyone is attacking Hindu Dharma, everyone is after Sanatan Dharma. Small incidents; say a person attacked in a remote place, is made out to be a part of a conspiracy. I do not question them, others in the group do not question them.  Their newsletters are full of such stories. This is spiritual human psychology at its play, the one propagated by Dr. Jayant Athavale. Who are they? You may question them; they will tell you THEY are everyone who does not believe in Sanatan Sanstha. They are evil spirits; evil spirits that chase you when you try to do meditation - they call it Naamjap, evil spirits chase you when you go about your daily work. These evil spirits try to disturb you because they know you are doing something good. I used to yawn when meditating, I was told that this is again the work of evil spirits, they are trying to disturb you, do not get disturbed, our guru; Dr. Jayant Athavale, will protect you.

Santan Sanstha and Social Acceptance theory:

There is a concept in psychology, it is called the social acceptance theory. We look around us before deciding on a course of action. If others are doing something, we tend to follow them, even if we know it is wrong. The scientific reasoning is too detailed to be understood. But Sanatan Sanstha uses this theory in captivating their audience. All of us – the seekers as we were called, used to be asked about our thoughts while doing naamjap. Some of the experiences, there were always a couple of them during all discussions, were out of the world and all were focussed around Dr. Jayant Athavale. A sadhak would say that she felt that Guruji (he is referred as ParamPujya – PP in short) came on a garuda and took her away so she could fly away from her troubles. Others would not join in with more and more outrageous stories. Initially, I would give a lame story and everyone would give me a black eye, but through experience and with a need to belong to this group, I also concocted such experiences.

I started lying. The main point is that I started telling lies.

Lying is Good if the objective is good:

This is the mantra of Sanatan Sanstha, if you lie for doing work of the sanstha, it is not a lie. Nothing bad will happen. Dr. Jayant Athavale is there to protect you.

Broken dreams and broken relationships. 

I started lying to my family. Small lies, insignificant lies, needless lies. An important laxman rekha was crossed, the sanstha made me cross the rekha. The explanation to justify such lies was also implanted in my mind. Remember auto-suggestion therapy. Slowly and steadily, I was made to change my beliefs. Till this time, I never used to tell lies to my husband. Now, I lied to him because I felt that he was opposing me, he was part of the evil system, Sanatan Sanstha made a devil out of me. I broke the trust of my family, not once, not twice but repeatedly. Day in and day out.

The evil spirits had taken control, Sanatan Sanstha had taken control of my mind. All in the name of spirituality, all in the name of God.

Am I alone?

Are there any others like me?

A married woman runs away from home leaving behind a broken home and broken relationships. Did it happen to me only or does it happen to others? Was I deeply brainwashed by Sanatan Sanstha or is it a regular occurrence?

After my return from the clutches of Sanatan Sanstha, I spent a lot of time on this question.

To be truthful, the sadhaks always told me even before I ran away that the ashram had several inmates, mostly women who had run away. Had forsaken their lives and near and dear ones for seeking spiritual upliftment. Many of them were married, but the sanstha preferred that married women to stay behind and take care of household responsibilities. I should look at this as a seva towards Guru and should look at my family as sadhaks. Warning bells still did not go off, after all this is logical.

But their treatment with unmarried young girls is different, very different. They are actively motivated to leave behind their homes and flee to one of the Sanatan Sanstha Ashram. As a senior “sadhak” commented in a very off-hand manner – a married woman with children always has a soft corner towards her children, she will feel the pangs of love; if not for her family, her husband than for her children and will seek to return home. And when that happens, she will leave Sanatan Sanstha. Unmarried young women are a different case; they stay longer, and also manage to rope in their families into the sanstha. Logic, pure simple logic. Or is it a deep understanding of human psychology? Has this strategy been defined as a policy after studying human psychology? After all, Jayant Athavale is a clinical hypnotherapist and has spent most of his life with psychologists.

The real experience:

I experienced this first hand at Sanatan Sanstha Ashram. You can look up all such cases in the newspapers. In fact, four families from my home state, Maharashtra have petitioned the Bombay High Court alleging that young female members have been brainwashed. I was not alone at the ashram, there were scores of females like me, some young and unmarried while others married. Married with children and loving husbands. Broken dreams and broken lives.

Why is the ashram full of women; run away women? Do men not run away? Don’t they leave everything behind to seek Mooksh? The answer is simple; if any men run away from home to join the ashram, they have to manage on their own. Sanatan Sanstha will not provide them the full facilities provided to women. They have to make their own arrangements for lodging and boarding. The unwritten rules can be broken only if he is well connected and has ample funds under his control or is a foreigner. Sanstha knows how to extract maximum mileage. It squeezes out the last drop from men and women, all in the name of spirituality. This is a difference between Sanatan Sanstha and other spiritual and religious organizations.

Think about it, chew it over and draw your own conclusions.

Sanatan Sanstha and its operations

What does Sanatan Sanstha do?

How do religious associations like Sanatan Sanstha operate? What do they do? What do its followers do?

These questions are asked to me daily by people from all walks of life. Ordinary people meet me on the roads and ask me; what did I do in the Sanatan Sanstha ashram? How did I spend my time? I tell them that I was taught about spirituality.

I was wrong, very wrong.

Religious organizations are supposed to follow religious practises, we are supposed to devote time in the devotion of God. All our thoughts should be occupied with the thoughts of God, we should think God, talk God and all our actions should be guided by God.

Sanatan is said to be a spiritual organization. Not only does its website say so, it is repeated several times during the various interactions with the followers – sadhaks and outsiders. It is repeated several times very prominently in their dailies. They stress that Sanatan Sanstha provides complete spiritual knowledge and training. For an organization that was founded only in 1990, this is a very tall claim. They state that their main objective is to present spirituality in a scientific language. So, what is the key difference, or is there a difference between the scores of religious organizations and spiritual organizations?

Sanatan Sanstha is different:

The sanstha does this very differently. It aims to teach spirituality to people. They have a big offering, they conduct satsangs in the Sanatan Sanstha Ashram as well as at its different branches. They conduct balsanskar vargs so that young children are taught about Hinduism, traditions and our culture. They are given information about the various Gods and Goddesses and the festivals and their importance. Looks all okay from the look of it in fact the objective is very impressive. Why should any Hindu oppose such lofty work?

But Sanatan Sanstha then deviates from the trodden path. It has its own agenda and it is not limited to spiritual teachings. No sir, not at all. Spirituality is a disguise, there is something hidden behind the veil.

Slowly and very softly, we are informed that there are millions of Gods and Goddesses and we should not pray to all of them. We should select a few, principally our Kul Devta (the God of our clan) and a couple more. We should spend maximum time in reciting their name. Still okay, nothing suspicious, right.

Now is the stinger.

Slowly and softly again, we are told that the Guru is the true GOD. He is the one and only one. We should pray to Gods as well as the guru. And who is the guru?

You guessed it right, he is none other than the founder of Sanatan Sanstha, HH PP Jayant Athavale. A hypnotherapist turned spiritual teacher. A person who aims to teach people spirituality. His brand of spirituality, his brand of Hinduism, his words and his preaching.

A Guru’s job is to guide us, lead us to the correct path. He is our mentor; he cannot be our God. God is Almighty. We should worship him. We should not worship the Guru. This is what our religion says, this is what our holy books say, this is written in Vedas and Puranas. Don’t trust me blindly, read their website, the message is ever prevalent.

Sanatan Sanstha has turned spirituality on its head. This is not good, not good at all.

I know, I was a part of it. I had run away from everything.

Look at the faces behind the veil

Sanatan Sanstha - Controversial at its best.

Sanatan Sanstha seems to revel in controversies. It has been accused of mastering murders of several prominent Hindu personages -Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare, and M. M. Kalburgi are prominent among them. They have been accused of other illegal activities as well, some of their followers - they call themselves sadhaks, have been arrested for planting bombs. A doctor is being investigated for using psychotic drugs, maybe illegally acquiring and prescribing such drugs. These are all in public domain, I will not stress too much on the controversies surrounding Sanatan Sanstha. My focus is on their way of operations, the methods used by them and the logic behind them.

I know, because I have been a part of this sanstha, run by a Dr. Jayant Balaji Athavale, a so called hypnotherapist. 

I spent the best part of my life running after the ever elusive Mooksh, an offering of our "beloved" guru, just like others before me did and others are still doing. The substantial following built up by Sanatan Sanstha is impressive. Their method of communication is mesmerising. They offer the ultimate fruit to true "seekers". And people like us get taken in. We forget everything.

Broken Dreams and Broken Houses:

Yes, we forget everything and run to them, run to Sanatan Sanstha. They appear to be saviours in our troubled times. They offer solace, a calming balm to tide over the difficulties, difficulties that are part and parcel of our daily lives. They show as if they have the answers to all our questions, joining them will relieve us of all our difficulties. And some of us are so taken in that we run, run away and leave everything behind. We break our houses and homes. We break our relationships, drive away our near and dear ones; those who love us. Run away from them and the daily friction of life. Run away to one of the Sanatan Sanstha’s ashrams and join them as full time devotees. We want to immerse ourselves into the service of the sanstha and devote our life – the balance of our life, to do seva. They promise us that they will deliver spiritual upliftment, we will become free of worldly needs and wants and attain Mooksh.

Reality Bites and Bites Deep:

And then after some time, reality sets in, at least for some people who have still retained some part of their rational thinking. Some us start questioning the unquestionable faith that is demanded in Sanatan Sanstha. We are not allowed to do so. We cannot do so. But, everyone at the ashram, Sanatan Sanstha has three ashrams, the main one at Ponda, Goa, the second one at Panvel, near Mumbai and another one at Miraj, Maharashtra, faces this moment of truth. But, some of us have come too far, we have burnt too many bridges, severed too many relationships. We cannot look back; we cannot go back. Dr. Jayant Balaji Athavale has achieved his objective. He has a zombie in his hand, a zombie he can control and make him do what he wants to do, when he wants to do and in the manner, he wants to do…

I came back, came back from the brink of disaster. I am now slowly trying to regain my life. I am trying to rebuild loved relationships, relationships I had broken in the first place. It is a slow and painful process; I know I cannot rebuild my past life ever again. The pain will always remain with me till I am alive. It will remain in the hearts of my loved ones, ones I have hurt too deeply. They will carry it forward, the pain in their hearts, long after I have ceased to be.

That is the gift of Sanatan Sanstha.