Received:from:Joe Pena
for Prakash.Arumugam
Sun, 27 Apr 1997 11:05:53 -0400
from:JPen1@queenbee.net
to:Prakash.Arumugam@med.uni-giessen.de
Subject: Was once a Sai Baba Devotee

Dear Sir,

I have been going through the Indian Skeptic Home Page and came
upon your little anecdote.I really enjoyed it.I actually was laughing
out loud.I just recently recieved a copy of the Indian Skeptic through
the mail.The article about the kidney transplant at the specialty
hospital,to say was shocking, would be understateing the facts.The
problem that I have is that the quality of the paper copy was so bad
that it was virtually impossible to read the documents.Ever since the
murders that happened at the ashram I have been very apprehensive about
the Sai Baba organization.What made it worse was that the organization
refused to tell us what was being written in the Indian press.They gave
some official discription that the motive for this murder was jeolousy.
This to me,being an American,with very radical political beliefs,with
years of experience following various cover-ups of my own government,
like Watergate,Iran-Contra/L.A. South Central crack-Contras/CIA
connections ect.,this not only smelled bad,these people weren't even
good liers.When murders start happening I remember Jonestown,Guyana,and
being well aquinted with that nightmare,having had a girlfriend who did
extensive research on the incident,including going through raw FBI
files,I knew there was something very dangerous going on.
One of the things that always bothered me about the Sai Baba
organization was the strong connection that many of its people have to
government in the United States Sai Baba Centers it seems to be like
that all over the world though.Tell me if you think I am being overly
paranoid.Let me expand on this.

Hal Honig who is very high up in the Baba organization in the United
States once told me that he was a "cultural attache " at the U.S.
embassy in Rome,and that he was assigned there after turning down a
posting in Saigon.If you know anything about diplomacy and the
intelligence comunity you will find that "cultural attache" is often
used as a cover for CIA.This was always true in Saigon during the
war.The Rome embassy war very hot with CIA activity.A freiend of his
named Andrea told me herself that she did counter-intellegence work for
the Royal Canadien Mounted Police.
Hals friend Ruth Hercolani worked with Hal at the Rome embassy.Her
father was the commerce and finance minister under the Bosch government
in Santo Domingo,He also was responsible for bringing in the Latin vote
in the Kennedy administration,she showed me his picture at the Kennedy
memorial.She went out for a while with an American CIA guy who hunted
down Che Gevara.He was hideing out in Santo Domingo running from the FBI
for medical malpractice.He used to brag about his mob connections to
her.She once introduced me to the former forign minister of Iraq.This
guy was for real he was totally plastered on a drinking binge,and showed
me a letter that was an invitation to a meeting where Henry
Kissenger,military and CIA officials were attending.Her friend Roy Malo
was the son of an embassador from Argentina,land of disappearing
people,he didn't like Jews.Although in all fairness he did end up
marrying a Jewish psychotherapist after seeing "Schindlers List".
Al Drucker at a talk at the ashram the first I was at the ashram
happened to mention that he had worked for the U.S. Defense Department.I
was curious as to what capacity,so he told me.He used to write the
launch codes to the U.S.nuclear missile system.I suspect he ended up at
Sai Babas after burning out.Lets face it, being potentially, personally
responsible for Armageddon is a very heavy load .I think he was kicked
out of the Ashram recently.He probably had some original thoughts they
couldn't handle.

Jack Lenchner who has a Sai Baba cable program worked with other
people on the Cray Mainframe supercomputer.Until recently he was living
on a houseboat and seems to have deteriorated mentally quite a bit.And
finally there is the U.N.Sai Baba center.What gets me is with all this
connection to real power and politics,they claim to not be interested in
it,or have anything to do with it.Years back when reading Samual
Sanweise"s ,"The Holy Man and the Psychiatrist",I came upon a very
interesting question and Babas answer.It was a question about taking
care of the poor and would socialism win out.Baba responded that yes the
rich would have to give up their possesions.I decided to make it my
central theme in a study circle,to point out that Baba had clearly taken
a political position.I can't even begin to tell you what an uproar that
created( I tend to have a reputation as a rable rouser).Then one day I
am at the center and pick up a newer edition of the same book to show
the quote to someone,and it was gone.The new edition had deleted that
reference.I went home to check my old edition and it was there clear as
day in black and white.I started asking for an explanation and got the
official run around.Then one day Ruth asks me if she can borrow a copy
of my book.I say sure and let her have it.When I ask for it back she
hands me the newer version and tells me that she must have lent mine out
to someone else and besides what difference does it make.I guess she
never read George Orwell's"1984".This is the same woman who when
Berlusconi won the election in Italy with support of the Fascists said,
"Oh good!Maybe now he'll bring back the aristocracy!" Nice folks ,huh?
If you can find an edition of Sanweiss's book that was printed before
1986 and compare the question and answer section in the back with a
later edition you will find the discrepancy.Then again,who knows how
efficient they were about it.I cannot believe I was such a sucker.I may
have even lost the love of my life because of admiting I was a Baba
devotee.That I will most assuredly never forgive them for,not even in
their dreams.I do not know if you are in touch with Premanad on a
regular basis ,but if you are let him know that if he wants his videos
produced and distributed in the United States he should try getting in
touch with DeepDish T.V. and Paper Tiger T.V.The are very good at
getting alternative vidio on the sattelite /cable system.

The FAX number for both is 212-420-8223
(there may be some country and city codes
involved if you FAX from India you'll have to find those out for
yourselves.)
Send it co/Pat Levasseur.
She will know what it is about.They
also have WEB pages they are:
http://www.igc.atc.org/deepdish ___and___http://www.papertiger.org
There are also an outside possibility of getting Pemanad funding for
more Guru Busters stuff.Personally I think he should expand the
definition and call it Cult Busters.With the Heavens Gate cult makeing
headlines and the Oklahoma city bombing trial starting up it will be
firtile ground for this stuff.

The curious thing about your article is that healing of some kind
seems to have occured through some kind of congruent belief.There is
somethong to be said for that.It is easy to dismis it as "just"the
placibo effect.Lets face it, the placebo effect is at times very
effective and probably even useful for more than "just" mind control.I
will tell you an interesting story.Four years ago my father was
diagnosed with lymphoma.He worked all his life as a dry cleaner,so he
handled perclorethylene,which is considered in the United States a class
A carcinogen.Before it was classified as that ,he used it very
carelessly.When my mother told me his condition,I reminded her of an old
New York Magazine that had listed the best doctors in NY that I had told
her to save because she would probably need it some day,and this was the
day,obviously.I picked a Dr.Sidney Cohen,an oncologist at Beth Isreal
hospital.My wife is a nutritionist so I asked her to make a list of all
the foods that have been found to have anti-carcinogenic properties.I
gave the list to my mother and told her to feed this to my father and
she did.We told the doctor about the food. He didn't believe in
it.Fine.I give my father a copy of Howard Murphets book something
miracles I don't remember the title now,and some vibuti from Baba.He
took the vibiti and read the book and was deeply emotionally moved.He
goes through the course of chemo-therapy.To make a long story short,he
got complete remission.The doctor told him then,"I didn't want to tell
you back then but when you came to me your cancer was very advanced.I
seriosly did not think you were going to make it."
Later Jackie Onassis went to Dr.Cohen for his diagnosis and opinion.My
mother found out later that my fathers cancer was much more advanced
then hers was.She was not treated by Dr.Cohen she went with someone
else.She died.My father is still in complete remision to this day.To

this day I don't know why she died and my father lived.Was it
Sidney?Sure! did the food have anything to do with it.Maybe,who knows?I
know the food didn't hurt.Was there any contributing factor from my
father having a strong emotional response to a higher power?Maybe,who
knows?Was it some unique blend of all three factors?Again who knows?I am
certain who ever finally took care of Jackie O he was also probably one
of the finest .All I know for sure is Jackie O is dead and my father to
this day is well.I do think good attitude has a positive effect in
healing.Being a psychiatrist and a rationalist I would love to hear your
opinion.

What I cannot fathom about the Sai Baba people is that they can look

you right in the eye and tell you that someone like Baba with that much
control of so many peoples behavior,determining what they value and what
they don't value has no politics.Right,sure!
Is that why this Indian general that came one day,he,I think is
retired now, but he was commander of forces when India had that border
clash with Pakistan,took the extra time to explain to me why Adolph
Hitler was a great man just not a good man.I guess Jeffry Dahmer was a
great canibal just not a good one.

Sincerely yours,
Joseph M.Pena