Why Swami has name ending anand; why saffron cloth; why darshan?

Someone came back after seeing a spiritual Guru and started attacking him saying, “Why does he keep a name ending with –anand?, “Why does he wear Saffron color uniform only Why beard? Also why to call seeing him as “darshan”? Is he a God that I should do his “darshan”?

I find it so childish to accuse others or things mistakenly out of ignorance.

(1) Why keep names ending with "anand" - or similar sounding? Philosophically and the idea behind it is to get out of any caste and prejudiced barriers which our society imposes on people. When a new member is inducted, he forgoes his past name, past caste surname, and becomes "one like them". Like water with no color... So a Anand Tiwary or a Anand Gupta, both take names like Amritananda or Abhayananda. The idea is to break the barriers of prejudice like which come with caste surnames. This is why they all keep names like this. Also, there are sects like Swami Sampraday which has this practice of changing names as a tradition. Obviously it has good intentions behind it.

(2) Why wear only Saffron robes? The idea is also similar. With different colors come different visions. We all have different preferences and favorites. So I like green color and would favor a saint wearing green; you like red and would go to a saint who wears red mostly. So it is better if all those wear saffron and they come out of all this worldly game of colors and color distinctions. Also, do I need to tell about spiritual aspects of saffron color? There is a reason why Swami Vivekananda and so many Sadhus and Swamis have been wearing it for ages. All our religious things have this color essential part of it. Just like Durga ji has red, Saraswati ji has white color associated with them. It is childish to wish every Guru to wear a different color just because we would get one less point to criticize them.

(3) Why calling "darshan" to see saints? It is an innocent tradition. Just like "Satsang" and other terms. I am surprised you people either do not know or completely forget these things. Even when we say "Namaste", we mean spiritual salutation as if we were seeing God in the other person. So you would attack this also?

Anyways, Sadhus and Saints belonging to any sect or religion have been honored without giving a second thought. We should never try to "judge" Saints and what they say. Out of ignorance and driven by ego we are challenging to evaluate and judge all Saints, Sages, Sadhus and Gurus. Perhaps we shall go steps further to start "ranking" them, judging merits in their replies. Why do we want to open a Saint Rating Agency? I again think this line of thought is solely "ego driven" and we should avoid it for our own benefit. Shradha and Saburi are essential part of our religion; we should practice it.

- Rahul

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