After recent news and
controversies around some of them, 'Babas' have become completely out of
flavor. Before the most recent one from Haryana, we had cases with Baba Rampal
and Asaram Bapu also, making it look like a "pattern". Our human
brain is designed to understand "patterns" and it reflects in the way
we are talking about 'Babas' these days. Social media is filled with abuses
written by some very educated and bright minds against these Babas. It is not
surprising because social media is a means of expression, not a tool of
education. But still, what are the lessons we are learning from the infamous
'Babas'?
If we look at their
backgrounds, one thing is clear. These Babas were first generation
entrepreneurs who ran their spiritual empires like corporate houses. And they
lacked tradition, 'sanskara' and were married men with kids (i.e. were no
sanyasis) before deciding to go spiritual. Baba Rampal (Original name: Rampal
Singh Jatin) had a diploma and worked as junior engineer. He quit his job and
started his sect (Satlok Ashram). And what does his sect teach? Among other
things it teaches that Saint Kabir is the Supreme Lord; asks disciples not to
visit Hindu temples and not to worship Hinduism's trinity of Brahma, Vishnu or
Shiva! He is married and has two children.
Asaram Bapu (Original
name: Asumal Thaumal Harpalani) was born in a Sindhi family in Sindh, Pakistan
and migrated to Ahmedabad after partition. Being a school drop-out, he managed
his father's coal and wood business for sometime. He is also married with two
kids. Although his teachings are not controversial since he preaches Advaita
Vedanta and Bhakti Yoga.
It is also not only a
male phenomenon. For example we had Radhe Ma (Original name: Sukhvinder Kaur)
who is a school dropout, got married at early age and used to stitch clothes to
supplement her husband's income. Before of course joining a religious sect and
becoming self-styled god-woman.
Now, Gurmeet Ram Rahim
Singh Insan is married with several children. His Dera Sacha Sauda (DSS) is a
registered NGO and all Gurus of DSS have come from Sikh background. They have
their own sect/religion and welcome people from all different religions. It is
ironical that it is he who has triggered this "anti-Baba" feeling in
the masses while he is not really a "Hindu Baba" per se.
And the worst part is:
these Babas are not alone. The more you would know about different sects and
their beliefs, the more you would get confused and 'uninterested' in religion.
ISKCON for example is a very popular sect and we all visit its temples. But
ISKCON sect does not consider Krishna as Lord Vishnu's avatar but it considers
Lord Krishna as the Supreme God. Worshiping Lord Krishna is a different matter
and we all do that - but not an avatar but Supreme Lord? Where does it leave
our Lord Shiva? The sect considers Shiva as a manifestation of Lord Krishna!
That changes everything!
If you visited the
wonderful Akshardham temple; it belongs to Swaminarayan sect. Ever wondered who
is Swaminarayan? He was born with orignal name of Ghanshyam Pande in Chhapaiya,
Uttar Pradesh in 1781. At early age he joined Uddhav Sampraday which later
became Swaminarayan Sampraday as Ghanshyam Pande became Swaminarayan. Followers
of Swaminarayan sect believe that Swaminarayan is the complete incarnation of
Lord Vishnu and more superior to other avatars.
And then there is
Brahma Kumaris. Their name contains "Brahma" and then their preachers
keep talking about "Shiva Baba" and it appears so nice to the Hindus.
But go deeper and you would realize that the Brahma Kumaris is a full fledged
"religion" in itself. They call their founder Lekhraj Kripalani as
"Brahma Baba" and Shiv Baba is their Godfather (supreme being).
Although most of their basic ideas are similar to Hinduism, there is lot of
dogma about how world started, how it is going to end, and who will survive and
how.
In the era of these
numerous "modern" sects, older sects like Arya Samaj, Ramakrishna
Mission etc appear to be "old fashioned". I wonder how many people
from younger generation or in the cities are reaching out to them.
Although most
interesting thing about Hinduism is that while its "diversity" would
appear like its weakness (there are so many beliefs, so many deities, so many
sects and hence Hindus are seldom united for any cause), it is actually a
strength which has allowed it to "survive". It is common knowledge
that a very large set of people are difficult to be kept in one piece and
dividing them into smaller sets makes them easier to manage. I think such was
the idea of having so many sects. But what if sects start preaching very
different things; and try to make themselves break out into separate full
fledged religions? It has happened with Sikhism in the past which had started
as a sect within Hinduism. If it happens too often and starts giving unwanted
results, then it has to be "curbed".
The solution is simple:
"return to the roots". According to most central ideas of Hinduism,
Supreme Being is called Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva when it creates, preserves and
renews. If you see any sect trying to say one of these are higher than others,
which essentially means that these three are different and one can be
"higher" or "lower" than other; be warned against such
upstarts. If you see any sect asking you to "worship" mere mortals
like its sect leader, any guru or any imaginary being, be warned. Try to be as
near to the ancient practices as possible. If Yagna is not possible, offer
flowers and other items which symbolically mean the same (offerings). Try to
visit temples of original deities like Shiva, Vishnu or Durga. Pick any one of
the deities and keep your faith in one deity instead of making it a spiritual
tourism - because the more you would wander, the less peace you would have. Try
to read original scriptures but be warned against different versions written by
different sect leaders with a political explanation of the meanings. Try to
read Swami Vivekananda in case of any doubts, who has done a wonderful job in
writing down his thoughts and conclusions on most of the things related to
Hinduism. And if you are choosing a Guru, look for his family history and other
things apart from competence and the advertising done around him.
Let us take the rise
and fall of 'Babas' in a stride as an opportunity to do course correction. Let
us also pardon them because they were mere mortals and prone to corruption. Let
us watch ourselves instead to avoid any flaws and bad habits getting into us.
Even those disgraced 'Babas' taught nice things to others; and hence teachings
do not matter. What matters is: how much we get to practice the good that is
shared with us.
Om Shanti Shanti
Shanti.
- Rahul
