On Gurus,Swamis,Babas and Yogis

N K Srinivasan Who am I?
This is a philosophical ,metaphysical question. Bhagavan Ramana [of Thiruvannamalai or Arunachala or simply "Thiru" these days]used the seminal question to dive into one's recesses of the mind and lead to the path of "Atma Vichara" or self enquiry for Self-Realization. Here I have a modest task.I am using this question to introduce myself to you--the dear reader. I am a devotee of Shirdi Sai Baba, who attained samadhi in 1918 and whose samadhi shrine exists in a small town called SHIRDI in Ahmednagar District of Maharashtra, in India, at a

distance of about 300 kms from Mumbai. Shirdi is so famous that I need not write much about this place of pilgrimage. I first visited Shirdi in 1983 and had been visitng several times over the years.In the year 1983, it was a small village without any decent hotel or restaurant..Now it is a well developed small town with several large hotels ,some even 3-star hotel.

Many of you may know about the biography of Sai Baba chronicled in "Sai Satcharita" book. He performed several miracles during his mortal life and also now from his state of Omnipresence.But he never performed any cheap parlour tricks but did miracles only to help his devotees in times of distress---to allevitate suffering. In fact he prepared his udhi [vibhuti or sacred ash] by burning firewood in his sacred fire which was kept burning all along in his abode. He did not 'materialize' sacred ash or vibhuti from his palm as a cheap trick , in a manner performed by one Baba who claimed that he was reincarnation of Shirdi Sai Baba. Shirdi Baba never indulged in cheap tricks which any road-side magician can do ,but helped his devotees in times of distress or family problems.His miracles are stated clearly in Sai Satcharita. I have been pained to see so many charlatans ,posing themselves as Babas,gurus,yogis and swamis , cheating the gullible public [including several educated,well placed persons] amassing wealth by foul means and then colluding with local police and justice system and media and getting away with their crimes. Many have criminal records and also cases of sexual perversions and sexual misbehavior but escape punishment due to money power and using corrupt practices.

I have been witnessing all these from a point of view provided by great rishis,like Bhagavan Ramana Maharishi and great yogis like Paramahansa Yogananda {Self-realization Fellowship of Los Angeles & YSS Ranchi}. I have studied Vedanta [which means mainly the Upanishads and also the Bhagavad Gita] in sufficient depth. I also had the previlege of listening to discourses by great scholarly teachers or acharyas like Swami Chinmayananda among others. I have visited several temples in India and stayed at numerous ashrams in India. I frequent Sri Ramana Asramam and also Anandashram of Swami Ramdas [Papaji] in Kanhangad,Kerala and Sri Ramakrishna mission centres.I was also a student of Vivekananda College, Mylapore,Chennai,India. I have also written two books ,One on "Fruitful meditation" and another "Essence of Bhagavad Gita", both published by Pustak Mahal,New Delhi. The Swamis,Babas and Yogis often claim many things which are either falsehood or claims which they try to demonstrate to fool the gullible ----to collect money and build huge ashrams.The techniques they adopt is the same in almost all cases.....they follow a set pattern which seem to work...let us see some of them.

The Yoga practices and Yoga Powers

The practice of yoga for purely physical or physiological effects ,called Hatha Yoga, is well known and can be learned and practised for attaining good health and longevity. Teachers like B K S Iyengar and Pattabhi Jois have been teaching these and have established solid reputation. Our modern yogis are of different sort.They claim that they have some techniques that would give instant realization or supernal states or states of cosmic consciousness without much effort. Many have not learned even the rudiments of yoga given in Patanjalis Yoga Sutras---a standard text for yogis. In classical training, a yogi is supposed to follow the "Ashtanga Yoga" ---the eight limbed or eight part yoga [ashta--eight anga-part] given by Patanjali and others. Note that the first two parts are "Yama" and "Niyama" {'donts' and 'dos'] of moral and ethical values which are themselves difficult to practise. In other words, our yogis and gurus have not crossed the first two stages of ashtanga yoga but claim to attain concentration and samadhi at will and teach others too. It is not possible to proceed to other steps or parts without following strictly the first two steps,namely yama and

niyamas.[For details of these two steps, read any elementary yoga book.] Yogic powers or 'siddhis' are attained by one practising yoga .These are personal powers attained by an individual and can not be trasferred to another person or groups of persons ,as claimed by half-baked gurus and yogis who are charlatans today.

Among the siddhis, eight siddhis are indentified---called ashtamaha-siddhis [eight-great-siddhis].Of these the first one is feeling light [like a feather or cotton],called "lahima". Let us take this siddhi and how our charlatan swamis and gurus have misinterpreted and fooled the gullible public.

The Act of Levitation

If you 'become' light ,you are almost weightless,defy gravity and so you can float or levitate! Why not levitate either singly or in a group.This is supposed to be taught in Siddhi course by Mahesh Yogi's [TM] group and in recent times demonstrated by one of the swamis from Tamil Nadu who had lot of problems with the police and public. All that they have shown is jumping like a frog on a mattress--shown by Mahesh Yogi almost 30 years ago.Paramahansa Yogananda [call him simply as "PY"]also mentioned this in his classic

book "Autobiography of a Yogi" as a possible effect of pranayama. Note that using pranayama to lift oneself a few feet and hop is possible---thereby ruining your general health! But levitation in air much above the seat even for a few seconds or minutes is different. Some yogis have tricked people using a hidden seat or prop under their bottom and had been found out. As far as I know, no yogi or guru has demonstrated this at any time. Many of them are so obese that they cannot even climb a few steps.! The flaw is in understanding the process given by yoga sutras or the siddhis.The states attained by following the ashtanga yoga are purely mental, psychological states and does not correspond to physical conditions at all. When one does this yoga, one would feel light [lahima ] or in another state feels himself or herself heavy like a mountain [mahima]...that is the powers or siddhis. Firstly they are states attained by an individual;secondly they are mental states; Thirdly they last a few seconds to a few minutes. So, these yogic powers are not demonstratable to public; they are felt or experienced by an individual...these are states of altered mental conditions reached by a yogi.

There are practices called samyamas resulting from ashtanga yoga which are "projections of the mind"---such as precognition or knowing future events. These are possible and have been used by yogis and mystics who wished to help the humanity or individuals in times of distress...again these cannot be practised

routinely. According to Hindu traditions,one achieves these by yoga practice and by overeflowing 'love of humanity' and by grace of Guru/God.[ I have expereinced lightness , floating like a bird for a few seconds during certain meditations.] Mystics like Edgar Cayce and Lahiri Mahasay exhibited these because of their exalted state of "Love" for humanity...The charlatans who parade in our streets and have wall posters or hoarding misuse these information and make false claims.The mystics have attained these powers due to prolonged practice of yoga.

Gurudom and surrendering your freewill

In Hindu approach to self-realization or freedom from earthly bondage, there are basically two paths: Jnana or knowledge path and Bhakti or devotional path. Jnana yoga cuts across religions and sects, and is founded on self inquiry or atma-vichara--- a path at once difficult and not suited for many emotional humans. The knowledge of Vedanta or

the Upanishads or study of Advaita [Adi Shankara,Bhagawan Ramana or Nisargadatta style] helps to understand the path of Jnana...that is all.You have to walk the path yourself. This may take a few moments or several years or even several births --God knows. Therefore this path is extremely difficult and suited only for a few brave minds. You need a competent guru and reading and sat-sanghs can partially help the beginner---that is all. Taking this path, you can hop from one guru or one satsangha to another , hoping that enlightenment will happen or awakening can take place.Oftentimes you get mental satisfaction or intellectual stimulation, as one gets from reading quantum physics or cosmology. But real attainment is rare but some degree of mental solace or glimpse of peace is possible. "Peace that passeth understanding" is far away. Bhakti Yoga or the path of devotion is easy to understand and practice.Prayers , chanting the glory,[Japa] meditations [dhyana] and worship [pooja] to a personal deity or impersonal cosmic force or atman or soul are all methods in this path.This is the path of many religions and advocated by religious preachers. This path is considered prosaic or pedestrain and slow by many though I do not think so. While these practices are valid ,our babas and yogis and gurus have twisted the methods to suit themselves for self-glorification and accumulating wealth.

How do they do it? Very simple.They invoke that the bhakti should be shown towards the human guru ---that is their own person.They expect the devotee or chela [disciple ] or cheli[female disciple] to surrender --not to the Supreme God but to themselves. This soon reaches ridiculous levels. The guru or

swami is worshipped ,not only with flowers and incense and offered some fruits, but with gold coins,jewels and golden sandals or padhukas , placed on decorative palanquins or pallaki or simhasanas [thrones with lion images as for kings] with mace ,sceptre or vel [Indian style spear with two or three prongs][called 'trishul']....as for mythical gods like Shiva in temples. Soon these forms of worship is repeated in various centres of these gurus or babas. The Baba or swami gathers huge amounts of wealth.

Guru-Poornima day ---This is annual function to worship the guru on his or her birth day with lot of fanfare and pomposity. The guru is supposed to bestow special grace on such days. The concept of Guru poornima was to worship the legendary Guru Vyasa in the first month of Chitra full-moon day . Vyasa is the legendary Rishi who 'compiled' the Vedas into canonical texts and also wrote the mythological stories of Mahabharata and the Puranas, which have lot of ethical and moral principles.No one knows when Vyasa was

born ;therefore it is customary to assign the full moon day of Chitra month as his birthday.[The full moon day of the second month Baisaka is the birthday, the nirvana or awakening day and the samadhi day of Lord Buddha.]
On Guru-poornima occcasion , modern charlatan gurus put up big celebrations. If simple pooja and Bhajan or chanting is done ,that is alright.With great many offerings, the guru is showered with gold and jewels, adding to the coffers of the ashram.One self-styled Swami organized some show with levitation of his devotees...this did not happen as the devotees hopped around like frogs and then the guru retreated .The Guru could not lift himself up. Therefore Guru poornima and other festivals are ruse for gathering unaccounted money in terms of cash and jewels for these quack gurus.

Inititaions and diksha ceremonies

In traditional ashrams, the chela or disciple is initiated after much training and testing by the evolved guru.Not any more. Mass intiaitions or diksh ceremonies are performed after the devotees sign up and cough up some money. Some new clothes are given like uniforms and then the guru or baba touches the forehead with

kum-kum or sandal paste and utters a 'mantra' to be repeated by the chela or cheli.A rosary bead necklace is given for wearing and becomes a decorative symbol.The rosary may carry a locket with the master's picture. While a true devotee may take it as a symbol of new faith or cult, for many it is just an ID for moving about and collecting money from others. The sacredness of the mantra is lost in the rigmarole of the ashram. [When I was offered mantra diksha by a monk of YSS, belonging to PY's ashram in Ranchi ,it was a simple ceremony in a friend's house;the friend gave us space and lunch for that day for all the visitors. We,each offered Rs 20 towards pooja items such as flowers and fruits--that is all.] Nowadays, the Gurus demand Rs 2000 or more [$50] and even private darshans cost $ 5000 for a self-styled avatar of Vishnu.Dikshas are given in batches of 50 or more,often by appointed agents.

Sexual Exploits
Almost all gurus, with a few exceptions, have been accused of sexual misconduct in the past three decades. The guru has free access to the ladies quarters, undet the pretext of offering advice or special teaching , at odd hours. The night long prayers, meditations and vigils turn into opportunities for close proximity between the guru and the cheli.Some belonging to

Shaktipat seem to offer special initiations or yogic practice with sexual content,giving the ruse that they are sublimating the sexual energy into spiritual energy or redirecting the carnal pleasures for divine ecstasy! One can easily see the 'hidden agenda' behind the rituals or yoga practice. One Kriya yogi from Tamil nadu who claimed to have received messages from Mahavatar Babaji in the Himalayas, took control of one of his girl students in the USA ,apparently for special training in yoga and fathered a child. The Yogi still had a large follwoing and spawned several ashrams. There are more stylised forms of yoga practice for indulging in sexual perversions by the Guru and the Cheli/chela. One common method is to proclaim that the guru will raise the Kundalini power---the coiled serpent power at the base of spinal column--using tantra methods. There is hardly any yogi today with the proper knowledge of Kundalini yoga or able to do awakening of the kundalini-What they indulge is only mass hypnotism or mental conditioning with fabricated stories.[Real awakening of Kundalini involves years of practice with mental control and devotional practices for the Supreme worshipped as Mother Goddess in the sakthi path.It is too difficult, time-consuming and needs the help of a accomplished master. The charlatan gurus claim to offer such a path for a fee and a few days of

attention! Oftentimes not only the devotee is disillusioned about the awakening by the Gurus themselves are self-illusioned even if they are sincere or well meaning to do good. The kundalini or tantric worship has taken more bizarre and obnoxious forms in recent years. One form is the yoni puja or vaginal worship with sexual licenses. Another form is that of worship with various forms of hallucinogenic drugs. Some Babas indulged not in straight sex but homosexuality with young boys and girls only to be charged legally after many years.

Social service and charity activities

It is common to find that many of these gurus and babas spend

some money for social work and charity trusts--mostly building schools,hospitals and old-age homes. While this is laudable, they spend only a tiny fraction [less than 10%] of their vast collections and properties.Many times they do this only to help their kith and kin with jobs or administrative positions and also to grab lands from government lands or unclaimed properties or forest or reserved areas. Often, the social service face is

touted through specific programs at village level.Again much of the activities are centered around their own native villages. Thus they get some solid support from local people who know them

well and hopefully who would support them in times of scandals rocking their base. Consider a Baba who had accumulated thousands of crores of rupees.[1 crore = 10 million].The expenses towards social activites would hardly be a few hundred crores of rupees. In addition to general funds they collect separately for specific projects,often from abroad. Much of the money goes unaccounted because they are cash offerings and donations in the form of gold and jewels. A noted charlatan Baba was found to possess a large hoard of gold in underground cellars after his mahasamadhi [death]. In contrast when Shirdi Sai Baba attained Samadhi, he did not have an ashram and had only Rs 12 in his pocket. He was often seen in tattered jibba or kafni and would not accept a Pallaki or padhuka.

Healing and other forms of activities

Many gurus claim that they can cure the devotees of chronic illnesses like cancer and perform surgery with their own hands.If they could do that, why they need to build hospitals with professional doctors? If they can heal others, why can't they heal themselves and end up in hospitals under intensive care. The common answer is that they suffer because of taking sins of their devotees. The gurus often conceal their diseases

,known only to the close disciples.They lead such unhealthy lives,doing no yoga or meditation as daily practice and fall victimes of terrible diseases which are hidden from the public. It is high time that general public stop believing the claims of charlatan gurus but only seek those gurus who lead simple lives and do not accumulate wealth and move from place to place or operate small ashrams. It is also important not to believe in the healing powers of self-styled gurus.It is also important not to offer gold and jewels to these babas and gurus who indulge in clandestine activities or sexual perversions through private interviews. -----------------------------------------------------------