The recent drama regarding the arrest of self styled
Godman Rampal has once again brought the spotlight on India’s numerous
spiritual gurus and preachers. Though health, well-being and spirituality are
what they all profess, some have made it to the headlines for the controversy
they create, like financial irregularities, sexual abuse and, sometimes, even
murder.
Though gurus or godmen in India
have huge followings and are usually considered holy and utterly blameless,
allegations of sexual misconduct and depravity on their part crop up with
regularity. In India, godmen wield a lot of power over their devotees, which is
a heady feeling. They have the money power and influence. Many a leading
politicians hob nob with these self styled Godman for seeking solace, spiritual
guidance, eager to peep into the future (most of these Godman are adept with
astrology), dip into their deep & huge pockets (many of them are
billionaires), use them to store their ill-gotten wealth, use their resources
in their election campaign and leverage their followers to gather votes. It’s a
quid-pro-quo arrangement and in return the Godman expand their operations and
soon begin to believe they can get away
with anything - financial irregularities, sexual abuse and, sometimes,
even murder. No wonder, most godmen get away with their unpleasant acts
simply because they enjoy political clout.
In the past two decades, spiritual life in the country has
undergone a transformation as Indians embrace hectic urban lifestyles and move
away from their cultural roots of village-based worship .
The result is that many have sought solace by flocking to the
ashrams of gurus who offer spiritual tourisms, chanting routines, yoga lessons
and herbal cures . Most of these Godman’s appear on TV regularly and some even
have their own 24x7 TV Channels thro which they spread their propaganda and
brain wash innocent, gullible followers.
These modern-day mega- gurus are nothing like the wandering
saints of ancient Hindu religious texts, who meditated and lived on alms,
renouncing all worldly possessions.
Today’s gurus have built hundreds of ashrams across the globe
and run flourishing businesses in everything from herbal medicine to meditation
and yoga workshops. They travel in luxury cars, fly in private aircrafts, glide
past airport security and are guarded by gun-toting police officers and bouncers.
Some have criminal pasts.
Followers
being sworn to secrecy is a common practice of godmen. No wonder so many "godmen" get embroiled in sex scandals? Sociologist
Dipankar Gupta agrees that godmen prey upon the vulnerability of their
followers, especially women. "Once the women are drawn in, it is easy for
these godmen to force themselves upon them," he says. The belief that
so-called godmen are above sexual impulses is totally false. "Their sexual
desire is no less than that of an ordinary man," says andrologist Sudhakar
Krishnamurti. Many incidents of rape or sexual assault by godmen happen because
they deprive themselves of a natural sex life.
So what
is it that makes these Godman thrive and continue to exploit the innocent &
gullible public. Experts say that it is
the blind faith of their devotees that enables these "gurus" to
influence them. "We Indians are great believers in miracles and feel that
somebody can get us out of our miseries. This is the prime reason we fall for
these godmen," says Prabir Ghosh, general secretary, Science and
Rationalists' Association of India, Calcutta.
Historically if one were to go down
the spiritual past and the religious scriptures, mankind mostly turn to
religion & GOD when in distress. It could be as a result of poverty,
ill-health, loss of near & dear one, financial losses, legal threats,
depression, love failure, approaching of an exam, appearing for a job interview etc. At this stage the person is at the lowest ebb of
his emotions and will easily be attracted by anyone who promises or appears to
help alleviate their problems. The person is looking for a quick fix solution,
though it may take a long time to resolve their problems. Most of the time it’s
a case of “Placebo” effect. In many cases the person is looking for some
someone to hear them out (ventilation) and possibly offer an instant solutions
- it’s a case of Soothe sayer.
Its here that the self styled
Godman intercept. They are well versed in the religious scriptures, can rattle
them from the back of their head with consummate ease. Recite slokas and can
communicate & articulate well. They are able to relate the problems of
mankind with that of the religious scriptures and there fore are able to
connect well. On top of it they have learnt & mastered meditation and hence
can do gravity levitation, specialized in yoga, reiki (healing touch) and have learnt a few tricks (magic) – vibudhi
generated on the photos remotely, sudden appearance of a ring in the Godman’s
hand, mouth etc, instant disappearance from public view, sudden lighting of the
aarti without a match stick, plucking out a flower from the open etc.
On top of it all, they use a part
of their earnings and build hospitals, educational institutions, social
infrastructure and other social work. This is seen as a great piece of charity
by the gullible public and further strengthen their bond and relationship with
these Godman. They have made it into a business and mastered ROI (return on
investment). They invest in charities (a percentage of their revenues) and in
turn reap in huge donations and fundings from their devotee’s. History is
replete on the financial fortunes of Tirupati, Iskon, Raghavendra Swamy temple.
Take the case of Thiruvananthapuram
temple (estimated 22 billion in gold diamonds – jewels found in Indian temples
secret vaults). It's a find worthy of a "Raiders of the Lost Ark"
plot line: Jewels, gold trinkets, coins, and statues worth an estimated $22
billion were uncovered in a series of secret vaults beneath a Hindu temple in
the southern Indian city of Thiruvananthapuram. The loot includes about 1,000
kilograms (2,205 pounds) of gold coins – some dating back 400 years – ropes of
gold, sacks of diamonds, and a gold statue of the Hindu god Vishnu studded with
precious gems, as well as an 18-foot solid gold ornament weighing 35 kilograms
(77 pounds) and rare silver and brass platters. So far the find is worth nearly
double India’s 2011-2012 education budget ($11.61 billion) – and there's still
another vault to be unlocked. The 16th century Sri Padmanabha temple, in the
capital of the southern coastal state of Kerala, is now considered to be the richest
of India’s temples.
Imagine if all this money is
unlocked and released back into the society, our GDP will grow a few percentage
points instantly and many a poor can be lifted out of poverty.
No wonder world renowned Indian
Magician – PC Sorkar – Sr used to say
that if he wanted to become a Godman, he could have easily become one and far
more popular & powerful than Sathya Sai Baba. He would often say that what
these Godman claim to be miracles (because they are God or have supernatural
healing powers) are but simple magic tricks that are being used to dupe the
gullible public. Imagine if a PC Sorkar, Houdini, David Blaine, Chris Angel were to grow a long flowing beard
& hair, wore a orange or a white dhoti, bare chested, were able to recite a few slokas what would
have happened to them. They would have ruled the world because they are far
more skillful in magic than these Godman- who look so poor in front of them.
With the combination of good
knowledge of religious scriptures, meditation, yoga and magic they are able to
captivate their audience, who in their lowest ebb of their emotions, connect
instantly with the Godman and slowly become addicted with them and refuse to
detach themselves. Because of their magical skills (maya) even the educated
often fall prey to them.
That’s why many a religious
destinations, temple are the hot bed of corruption, sleaze & exploitation. Take
the case of the ritual of visiting Sabarimala. Millions throng the Sabarimala
every year. Before the darshan, devotees perform a sort of penance and then
visit Sabarimala offer their prayers. Just have a look at the other side of
Pampa and check with the Railway authorities on the condition of the rail
coaches on the return home or the case of Tirupati, Varanasi etc.
There is an erosion in the value
systems in today’s society & generation. Every own wants instant
gratification and hence every one adopts shortcuts to meet their expectations
and ever growing demands. With more & more individuals adopting a Nuclear
family, living a fast & high life style, tolerance levels are growing lower
& lower because of financial independene (no wonder most urban marriages
are heading to a divorce). They get stressed, become sick (physically &
mentally) and are prone to depression sooner than later. Its here that the
Godman having read and learnt all these solutions (parihara’s), they leverage
on these and further exploit the illiterate, innocent & gullible followers.
Even the educated who don’t have time or have access to these solutions
(shortcuts), rely on these Godman to help them wash their sins.
If at all anyone has to be blamed it’s
the people at large for without an audience these Godman are nobody &
nothing. Because we commit many sins and want to wash them off and instantly,
these Godman thrive. In the process many of them get exploited mentally
(emotion), financially and physically (sexual exploitation).
Its time we realize that it pays to
live a life with values, slow down our pace, distress ourselves and realize that
there is no quick fix to life problems. Its time that we realize that there is
no such thing or anyone who is a Godman and that they are also a human being
just like all of us and abhor believing in Godman and shun them from their
lives and put an end to this mad faith in their supernatural powers &
healing powers.
Till such time we will have many
more such Rampals, Nithyananda, Asaram, Rajneesh, Dheerandra Bramachari etc.
Only time will tell if we ever learn from past lessons…. or will it be .......
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