This year I came to the US in the middle of October to be with my sons and siblings and also celebrate the festival season. Thanksgiving, Christmas and New-Year are the important festivals which are celebrated with great fanfare and enthusiasm here in this country. Back home the elections to the state assemblies in Gujarat and my home state Himachal Pradesh were approaching. Though the Election Commission had not yet issued the official notification to this effect, yet the election fever was catching on. There was more interest in the Gujarat election as it would be a make or break situation for both the opposition and the ruling dispensation. I didn't mind missing the show. Thankfully it is over now. Recently at a small gathering of friends here in the US somebody commented on the tenor of various utterances by political figures during the course of campaigning in these elections. A very valid observation no doubt. And I quite agree. Come to think about it, in the last few elections the standard of political discourse has seen a steady decline. The pertinent issues are given a go by, the focus is on denigrating the opponents. Those in power and those out of it unabashedly indulge in this behavior. The guiding 'Mantra' is stoop-to-conquer, stoop as low as you can ! But why blame those who aspire to rule us. They are only speaking in the language that electorate likes to hear ! Why grumble if the politicians pander to our desire to hear such sleazy and partisan rhetoric ? The masses seem to enjoy such drivel. We have become so parochial in our vision that we are swayed by caste, creed and regional considerations. We are woefully lacking in distinguishing between right and wrong. Do we care for what is good for us as a nation or our greed has taken the better of our reasoning ? Every community wants some kind of reservation for them and the unscrupulous politicians are ever ready to promise the moon in there quest for power. Whatever happened to that adage 'First deserve then desire' ? So my countrymen do not cry for we get the Caesar that we deserve ! Or we get to hear what we want to believe !!
Tuesday, 19 December 2017
Thursday, 24 August 2017
Of Gurus and God-men...
Presently I happen to be in Chandigarh and what a visit it is turning out to be. I came here for a medical check-up, but it appears that it will have to wait. Chandigarh and its satellite cities of Panchkula and Mohali are in a state of upheaval. All this because of an impending court verdict on a 'rape accused' on friday the 25th by a CBI court in Panchkula in Haryana. That the 'accused' also happens be a 'god-man' with a huge following in the states of Haryana and Punjab has added to the chaos.There has been a large influx of his followers into the region as a show of solidarity and the administration has responded by bringing in additional security personnel to maintain the law and order. How the situation evolves will be apparent in a few hours time when the verdict is pronounced.
Let us stop for a moment and ponder how did the gurus of bygone era metamorphose into the god-men of the present era. The institution of 'God-men' is of recent origin, it came into being in the last century only. The 'Guru-shishya' tradition prevalent for ages denotes a succession of teachers and disciples in traditional Indian culture where teachings and knowledge were transmitted from a guru (teacher) to a shishya (disciple). The former took the responsibility for the spiritual well-being and progress of the latter. The word 'Guru' is so profound that 'teacher' or 'guide' are inadequate terms to describe the meaning of the word. The disciple desired to acquire knowledge from the teacher but this did not mean unquestioning acceptance of all that the teacher said. Even Arjuna in the Gita questions Sri Krishna on many occasions.
'God-men' is a colloquial term used in India for a type of charismatic 'gurus'. They usually have a high-profile presence and are capable of attracting attention from a large sections of the society. They claim to possess para-normal powers and an ability to influence future events. As in Hinduism there is no centrally established religious authority, so people tend to follow such personalities. These so called 'god-men' even enjoy patronage of politicians and high ranking bureaucrats. People look, not for knowledge or spiritual emancipation, but seek worldly comforts and materialistic possessions and the 'god-men' take advantage of such greed. The result is a 'Cult-following' of such charlatans !
Let us stop for a moment and ponder how did the gurus of bygone era metamorphose into the god-men of the present era. The institution of 'God-men' is of recent origin, it came into being in the last century only. The 'Guru-shishya' tradition prevalent for ages denotes a succession of teachers and disciples in traditional Indian culture where teachings and knowledge were transmitted from a guru (teacher) to a shishya (disciple). The former took the responsibility for the spiritual well-being and progress of the latter. The word 'Guru' is so profound that 'teacher' or 'guide' are inadequate terms to describe the meaning of the word. The disciple desired to acquire knowledge from the teacher but this did not mean unquestioning acceptance of all that the teacher said. Even Arjuna in the Gita questions Sri Krishna on many occasions.
'God-men' is a colloquial term used in India for a type of charismatic 'gurus'. They usually have a high-profile presence and are capable of attracting attention from a large sections of the society. They claim to possess para-normal powers and an ability to influence future events. As in Hinduism there is no centrally established religious authority, so people tend to follow such personalities. These so called 'god-men' even enjoy patronage of politicians and high ranking bureaucrats. People look, not for knowledge or spiritual emancipation, but seek worldly comforts and materialistic possessions and the 'god-men' take advantage of such greed. The result is a 'Cult-following' of such charlatans !
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)