The ashram released a new official statement in Manorama.
First of all the accountant says that the M.A. Math doesn't have any Swiss bank account. No one ever said that they have a Swiss bank account. The FCRA clearly shows that they have a bank account in a foreign country. The ashram confirmed that the organization has savings to avoid money shortage if Amritanandamayi ever stops touring. The account balance is hight enought to generate around $2 millions of annual bank interest. That's all we know. We don't know which country hosts this account. It is not in Swiss? Then it is somewhere else! Bank interests don't grow on trees.
Another statement is extremely interesting :
"Amma (Mata Amritanandamayi) undertakes tour to foreign countries accepting the invitations of the devotees. Amma is not a trustee in any of the ashrams abroad"This wonderfull quote should be compared to the following one which was issued in 2003 :
"Today, her charitable trust-Mata Amritanan-damayi Math-runs ashrams in more than 30 countries in six continents"This is exactly what we said in previous posts. The official reports, newspapers articles and public declarations claim that she has millions of devotees worldwide and that she owns an international empire. It is a lie!
Actually she is not as powerfull as the various media pretend. According to our estimations, she has less than 600,000 followers in foreign countries. Being ex-devotees we know by experience that she doesn't own any of the international centers. Her "empire" is exclusively located in India. The foreign centers belong to independant local foreign associations.
This is the first time that she publicly acknowledges that she doesn't own a single grain of dust abroad. She doesn't give a cent for "her" worldwide humanitarian projects. The international charities are labeled with her name, although they are designed, funded and achieved by the foreigners on their own. She only makes a big cheque to big NGOs or governments in case of highly publicized big natural disaster.
In fact her power mainly comes from communication. Her extensive media coverage has been piloted by western devotees during all her carrier. Her most influent western followers know how to advertise her, how to market her, how to turn her into a global spiritual product.
She has been overusing this global media coverage to raise for 3 decades. Now that things are going wrong, she is stepping back, trying to look humble and modest. We wonder what will be her next backward move.