Baba Gurinder Singh Dhillon is an Indian spiritual head of Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB), Punjab. In 1990, he was given the charge of RSSB after the demise of the spiritual head Maharaj Charan Singh, who was Gurinder Singh’s uncle and the guru of RSSB in 1990. The Maine centre of RSSB was established beside the river Beas in Punjab (Northern India) by Baba Jaimal Singh in 1891. This centre is popularly called ‘Dera Baba Jaimal Singh.’
Wiki/Biography
Baba Gurinder Singh Dhillon was born on Sunday, 1 August 1954 (age 67 years; as of 2021) in Moga, Punjab, India. His zodiac sign is Leo. He attained his school education at the Lawrence School, Sanawar, Himachal Pradesh. Later, he went to Punjab University, Chandigarh to obtain his bachelor’s degree in Commerce. [1]
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 7″
Hair Colour: Grey
Eye Colour: Black
Family
Parents & Siblings
His father’s name is Gurmukh Singh. He was a well off landlord from Moga, Punjab. His mother’s name is Mohinder Kaur.
Wife & Children
His wife’s name was (Late) Shabnam Dhillon.
Gurinder Singh Dhillon on his wedding day with his bride and Maharaj Charan Singh Ji
Gurinder Singh Dhillon with his wife, son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren
Gurinder Singh Dhillon has two sons named Gurpreet Singh Dhillon and Gurkirat Singh Dhillon. Gurpreet Singh Dhillon is the CEO of Religare Health Trust (RHT).
Autograph
Autograph of Gurinder Singh Dhillon
Religion
Radha Soami, Sant Mat, Sikhism [2]
Ideologies
The spiritual faith and ideology taught at the centres of RSSB are based on the inner process of spirituality under the guidance of a living guru or spiritual teacher. According to RSSB and its teachings, the true purpose of human life is to experience the divinity of God within us. The meaning of Radha Soami is derived from two words – Radha means soul and Soami mean lord, Radhasoami means ‘Lord of the Soul.’ The spiritual discourses at RSSB seek the inner truth of the soul. RSSB has its centres in more than 90 countries in the world with 20 million followers. [3] No political or commercial organization is associated with this sect. It is considered a non-profit organisation. It focuses on a simple life, a Lacto-vegetarian diet, free from any intoxicants like tobacco, cigarette, alcohol, drugs, honest earnings, not indulging in sex outside the legal marriage, daily practice of meditation by repeating the five names given by the spiritual guru (master) at the time of initiation. This sect follows no rituals, ceremonies, hierarchies or mandatory contributions by the followers or devotees. There are no compulsory gatherings, and there is no need to give up the religion or cultural identity to follow this path. At the time of initiation, the Surat Shabd Yoga is taught that has to be practised according to the instructions of the living master or guru. In this practice, the disciple has to sit in meditation, with closed eyes concentrate between the eyebrows to perform Simran by chanting the five holy names imparted at the time of initiation. By practising it daily, a disciple would be able to listen to the inner divine sound or Word (also known as Shabd) within himself. Ultimately, this is defined as Surat Shabd Yoga within Sant Mat.
Spiritual Discourses
Being a spiritual head of Dera Beas, Punjab, he regularly delivers spiritual discourses at the major centres of RSSB in India as well as in foreign countries in the months of April and August. The disciples are allowed to gather, listen to his discourses, and have a spiritual look at him (darshan) usually on the designated days and weekends.
Controversy
In 2020, Gurinder Singh Dhillon was summoned by the Economic Offences Wing (EoW) of the Delhi Police on the complaints filed by businessman Malvinder Singh and his brother, Shivinder for taking off the amount from the sale of Ranbaxy Laboratories. [4] In October 2020, Malvinder Singh also submitted the history of loan transactions done in the accounts of the Dhillon family. In addition to this, he also submitted an affidavit that showed the transactions of over 500 crores being transferred from the bank account of Malvinder to the bank account of Gurinder Dhillon. [5] In 2018, Malvinder and his brother were also under a criminal inquiry by the financial departments of India. They were under the fraud investigation of over 23 billion rupees missing from their listed companies. [6] In 2019, the Supreme Court of India declared Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh bankrupt for causing a loss of Rs 2,397 crore to a subsidiary of Religare Enterprises named Religare Finvest Ltd (RFL) and selling the Ranbaxy to Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo. Reportedly, Shivinder Singh had the desire to head the spiritual sect RSSB one day that was mentioned by his brother Malvinder Singh in a press conference. In the same year, Malvinder Singh and Shivinder Singh were arrested by the Delhi Police economic offences wing (EOW) under bankruptcy. [7]
Malvinder Singh and his brother Shivinder Singh
Facts/Trivia
- In 1990, Baba Gurinder Singh Dhillon was given the charge of the spiritual head of RSSB. At that time, he was working in Spain after completing his studies at Panjab University.
- Gurinder Singh Dhillon was used to call ‘Moga’ by his friends in his college days. In his college days, he was a big fan of riding bikes, Rock band ‘Beatles,’ and Canadian singer ‘Paul Anka.’ [8]
- Gurinder Singh Dhillon is the son of Charan Singh Grewal’s sister. Charan Singh Grewal was the spiritual head of Dera Beas before Gurinder Singh Dhillon.
Charan Singh Grewal with his nephew Gurinder Singh Dhillon as a young boy
- In July 2020, Gurinder Singh Dhillon told the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi that all the centres of the sect would be available for the care of Covid-19 patients during the Covid-19 pandemic. [9]
- In a question-answer hour session with his devotees, Gurinder Singh Dhillon pointed on the COVID-19 situations in the world in May 2020. He said,
I don’t think we need COVID-19 to make us think about it. Whether it’s the cell phones,iPads or computers, they have already destroyed the social fabric of our society.Where do the children sit and talk? Where do the children sit and play? They are moreinterested in their games on iPhones and computers. The art of conversation, the artof letter writing and all that has already started taking a beating. COVID-19 has justbrought it to the fore as what was already taking place.”
