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Sahlan Diver - Trial By Feelings

Mismanagement at Anugraha?. From Arianne Laidlaw, July 8, 2007. Time 12:52

I had heard about the Meagher manuscript without any details. Therefore, I'm grateful to Sahlan for his review. I didn't realize (or remember) when Luthfi was manager, but it seems it might have started AFTER an incident which riled many of us in the US back then. We heard the Anugraha directors had lent a considerable sum to somebody, who never repaid it. We thought this a terrific example of mismanagement. Was this done by the board which resigned?

I hope Luthfi has had many supporters within Subud reassuring him that his efforts were appreciated even though they were eventually thwarted by others misguided.

From Sahlan Diver, July 8, 2007. Time 13:2

I passed your comments on to Luthfi O'Meagher, who replied as follows: [names removed to disguise identities]

As I wrote in 'The Governance', I brought two principles to Anugraha taken from Milton's experience in the English Revolution. 'A Covenent', a grace given to a people by the Grace of God, can only be maintained if those in authority act in the interests of all of the people; not some of the people. All actions in such circumstances have to place principle above the expediency of the moment. I never found it necessary or wise to depart from this understanding.

The first Board, I regret to say did get taken over by hubris, and lost sight of the boundaries completely. When money started to flood in, they had the idea of investing it in other projects in order to make even more money. That is, of course, ultra vires, but their blindness to boundaries did not see this.

A loan of £95,000 belonging to [a member] in a client account was invested it in a property adjacent to Anugraha, and then the lot was lost. Eventually [the new MD] agreed to pay a monthly sum to the member equivalent to the interest on it. As [the next] MD,I always ensured that this was paid. That is how that [member and his wife] lost their entire income when I was sacked and Anugraha was sold for less than that owing to the Bank. This is why I had to spend eleven years picking up the pieces getting hardship money for the Special Cases.

A property project run by [two members] was another venture in which considerable sums were invested, It was down to £20,000 when I arrived, In spite of frequent promises, and shaming in accounts and at AGMs no further funds were ever repaid.

The corruption within the Subud Association has broken 'The Covenant' in every one of Bapak's Large Enterprises, and has, in my opinion, very nearly destroyed Bapak's mission. But, as I say, I believe that the Association has been given another chance. I believe that there are now enough people around to do things differently, as indeed the Subud Vision editors are now doing.

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