Disclaimer: This write up is not intended to hurt anyone's religious sentiments. This is just me venting on these so called God Men. If anyone finds this offensive, they have every right to navigate away from this page coz I ain't gonna change my stance.
The so called godman Swami Nityananda Paramahamsa becomes the latest in the line of exposed Godmen. For those who have been living in a hole for the past 2-3 weeks, the news update is that Swami Nityananda was caught on video with a Tamil Actress,in a compromising situation. Agreed what someone does in the privacy of their bedroom shouldn't be anyone's business but their own. But for someone who preaches to anyone who cares to listen that he is a practicing Brahmachari, to be caught in such a situation is no less than suicide.
For the less knowledgable, the meaning of Brahmachari is as below:
"A Brahmachari therefore is a male (and brahmacharini a female) who observes sexual abstinence unless intentionally procreating."
The first time I heard the usage of the word "Godman" was in reference to Chandraswami. You might remember him as the "Spiritual Advisor" of the then PM, Narasimha Rao. In 1996, he was arrested on charges of swindling. He is still facing trial in 9 Foreign Exchange Regulation Act violation cases. So much for being a man of God.
From the time I started to form my own opinions about the world around me, I have had a revulsion for these men/women who gets worshipped as god. May it be Satya Saibaba, Harsha Mata or Mata Amritanandamayi. Hinduism as it is takes pride in having the maximum number of gods as compared to any other religion. According to the Puranas, there are 33 Crore gods. And as if they are still not enough, people create gods out of men/women and start worshiping them. I have no problems with the so called messengers of gods. Take for instance Kabir, Surdas, Tulasidas or even Mirabai. All of them supposedly have had experiences where God interacted with them or they have gained enlightenment. It is when the messengers start posing as the real thing that I have to disagree with them. As it is said,
"Believe Me....Not in Me....The Messenger is seldom worth it".
Religion, as they say, is the opiate of masses. Any small time crook, two bit hustler who can do a couple of conjuring tricks can put on a saffron robe and be Sri Sri Sri Swami Blah Blah Blah. With a majority of the population looking for short cut to salvation, within no time you would have your own following. Take for instance Sree Santhosh Madhava Vidyadhiraja Parama Bhattaraka Swamikal. This slimy son of a bitch got sentenced 16 years of Jail in May 20,2009 and can you guess what was his crime? Molesting 2 underage girls and making videos of the same. So forgive me if I don't trust these god men as far as I can throw them.
People like Satya Saibaba are said to perform Miracles in front of huge crowds. Creating ornaments, food etc from nothingness. Turning water into another drink and Gasoline (source:wikipedia). He performs all these in front of thousands but has not agreed even once to do it in a controlled environment. If he is indeed the real thing, what's he afraid of? Hey here's an idea....Make him the Petroleum Minister of India. Water is something we have no shortage of and once he turns enough water into Gasoline, no more dependency on these pesky OPEC countries for Oil. And if he can conjure up enough food to feed the hungry/starved population in India, then I'll call him God. Till then he is just another 2 bit parlour trick magician.
I sincerely don't understand the logic behind people worshiping these so called human gods. Is it because they have lost trust in the real thing? Do they think God will hear their prayers before others if they have some Swami So and So's recommendation? What does it say about the faith of the general public who would sooner trust any 2 bit crook wearing saffron robes than trust their own faith in god? One another thing you would notice about all this God people is that none of them lives a life of Sanyasa.
Sanyasa is a phase of life where the person attains "Vairagya" i.e.a state of dispassion and detachment from material life and spends the rest of his life in spiritual contemplation. But with all the plush Ashramas and A/C cars, don't you see a conflict?
These are people who make religion a business. They peddle faith to the common public for whom it is just another way of getting high. They are actually no different from the drug peddlers who are taken to task for selling charas/ganja/heroine to junkies looking for a temporary high. But you can't be caught for dealing in faith. That is what makes this field so attractive. Starting from the road side astrologers waiting to predict your future, who invariably needs an extra dakshina to tell you the solution to some impending problem to the Tantriks performing yagnas/havans for showering you with good luck to the Godmen and Godwomen of our country, all of them are making money dealing in matters of faith.
So what does it tell about your faith when you stop trusting your connection to god and start paying someone to intermediate?
The so called godman Swami Nityananda Paramahamsa becomes the latest in the line of exposed Godmen. For those who have been living in a hole for the past 2-3 weeks, the news update is that Swami Nityananda was caught on video with a Tamil Actress,in a compromising situation. Agreed what someone does in the privacy of their bedroom shouldn't be anyone's business but their own. But for someone who preaches to anyone who cares to listen that he is a practicing Brahmachari, to be caught in such a situation is no less than suicide.
For the less knowledgable, the meaning of Brahmachari is as below:
"A Brahmachari therefore is a male (and brahmacharini a female) who observes sexual abstinence unless intentionally procreating."
The first time I heard the usage of the word "Godman" was in reference to Chandraswami. You might remember him as the "Spiritual Advisor" of the then PM, Narasimha Rao. In 1996, he was arrested on charges of swindling. He is still facing trial in 9 Foreign Exchange Regulation Act violation cases. So much for being a man of God.
From the time I started to form my own opinions about the world around me, I have had a revulsion for these men/women who gets worshipped as god. May it be Satya Saibaba, Harsha Mata or Mata Amritanandamayi. Hinduism as it is takes pride in having the maximum number of gods as compared to any other religion. According to the Puranas, there are 33 Crore gods. And as if they are still not enough, people create gods out of men/women and start worshiping them. I have no problems with the so called messengers of gods. Take for instance Kabir, Surdas, Tulasidas or even Mirabai. All of them supposedly have had experiences where God interacted with them or they have gained enlightenment. It is when the messengers start posing as the real thing that I have to disagree with them. As it is said,
"Believe Me....Not in Me....The Messenger is seldom worth it".
Religion, as they say, is the opiate of masses. Any small time crook, two bit hustler who can do a couple of conjuring tricks can put on a saffron robe and be Sri Sri Sri Swami Blah Blah Blah. With a majority of the population looking for short cut to salvation, within no time you would have your own following. Take for instance Sree Santhosh Madhava Vidyadhiraja Parama Bhattaraka Swamikal. This slimy son of a bitch got sentenced 16 years of Jail in May 20,2009 and can you guess what was his crime? Molesting 2 underage girls and making videos of the same. So forgive me if I don't trust these god men as far as I can throw them.
People like Satya Saibaba are said to perform Miracles in front of huge crowds. Creating ornaments, food etc from nothingness. Turning water into another drink and Gasoline (source:wikipedia). He performs all these in front of thousands but has not agreed even once to do it in a controlled environment. If he is indeed the real thing, what's he afraid of? Hey here's an idea....Make him the Petroleum Minister of India. Water is something we have no shortage of and once he turns enough water into Gasoline, no more dependency on these pesky OPEC countries for Oil. And if he can conjure up enough food to feed the hungry/starved population in India, then I'll call him God. Till then he is just another 2 bit parlour trick magician.
I sincerely don't understand the logic behind people worshiping these so called human gods. Is it because they have lost trust in the real thing? Do they think God will hear their prayers before others if they have some Swami So and So's recommendation? What does it say about the faith of the general public who would sooner trust any 2 bit crook wearing saffron robes than trust their own faith in god? One another thing you would notice about all this God people is that none of them lives a life of Sanyasa.
Sanyasa is a phase of life where the person attains "Vairagya" i.e.a state of dispassion and detachment from material life and spends the rest of his life in spiritual contemplation. But with all the plush Ashramas and A/C cars, don't you see a conflict?
These are people who make religion a business. They peddle faith to the common public for whom it is just another way of getting high. They are actually no different from the drug peddlers who are taken to task for selling charas/ganja/heroine to junkies looking for a temporary high. But you can't be caught for dealing in faith. That is what makes this field so attractive. Starting from the road side astrologers waiting to predict your future, who invariably needs an extra dakshina to tell you the solution to some impending problem to the Tantriks performing yagnas/havans for showering you with good luck to the Godmen and Godwomen of our country, all of them are making money dealing in matters of faith.
So what does it tell about your faith when you stop trusting your connection to god and start paying someone to intermediate?
