Blind Faith in Godmen and Spiritual Gurus

Violence, hatred and delusion are often a result of blind following. Belief that is limited and confined to the walls of self-comfort, self-esteem and inability to see the larger good of one or society as a whole, are the other factors that contribute to grudges, abuses and lack of harmony between people. And no it is never limited to any geographical location in specific, but can prove out to be an epidemic that can spread like a fire on which we have no control!

Yes, not following the dictates of our religion can have certain consequences — you might feel guilty, others may criticize you, your sense of obeying the tenets of your religion may weaken. But then, does it mean that whatever the religion dictates is true? Who defines the true language of its understanding and how it has to be incorporated in our own lives? The question is very tricky and remains un-answered till date!

That brings me to this specific point: is blind faith in Godmen and spiritual gurus a right practice? I am afraid; it is such a heavily loaded question that anything below an explicit detail would send out a wrong meaning and a completely disoriented message that can bring on more adversity than stability around us.

Let me give you an example here. For over two years now the corpse of Ashutosh Maharaj, an Indian Godman, has been lying in a freezer and his body is kept well preserved in his ashram in the northern Indian town of Nurmahal in Punjab state where his followers believe he will one day come back from a “deep meditation”.

Now picture this! Can any of us, go to that ashram and tell the devotees to perform the last rites of ‘Ashutosh Maharaj’ and let him have his death right given to him by the almighty? Trust me; you would never want to do that. That would result in absolute violent situation and within no time, there would be thousand of devotees jamming down the roads asking for you to be beheaded; literally.

That is what a blind belief can result into.

And no, we are not talking about illiterate people getting indulged in blind belief. Even the most educated lot of the society look upon these white rob/saffron cloth wearing gurus in their time of despair. While on one side, these Godmen and gurus preach that people get what they deserve in their life as per their karma, on the other side of the book, they suggest a prayer ceremony at home to please a certain god who is creating trouble in one’s life or chanting a particular god’s name or selling a particular stone in a ring to ward off trouble. Like really?

In January this year, comedian Kiku Sharda was arrested for hurting religious sentiments of the society by mimicking Dear Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, which I think was absolutely uncalled for.

I am no religious person. I don’t read the Vedas or Qurans or Bible. But what I do know or have an understanding is that a Godman or a guru is the one who has given-up all materialistic attachments of the society and has devoted his life in finding the real essence of God and his virtues that need to be spread.

However, this Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh,is one person who calls himself a Messenger of God, acts in a movie with no clothes on (showing-off his all hairy Anil Kapoor type look) and performs a song, I am a love charger, which is obnoxiously dirty, in front of thousands of people.  Are these the Godmen and the gurus that we need? Ask the better half of your conscience and let the real answer come out. Also to let you know, Rahim is also under investigation as he is accused of the forced castration of some 400 "saints" in his sect.

One Asaram Bapu, who owns more than 400 ashrams in India and abroad is in jail for more than a year now on the charges of sexually assaulting a minor girl on the pretext of exorcising her of evil spirits. His followers had a huge clash with police opposing his arrest and the rage still continues.

Let me also tell you a story here, which many do not know of.

About 15 years back, Asaram Bapu went to a small town named Bhagalpur in Bihar, on a two day preaching session, but left on the morning of the very first day without conducting a session, because his advance fee of preaching was not fully compensated. Do we need gurus and Godmen who preach for money? Is that the society we need or be a part of?

Another example that I would like to give here is of Balika Sadhvi Saraswati who spoke against Pakistan in a language that only a goon can speak (See the video below).

Godmen and gurus would not ask violence from you. They would not teach you hatred. Their role is to bring the world together and make it a better place to live in.

We all have our belief yes, we all have our own souls to answer yes, but there is a also a bigger picture to look at here. Whatever we do and whatever we promote is the future of our civilization for tomorrow. It’s not for the government, it’s not for the agencies, but it’s on us, how we want it to be like.

Let’s all make the right choices! Let’s all make the choice of peace! And if in that journey, we come across a Godman or a guru who can be our companion, then so be it! 

- Sandeep Verma

Note: Pictures and videos belong to their original owners and I claim no rights on them