India's Swamfia
File under: Gurus Doin' Time, Hands Where They Don't Belong and The Siddhi of PR
Lately, there's been some black stains showing up on the orange robes of India's swamis:
First there was the Indian swami, or holy man, who was arrested last week for allegedly raping under-age girls and found to be keeping a tiger pelt, drugs and pornographic videos in his ashram.Running game under cover of the great Shankaracharya, making him the godfather of Vedanta and a new Indian Cosa Nostra.
Then a second one in Kerala, upset by a local newspaper report, tried to shoot himself in the head in a police station in front of television cameras. A third swami from the same state is now on the run after being accused of failing to repay a loan of one million rupees (£12,000) that he took out in his former life as a film producer...
“You have all sorts of illegal things going on in ashrams, but police won’t go in there because they’re holy places.” Dr Nayak alleged that many swamis abused their holy status to launder money for politicians, businessmen and criminals and to provide a safe place for their clients to drink and have sex with prostitutes.
Labels: Gurus Doin' Time, Hands Where They Don't Belong, The Siddhi of PR
posted by guruphiliac @ 5:21 PM
10 Comments:
If the great Adi Shankara(the first ever hindu visionary from perhaps the 8th or 9th century AD )happened to do the money laundering or hobnobbed with the political thiefs that rule India, then perhaps we can brand the world of swamis to be mafia like. Because Adi Shankara was a revered man of wisdom.
But when a thief uses the garb and title of a swami to hide his underground dealings, then it cannot be called as swamifia. Same with the christian priest who is presently in the jail for killing a nun after raping her 10 years ago in kerala, india. He may not even be a priest but managed to guise as a priest. But to brand all the priests are rapists and killers can be rude and hurting.
But to brand all the priests are rapists and killers can be rude and hurting.
I'm not branding all swamis bad. Some of my most dear friends are swamis. The Mafia in the States is not comprised of all the businessmen, just a few. Likewise, the Swamfia isn't comprised of all the swamis, just a few.
Jody said "I'm not branding all swamis bad. Some of my most dear friends are swamis."
If you did not, your Raison d'etre for existence would vanish! Jody, do pay some attention to the paedophile priests and the rest whom Pope Ratzy tried to protect by sweeping their crimes under the carpet. Unfortunately for Hindus, their honesty and openness is seen as weakness making them grist for your mill.
Why should Jody have to write about pedophile Catholic priests? They have their own slimy beds to lie in. Why should you not focus on the dark corners of your own religious community and try to clean that up. That is Jody's aim here and it is admiral.
Why should Jody have to write about pedophile Catholic priests?
I don't write about Catholic priests because they aren't claiming to be God or especially divine in any way.
That is Jody's aim here and it is admiral.
My aim is to defend Vedantic truths against the superstitions of Hinduism and the New Age™ movement here in the States, and nothing more than that.
>>>"Unfortunately for Hindus, their honesty and openness is seen as weakness making them grist for your mill"<<<
Whaaaa????? gosh, when did this happen? I don't see Afro Sai Baba openly admitting to sexually molesting young men. gurumayi is still pretending muktananda never did anything "wrong" at all; where is the "honesty" there?. Gurus "lying for the good of devotees" seems to be part of "Hinduism" as is pretending the caste system doesn't exist but practicing it anyway. Hypocrites are hypocrites and liars are liars in any religion. No matter what the "rules of conduct" are, there are people who will pretend to follow them but ignore them altogether. Unfortunately, many of those people are priests, swamis, gurus, lamas, monks, etc. A bad Catholic priest doesn't make a corrupt swami smell any better.
Priests are not regard as God by the church. However, the Pope is considered Christ's representative on earth and is INFALLIBLE in his teachings. When the Pope bans contraceptive, divorce, pre-marital sex or investigations into reincarnation, faithful Catholics are not to question it. In other words, you are not to think for yourself in spiritual matters, only the church/Pope's interpretation of the Bible is correct.
I was a Catholic once, abandoned it completely in college. Now my spiritual focus is in Vedanta and the Vedic teachings. I am troubled by the exploitation/abuse of New Age commercial absolutist guruism.
you said --I don't write about Catholic priests because they aren't claiming to be God or especially divine in any way.
The comment--but even these swamis in news have not claimed so. infact they were dealing with real estate and business and gun totting etc which is mere mortal act. Infact that worked against them. Incase if they did played god, they would have saved their skin. How do you justify they claim to be god or divine ?
you need to give props to the pope, for mentioning and apologizing for all the pervs in the priesthood when he was here on his visit. will an eastern bigwig like the Dalai Lama do the same? I want to see one of these swami's get on TV like Swagert, sweatin and cryin and asking for forgiveness, that would be the bomb.but i guess there 'a no precedence for it.
Jody, please ignore my previous comment, it has a bad typo. Here is edited copy.
A cunning godman guru may well apologize for the actions of his henchmen, but his own conduct is considered beyond our understanding. According to guruism, the guru is God, and if we ever see wrong in the guru, that fault is in us. God can do no wrong!!
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