Sundari: Hello, Rick.
This is Sundari, James Swartz’s wife. We have kept silent since we heard that you removed the interview you had with James last year because of a claim that he hypnotized, drugged and raped a 14-year-old 40 years ago.
We paid no attention to the farcical, totally unsubstantiated and clearly fabricated claim, because it simply has no credibility or truth to it. We know that the internet is a cesspool for low-lifes, like whoever the slanderer is, as much as it provides a forum for knowledge. We also know how this crazy world functions. There is no fairness or justice from the small-picture reality; it’s a zero-sum game. Ignorance is taken to be knowledge by most and people are entitled to think whatever they choose. What use is control?
Fortunately for us, we can step out of the small picture because we have the big-picture view. We really did not and do not care about the farce and gave it no attention at all. There is no way for anyone to damage us, even if they did manage to damage our reputation, which they did not. Quite the opposite. Our lives do not need to be defended.
However, as the anonymous slanderer gained momentum and got more desperate and creative in his bid to damage James’ reputation, more and more of James and ShiningWorld’s worldwide audience wrote to us about the posts in disbelief, outraged and offended on his behalf. Clearly this person has no understanding that it is a very bad idea to attempt to defame a truly impeccable reputation. It is not hard to see why this low-life would have no idea that such people, truly great souls like James, actually exist.
James is that very rare thing, the real deal. His contribution to the whole is so great, he will be remembered for many long years to come. How many people do you know alive today of which that can be said? It seems you also have no idea who he is. It would amaze this person if he had any inkling of how much support for James his defamation attempts engendered. Attendance at seminars has gone through the roof, invitations to teach all over the world have increased, our book and video sales have improved. Quite the opposite result from the one he was hoping to achieve, no doubt unintended consequences.
What we find harder to understand – and so do our worldwide supporters, is why a supposedly unbiased and reputable forum for spiritual ideas such as yourself would give credence to such obviously unsubstantiated claims, why you did not support the principle of fairness and truth.
You have become famous interviewing famous people in the spiritual world. Yet you and your wife chose to protect a liar rather than give James, one of the most respectable names in the spiritual world, a fair hearing. In this age of fake news, it is a great pity that you did not at least have the decency to write to us first before you acted on this false and defamatory information.
This has raised a great deal of doubt about you and Batgap.com among our vast ShiningWorld community. You claim to be “spiritual” people, but virtue is as virtue does. I could think of several terms that apply to people like you and your wife, and moral cowards is one of them.
You know the identity of the accuser, yet despite repeated requests from Ram, from me and from many interested ShiningWorld supporters to reveal the identity so that we could press legal charges, you refused to do so, not exactly a principled stand – and a sobering thought for all past and future interviewees – don’t expect fairness or loyalty from the Archers.
We sent you a copy of our latest newsletter, in which we made public this charade because it was a “teachable moment.” It deals with dharma and adharma. We also sent it to the coward behind the slander, who refuses to make his identity known because he says he is “protecting the good name of the ‘victim.’” Clearly, the absurdity of such a claim is lost on him. We have many people working on tracking his identity and when we find him, we fully intend to take legal action. The outrage and support from the ShiningWorld community has been enormous. We have many people donating towards a legal fund. I wish I could send you all the emails we received, but unfortunately, there are too many. I add below just one which sums up what all the others say:
Rory, from London: “I actually had no idea about this smear campaign. Upon seeing the newsletter, I had a look online and was struck by how utterly fabricated this ‘story’ is. As a writer, I can pretty much tell that this is a piece of creative writing, perhaps even one that was commissioned by some disgruntled person who really needs to get out more. It’s all very ‘tabloid’ and feels very artificial and crassly constructed. It’s like some bad pulp fiction, a retired detective investigating some ‘evil cult leader.’ Anyone who knows Ramji will find it utterly ludicrous. It will definitely blow over, it’s too stupid not to. I think the way you have both handled it with the newsletter was totally right.”
We look forward to hearing what you have to say, if you have the courage to reply.
~ Sundari
Note to all: I received no replies to my emails, and neither did James.