Baba
This email contains two sections:
1. Posting: How can we forget S Gopal Shastri of Vizag
2. Links
Note: This letter addresses how one "senior margii" manipulated a social service project, earned good money by bribing AMURT big bosses, AM central workers, & govt officials, and he deprived the real losers - i.e. those simple, innocent, victims who lost their housing. For these reasons the villagers got a very bad impression about Ananda Marga due to cheating. Here below are all the details.
Namaskar,
The general tradition is that when a person dies then those speaking at the burial ceremony eulogise the deceased. They only glorify that person and talk about the plus points - and even praise that person for qualities which he did not have. That is the general trend.
In contrast, sometimes newspapers present a more balanced view outlining the person's successes and failures. And that is needed, otherwise the common people will not know the truth, and will not be able to learn from that person's mistakes.
How history gets polluted
For instance, if Mr X died and he was a corrupt fellow, yet all hail him as a great sadhu and elevated soul, then those who did not know him will form an incorrect opinion. They will embrace a bad man as a sadhu. Not only that, notorious wrongdoers who are still alive will think that, “If I keep my prestige as long as I am alive, then after my death everything will be ok. So I should just continue exploiting others as I have been doing.”
One of the most detrimental aspects is that when a so-called important citizen dies a glorified announcement is made of his accomplishments - and then the matter is never raised again. In which case, there was no opportunity to render a proper historical record as his mistakes were not brought to light. Ultimately that proves to be harmful as society does not get a chance to learn and grow from those missteps.
As we know, Guru's teaching about history is that it must be presented as a teaching tool so past mistakes are not repeated. And that applies to reviewing the lives of margiis and wts as well.
Shastri pocketed a large percentage
from the pockets of the homeless
Recently, a short, formal announcement was made about the mahaprayan (death) of Shrii Gopal Shastri jii of Vishakapatnam / Vizag. And that was needed as all should be informed when we lose one of our family members. At the same time a review of his life can also shed light on how we Ananda Margiis can improve: That entails emulating his plus points and learning from his defects. And that is what follows herein.
One of the endeavours that Shastriji was involved in was relief work. And this is an important aspect in the life of any Ananda Margii - to help reduce the suffering of others.
During the disaster relief efforts of the cyclone in Andhra Pradesh in the early 1990’s, the government allotted land to relief organisations to construct a colony of pucca, i.e. concrete, houses for those inhabitants who were uprooted because their house was destroyed. And Shastri jii was part of this relief project. He took on the responsibility of overseeing the rebuilding of homes for the very poor inhabitants of that region. Sadly, those persons had lost their hearth and home and so many of their loved ones in this cyclone tragedy. They were in great despair and had no means to recover their lives. They were at the mercy of the society to be able to survive.
Worst construction:
water was profusely seeping into the house
By this shady maneuver, all those suffering people had their homes rebuilt with the lowest grade materials possible. And the outcome was horrible. When it was time for them to move into their rebuilt homes, it was quickly discovered that the roofs were leaking. Here it should be qualified that we are not talking about a simple leak with a small drip. Rather water was seeping into the entire roof and water was falling like it was raining inside the house. Nearly every square inch of the house was affected - all the walls, the entire floor, everywhere. It was not possible to live in such a dwelling - everything just got destroyed by the water, no one could live in that way.
One other thing to note. Generally in India houses are built with flat roofs as there is no issue of snowfall etc. But Shastri employed one trick. He knew he was using poor materials so he order for the roofs to be made in a sloped fashion. His hope was that the sloped roof would shed the water and cover up his shoddy construction. But he had applied so much sand to the concrete that the sloped roof could not make up the difference. All those houses leaked terribly.
AMURT houses sold to rich people,
the poorest victims got nothing
In turn, so many philanthropic people of India & foreign countries through AMURT funded the rebuilding of their community and Shastri jii was the head of one of those relief efforts. Big money came into his hands which he was entrusted with for getting the work done. But instead of taking care of the situation in an organised and upstanding manner, Shastri jii allegedly informed AMURT big bosses that due to lack of funds he was unable to complete the project. And he was given approval for collecting money - i.e. 5000rupees - from the poor people who were on the initial list of those who lost their homes due to the cyclone. In this situation some rich people purchased two or three houses by paying good amounts to Shastri jii . Thus rich people were awarded the houses, not the poor people enlisted by the government from the very beginning.
The exact amount collected by Shastri jii is not known to anybody. He bribed government officials and AMURT big bosses. Then he completed the roof construction of all 108 houses in this project constructed in Regupalem, Yelamanchili Visakhapatnam.
He stole money of homeless victims
Here is a key example of one thing Shastri jii did. When rebuilding the homes of those impoverished people, instead of using standard grade cement to make a solid structure - he paid off the inspectors so he could add huge amounts of sand into the concrete mixture. This diluted the concrete and cost much, much less money. So Shastri jii’s costs were a fraction of what they should have been. This gave him a surplus of funds which he allegedly misdirected into his deep pocket for his luxury expenses etc. Thus real sufferers didn’t get houses,other fake poor people. People started selling houses unofficially.
Public formed poor opinion about Ananda Marga
because impoverished victims were cheated
That happened because proper concrete was not used - rather the sand infested concrete mixture that Shastri jii ordered was porous. In result, the good name of Ananda Marga was dragged through the mud as everyone in that area thought Ananda Margiis were corrupt thieves who cheated the common people.
So those who had already suffered and lost so much now had to deal with a house that had horrible leaks everywhere. And these impoverished people had nowhere to turn to find justice. All the payoffs and bribes were made and the paperwork presented to the government was shined up.
By this shady maneuver, all those suffering people had their homes rebuilt with the lowest grade materials possible. And the outcome was horrible. When it was time for them to move into their rebuilt homes, it was quickly discovered that the roofs were leaking. Here it should be qualified that we are not talking about a simple leak with a small drip. Rather water was seeping into the entire roof and water was falling like it was raining inside the house. Nearly every square inch of the house was affected - all the walls, the entire floor, everywhere. It was not possible to live in such a dwelling - everything just got destroyed by the water, no one could live in that way.
One other thing to note. Generally in India houses are built with flat roofs as there is no issue of snowfall etc. But Shastri jii employed one trick. He knew he was using poor materials so he order for the roofs to be made in a sloped fashion. His hope was that the sloped roof would shed the water and cover up his shoddy construction. But he had applied so much sand to the concrete that the sloped roof could not make up the difference. All those houses leaked terribly.
In desperation, victims had to pass sleepless nights
with tarps on the leaky roofs of their houses
All those poor people could do was put tarps on the leaky roofs of their houses in hopes that would seal them up. But invariably the wind would blow those tarps away. Yet with no other option, that is the way they carried on.
It is well known that Shastri jii manipulated the project and hoarded huge funds into his own account by bribing AMURT big bosses, AM central workers & government officials. Sadly the real losers were those impoverished families on the government list who were supposed to receive help and support etc. In that end they got nothing due to Shastri jii’s selfish and deceptive tactics etc. That is why all those villagers got a very bad impression and formed a very poor opinion about Ananda Marga.
A slur on the name of Ananda Marga
And this all happened due to Shastri jii’s own greed and lack of concern for those whom he was supposed to serve. It was a major debacle and a gross injustice. This is not how our Ananda Marga service projects are supposed to be conducted - rather it was a slur on the name of AMURT.
All should understand that this account is just an honest review of his actions so that such a scene is not repeated in the future. None should let greed and avarice consume them in this way or allow anyone to derail our Ananda Marga social service projects by engaging in immoral and destructive behaviour.
Namaskar,
in Him,
A. Venkat Ramana
Note 1: About Regupalem village -
location of AMURT relief housing project
Regupalem is a Village in Yelamanchili Mandal in Visakhapatanam District of Andhra Pradesh State, India. It belongs to Andhra region. It is located 51 KM towards west from District head quarters Vishakhapatnam and 542 KM from State capital Hyderabad where - under Shastri's leadership - AMURT constructed shady houses for homeless victims of the cyclone.
Note 2: Nutshell of this letter
The summary of this letter is that Shastri ji manipulated the project, earned good money by bribing AMURT big bosses, AM central workers, & govt officials, and he deprived the real losers - i.e. those simple, innocent, victims who lost their housing. For these reasons the villagers got a very bad impression about Ananda Marga due to this incident.
Furthermore, whatever Shastri jii looted, it is alleged that Ac Bhaveshananda Avt, Ac Savitananda Avt, Ac Pranavatmakananda Avt got a pittance offering and that is why they always supported him. It is just like how one rich homeowner, when dining, feeds his three dogs scraps under the table.
Note 3: Death ceremony of Shastri jii and
three dadas planning to meet him in heaven
Because these three Dadas - Ac Bhaveshananda Avt, Ac Savitananda Avt, Ac Pranavatmakananda Avt - were given a pittance they felt obliged and desperate to perform Shastri jii's shraddha ceremony - even though Shastri jii and his family had no interest in the Ananda Marga death ceremony system. But these three Dadas were thinking that one day they will all meet Shartri in heaven and he will again reward them with some pittance.
Note 4: That car used by criminals in kidnapping of Ac Maniisananda Avt
Shastri jii gave his car to the two alleged criminal avadhutas - Ac Raviishananda and Ac Viitamohanananda - as they attempted to kidnap Acarya Maniisananda Avadhuta in October 1995 from the master unit. After the kidnapping, then Raviishananda and Viitamohanananda drove Ac Maniisananda Avt to the Vishakapatnam jagrti. Yet somehow Ac Maniisanandji escaped in the middle of the night Vishakapatnam jagrit, Dadaji literally escaped the jaws of death, by Baba’s grace. Since then, for the last 20 years these blood thirsty criminals have been searching for Ac Maniisananda Avt / Ac Maniishananda Avt. But now that they themselves are in jail so the situation is a little safer for Ac Maniishanandji.
Now those two Dadas - Raviishananda and Viitamohanananda - are sitting in jail for the murder trial of Ac Abhipremananda Avt. These criminals are under arrest in Purulia Central Jail along with other avadhuta criminals.
This email contains two sections:
1. Posting: How can we forget S Gopal Shastri of Vizag
2. Links
How can we forget S Gopal Shastri of Vizag
Note: This letter addresses how one "senior margii" manipulated a social service project, earned good money by bribing AMURT big bosses, AM central workers, & govt officials, and he deprived the real losers - i.e. those simple, innocent, victims who lost their housing. For these reasons the villagers got a very bad impression about Ananda Marga due to cheating. Here below are all the details.
Namaskar,
The general tradition is that when a person dies then those speaking at the burial ceremony eulogise the deceased. They only glorify that person and talk about the plus points - and even praise that person for qualities which he did not have. That is the general trend.
In contrast, sometimes newspapers present a more balanced view outlining the person's successes and failures. And that is needed, otherwise the common people will not know the truth, and will not be able to learn from that person's mistakes.
How history gets polluted
For instance, if Mr X died and he was a corrupt fellow, yet all hail him as a great sadhu and elevated soul, then those who did not know him will form an incorrect opinion. They will embrace a bad man as a sadhu. Not only that, notorious wrongdoers who are still alive will think that, “If I keep my prestige as long as I am alive, then after my death everything will be ok. So I should just continue exploiting others as I have been doing.”
One of the most detrimental aspects is that when a so-called important citizen dies a glorified announcement is made of his accomplishments - and then the matter is never raised again. In which case, there was no opportunity to render a proper historical record as his mistakes were not brought to light. Ultimately that proves to be harmful as society does not get a chance to learn and grow from those missteps.
As we know, Guru's teaching about history is that it must be presented as a teaching tool so past mistakes are not repeated. And that applies to reviewing the lives of margiis and wts as well.
Shastri pocketed a large percentage
from the pockets of the homeless
Recently, a short, formal announcement was made about the mahaprayan (death) of Shrii Gopal Shastri jii of Vishakapatnam / Vizag. And that was needed as all should be informed when we lose one of our family members. At the same time a review of his life can also shed light on how we Ananda Margiis can improve: That entails emulating his plus points and learning from his defects. And that is what follows herein.
One of the endeavours that Shastriji was involved in was relief work. And this is an important aspect in the life of any Ananda Margii - to help reduce the suffering of others.
During the disaster relief efforts of the cyclone in Andhra Pradesh in the early 1990’s, the government allotted land to relief organisations to construct a colony of pucca, i.e. concrete, houses for those inhabitants who were uprooted because their house was destroyed. And Shastri jii was part of this relief project. He took on the responsibility of overseeing the rebuilding of homes for the very poor inhabitants of that region. Sadly, those persons had lost their hearth and home and so many of their loved ones in this cyclone tragedy. They were in great despair and had no means to recover their lives. They were at the mercy of the society to be able to survive.
Worst construction:
water was profusely seeping into the house
By this shady maneuver, all those suffering people had their homes rebuilt with the lowest grade materials possible. And the outcome was horrible. When it was time for them to move into their rebuilt homes, it was quickly discovered that the roofs were leaking. Here it should be qualified that we are not talking about a simple leak with a small drip. Rather water was seeping into the entire roof and water was falling like it was raining inside the house. Nearly every square inch of the house was affected - all the walls, the entire floor, everywhere. It was not possible to live in such a dwelling - everything just got destroyed by the water, no one could live in that way.
One other thing to note. Generally in India houses are built with flat roofs as there is no issue of snowfall etc. But Shastri employed one trick. He knew he was using poor materials so he order for the roofs to be made in a sloped fashion. His hope was that the sloped roof would shed the water and cover up his shoddy construction. But he had applied so much sand to the concrete that the sloped roof could not make up the difference. All those houses leaked terribly.
AMURT houses sold to rich people,
the poorest victims got nothing
In turn, so many philanthropic people of India & foreign countries through AMURT funded the rebuilding of their community and Shastri jii was the head of one of those relief efforts. Big money came into his hands which he was entrusted with for getting the work done. But instead of taking care of the situation in an organised and upstanding manner, Shastri jii allegedly informed AMURT big bosses that due to lack of funds he was unable to complete the project. And he was given approval for collecting money - i.e. 5000rupees - from the poor people who were on the initial list of those who lost their homes due to the cyclone. In this situation some rich people purchased two or three houses by paying good amounts to Shastri jii . Thus rich people were awarded the houses, not the poor people enlisted by the government from the very beginning.
The exact amount collected by Shastri jii is not known to anybody. He bribed government officials and AMURT big bosses. Then he completed the roof construction of all 108 houses in this project constructed in Regupalem, Yelamanchili Visakhapatnam.
He stole money of homeless victims
Here is a key example of one thing Shastri jii did. When rebuilding the homes of those impoverished people, instead of using standard grade cement to make a solid structure - he paid off the inspectors so he could add huge amounts of sand into the concrete mixture. This diluted the concrete and cost much, much less money. So Shastri jii’s costs were a fraction of what they should have been. This gave him a surplus of funds which he allegedly misdirected into his deep pocket for his luxury expenses etc. Thus real sufferers didn’t get houses,other fake poor people. People started selling houses unofficially.
Public formed poor opinion about Ananda Marga
because impoverished victims were cheated
That happened because proper concrete was not used - rather the sand infested concrete mixture that Shastri jii ordered was porous. In result, the good name of Ananda Marga was dragged through the mud as everyone in that area thought Ananda Margiis were corrupt thieves who cheated the common people.
So those who had already suffered and lost so much now had to deal with a house that had horrible leaks everywhere. And these impoverished people had nowhere to turn to find justice. All the payoffs and bribes were made and the paperwork presented to the government was shined up.
By this shady maneuver, all those suffering people had their homes rebuilt with the lowest grade materials possible. And the outcome was horrible. When it was time for them to move into their rebuilt homes, it was quickly discovered that the roofs were leaking. Here it should be qualified that we are not talking about a simple leak with a small drip. Rather water was seeping into the entire roof and water was falling like it was raining inside the house. Nearly every square inch of the house was affected - all the walls, the entire floor, everywhere. It was not possible to live in such a dwelling - everything just got destroyed by the water, no one could live in that way.
One other thing to note. Generally in India houses are built with flat roofs as there is no issue of snowfall etc. But Shastri jii employed one trick. He knew he was using poor materials so he order for the roofs to be made in a sloped fashion. His hope was that the sloped roof would shed the water and cover up his shoddy construction. But he had applied so much sand to the concrete that the sloped roof could not make up the difference. All those houses leaked terribly.
In desperation, victims had to pass sleepless nights
with tarps on the leaky roofs of their houses
All those poor people could do was put tarps on the leaky roofs of their houses in hopes that would seal them up. But invariably the wind would blow those tarps away. Yet with no other option, that is the way they carried on.
It is well known that Shastri jii manipulated the project and hoarded huge funds into his own account by bribing AMURT big bosses, AM central workers & government officials. Sadly the real losers were those impoverished families on the government list who were supposed to receive help and support etc. In that end they got nothing due to Shastri jii’s selfish and deceptive tactics etc. That is why all those villagers got a very bad impression and formed a very poor opinion about Ananda Marga.
A slur on the name of Ananda Marga
And this all happened due to Shastri jii’s own greed and lack of concern for those whom he was supposed to serve. It was a major debacle and a gross injustice. This is not how our Ananda Marga service projects are supposed to be conducted - rather it was a slur on the name of AMURT.
All should understand that this account is just an honest review of his actions so that such a scene is not repeated in the future. None should let greed and avarice consume them in this way or allow anyone to derail our Ananda Marga social service projects by engaging in immoral and destructive behaviour.
Namaskar,
in Him,
A. Venkat Ramana
Note 1: About Regupalem village -
location of AMURT relief housing project
Regupalem is a Village in Yelamanchili Mandal in Visakhapatanam District of Andhra Pradesh State, India. It belongs to Andhra region. It is located 51 KM towards west from District head quarters Vishakhapatnam and 542 KM from State capital Hyderabad where - under Shastri's leadership - AMURT constructed shady houses for homeless victims of the cyclone.
Note 2: Nutshell of this letter
The summary of this letter is that Shastri ji manipulated the project, earned good money by bribing AMURT big bosses, AM central workers, & govt officials, and he deprived the real losers - i.e. those simple, innocent, victims who lost their housing. For these reasons the villagers got a very bad impression about Ananda Marga due to this incident.
Furthermore, whatever Shastri jii looted, it is alleged that Ac Bhaveshananda Avt, Ac Savitananda Avt, Ac Pranavatmakananda Avt got a pittance offering and that is why they always supported him. It is just like how one rich homeowner, when dining, feeds his three dogs scraps under the table.
Note 3: Death ceremony of Shastri jii and
three dadas planning to meet him in heaven
Because these three Dadas - Ac Bhaveshananda Avt, Ac Savitananda Avt, Ac Pranavatmakananda Avt - were given a pittance they felt obliged and desperate to perform Shastri jii's shraddha ceremony - even though Shastri jii and his family had no interest in the Ananda Marga death ceremony system. But these three Dadas were thinking that one day they will all meet Shartri in heaven and he will again reward them with some pittance.
Note 4: That car used by criminals in kidnapping of Ac Maniisananda Avt
Shastri jii gave his car to the two alleged criminal avadhutas - Ac Raviishananda and Ac Viitamohanananda - as they attempted to kidnap Acarya Maniisananda Avadhuta in October 1995 from the master unit. After the kidnapping, then Raviishananda and Viitamohanananda drove Ac Maniisananda Avt to the Vishakapatnam jagrti. Yet somehow Ac Maniisanandji escaped in the middle of the night Vishakapatnam jagrit, Dadaji literally escaped the jaws of death, by Baba’s grace. Since then, for the last 20 years these blood thirsty criminals have been searching for Ac Maniisananda Avt / Ac Maniishananda Avt. But now that they themselves are in jail so the situation is a little safer for Ac Maniishanandji.
Now those two Dadas - Raviishananda and Viitamohanananda - are sitting in jail for the murder trial of Ac Abhipremananda Avt. These criminals are under arrest in Purulia Central Jail along with other avadhuta criminals.
== Section 2 ==
Links
Links
http://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/2013/10/why-some-cant-do-proper-meditation.html
http://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/2015/05/sadhana-confusion-about-yoga-nidra-3.html
http://anandamargauniversal.blogspot.com/2015/05/sadhana-confusion-about-yoga-nidra-3.html
