Posted by: geraldjoemoreno on: November 19, 2009
JH: We do have some quite clear hints about what’s happening here: It has to do with Love so deep, so Divine that nothing can stand in its way — not even the threat of misunderstanding or calumny.
TC: Again, I grant that much or most of Baba’s spectacular mission has been about teaching and demonstrating Love. And I am aware that numerous great spiritual masters of different religious traditions, especially those who embody the “Divine Trickster” or “Holy Fool” archetype, have behaved in ways that are mystifying, shocking, and unconventional. Thus, such masters have been misunderstood and made the target for calumny.
But calumny means “false and malicious accusation,” and in the present case, with numerous accounts of Baba molesting male youth against their will, it would seem that the charges against Baba are neither false nor malicious. These charges are simply the cry of anguished devotees attempting to protect young men and boys from behavior that can have a deeply traumatic effect upon their sensitive psyches.
Moreno’s Response: Most of the “charges” against Sathya Sai Baba are false and malicious accusations. Ex-Devotees are notorious for their potty mouths, perversions and prevarications. Ex-Devotee’s malicious attacks, gutter untruths and self-serving hypocrisy are too voluminous to include in this section. However, relevant webpages fully exposing them can be found on my Anti-Sai Activists Exposed Index. Therefore, Timothy Conway’s comments that the allegations against Sai Baba are far removed from calumny are patently false.
All of the “charges” against Sai Baba have never been substantiated through legal venues. Despite serious and criminal allegations of sexual molestation, rape, murder, international racketeering, money laundering, pedophile rings, people-trafficking rings, affiliation with terrorists, drug cartels, smuggling of outdated weapons to third world countries, mafia-associations, assassinations, spies, etc., Sathya Sai Baba and the Sai Organization have never (ever) been formally charged with any crime. Why is it that no one can provide verifiable information or documentation to back-up any of these criminal allegations made exclusively by Ex-Devotees, Indian rationalists and Indian atheists? That is the question that everyone should be asking (including Timothy Conway).
Timothy Conway again mentioned fraudulent claims of abuse against “boys” (which I already discussed and refuted in-depth earlier on this page).
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JH: It has to do with healing, not harming.
TC: In light of my comment in the previous paragraph, this claim by Hawley and by other true-believing Sai devotees needs to be proven and not just stated. HOW, SPECIFICALLY, HAS BABA HEALED ANYONE by touching their genitals, performing oral sex upon them, requiring them to perform oral sex upon him, masturbating them, having them masturbate him, threatening them or their parents to keep quiet, and, finally, paying them for sexual favors? Pray tell, HOW, EXACTLY, IS ANY OF THIS BEHAVIOR “HEALING”? Let’s hear specific, clear-cut explanations from Baba and accomplished holistic health practitioners on the dynamics of this “healing” activity, not vague statements and excuses.
But no, I submit that the deep feelings of shame, guilt, betrayal, confusion, anger, sadness, numbness, and fear reported by these young men and boys are clearcut evidence of psychological HARM, not healing.
They are being abused by an elder whom they and their parents have trusted as Guru, God, and spiritual Father-Mother Sai. And this terrible abuse and breaking of a sacred trust results in pain and trauma, not “healing.”
I find this particular statement by Hawley to be unconscionably ill-informed, presumptuous, and just plain wrong-headed and cruel-hearted. Maybe he doesn’t intend to be cruel, but that is the psychological effect that his words will undoubtedly have upon the victims of Baba’s sexual predatory behavior.
I would respectfully hypothesize that if any of Jack Hawley’s children (I do not know whether, in fact, he has children) were being sexually abused by Baba, they would not appreciate hearing these words from their father. Mr. Hawley should empathetically put himself in the shoes of those hundreds of molested youth and their family members and he will see that such statements (“It has to do with healing, not harming,” etc.) are woefully inappropriate responses to the present crisis.
Moreno’s Response: Timothy Conway’s hauteur is repulsive and mind-boggling. Although Jack Hawley said absolutely nothing about sexual abuse (directly, indirectly or otherwise), Timothy Conway took off on a rabid rant, pointing fingers, flaring nostrils, foaming-at-the-mouth and shrieking that Jack Hawley was somehow attempting to justify sexual abuse.
Timothy Conway’s behavior is embarrassing and he should issue an apology to Jack Hawley. Timothy Conway’s gutter tactics and immature finger pointing seem to be aimed at influencing and inciting susceptible purveyors of malice and hatred. I have already pointed out (several times) Timothy Conway’s nasty habit of putting words into Jack Hawley’s mouth and then criticizing those words as if Jack Hawley actually said them. Therefore, Timothy Conway’s traducements against Jack Hawley are worthy of a good flush down the toilet so that they can return to the gutter from which they came.
Timothy Conway resorted to more exaggerations when he claimed that there are “hundreds of molested youth”. As pointed out earlier, all of these “hundreds of molested youth’s” family members would be “accomplices in sexual molestation crimes” and failed in their legal duty of “mandated reporting” because there are no known “child molestation” charges, court cases or basic police complaints filed against Sai Baba in India. Timothy Conway cannot factually back up any of his “child molestation” claims with credible and verifiable references, sources or documentation.
It is as if Timothy Conway was trapped in a Snow White cartoon where he spoke to a magic mirror and imagined all sorts of scenes and sights. After being carried away by his fervid imaginations, Timothy Conway attributed his mind-created illusions, mirages and self-induced deceptions to Jack Hawley.
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JH: It has to do with the Avatar’s [Divine Incarnation's] mission here on earth (which, of course, has to fit this crazy Kali age).
TC: This explanation by Hawley is no explanation at all. First, it begs the question of whether Sathya Sai Baba is truly an Avatar of the purely divine kind, not just an avatar in the sense that we are all avatars (Divine manifestations). [Elena Hartgering reminds us that this method of defending SSB by appealing to the idea that "Sai Baba is God" is guilty of the fallacy of presumption.]
Second, Hawley presumes to know something of what an avatar’s mission would be. Now, according Krishna’s alleged instructions in the Bhagavad Gita [an ancient, authoritative text of Hindu Vedanta], Vishnu’s avatar (God’s special Incarnation) occurs “from age to age” to “restore Dharma (righteousness or virtue) and destroy adharma (non-virtue).”
It has to be demonstrated that Sathya Sai’s sexual predatory behavior — apparently involving hundreds, maybe even more than a thousand young men and boys — is “restoring Dharma.” Rather, it strikes an increasing number of us worldwide as indicative of nonvirtuous, adharmic behavior by someone who is either not fully Divine (e.g., someone who is a blend of Divine light and dark energies) or else is a “fallen yogi.” (Some nasty naysayers want to say that Baba is actually nothing more than an evil force on the planet, a master of occult powers who masquerades, like the legendary Lucifer, as a being of light and goodness. I don’t accept this analysis of “Baba-as-consummate-evil.” I do believe that there has been an astonishing amount of genuine goodness, compassion and spiritual upliftment in and around Baba.)
Finally, I would remark that Ramakrishna, Sai Baba of Shirdi, Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta Maharaj, Anandamayi Ma, Meher Baba, Anasuya Devi, Devaraha Baba, Ammachi Amritanandamayi and numerous other highly impressive Avatars/Mahatmas have lived out their mission in the modern “crazy Kali age” and have not needed to resort to such illegal/criminal behaviors to enlighten and edify millions of people.
Moreno’s Response: Although there is absolutely no proof that Sathya Sai Baba is a “sexual predator” or that he molested “hundreds, maybe even more than a thousand young men and boys”, Timothy Conway had the temerity to pass off his absurd estimations and blind guesses as the truth to unsuspecting readers. It is exactly statements like these that thoroughly compromise Timothy Conway’s credibility. Timothy Conway is a true believer who also thinks it is possible that Sai Baba can transport alleged victims to alternate dimensions to molest them (like aliens are alleged to do through abductions). Therefore, Timothy Conway will resort to any and all excuses to justify his arguments against Sai Baba.
Muktananda, Gurumayi, Ramakrishna (who was accused of being a homosexual and a child molester by Jeffrey Kripal: Ref), Neem Karoli Baba, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Chogyam Trunpa, Yogi Bhajan, Swami Satchidananda, Dalai Lama (see “Stripping the Gurus”), Sri Chinmoy, Mother Teresa (John M. Swomley wrote a highly critical book about her), Meher Baba (who was/is often attacked by Christian Fundamentalists as a deceiver and false messiah), Yogananda, Jiddu Krishnamurthi, Swami Premananda, Jesus, Mohammad, Ammachi (quite a few people have leveled numerous allegations against her) and others have been embroiled in controversy (including allegations of sexual impropriety). It seems to me that Timothy Conway has a self-serving, belief-preserving habit of naming only those gurus who do not seem to have controversies surrounding them and uphold them as life-savers to keep his faith afloat.
As stated numerous times before, Sathya Sai Baba has never (ever) been formally charged with any crime, sexual or otherwise. Alleged victims have not even tried to file a court case against Sai Baba in India. Therefore, Timothy Conway’s references to “illegal/criminal behaviors” are personal and subjective opinions based on disastrously ill-formed arguments.
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JH: It has to do with the purity of our own minds, not someone else’s. The impurity is not in the Avatar, who is purity itself, it’s in the world, in our minds.
TC: This statement from Hawley sounds impressive, but is dangerous propaganda and heartlessly unfeeling as well. The Nazi movement arose with the conceit that it was a Divine movement to restore the “purity” of the human race and the homeland. The Nazis developed an elaborate metaphysics, theology and mythology to rationalize the decimation of Jews, Gypsies, homosexuals, the disabled and other “undesirables” as a great good for the commonweal. Anyone who disagreed with the “purity” of Nazi intentions was considered an obstacle, someone to be re-educated with Nazi propaganda or else eliminated as another undesirable.
For Hawley to suggest that anyone who has simple questions, ethical reservations or moral judgments about Baba’s sexual behavior is the one who is impure, not Baba, is being terribly disrespectful. Worse, his words serve as dangerous propaganda aiming (consciously or unconsciously) to manipulate people into compliant, obedient submission and “groupthink.” This is the type of slavish thinking that goes on in dysfunctional, dangerous cults like Scientology, the tragically-defunct People’s Temple sect headed by Jim Jones, and numerous other spiritual movements gone terribly wrong.
We must remember that, according to [Prof. N.] Kasturi’s biographical literature about Baba and translations of his discourses, Sathya Sai has himself long been a critic of impurity and hypocrisy and evil masquerading as good. Given that Baba has no qualms about preaching in moralist terms, we have every right to ask about his own morality when it comes to his sexual behavior with children and non-consenting young adults.
Again, notice that Hawley has presumptuously “begged the question” in implicitly identifying Sathya Sai Baba as the utterly pure, Divine Avatar. At this point in time, anyone who wishes to state this claim must back it up and demonstrate HOW/WHY AN AVATAR WOULD NEED TO MOLEST CHILDREN AND YOUNG MEN AGAINST THEIR WILL. A standard feature of dangerously dysfunctional cults is to allow the leader to get away with behaviors that are not allowed for the rank and file membership—in short, a double standard. Unless the Sai movement is advocating sex with children—something that I don’t ever recall being part of the guidelines for centers or the Ninefold Daily Conduct rules given by Baba—then sexual activity by Baba with children is not allowable by him or by anyone else.
We must remember, too, that, if Baba’s sexual activities with young men and boys is so “pure” and such a necessary part of his Divine mission, then WHY IN HEAVEN IS HE NOT ALSO ENGAGING IN THIS ACTIVITY WITH YOUNG WOMEN AND GIRLS? Why is the female sex being consistently deprived of his “healing Grace” in this form? Is this not misogynous prejudice against female devotees?
Incidentally, though I am strictly heterosexual, I am not homophobic, and I would have no problem with Sathya Sai if he were to come out of the closet, and, in an open manner (none of this terrible secrecy), commit himself to a homosexual lover in a monogamous relationship, perhaps even getting married in a beautiful ceremony at Prashanti Nilayam. [Unfortunately, homosexuality is by law illegal in India, any homosexual behavior, even between consenting adults, a punishable crime.]
As it is, one day soon we are likely to see members of the international group Human Rights Watch or some other group, deeply concerned about ongoing violations of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), demonstrating outside Prashanti with banners and signs saying: “STOP MOLESTING MINORS!” “WHAT IS REALLY GOING ON WITHIN THE PRIVATE INTTERVIEW ROOM?!”
At this point, I think that longtime Sai devotees should demand that the entry to Sai’s private interview room be kept open and that a chaperon be present on all occasions when Sai is in the company of male youth. I also think that Sai should stop wearing the ochre robe, symbol of celibate renunciation, and drop the renunciate title “Swami.” Given the serious allegations, these steps are not too much to ask.
Moreno’s Response: Just when one thought Timothy Conway’s fanatic misrepresentation of Jack Hawley’s letter could not get any worse, it does. This time around, Timothy Conway (who often blathers about “love”, “righteousness”, “God”, “peace” and “non-violence”) compared Jack Hawley to the Nazis. Anyone who disagrees with the Gospel According To Conway is considered an “undesirable” who needs to be silenced with propaganda and brainwashed with select “abuse” mantras and jargon-filled excuses.
Timothy Conway is a promoter and believer in Avatars. How would Timothy Conway defend Lord Krishna’s untruths, theft, murder, a beheading, curses, the destruction of his own clan, the pillaging of his 16,000 wives, cursing his own son with leprosy, a failed mediation attempt that resulted in (if true) the bloodiest war in recorded history, perceived sexual improprieties with the Gopis, etc.? Those who believe in the concept of Avatars can often be seen making excuses and explaining away perceived improprieties based on the powers and opulences manifested by these incarnations. Does this mean the saints, siddhas, sages and scholars that promote the Sri Krishna Avatar are like “Nazis”? Judging from Timothy Conway’s arguments against Jack Hawley, the answer appears to be “yes”. Needless to say, this “Nazi” comparison does not argue well for Timothy Conway’s belief in Avatars (many of whom have atrocities associated with them).
Therefore, when Jack Hawley said:
“It has to do with the purity of our own minds, not someone else’s. The impurity is not in the Avatar, who is purity itself, it’s in the world, in our minds”
Jack Hawley simply reiterated a belief and teaching prevalent throughout India and in Hinduism. If Jack Hawley’s comments above are indicative of “Nazi propaganda”, “groupthink”, “dysfunctional and dangerous cults”, etc., then Timothy Conway is accusing Hindu scriptures, Vedic scholars and various gurus of the very same thing because they state that Avatars are not blemished with impurity despite the questionability of their actions.
Timothy Conway again mentioned fraudulent claims of abuse against “minors”, “children” and “male youth” (which I already discussed and refuted in-depth earlier on this page). One can only wonder why Timothy Conway spent so much time attacking non-abusers (i.e., Sai Devotees) instead of addressing “hundreds” and possibly “thousands” of alleged victims and their mothers and fathers who have all (without exception) refused to do the “moral” and “ethical” thing by taking legal action against Sai Baba in a court of law in India. The alleged parents to these alleged “minors”, “children” and “male youth” have all failed in their legal duty of “mandated reporting” and are thereby (according to Timothy Conway) “accomplices in sexual molestation crimes”.
No human rights group has ever come forward to protest against Sai Baba. Unesco expressed regret about their past position against Sai Baba (which was accomplished through an unremitting “e-bombing” campaign from Ex-Devotees). The US Department of State removed all indirect references to Sathya Sai Baba from their official website (which Ex-Devotees similarly boasted on accomplishing themselves). It certainly seems that those who have subsequently looked closer at the allegations against Sai Baba realized they were duped by Anti-Sai propaganda.
As Sai Devotees know well, the private interview room door is covered with a cloth curtain only when Sai Baba is in there with selected individuals. There are even wide gaps on the sides of the curtain that allow people to look directly into the private interview room when Sai Baba is in there. Timothy Conway’s comments are all based on Anti-Sai propaganda that he read and blindly believed (as he blindly believes that Sai Baba can possibly molest people on alternate dimensions, which he compared to alien abductions).
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JH: Few of us can see Divinity, and fewer yet understand it.
TC: I agree. But we can certainly see, understand, and agree that molesting children is, as most cultures have understood and agreed, WRONG and, in our society, criminal. Do I need to repeat it? It is ALWAYS INAPPROPRIATE for an adult to touch the genitals of a minor EXCEPT IN A LICENSED, CONSENSUAL MEDICAL SITUATION.
Yes, on some plane of existence and from a certain human spiritual viewpoint, Baba may be God. But his molesting of minors and deceitfully trying to cover it up is, within our conventions of Indian and American society, criminal activity. And cover-up behavior by longtime devotees in positions of authority within the Sai organization is also criminal activity.
Moreno’s Response: Since Jack Hawley said nothing about allegations of sexual abuse, Timothy Conway’s inferences and speculations are moot.
Timothy Conway again mentioned fraudulent claims of abuse against “minors” and “children” (which I already discussed and refuted in-depth earlier on this page).
No one has ever been able to prove any sort of inappropriate behavior against Sai Baba. Alleged victims and their families have not filed any basic police complaints or court cases against Sai Baba in India. Ex-Devotees, critics, skeptics and naysayers alike (including Timothy Conway) have not assisted alleged victims to file basic police complaints or court cases against Sai Baba in India. So who exactly is guilty of “cover ups”? Certainly not Sai Devotees.
Timothy Conway demands a certain standard of behavior and accountability from Sai Devotees yet miserably fails to demand a certain standard of behavior and accountability from alleged victims and their families (especially from the “hundreds” and possibly “thousands” of alleged mothers and fathers of abused “minors” and “children” who have all apparently refused to take action against Sai Baba).
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JH: Those who go into their hearts for answers during these crises of faith fare better. Those who go into their minds and seek answers outside, struggle the hardest and ache most.
TC: Hawley here shows his enslavement to “either-or” thinking conditioned by Aristotle’s ancient binary logic. He implies that genuinely mature devotees live (only) in their hearts and thereby find peace and “fare better,” while other devotees live (only) in their minds and are caught in the “seeking” syndrome, and therefore must “struggle” and ache.
I would submit that what the world needs today are spiritual practitioners who live from both their deeply-feeling hearts and their clearly-thinking minds. Lord save us from the heartless or the mindless.
As for Hawley’s comments about “struggle” and “ache,” I would remark that certainly a pseudo-bliss and false contentment can result from denial and rationalization about that which disturbs. And certainly many illustrious advocates of social justice, like Mohandas Gandhi and Dorothy Day and Martin Luther King and Archbishop Oscar Romero and Nelson Mandela (to name just a few 20th-century heroes), have “ached” deeply and “struggled” hard–and yes, even died–in their tireless quest to remedy wrongs and enact justice.
But which path would you prefer? “Ignorance is bliss” or “No pain, no gain”? In the present case, the latter path is far more indicative of a mature spirituality.
In closing, I reiterate my heartfelt salutations to Mr. Hawley for his dedication as a spiritual aspirant and his eloquent attempts (e.g., with his books and talks) to bring a deep spirituality into our lives. And, again, I have nothing against him personally.
But I do believe he should publicly revoke his “WE DON’T KNOW!” defense of Sai and join with those of us who ask for some kind of accountability and amends-making from Sathya Sai Baba and the Sai Organization leadership. Some straightforward explanations about Sai’s behavior and a policy of keeping the private interview room open would constitute a good start.
No matter how much time and energy Jack Hawley has invested in his position as a Sai devotee, he surely has the “capacity,” like many of us longtime devotees, to move beyond a public allegiance to the name and form of Sathya Sai into a deeper spirituality not mired in idolatrous identification, denials and rationalizations.
The true experience of God is so much more glorious and sublime…
May all beings be authentically happy, peaceful and liberated in awakening to the Truth, Beauty and Goodness of God.
Timothy Conway
Moreno’s Response: The following observations can be reliably ascertained and drawn-out from Jack Hawley’s letter:
According to Timothy Conway (who attempted to pass off his frenzied speculations as Holy Writ), Jack Hawley did refer to sexual abuse allegations, child molestation, genitals and male boys. Where exactly did Timothy Conway get this information from? He most certainly did not get it from Jack Hawley’s letter.
Timothy Conway shamelessly and recklessly jumped to conclusions about what he thought Jack Hawley might have referred to. After engaging in this intellectually dishonest behavior, Timothy Conway then had the audacity to pass off his speculations and assumptions as Jack Hawley intended words.
Although Timothy Conway would have made some convincing arguments had Sai Baba been convicted of a crime, the fact of the matter remains that Sai Baba has never (ever) been convicted of any crime, sexual or otherwise. Period.
Timothy Conway’s numerous conflicting viewpoints about Sai Baba is evidence enough that he does not know any more than Jack Hawley did about the rumors pertaining to Sai Baba. Timothy Conway should demand accountability and amends-making from all of the alleged “hundreds” to possibly “thousands” of mothers and fathers who (without exception) have never filed a basic police complaint or court case against Sai Baba in India, thus failing in their legal duty of “mandated reporting” and (according to Timothy Conway) making them “accomplices in sexual molestation crimes”. The reason why no parent has ever made a formal complaint against Sai Baba is most likely due to the fact that no children were ever abused.
Timothy Conway’s foundational arguments (i.e., “child molestation”, “affidavits” and “Tal Brooke”) have all been shown to be without credible basis. Timothy Conway’s intemperate, feral and passive-aggressive attacks against Jack Hawley have similarly been shown to be without credible basis. However, there is no winning a point with Timothy Conway. He will resort (like a true believer) to any and all excuses (including ridiculous alien abduction comparisons) to justify his arguments and beliefs about Sai Baba.
Timothy Conway should immediately put into practice his precept of relinquishing “idolatrous identification” and stop the publication of his two books (due in Winter of 2008) which glorifies, eulogizes and promotes the names and forms (i.e., “idolatrous identification”) of Gurus, God-Men and Avatars (including Sri Ramakrishna, Shirdi Sai Baba, Meher Baba, Amritanandamayi Ma, Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta Maharaj, Narayana Guru, Yoga Swami, Brahmajna Ma, Anandamayi Ma and many more). After all, “The true experience of God is so much more glorious and sublime…”
As the Sai Critic pointed out:
“We have shown that Conway is simply not interested in the real facts of this matter and certainly not interested in arriving at any unbiased, independent, analysis of Jack Hawley’s note. He is a poor critic, out of his depth.” (Ref)
Also See:
- Timothy Conway Deception
