Over the years many Indian ‘gurus’ have been accused and being exposed. Indian culture has great amount of spiritual beliefs imbibed into it and many fake gurus tend to take advantage of it and exploit the common people. Some of these religious gurus are among the biggest money minters in the country.
The present situation
The people of a country who are ardent believers and practitioners of religion, need spiritual leaders in the first place. Its easy to fool a believer than to fool a non-believer. India, the home to greatest men in the world’s history is battling the evils of poverty, illiteracy, food shortage, disease and corruption. In such times, when we need to unite as a nation and fight against these evils, we have some opportunists for whom nothing else but the money matters. The innocent people are cajoled into believing that they are living sinful lives and are in great need of soul cleansing and spiritual healing. These opportunists claim to perform miracles to relieve you of pain and sufferings, which you might not even have in the first place, but they make you believe you do. (Isn’t that the first rule of MBA? If you want to sell your product, make your consumer believe they need it even when they don’t.)
None of the saints that India has produced, preached or lived a life of luxury. Let it be Shirdi Sai Baba or Guru Nanak Dev Ji, Mahavir Jain or even Gautam Buddha, they all led a very humble life. They all taught us to be better humans and help the less fortunate.This scenario existed centuries ago when we used to offer food and clothes as ‘daan’ or ‘bhiksha’ to the saints. Times have changed and currently, we take pride in offering intricate gold and silver jewellery pieces studded with precious stones along with millions of rupees to the idols of these holy men which once inhabited this holy land. This is the point to be noted that, if these men were disinterested in material things when they were alive, how can they be interested in such extravagant gifts after their demise? Also, when they were against this practice, then why is it even a practice? Isn’t that regarded as going against the preaching?
Many people will argue that these offerings by disciples are not what the idols or institutions demanded, but a mere symbol of their faith and devotion. If that is the case, why do the religious places have an enormous ‘daan peti’ (a box for monetary offerings)?It is basically conditioned our minds to give offerings. Again, people will also argue that a part of the monetary offerings is required for maintaining the place. Fair enough! But the question is, if the places are exempt from taxes and receive benefits from the state, technically, they require only a small amount for maintenance purposes. So, what happens to the remaining sum of money? Is it actually utilised for helping the less fortunate? In some cases yes but in majority of the cases NO! There is a reason why people like Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insaan, Sant Shri Asharam Ji Bapu, Sri Sri Ravishankar, Mata Amritanandamayi Devi
and ‘Yoga Guru’ Baba Ramdev are among the Super Rich Indians without even working for a single penny. The details of their riches and a brief of their life history is summarized in the following link:http://www.siliconindia.com/news/general/SuperRich-Spiritual-Gurus-of-India-nid-110419-cid-1.html
The Deception
It’s pointless to repeatedly state that we all have been cheated by these gurus at some point in our lives. However, we must be aware of the ways in which we have been tricked to avoid such instances from re-occurring. Here are a few examples which may force you to question your belief if you are willing to accept.
The present situation
The people of a country who are ardent believers and practitioners of religion, need spiritual leaders in the first place. Its easy to fool a believer than to fool a non-believer. India, the home to greatest men in the world’s history is battling the evils of poverty, illiteracy, food shortage, disease and corruption. In such times, when we need to unite as a nation and fight against these evils, we have some opportunists for whom nothing else but the money matters. The innocent people are cajoled into believing that they are living sinful lives and are in great need of soul cleansing and spiritual healing. These opportunists claim to perform miracles to relieve you of pain and sufferings, which you might not even have in the first place, but they make you believe you do. (Isn’t that the first rule of MBA? If you want to sell your product, make your consumer believe they need it even when they don’t.)
None of the saints that India has produced, preached or lived a life of luxury. Let it be Shirdi Sai Baba or Guru Nanak Dev Ji, Mahavir Jain or even Gautam Buddha, they all led a very humble life. They all taught us to be better humans and help the less fortunate.This scenario existed centuries ago when we used to offer food and clothes as ‘daan’ or ‘bhiksha’ to the saints. Times have changed and currently, we take pride in offering intricate gold and silver jewellery pieces studded with precious stones along with millions of rupees to the idols of these holy men which once inhabited this holy land. This is the point to be noted that, if these men were disinterested in material things when they were alive, how can they be interested in such extravagant gifts after their demise? Also, when they were against this practice, then why is it even a practice? Isn’t that regarded as going against the preaching?
Many people will argue that these offerings by disciples are not what the idols or institutions demanded, but a mere symbol of their faith and devotion. If that is the case, why do the religious places have an enormous ‘daan peti’ (a box for monetary offerings)?It is basically conditioned our minds to give offerings. Again, people will also argue that a part of the monetary offerings is required for maintaining the place. Fair enough! But the question is, if the places are exempt from taxes and receive benefits from the state, technically, they require only a small amount for maintenance purposes. So, what happens to the remaining sum of money? Is it actually utilised for helping the less fortunate? In some cases yes but in majority of the cases NO! There is a reason why people like Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insaan, Sant Shri Asharam Ji Bapu, Sri Sri Ravishankar, Mata Amritanandamayi Devi
and ‘Yoga Guru’ Baba Ramdev are among the Super Rich Indians without even working for a single penny. The details of their riches and a brief of their life history is summarized in the following link:http://www.siliconindia.com/news/general/SuperRich-Spiritual-Gurus-of-India-nid-110419-cid-1.html
The Deception
It’s pointless to repeatedly state that we all have been cheated by these gurus at some point in our lives. However, we must be aware of the ways in which we have been tricked to avoid such instances from re-occurring. Here are a few examples which may force you to question your belief if you are willing to accept.
- Swami Nithyananda – Sex Tape
On 2nd March 2010, Sun TV, an Indian news channel, aired a short scene which shocked Swami Nithyananda’s followers: he allegedly had sex with a television actress. Shortly after the telecast, Nithyananda pulled the disappearing act leaving his organization alone to defend him. The police filed a case against him for cheating, rape and various other reasons. One of his former disciples then went to the police and admitted that he had made the video to expose Nithyananda and make his devotees all around the world aware of his wrong doings. He gave them the 2½ hour DVD after which the Swami was booked for rape and sexual assault in his ashram’s premises. - Swami Paramananda – Sexual assault, Possession of black money
Dassruth Rajendra Prasad, popularly known as Swami Paramananda, stationed in Mauritius, is currently embroiled in a difficult situation. Since a long time, members of the Satyam Gyanam Anandam Society (SGAS) suspected him of committing “immoral acts”. He had sex with several young women considered to be his disciples and found to be guilty of the same on December 30, 2011. Swami Parmananda accepted that he has had sex with the young Sweety, whose parents are members of the SGAS. However, Rajendra Dassruth gave religious explanations, that is to say that at first he took Sweety to be the reincarnation of the “goddess” Radha and the latter took him to be the god Krishna. So for Rajendra Dassruth, it was normal for them to have sex. (If you bought his explanation, you are a fool without doubts!). Following this, other names of young women have been cited; the “guru” had taken them for his Gopis (cow keepers entirely dedicated to the god Krishna in Hinduism). He also publishes the magazine “Know Thyself” sold without authorization, and the money raised directly enters the pockets of Rajendra Dassruth. The local and international branches of the SGAS hold funds and property worth millions of rupees, from donations from followers. - Swami .Divyanand
– sexual exploitation, black money
He acted many years as a successor of Sant Kirpal Singh. He has sexually exploited and abused both males and female followers. Moreover the donations he got were not spent totally for his mission, but hospital and school expenditures were given by the Indian state. Only due to his high intellectual intelligence and ingenious power plays he was able to conceal his wicked doings from the public.