30 years back, when most of us got into all of this, M was a 13 year old guru from India who had been raised to believe that he was the LOTU. (In itself, pretty unusual!) His belief, and all that went with it (his mother and brothers, family history, Indian tradition etc.), really helped to sell the whole idea, both to M (while he was growing up) and to us, especially western premies - the ones with the cash. BTW, in case you weren't aware, Indian premies usually have many gurus, and M is just one of them.

Many of us didn't realise here, in Europe and the USA, that gurus are two a penny in India. We thought he was the one and only! And the mahatmas played that card very well too. They did a good job of 'undoing' our western religious indoctrination. In my knowledge session the mahatma quoted from the Bible each time he revealed a technique, almost as if he was trying to prove something.

Everything possible was done to pull in and persuade genuine searchers who got caught up in this charade. And our hearts were sincere.

But was M's heart sincere? May be, at the beginning, when he was 7 or 8, 12 or 13. But he was just a kid then! May be at that point he was a victim, by birth. As he grew older, what kind of morality did he have to draw from? What role models did he have? Fawning and obsequious devotees? Yeah, that's about it! What kind of mind-warping effect would that have on a teenager? And then there was all the cash that went with the darshan lines. You can begin to see how M was drawn into a different kind of religion - MONEY!

All of this devotion, and with it, the money, was projected onto a teenager who, after a few years in the west, rejected his mother and brothers, because they refused to condone his new obsession with materialism. I remember Mike Finch writing that he reckoned he knew the exact moment that M became entrapped by the materialism of the west. I think it was a Rolex watch in Harrods that did it.

Whatever he wanted, ice cream or doughnuts, a Rolex watch or a Rolls Royce. It was delivered. The cash was raised. He's the Lord. He deserves no less! Hey, the possibilites were (and still are) endless.

Now fast forward 30 years and what do we have? Palace, plane, yacht. OK, the yacht is sold now, but it cost $7 million! And to no benefit for premies or EV.

But what is the legacy of M&K? EV is full of secrecy, suspicion, lies and back stabbing. M is a motivational speaker/guru/master/LOTU (interchangeable according to "understanding"). Denial of the past on EV websites, revisionism and outright lies. He has a mistress, drinks excessively, is verbally abusive. Keeps big, big secrets away from premies. It really does look as if it's become very rotten indeed.

Even if M is in denial, there must have been times, during his adult life, that he would have questioned himself, and his actions. Unless he is completely devoid of any human emotion and moral conscience, he must have done that by now. Surely.

And if he was honest with himself he would have to question his behaviour. In his heart of hearts he would have had to have asked himself questions like Why haven't I addressed the many grievances and concerns from premies and ex-premies? Why do I need to live in such luxury? Why do I need a mistress? Why do I keep this all secret? Is this an acceptable way for a master to behave? (No, that's why it's kept secret!)

May be his ego is too big to now for him to be honest with himself. If his idea of "caring" for premies is to turn up at an event, be worshipped, pontificate his opinion for a while, and then leave, well IMO that's not good enough for a true Master. A true Master would recognise his/her own short comings, admit them, then change and grow as necessary. Not continue down the wrong road.

M has succeeded, in 30 years, to make himself extremely rich, and surround himself with "Ex-rated Yes Men". He can hide his ego and secrets behind a protective screen of frightened and misguided premies. But he has failed to keep the vast majority of premies.

Now that he is, and has been, an adult (for a very long time) M is responsible for his own words and actions. He is not a child or teenager any more. He is, I'm sure, fearful of losing substantial income, as premies continue to leave in droves. He has to come up with new ways of generating cash. The latest ideas being charging outrageous amounts for registration (and tent hire at Amaroo). So now it is a con!

He will compromise his own morality and honest self-appraisal so that he can live in luxury beyond our imagination. Just take a look at the picture of his palace on EPO. And the plane.