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Downloadable PDF: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fnkbcMBSGwJObPyw-ko94y53lkteS9LM/view?usp=sharing IS MAHARISHI'S VEDIC PANDIT PROGRAM IN CRISIS? NEW PLAN ANNOUNCEMENT RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT FUTURE OF BRAHMASTHAN Near the end of this text is the nebulous July 2 announcement of a new plan that hopes to train and assemble from scratch a new group of 10,000 Pandits in another location. Notably, the announcement makes no mention of the Brahmasthan or the 10,000 to 15,000 veteran Maharishi-trained Vedic Pandits who are immediately available throughout India. This raises the question whether, faced with the overwhelming problems documented here, the Brahmasthan project is being abandoned entirely. DISCLAIMER: Presented here are eyewitness reports and the best information available at this time. However, in order to arrive at the truth about these matters, what is required is an independent, ongoing, randomly scheduled, third-party investigation. (Correction: The video voiceover incorrectly states that Harris Kaplan is an American. He is Canadian.) The contents of this video were recorded from September through December of 2021 at the Brahmasthan of India, a donor funded facility in the state of Madhya Pradesh, administered by one of three charitable organisations founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It shows Pandits, who are supposed to be performing Vedic Yagyas (rituals to promote the well-being of individuals and society) paid for by Western donors, distracting themselves with their cell phones when they’re supposed to be reciting Vedic sloka (verses), and it documents the rundown and inadequate living conditions in the Brahmasthan facility. Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation, a US 501c3 charity, solicits donations for these performances. For example, its marketing states: ‘If you contribute $1,250 or more, you will be personally acknowledged on each day of the Vedic performance. Or you may designate your family, another person, a company, or a group to be named’. REPORTS: PANDITS MISTREATED, WHISTLEBLOWERS THREATENED, BEATEN, EXPELLED Yagyas must be performed from a settled level of awareness. Even if all the Pandits participate (which is not happening in this video), if they are anxious and unhappy, their performances will be ineffective. A Pandit who formerly lived at the Brahmasthan, reports: ‘2 pundits [the Pandit who recorded the December 11 video and another Pandit] were beaten up by the [Brahmasthan] officials and driven away in the night while the pundits did not have the rent [taxi fare] to reach home, they stayed overnight in the cold, in the morning I was called by the pundits, then we sent them money, so they Pandit reached home’. No Pandit, whether inside the facility or outside, will allow himself to be named in connection with any firsthand reports they have provided. ‘Prakash [Srivastava, nephew of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a managing trustee of the Brahmasthan facility] says that the one who tells our words to foreigners is a devil and [Prakash] drives them out of the ashram, so don't tell my name to anyone’. It reported that on December 20, 2021, Prakash Srivastava addressed the Pandits at the Brahmasthan. Two reports from this are: ‘If you do not want to perform yagyas properly, then I’ll close this facility and spend my money in any other business’. ‘On 20th December, Prakash ji had come to Brahmasthan, he abused 1 Acharya [teacher], and 1 Pandit in front of all the Pandits and insulted them a lot. And they have threatened the Pandits, whoever shares the position of Pandit Brahmasthan will be punished. And Prakash ji has also said that we will close Brahmasthan by removing everyone and we will invest the money here in some business’. This raises the important question of who actually owns the Brahmasthan and whose money is being spent? It has been understood that the Brahmashan of India is part of a charitable organisation. The money for that organisation has been provided by donors who have been led to believe that the Brahmasthan is not a profit-making operation. In addition to the treatment reported above, multiple sources report that: – Enforcers patrol the alleys of the Brahmasthan with sticks to compel participation in the program. – Threats are made to families. A BRAHMASTHAN ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER RESIGNS IN PROTEST ‘Dear friends जय गुरुदेव [Jai Guru Dev] I'm Sushil kumar Pandey, Brahmin by birth, Native of village Dharwara about 12 KMs from bramisthan (Karondi), Ret officer of india border guarding force. I retired in July 2015 and joined at Karondi (bramisthan) on September 1st, 2015 as Adam [sic, Admin] officer. Raja Harris [Kaplan] and his family knows me well. I want to improve the life of vedik pundits and over all improvements of the dream of Maharishi ji. My hands were tide [sic, tied] with no power and work. I understood My position to become [a] showpiece without power. I was posted just as showpiece. Raja Harris and Mataji want improvement which was not in my hand due to many reasons. All depend on Mr Girish verma. Hence I resign. Still [I] want to do the work for organization. Without any interest, Jay गुरुदेव [Guru Dev]’ – December 16th 2021 ARE INCOMING PANDITS FULLY TRAINED? There are persistent reports about a low standard of training given to the newer, younger Pandits who are replacing the large numbers of senior Maharishi-trained pandits who have left and continue to leave the Brahmasthan. Conveniently for the Brahmasthan administrators, less trained, junior Pandits will accept lower pay than senior Pandits. IS THE PAY STRUCTURE RIGGED TO DRIVE OUT SENIOR PANDITS? The way stipends are managed appears designed to drive out senior Pandits from Maharishi ashrams so that the total bill for stipends will be less. Senior Pandits, more of them established with wives and children and older parents, have greater financial responsibility. They are less able to tolerate restricted pay, especially amid deteriorating conditions. Knowledgeable senior Pandits, who are in touch with many other Pandits, have repeatedly asserted that new Pandits are being hired in the range of 5,000 to 9,000 rupees per month (US$ 65.00 – 120.00). The amount most often mentioned is Rs 7,000. Reports indicate that every opportunity is being taken to let higher salaried senior Pandits go and to replace them with relatively untrained or less-trained Pandits for around Rs 7,000. For example, this allegedly occurred when Ashrams were permitted to start re-hiring Pandits after the pandemic. In many cases they chose not to re-hire long-time loyal, experienced Pandits who may have been previously paid as much as Rs. 16,000 per month. A base pay of at least Rs. 13,000 to 15,000 per month (US$164.00 - 190.00), for appropriately trained Pandits would help retain more qualified Pandits and dramatically improve morale at the Brahmasthan and other Maharishi ashrams. That would also logically result in an improvement in the quality of performance of the Yagyas that Brahmananda Saraswati Trust/Foundation and Yagya Foundation are promoting. MEDICAL AND DENTAL NEEDS NOT BEING MET Whatever are the employment conditions prevailing in India, the organisations involved have a responsibility to the world and to Maharishi to take proper care of these dedicated and highly trained Pandits. It’s reported that dental care is not provided, so that pandits may suffer terribly from toothache, and medical care beyond the most basic is also not provided. Pandits are expected to pay for these needs for themselves and their families, which patently they are not in a position to do. DOUBTFUL FUNDRAISING CLAIM OF ‘HIGHLY SOUGHT AFTER’ EMPLOYMENT POTENTIAL FOR PANDIT TRAINEES From the Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation website: ‘MVVVVP has become a leading institution for training Vedic Pandits with its graduates highly sought after by institutions throughout India ….’ First person accounts from Maharishi-trained Pandits contradict this claim. One such Pandit, on reading the ‘About Us’ page on the BSF website, commented ‘I read out all. Many fraud’. Requests from underemployed Pandits asking to be paid to perform personal Yagyas bombard Westerners who have shown interest in Eastern spirituality. This is so common, and the entreaties so persistent that people frequently block the Pandits on social media. ‘I was 11 years old. Because I have spent my whole childhood in studying Vedas in Maharishi Ashram, that's why I have no identity outside [Maharishi’s Ashrams]. India is very pundit [has many Pandits], so it is difficult to get everyone's temple [to get a temple job] because there are already pundits in those temples’. [When temple jobs do become available, they are usually passed down in families.] In direct contradiction of the fundraising claims above, Pandits report that the ashrams are manipulating to deny them opportunity for advanced certification, thus effectively entrapping and indenturing them. To get employment, in many instances (e.g., any teaching position supported by the Indian government) a Pandit needs certification from a Sanskrit university or institute. There are examination fees, which the Pandits are unable to afford because of their oppressively low pay. OPPRESSIVELY LOW PAY REPORTEDLY CAUSING GENERATIONAL HARDSHIP IN PANDIT FAMILIES One of the most frequent complaints from the Pandits is that they are not able to provide support for their ageing parents, as Indian culture and tradition require, leading to hardship. There are reports of instances where the Pandit’s father has had to sell his land over a period of time to pay medical costs, etc., leading to destitution in old age. The Pandits confess profound shame because of this. Some say they wish they had never entered training to become Maharishi Vedic Pandits. ‘I have wasted my life’. The Pandits remember how it was when Maharishi was personally overseeing the program. Maharishi treated the young Pandits with respect and affection. Living conditions were better, teaching standards were higher, morale was high. The Pandits were happy. This is in stark contrast to the treatment they have received since his passing. ‘Maharishiji was good to us. Girishiji doesn’t care about Pandits’. ‘Maharishiji was God to us young Pandits’. MONEY DONATED VIA NORTH AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN CHARITIES GOES TO INDIAN ORGANISATIONS BEYOND THEIR CONTROL From the Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation’s website https://vedicPandits.org: ‘Funding for the group of Maharishi Vedic Pandits is organised and administered by the Brahmananda Saraswati Trust in The Netherlands, and the Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation in the USA’. (BST/BSF) [The ‘Trust’ is a Dutch Stichting (society) and not actually a trust. Both were founded in 2008, the year of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s passing. The Chief Executive Officer of both is Harris Kaplan, a Canadian.] and ‘The mission of the Trust and Foundation includes overseeing a worldwide fundraising program, receiving donations, and managing the investment of the endowment fund. They jointly direct and monitor all disbursements to their managing partners in India …’ The in-country organization responsible for administering the Brahmasthan is Maharishi Ved Vigyan Vishwa Vidya Peetham (MVVVVP) an Indian educational charitable trust. The managing trustees are Girish Chandra Varma (‘Girish’) a distant cousin of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and Ajay Prakash Srivastava (‘Prakash’) a nephew of Maharishi. There is a third US registered charitable entity, Brahmananda Saraswati Yagya Foundation (BSYF). Funds received by BSYF are directed to an Indian charity, Maharishi Raam Raj Trust (MRRT), and to the Nepal Maharishi Foundation for Vedic Culture (NMFVC). MRRT and NMFVC have no known involvement by either Prakash Shrivastava or Girish Varma. IT’S UP TO THE DONORS TO DEMAND ANSWERS MVVVVP’s and two other in-country recipient institutions’ affairs are far from transparent. Thus, it is difficult to assess what exactly is being done with the money given by donors to BSF/BST & BSYF (that is then transferred to the one Nepali and three Indian institutions). In the USA and Europe, annual financial statements for organisations that support programs in India appear to satisfy legal requirements. However it is still unclear exactly how the grants to Indian organisations are spent. The 2019 US Internal Revenue Service Form 990 for Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation (Fairfield, USA) recorded grants of $5.2m to four entities in South Asia, but notably does not name the recipient organisations. For the same year, the Brahmananda Saraswati Trust (Vlodrop, Netherlands) reported €1.6m in subsidies to Maharishi Ved Vigyan Vishwa Vidyapeetham, but extensive searches have found no financial records for MVVVVP on the internet. Since 2010, the net assets of Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation have increased from zero to $86m. In that same period, the amount allocated to operating expenses for Vedic Pandits has flatlined at around $4m. Excluding endowment funds, there are currently over $20m in net assets. Is there some reason why these funds should not be used to improve Pandit living conditions and pay them a living wage? IN SUMMARY: There are strong indications that Pandits are not supported adequately. Where has the money gone? Have all of donors’ funds been disbursed for the legitimate charitable purposes? For these questions to be resolved, the providers of funds, the donors, will need to assert their rights of access. In order to arrive at the truth about these matters, what is required is an independent, ongoing, randomly scheduled, third-party investigation. Areas independent review and reporting might cover include: – Food, Food Storage, Catering & Dining, Quality & Conditions – Drinking Water Security, Quality & Safety – Quality of Sleeping, Rest & Recreation Accommodation – Cleaning, Waste Disposal & Maintenance Provisions (Buildings, Plant & Grounds) – Hygiene & Privacy in Bathing & Ablutions Facilities – Sanitation, Waste Water & Sewerage Infrastructure – Codes of Ethical Conduct for Management, Employees & Students – Standards of Training, Tuition & Professional Development – Bullying, Harassment, Intimidation & Redress Policies – Complaints Procedures & Whistle-blower Protections – Management Communication, Transparency & Responsiveness – Care & Support on Health, Personal & Social Welfare Issues – Medical, Accident & Emergency, Provisions & Facilities – Fire, Flood & Earthquake, Egress, Protections and Procedures Thereafter some form of ongoing independent monitoring and reporting, an inspection regime along with a Triple Bottom Line Annual Audit, would be desirable. DENIAL FROM HARRIS KAPLAN On June 11, 2022 or thereabouts, Harris Kaplan circulated a highly produced promotional email message titled: “Uplifting Inspiration from Raja Harris / It is remarkable how the Maharishi Vedic Pandit groups have grown since 2008 – thanks to your support.” In that message he makes statements that appear to contradict reports that have been circulating (e.g., about the declining numbers of pandits present at the Brahmasthan) and statements that are not credible without on-site verification (e.g., reports that the facility is being or has been renovated). Also please see the entry below this section regarding Howard Settle's July 2 announcement of a new project that will be starting from scratch to create 10,000 new Pandits in another location. The announcement makes no mention of the Brahmasthan or the 10,000 to 15,000 veteran Maharishi-trained Vedic Pandits who are immediately available throughout India. The project Mr. Settle announced on July 2 suggests that the organisations responsible for Maharishi's Vedic Pandit World Peace project may be abandoning the Brahmasthan project entirely. The following response, whose authors are not known, has been circulating by social media and email since then: A Response to Harris Kaplan Email Re your email of June 11 to yagya sales representatives (“ambassadors”) briefing them on criticisms about Transcendental Meditation Organization yagya projects in India. You have provided talking points on how the ambassadors may frame the discussion of the allegations. This response to your email is an open invitation to address such criticisms. As a first step, we suggest a Zoom round-table discussion where we can discuss allegations of human rights abuses at the Brahmasthan of India (campus at Karaundi, Madhya Pradesh) and other TMO-linked facilities in India. As lifelong members of Maharishi’s movement family, we want Maharishi’s projects to succeed just as you do. The goal is safe, happy, well-treated pandits properly performing effective yagyas for world peace in movement facilities surrounded by an environment worthy of Maharishi’s name and legacy. One issue not directly addressed in your email overrides all others. It deserves in-depth discussion: allegations of serious abuses at some of the movement pandit campuses in India, including but not limited to the Brahmasthan of India. These wide-ranging allegations include substandard living conditions: unlivable wages that, already oppressively low, are withheld for months at a time; reprisals for whistleblowing; substandard food; nonexistent due process; lack of dental or medical care; extortion of pandits’ salaries by facility managers and movement officials; beatings; drug and alcohol use. Such an allegedly exploitative and inhumane culture has given rise to reports of horrific events – an alleged/ unreported pandit-on-pandit murder, a pandit suicide and an off-campus pandit-on-villager sexual assault. These deeply troubling allegations suggest a profound systemic failure and warrant a full and ongoing independent third-party investigation. An abusive environment, with pandits taking that misery into the gap beyond the deepest levels of thought during yagya performance will disturb the effects of the yagyas. This feature of yagya mechanics was expounded in the book Human Physiology: Expression of Veda and the Vedic Literature. Among alleged problems at India TMO facilities, perhaps none is more concerning than this: the performance of yagya by depressed, fearful, unhappy, unsettled, drinking, poorly-fed pandits. Even if only some pandits have been traumatized and compromised, the reported pattern of treatment of the pandits is an egregious violation of Maharishi’s directives. The following are direct responses to your points: ______________________________________ Harris Kaplan: In 2008, there were much fewer Pandits in the Brahmasthan and many other campuses, and we’ve been able to build up the numbers since then. So it's not the case that in Maharishi’s time, there were more Pandits at the Brahmasthan. It is true, though, that in the last years, we plateaued. One thing to understand is that we basically have raised enough money for this current number of Pandits. We haven't raised enough money for more Pandits – though we wish we had!! Questions remain about the actual number of pandits performing yagyas at the Brahmasthan now and in the past. A full accounting of pandit numbers versus promotional claims is a reasonable request. Questions also remain about selection criteria and qualifications of current pandits. Pandit whistleblowers allege that there has been a strategy whereby the most experienced pandits have been replaced with poorly-trained novice pandits who are paid much less. Videos, photographs and first-hand accounts by on-site pandits paint a vastly different picture than the narrative of your email. Allegations of non-performance or inadequate performance of yagya, of substandard, unhealthy, depressing living conditions in an environment of disrepair and neglect, alleged drug and alcohol use, smoking, violence including sexual violence, beatings of pandits by facility officials, threats, extortion, etc. all starkly call into question your assertions that "all is well." In a series of private and civil Zoom calls with you and Peter Warburton in the autumn of 2021, formal requests were made for an independent ongoing third-party investigation into these allegations of human rights violations. While admitting during the calls that there were problems, you balked at an investigation by a third party and refused further conversation unless calls for a third-party investigation were dropped. To date no such investigation has occurred to anyone's knowledge. For his part Peter Warburton agreed that an investigation was called for but also broke off discussions after the allegations came to light. Harris Kaplan: 'When we do the audits of MVVVP, the organisation in India that takes care of the Pandits, we see that the programme breaks even every year. All the funds that we send are just enough to pay all our expenses. I had asked our independent auditors in India, called Grant Thornton, which is a giant international auditing firm, to do an audit of the last seven years, looking at the total money that came in from donors around the world, versus the total amount of money that was spent. It was even. In fact, we brought in a little bit less than they spent and some people in India stepped up and helped. If detailed audits of Indian operations exist as you indicate, please release them in full to the public. Until that time, the nature of operations of the TM movement in India remains hidden and questionable. It is important to note that Grant Thornton, a UK auditing firm, was recently disciplined by the UK government and fined almost two million British pounds for ethical violations and performance lapses related to their auditing performance. (https://bit.ly/3NZwWVD) Because of this, their word is not by any means to be taken as gold standard. Grant Thornton was punished for: "breaching audit standards and agreed to a package of measures to improve the quality of future audits, including the establishment of an ethics board to oversee compliance with ethical standards and increased ethics training for staff." It is surprising that you continue to use the services of such an organisation. More importantly, to date Grant Thornton has been unable or unwilling to provide a detailed audit of Indian movement operations, leaving in doubt your assertions that all is well and fairly done by the pandits and the TM movement in India. Harris Kaplan: 'The reason that we have been able to keep these Yagyas going is because of the incredible donors, and no money is wasted ever. When Susie had the idea for this project with her great husband, Peter, and also Neil Paterson, my big worry was: what if it works for two or three years, and then the funds don't continue, and we have to start sending Pandits home. It would be really a pressure. But we decided to be brave and bold and just go ahead. And through the incredible efforts of everybody, we've been able to keep those numbers of Maharishi Vedic Pandits. As a former businessperson you must be aware that your assertions carry zero weight until you supply actual numbers. Until a complete third-party audit of the Indian movement operations relative to pandits campuses is released, these assertions that “yagyas are ongoing” and “no money is wasted ever” remain unsupported, nothing but words. Pandits report that very little of the donors’ dollars reach them and what does is often delayed or skimmed. Currently, according to the financial records available to us only 20% of every donated dollar reaches the campuses and, according to pandit whistleblowers, even less reaches the pandits themselves. Pandits allege that their meagre salaries are regularly pilfered by campus “managers” in the form of “demand kickbacks” as an initial condition of employment. In other words some campus managers demand an ongoing percentage of the pandits’ salaries, it is alleged. As donors and well-wishers for Maharishi’s programs, we request full transparency. Where exactly the rest of the funds go in India is mysterious. Grant Thornton apparently does not operate with any depth in India and their audit records offer only a broad, generic overview of Indian finances with few details of expenditures of use of donor funds in India. Harris Kaplan: 'If we felt that was a certainty, that we had, for example, X amount of more money, then we could look at what more we could do. But like right now, for example, we have increased the Dakshina for the Pandits. And we have also increased bonuses for the Pandits, based on attendance, because we would like to have the Maharishi Vedic Pandits be there as much as possible so that they are more settled and not coming and going. The whole way that we have structured our bonus programme, is to create that consistency of attendance. This paragraph raises more questions than it answers. It appears to validate whistleblower allegations: non-attendance or partial attendance at yagya performances, improper yagya performance (“coming and going”) with a lack of incentives for pandits to perform yagyas as Maharishi intended (“to create consistency of attendance”) and financial hardship for the pandits (“increased the Dakshina”). It remains to be demonstrated whether the bonus system is fair or as pandits allege, punitive. They allege it forces them to work seven days a week and disallows them from taking time for family responsibilities, not only to wives and children but including responsibilities to elderly parents, which is mandatory in Indian culture and social structure. Your email also suggests that pandits’ pleas for increased salaries on social media may have compelled Brahmasthan managers to increase the salaries. Until an independent audit takes place it is unclear what if any increase actually occurred, by how much, and under what terms. A continuing allegation from pandit whistleblowers is that yagyas are not being performed as advertised, or in substandard ways or in some cases not at all. They termed official movement promotions misleading and provided pictures and videos of the facilities and yagyas to support these allegations. Pandits report that reactions to these whistleblower videos and images showing up on social media resulted in summary dismissals, beatings, seizing of phones. Pandit whistleblowers and other eyewitnesses offered to speak to Mr. Kaplan in 2021 about these issues. He initially agreed to meet with one witness but then cancelled at the last minute saying he didn’t need to talk to them because he “believed them.” Harris Kaplan: 'Now, one thing that you should be aware of, there are some people who spoke to some Pandits who left the Brahmasthan and are not allowed back. These are Pandits who had been at the Brahmasthan or had been in Allahabad. And they actually don't want to be there anymore. They want to be with their family in the local villages. They make all kinds of stories about that they have 100 Pandits and can do great group Yagyas for you. I talked to one of those Pandits and said, you're missing the whole point of what Maharishi wanted. The whole point was to have permanent large groups, not to create these little splinter groups everywhere. It's up to you if you don't want to be in with Maharishi’s movement anymore, if you want to be on your own or do Yagyas in the temples. But don't put it in terms of helping the Movement. You’re not helping what Maharishi wanted. And, western people who think they're helping by speaking to these Pandits and helping them: what they do by giving a little bit of money, they — without being aware of it — undermine creating this larger group. They give the Pandits the idea that they can get some money from some Western people and not have to follow the programme that Maharishi created, including the meditation practice and the specific Yagyas and not have to be part of creating the larger group. It is a very challenging thing to create permanent groups in Kali Yuga. It's not easy. The accusatory tone, the gaslighting, the blaming others for one’s own failures, the paternalism, not to mention colonialism, of this paragraph is a wonder to behold. “Pandits who are not allowed back actually don’t want to be there.”? “They make all kinds of stories.”? “They give the Pandits the idea”? This obfuscating word salad - official talking points - is stupefying. Your imputation that whistleblowing pandits are gullible liars, and that pandits who walk away from the alleged conditions of abuse are foolish, unworthy, insignificant human beings is audacious and offensive. Please understand that owing to your performance to date, the notion that you are qualified to pronounce on other people’s competence, integrity and life choices has expired until further notice. Pandit whistleblowers, Indian TM-Sidhi Administrators and TM Teachers and movement leaders elsewhere continue to receive allegations of mistreatment and mismanagement. These whistleblowers cannot be treated dismissively, nor can Maharishi Vedic pandits who have formed their own yagya groups. There is no justification for condemning the many members of our movement family who are utilizing their services. With reason, thousands have engaged with independent teams of Maharishi Vedic pandits to have yagyas performed for themselves, friends and family. This trend is not only growing in our movement family worldwide, it has been going on for years and includes a remarkable number of TMO leaders. Thus we again call for an independent third-party investigation of the allegations of abuses at the Brahmasthan. Looking ahead, the creation of permanent large groups of Maharishi Vedic pandits will require a new approach that prioritizes respect, cooperation, communication, transparency, fair pay, fair treatment of pandits, pandit safety, pandits’ dinacharaya (healthy daily routine), qualified oversight, exemplary management and proper yagya performance. Harris Kaplan: 'And so what we are trying to do is keep increasing the amount of Dakshina, keep increasing the quality of the food, and keep trying to improve the buildings. We are in a major construction project in the Brahmasthan, redoing a lot of the buildings right now. We will just keep doing everything we can and hope that with the blessings of Maharishi and with support of Nature, and with the continued work of Susie and her team and all the Ambassadors we are able to continue and to grow. If true, good. But let’s see a full accounting of that work by an independent, qualified third party on an ongoing basis with detailed project descriptions including video and still images and interviews with rank-and-file pandits. The pandits have consistently complained about the poor quality of food, the skimming of the best foods by facility managers and the substandard living accommodations. Because reports indicate that these have been a low priority for a very long time it will take a robust, detailed, ongoing demonstration and documentation that the management culture has changed substantially, that financial flows are being appropriately implemented and nothing diverted, and that any improvement in conditions is not simply window dressing but is genuine, systematic and durable. Harris Kaplan: 'It hasn't been an easy time of growth anywhere. Having Maharishi with us, was that unique, most fortunate, huge, huge blessing and organizing power. And now, it's a different time, and we have had to do it. We have been able, which is fantastic, to maintain this group of Pandits! Of course, what we want to do is we want to have a bigger group, of course, we want to have 9000, we want to do it for the world. But, thank God, literally, we are able to maintain as we are maintaining. This is hardly a convincing solicitation for donor funds. It is an amazing admission, Harris. Speaking in Vedic terms, you are saying "I'm not getting support of nature,” or “I don’t feel Maharishi's support anymore - forces are opposing me." You are actually right in this regard. Maharishi would not support this alleged corruption. Tellingly, you state, "We're maintaining this group of pandits". This is a survival statement, not a statement of thriving expansion or success, despite your calling it “fantastic”. In other words you are saying, “We're hanging on by our fingernails.” This is an admission of failure. And who is to blame for that? Harris Kaplan: 'We are the few people who have Maharishi’s knowledge and have the blessings of that. We want to use our intelligence to create this better world. It's going to take all of us together focused on creating and strengthening these groups.' – Raja Harris, May 2022 Indeed, it will take all of us working together. A final note to Mr. Kaplan: raising questions is not sedition. It does not make someone your enemy, or constitute “trying to destroy the movement.” It is much better if we take the view that working together is both an evolutionary and practical approach to solving problems. “The Vedic routine of life is pure, refined, and free from malicious things – Satoguna. The Vedic Pandit performing a Yagya in that balanced state easily realizes the resolution that he makes in the beginning of the Yagya.” ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, May 18, 2005 IS THE BRAHMASTHAN SHUTTING DOWN? On July 2, 2022, Howard Settle, one of the main organisers of the Maharishi Vedic Pandit project over many years made the following statement in response to the announcement of a new project to train 10,000 new pandits: Jai Guru Dev. So thank you Raja Luis [Alvarez] and I’d just start by saying you’re such an inspiration and blessing to the world and thank you so much for your total dedication to Maharishi‘s desire to bring Heaven on Earth and your one pointed desire, and in that regard I would just mention that this 10,000 Pandit research program — which may actually be more than 10,000 — but it is an extraordinary opportunity to establish a number of pandits throughout India in a variety of institutions in combination should be large enough to bring coherence not only to India but to the world. And there are formulas that we have to calculate what is needed. Dr Ken Cavanaugh and Dr Sandy Nidich and I think Raja Michael Dillbeck are providing, as well as Raja John Hagelin, are providing the research protocol to research the effect, once again to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Maharishi Vedic technologies in bringing peace and harmony to the world. And this on a very broad scale. This program has a number of aspects, and I’ll be very brief, but it has a number of aspects that are very important. One of them is that the research program is being financially supported by the MIU Dr Tony Nader Institute on Consciousness. The funds that are required for that have been raised, they are in the bank, and at the present pandits are being trained and the participation of 10,000 Pandits is being organized and it is our fond hope that in early fall this program will be initiated and we will begin to not only bring together large numbers of pandits throughout India, we will be gathering data and we will be, we will be then, researching the effectiveness of this program and the benefits of Maharishi’s technologies. Now, since this program has the potential of providing compelling evidence once again of the validity of Maharishi‘s technologies, we are inviting a number of individuals, wealthy individuals and government dignitaries around the world to observe this program, to observe the project while it’s under way, to receive some initial research, initial evidence of what is going on, but then once the evidence has been gathered to invite them to a conference where hopefully Raja John, and Raja Raam and Raja Luis and the scientists can actually present, once and for all the compelling evidence of the need, of the desperate need that we have for a Superradiance group on a permanent basis, and then to solicit the support to not only continue this research program into the future, to maintain the pandits that are there and to maintain the research but to provide permanent support for groups of 10,000, and to thereby fulfil Maharishi‘s desire to create coherence and to bring Heaven on Earth. So it is with the great appreciation for the work that Raja Luis has done that I wish him a very happy birthday and I wish that this day, this week, this year is a year of joy and happiness and fulfilment, and my wish is for our world family to gather around this extraordinary project and to see that we are successful and to achieve the goal once and for all. Thank you so much, Raja Luis, Jai Guru Dev, and thank you for everything. Notable in this announcement is the fact that no mention is made of the Brahmasthan or any other institutions under the control of Girish Varma and the MVVVVP organisation he runs. This gives the appearance that the Western fundraising organisations (Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation and Brahmananda Saraswati Trust) that have been shovelling millions of donated dollars every year to the Brahmasthan have now decided to abandon the Brahmasthan and start over from scratch. THOUSANDS OF MAHARISHI-TRAINED PANDITS ARE AVAILABLE TO HELP CREATE WORLD PEACE IMMEDIATELY It is also notable that there is also no mention of the fact that 10,000 to 15,000 experienced, senior Pandits, most of them trained under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's direct supervision when he was still living and many of them having lived as Maharishi Vedic Pandits from as early as seven years of age, are available immediately to do this work. Have they been pushed aside and abandoned? Are they completely forgotten? The senior pandits are intensely networked and able to communicate almost instantly across the entire community of thousands of veteran Maharishi-trained Vedic Pandits throughout India. Even on short notice, it would be comparatively much easier to organise a program to gather these Pandits in one place to accomplish the work Mr. Settle and his group are proposing. This could happen quickly once various logistical matters (travel, accommodation, financing, etc.) are addressed. A QUESTION FOR HOWARD SETTLE Tens of millions of dollars in donated money were poured into the Brahmasthan project over a period of decades. It is not clear what happened to that money, but it is very clear that the purposes for which the money was donated have not been achieved. Howard Settle, Luis Alvarez and others named in the announcement are part of the same organisational inner circle that have been operating the Pandit project over many years. This is the same leadership under which the Brahmasthan project appears to have spectacularly failed. What assurance can there be that this new initiative, evidently to abandon the Brahmasthan (which Maharishi himself founded) and start over from scratch, will not be just as badly mismanaged? What credible assurances can be made that would justify supporters of Maharishi’s work pouring new money into a newly-hatched, do-over Pandit initiative when the causes of the Brahmasthan debacle have not been brought to light and addressed?

DISCLAIMER: Presented here are eyewitness reports and the best information available at this time. However, in order to arrive at the complete truth about these matters, what is required is an independent, ongoing, randomly scheduled, third-party investigation. Low Morale at the Brahmasthan: Is Maharishi’s Pandit Program in crisis? This video was recorded in September, 2021 at the Brahmasthan of India, a donor funded facility administered by three charitable organizations founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It shows pandits who are supposed to be performing Vedic rituals paid for by (mostly) Western donors, goofing off on their cell phones when they’re supposed to be chanting the mantras for Vedic yagya ceremonies. Another, similar video was recorded on or around December 11, 2021, which you can view here: https://rumble.com/vrkpys-low-morale-at-the-brahmasthan.html From Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation marketing communications: ‘If you contribute $1,250 or more, you will be personally acknowledged on each day of the Vedic performance. Or you may designate your family, another person, a company, or a group to be named.’ REPORTS THAT BRAHMASTHAN PANDITS ARE MISTREATED A Maharishi Vedic Pandit who formerly lived in the Brahmasthan reports: ‘2 pundits [the pandit who recorded the December 11 video and another pandit] were beaten up by the [Brahmasthan] officials and driven away in the night while the pundits did not have the rent [taxi fare] to reach home, they stayed overnight in the cold, in the morning I was called by the pundits, then we sent them money, so they Pandit reached home.’ The thousands of Maharishi Vedic Pandits throughout India, whether currently employed in Maharishi-founded institutions or not, are intensely networked and well interconnected. It appears virtually every one of them is aware this happened. No Maharishi Vedic Pandit, whether inside the facility or outside will allow himself to be named in connection with any firsthand reports they have provided. ‘Prakash [Shrivastava, nephew of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a managing trustee of the Brahmasthan facility] says that the one who tells our words to foreigners is a devil and drives them out of the ashram, so don't tell my name to anyone.’ On December 20, Prakash Shrivastava addressed the pandits at the Brahmasthan. Two reports are as follows: ‘If you do not want to perform yagyas properly, then I’ll close this facility and spend my money in any other business’. ‘On 20th December, Prakash ji had come to Brahmasthan, he abused 1 Acharya [teacher], and 1 Pandit in front of all the Pandits and insulted them a lot. And they have threatened the Pandits, whoever shares the position of Pandit Brahmasthan will be punished. And Prakash ji has also said that we will close Brahmasthan by removing everyone and we will invest the money here in some business.’ It appears clear the conditions have become even more oppressive since December. Multiple sources report that: 1. Wages that were already oppressively low are often paid late. But worse, since December they have been reduced even further for 300 pundits. 2. Lacking any negotiating power, the pandits have resorted to performing rituals and praying that the gods will intercede to improve their situation. 3. Thugs with sticks patrol the alleys of the Brahmasthan occasionally beating Pandits. 4. Pandits attempting to report wrongdoing are expelled without compensation, coerced into signing a ‘statement of apology’ and branded ‘traitors’. 5. Phones are confiscated. 6. Threats are made to families. 7. The food, reported to be almost inedible, has not improved in quality nor quantity after a brief improvement. 8. 1500 pandits are in the Brahmasthan, 60% reportedly without proper training or Vedic knowledge. 9. Rehabilitation of the buildings, which photographic evidence shows are very run down, is very limited. MONEY DONATED TO USA AND EUROPEAN CHARITABLE TRUSTS GOES TO THE BRAHMASTHAN From the Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation’s website marketing messaging: ‘Funding for the group of Maharishi Vedic Pandits is organized and administered by the Brahmananda Saraswati Trust in The Netherlands, and the Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation in the USA.’ [Both founded in 2008, the year of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s passing. Chief Executive Officer: Harris Kaplan] ‘The mission of the Trust and Foundation includes overseeing a worldwide fundraising program, receiving donations, and managing the investment of the endowment fund. They jointly direct and monitor all disbursements to their managing partners in India …’ [The managing partners are Maharishi Veda Vigyan Vishwa Vidya Peetham (MVVVVP), an Indian charitable educational trust. Managing trustees: Girish Chandra Varma (‘Girish’, cousin of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi), Ajay Prakash Shrivastava (‘Prakash’)] https://vedicpandits.org A BRAHMASTHAN ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER RESIGNS IN PROTEST ‘Dear friends जय गुरुदेव [Jai Guru Dev] I'm Sushil kumar Pandey, Brahmin by birth, Native of village Dharwara about 12 KMs from bramisthan (Karondi), Ret officer of india border guarding force. I retired in July 2015 and joined at Karondi (bramisthan) on September 1st, 2015 as Adam [Admin] officer. Raja Harris [Kaplan, CEO, Brahmananda Saraswati Trust and Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation] and his family knows me well. I want to improve the life of vedik pundits and over all improvements of the dream of Maharishi ji. My hands were tide [tied] with no power and work. I understood My position [was] to become [a] showpiece without power. I was posted just as showpiece. Raja Harris and Mataji want improvement which was not in my hand due to many reasons. All depend on Mr Girish verma. Hence I resign. Still [I] want to do the work for organization. Without any interest, Jay गुरुदेव [Guru Dev]’ December 16th 2021 QUESTIONABLE CLAIM OF EMPLOYMENT POTENTIAL FOR PANDIT TRAINEES Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation website: ‘MVVVVP has become a leading institution for training Vedic Pandits with its graduates highly sought after by institutions throughout India … .’ First person accounts from Maharishi Vedic Pandits contradict this claim. One such Maharishi Vedic Pandit, on reading the ‘About Us’ page on the BSF website commented, ‘I read out all. Many fraud’. Many individuals, longtime followers of Maharishi’s practices are bombarded on social media by requests from unemployed or underemployed Maharishi Vedic Pandits to pay them for personal yagyas. This is so common and the entreaties can be so persistent and desperate people frequently block the pandits to stop their messages. ‘I was 11 years old. Because I have spent my whole childhood in studying Vedas in Maharishi Ashram, that's why I have no identity outside [Maharishi’s ashrams]. India is very [has many] pundit, so it is difficult to get everyone's [anyone’s] temple [jobs] because there are already pundits in those temples.’ (The jobs are passed down in families. They are almost never vacant.) In fact, pandits report that to get employment, in many instances (e.g., any teaching position supported by the Indian government) a pandit needs certification from a Sanskrit university or institute. This is difficult to attain and there are examination fees the pandits are unable to afford because of their oppressively low pay. It is reported that only 20% or less of Maharishi Vedic Pandits have such certification. ARE INCOMING PANDITS ADEQUATELY TRAINED? There are concerns about the level of qualification of the newer, younger Maharishi Vedic Pandits who are replacing senior pandits that have left and continue to leave the Brahmasthan in large numbers. Conveniently for the Brahmasthan administrators, less trained, junior pandits will accept lower pay than senior pandits. It is reported that newer pandits are not trained to the same level. It isn’t clear how many of them are fully qualified Purohit pandits (compared to minimally trained Pujari pandits). Several veteran pandits have said that a high percentage of the present group of Brahmasthan pandits ‘do not have knowledge of Veda’. They say 60% or even 80% of the pandits performing now do not have knowledge of the Veda and only chant from rote without deep insight into the basis of the performances. This is especially concerning because Maharishi emphasized the importance of performing yagya while established in the deepest level of transcendental pure consciousness within. ‘Performance from within Para’, he said. Less experienced, less learned pandits, who have not been meditating as many years as the departing and already gone senior pandits, are not going to perform yagyas with the same power. OPPRESSIVELY LOW PAY REPORTEDLY CAUSING GENERATIONAL HARDSHIP IN PANDIT FAMILIES One of the most frequent complaints from Maharishi Vedic Pandits is that they are not able to provide support for their aging parents, as Indian culture and tradition require. (There is not a government social safety net that provides retirement support and medical coverage. Children are expected to provide for their elderly parents.) They confess profound shame because of this. Some say they wish they had never entered training to become Maharishi Vedic Pandits, saying ‘I have wasted my life.’ It is reported that many have abandoned the pandit dharma entirely. ‘Many pundits who get any job they leave ashram. Many join company. They work as helper.’ Pandits frequently describe the difference in the treatment they received while Maharishi was alive and now. ‘Maharishiji was good to us. Girishiji doesn’t care about pandits’. Maharishi treated the young pandits with respect and affection, in stark contrast to the treatment they have received since his passing. He showered his caring attention on them. Living conditions were better. The pandits were happy. ‘Maharishiji was God to us young pandits’. Morale was high, in stark contrast to the situation now. But now in pandit families where there are few sons, a pandit son’s inability to contribute to his parents’ support as they entered old age has driven some pandit families into severe poverty. There are reports of instances where the pandit’s father has had to sell his land over a period of time to pay dowries, medical costs, etc., eventually becoming destitute in old age. PAY STRUCTURE APPEARS RIGGED TO ALIENATE SENIOR PANDITS The way stipends are managed appears designed to drive senior pandits out so less money will have to be paid. Senior pandits have more financial responsibility to their families, since more of them are established with wives and children and their parents are older. Knowledgeable and senior pandits who are in touch with many other pandits, have repeatedly affirmed that new pandits are being hired in the range of 5000 to 9000 rupees/month ($67 - $121US). The number most often mentioned is 7000. Every opportunity is taken to let the more expensive, senior pandits go and hire untrained or less-trained pandits for around Rs.7000. For example, when the ashrams were permitted to start re-hiring pandits after the pandemic, in many cases they chose not to re-hire experienced and faithful pandits who may have been paid as much as Rs. 16,000/month, in favour of pandits at around Rs. 7000. There is a growing demand from Maharishi Vedic Pandits to be paid a minimum of Rs. 15,000/month ($201). That will help retain the more qualified pandits and dramatically improve morale at the Brahmasthan. In a single stroke, it will greatly improve the quality of the yagyas the Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation is promoting. Rs. 15,000/month is still less than most similarly qualified pandits are paid outside Maharishi’s institutions. Here is an example of how the compensation structure is rigged to keep the pay artificially low and drive senior pandits out of the Brahmasthan: ‘Actually the ashram has its own rule, this rule has been implemented for the last 5-6 years, according to this rule, every year the dakshina [pay] of the pundits increases by ₹ 500 to ₹ 700, but … If we do not do 280 days duty here [in a year], then … dakshina is not increased … . If we want to increase our money, then it is necessary to do duty for 280 days… . It is a very bad rule for us because we are all Pandits from other states, some are residents of Assam, Nepal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and all Pandits have their own families. We have siblings, wife, children, we have to go home … and due to this we are not able to do 280 days of duty, due to which our money does not increase.’ IT IS UP TO THE DONORS TO DEMAND ANSWERS AND DRIVE THE SOLUTIONS The financial affairs of MVVVVP, the organization administering the Brahmasthan, are far from transparent. It is thus impossible to assess what exactly is being done with the money given by donors to BSF/BST. Clearly the pandits are not supported adequately. Is that because there simply isn’t enough money, or is money is being siphoned off? Is all of the money going to legitimate charitable purposes? For these matters to be resolved, the direct providers of the funds, the donors themselves, will have to take control. How that might come to pass is not clear. It will be up to the donors to decide how to organize together and go about setting matters straight.

DISCLAIMER: Presented here are eyewitness reports and the best information available at this time. However, in order to arrive at the complete truth about these matters, what is required is an independent, ongoing, randomly scheduled, third-party investigation. LOW MORALE AT THE BRAHMASTHAN: Is Maharishi’s Pandit Program in crisis? This video was recorded on or around December 11, 2021 at the Brahmasthan of India, a donor funded facility in the state of Madhya Pradesh, administered by three charitable organisations founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. It shows pandits who are supposed to be performing Vedic rituals paid for by (mostly) Western donors, goofing off on their cell phones when they’re supposed to be chanting the mantras for Vedic yagya ceremonies. Another, similar video was recorded in September, 2021, which you can view here: https://rumble.com/vrqb5u-maharishi-vedic-pandit-gives-a-tour.html From Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation marketing communications: ‘If you contribute $1,250 or more, you will be personally acknowledged on each day of the Vedic performance. Or you may designate your family, another person, a company, or a group to be named’. REPORTS THAT BRAHMASTHAN PANDITS ARE MISTREATED A Maharishi Vedic Pandit who formerly lived in the Brahmasthan reports: ‘2 pundits [the pandit who recorded the December 11 video and another pandit] were beaten up by the [Brahmasthan] officials and driven away in the night while the pundits did not have the rent [taxi fare] to reach home, they stayed overnight in the cold, in the morning I was called by the pundits, then we sent them money, so they Pandit reached home’. The thousands of Maharishi Vedic Pandits throughout India, whether currently employed in Maharishi-founded institutions or not, are intensely networked. It appears virtually every one of them is aware this happened. No Maharishi Vedic Pandit, whether inside the facility or outside will allow himself to be named in connection with any firsthand reports they have provided. ‘Prakash [Shrivastava, nephew of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a managing trustee of the Brahmasthan facility] says that the one who tells our words to foreigners is a devil and drives them out of the ashram, so don't tell my name to anyone.’ On December 20, Prakash Shrivastava addressed the pandits at the Brahmasthan. Two reports are as follows: ‘If you do not want to perform yagyas properly, then I’ll close this facility and spend my money in any other business’. ‘On 20th December, Prakash ji had come to Brahmasthan, he abused 1 Acharya [teacher], and 1 Pandit in front of all the Pandits and insulted them a lot. And they have threatened the Pandits, whoever shares the position of Pandit Brahmasthan will be punished. And Prakash ji has also said that we will close Brahmasthan by removing everyone and we will invest the money here in some business’. It appears clear the conditions have become even more oppressive since December. Multiple sources report that: 1. Wages that were already oppressively low are often paid late. But worse, since December they have been reduced even further for 300 pundits. 2. Lacking any negotiating power, the pandits have resorted to performing rituals and praying that the gods will intercede to improve their situation. 3. Thugs with sticks patrol the alleys of the Brahmasthan occasionally beating Pandits. 4. Pandits attempting to report wrongdoing are expelled without compensation, coerced into signing a ‘statement of apology’ and branded ‘traitors’. 5. Phones are confiscated. 6. Threats are made to families. 7. The food, reported to be almost inedible, has not improved in quality nor quantity after a brief improvement. 8. 1500 pandits are in the Brahmasthan, 60% reportedly without proper training or Vedic knowledge. 9. Rehabilitation of the buildings, which photographic evidence shows are very run down, is very limited. MONEY DONATED TO USA AND EUROPEAN CHARITABLE TRUSTS GOES TO THE BRAHMASTHAN From the Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation’s website marketing messaging: ‘Funding for the group of Maharishi Vedic Pandits is organized and administered by the Brahmananda Saraswati Trust in The Netherlands, and the Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation in the USA’. [Both founded in 2008, the year of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s passing. Chief Executive Officer: Harris Kaplan] ‘The mission of the Trust and Foundation includes overseeing a worldwide fundraising program, receiving donations, and managing the investment of the endowment fund. They jointly direct and monitor all disbursements to their managing partners in India …’ [The managing partners are Maharishi Veda Vigyan Vishwa Vidya Peetham (MVVVVP), an Indian charitable educational trust. Managing trustees: Girish Chandra Varma (‘Girish’, cousin of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi), Ajay Prakash Shrivastava (‘Prakash’)] https://vedicpandits.org A BRAHMASTHAN ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER RESIGNS IN PROTEST ‘Dear friends जय गुरुदेव [Jai Guru Dev] I'm Sushil kumar Pandey, Brahmin by birth, Native of village Dharwara about 12 KMs from bramisthan (Karondi), Ret officer of india border guarding force. I retired in July 2015 and joined at Karondi (bramisthan) on September 1st, 2015 as Adam [Admin] officer. Raja Harris [Kaplan, CEO, Brahmananda Saraswati Trust and Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation] and his family knows me well. I want to improve the life of vedik pundits and over all improvements of the dream of Maharishi ji. My hands were tide [tied] with no power and work. I understood My position [was] to become [a] showpiece without power. I was posted just as showpiece. Raja Harris and Mataji want improvement which was not in my hand due to many reasons. All depend on Mr Girish verma. Hence I resign. Still [I] want to do the work for organization. Without any interest, Jay गुरुदेव [Guru Dev]’ December 16th 2021 QUESTIONABLE CLAIM OF EMPLOYMENT POTENTIAL FOR PANDIT TRAINEES Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation website: ‘MVVVVP has become a leading institution for training Vedic Pandits with its graduates highly sought after by institutions throughout India …’. First person accounts from Maharishi Vedic Pandits contradict this claim. One such Maharishi Vedic Pandit, on reading the ‘About Us’ page on the BSF website commented, ‘I read out all. Many fraud’. Many individuals, longtime followers of Maharishi’s practices are bombarded on social media by requests from unemployed or underemployed Maharishi Vedic Pandits to pay them for personal yagyas. This is so common and the entreaties can be so persistent and desperate people frequently block the pandits to stop their messages. ‘I was 11 years old. Because I have spent my whole childhood in studying Vedas in Maharishi Ashram, that's why I have no identity outside [Maharishi’s ashrams]. India is very [has many] pundit, so it is difficult to get everyone's [anyone’s] temple [jobs] because there are already pundits in those temples’. (The jobs are passed down in families. They are almost never vacant.) In fact, pandits report that to get employment, in many instances (e.g., any teaching position supported by the Indian government) a pandit needs certification from a Sanskrit university or institute. This is difficult to attain and there are examination fees the pandits are unable to afford because of their oppressively low pay. It is reported that only 20% or less of Maharishi Vedic Pandits have such certification. ARE INCOMING PANDITS ADEQUATELY TRAINED? There are concerns about the level of qualification of the newer, younger Maharishi Vedic Pandits who are replacing senior pandits that have left and continue to leave the Brahmasthan in large numbers. Conveniently for the Brahmasthan administrators, less trained, junior pandits will accept lower pay than senior pandits. It is reported that newer pandits are not trained to the same level. It isn’t clear how many of them are fully qualified Purohit pandits (compared to minimally trained Pujari pandits). Several veteran pandits have said that a high percentage of the present group of Brahmasthan pandits ‘do not have knowledge of Veda’. They say 60% or even 80% of the pandits performing now do not have knowledge of the Veda and only chant from rote without deep insight into the basis of the performances. This is especially concerning because Maharishi emphasized the importance of performing yagya while established in the deepest level of transcendental pure consciousness within. ‘Performance from within Para’, he said. Less experienced, less learned pandits, who have not been meditating as many years as the departing and already gone senior pandits, are not going to perform yagyas with the same power. OPPRESSIVELY LOW PAY REPORTEDLY CAUSING GENERATIONAL HARDSHIP IN PANDIT FAMILIES One of the most frequent complaints from Maharishi Vedic Pandits is that they are not able to provide support for their aging parents, as Indian culture and tradition require. (There is not a government social safety net that provides retirement support and medical coverage. Children are expected to provide for their elderly parents.) They confess profound shame because of this. Some say they wish they had never entered training to become Maharishi Vedic Pandits, saying ‘I have wasted my life.’ It is reported that many have abandoned the pandit dharma entirely. ‘Many pundits who get any job they leave ashram. Many join company. They work as helper’. Pandits frequently describe the difference in the treatment they received while Maharishi was alive and now. ‘Maharishiji was good to us. Girishiji doesn’t care about pandits’. Maharishi treated the young pandits with respect and affection, in stark contrast to the treatment they have received since his passing. He showered his caring attention on them. Living conditions were better. The pandits were happy. ‘Maharishiji was God to us young pandits’. Morale was high, in stark contrast to the situation now. But now in pandit families where there are few sons, a pandit son’s inability to contribute to his parents’ support as they entered old age has driven some pandit families into severe poverty. There are reports of instances where the pandit’s father has had to sell his land over a period of time to pay dowries, medical costs, etc., eventually becoming destitute in old age. PAY STRUCTURE APPEARS RIGGED TO ALIENATE SENIOR PANDITS The way stipends are managed appears designed to drive senior pandits out so less money will have to be paid. Senior pandits have more financial responsibility to their families, since more of them are established with wives and children and their parents are older. Knowledgeable and senior pandits who are in touch with many other pandits, have repeatedly affirmed that new pandits are being hired in the range of 5000 to 9000 rupees/month ($67 - $121US). The number most often mentioned is 7000. Every opportunity is taken to let the more expensive, senior pandits go and hire untrained or less-trained pandits for around Rs.7000. For example, when the ashrams were permitted to start re-hiring pandits after the pandemic, in many cases they chose not to re-hire experienced and faithful pandits who may have been paid as much as Rs. 16,000/month, in favour of pandits at around Rs. 7000. There is a growing demand from Maharishi Vedic Pandits to be paid a minimum of Rs. 15,000/month ($201). That will help retain the more qualified pandits and dramatically improve morale at the Brahmasthan. In a single stroke, it will greatly improve the quality of the yagyas the Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation is promoting. Rs. 15,000/month is still less than most similarly qualified pandits are paid outside Maharishi’s institutions. Here is an example of how the compensation structure is rigged to keep the pay artificially low and drive senior pandits out of the Brahmasthan: ‘Actually the ashram has its own rule, this rule has been implemented for the last 5-6 years, according to this rule, every year the dakshina [pay] of the pundits increases by ₹ 500 to ₹ 700, but … If we do not do 280 days duty here [in a year], then … dakshina is not increased … . If we want to increase our money, then it is necessary to do duty for 280 days… . It is a very bad rule for us because we are all Pandits from other states, some are residents of Assam, Nepal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and all Pandits have their own families. We have siblings, wife, children, we have to go home … and due to this we are not able to do 280 days of duty, due to which our money does not increase’. IT IS UP TO THE DONORS TO DEMAND ANSWERS AND DRIVE THE SOLUTIONS The financial affairs of MVVVVP, the organisation administering the Brahmasthan, are far from transparent. It is thus impossible to assess what exactly is being done with the money given by donors to BSF/BST. Clearly the pandits are not supported adequately. Is that because there simply isn’t enough money, or is money is being siphoned off? Is all of the money going to legitimate charitable purposes? For these matters to be resolved, the direct providers of the funds, the donors themselves, will have to take control. How that might come to pass is not clear. It will be up to the donors to decide how to organise together and go about setting matters straight.