Why do people need these fake Gurus?

Recently when I shared the news about one incident which happened in India where some people wanted to spread flowers in the path of rape convict Narayan Sai when police planned to take him to a hospital for a medical check-up and to a court for the demand of legal custody on my Facebook wall, one of my friends asked why people need these dhongi (fake, pretentious or cheat) gurus or babas? The answer is not that easy and straightforward. Why the heck these people want to glorify a rape convict or a criminal? This criminal was arrested after a manhunt for almost two months, he was trying his best to escape the law like any other criminal and he should be treated like that but I know that his devotees won't accept it, and we need to understand why they do this.

I think everyone needs some sort of counseling at different stages of their lives for various issues or problems they face. Parents, teachers, and other close relatives play this role in the early part of our lives, when we grow up our education is supposed to empower us to deal with most of these things on our own and if we can't then various books, movies, friends, and other resources can perform the role of counselor whenever needed. All these resources help us to deal with various issues and problems in our life. But not everyone has access to such resources for their mental health-related needs, and even if they have it's quite possible that sometimes even all these things combined can not answer all their questions, then they need someone to comfort them, someone to say to them that everything will be okay. Many times, these fake gurus fill this void in people's lives. People get attracted to these babas or gurus because they do mass counseling, initially for free to trap all their customers. These self-proclaimed gurus entirely depend on their personal charm, charisma, and fan following. Many of them have good oratory skills, good knowledge about many scriptures, great memory, and charming personality, but they are not professionally trained to offer any professional advice or consultation about any personal issues. But that's what most of them do and that's the main reason for their popularity. Hardly do people go to them just to listen to their speech, many visit them for consultation. Once they are popular they become powerful, their devotees become their strength, and many of them have so strong influence locally that it's very difficult even for law enforcement agencies to take any action against them even if any charges are pressed against them. The influence and clout of some of these people are so great that even people who suffer abuses from their hands don't dare to file any complaint against them. Many cases of financial irregularities, sexual abuse, or exploitation don't even get reported. All these benefits and immunity that come with this profession of babagiri have attracted many people with good memory and oratory skills into this profession. The case of Nirmal Baba who offers very absurd and stupid solutions to people's problems is one such example of popular baba.

Seeking the help of a counselor for any personal or professional problem is not a culture in India rather it's a taboo. Most people still hesitate to visit a psychiatrist or counselor. They always worry about what other people will think if they come to know that there are some mental health-related or personal issues in their lives. However, visiting any baba or anyone like him is not at all considered as something unusual, rather it's something that everyone loves to talk about. People like to discuss about greatness of their guru, the various powers he/she possesses, and also about miracles they can do. Even people visit these fake gurus to seek advice related to many medical issues this can be very dangerous but still they do it. The presence of such culture for centuries has created a very fertile environment for many such gurus and their cult movements. Some declare themselves an incarnation of some deity and exploit people's weaknesses and emotions. Actually, these fake counselors in the name of various babas and gurus fill the vacuum created by the absence of professional counselors in people's lives. This all needs to stop, but all these babas or gurus are not going to close their shops on their own. As long as there are customers and favorable market conditions they are going to sell their product. Also, we can not put the entire blame on these cheaters, people who buy their products, and government and law enforcement who don't take any actions to stop these practices are equally responsible for this. Actually, we need to make their product out of date if we want to remove their influence. We need to expose their fraud and wrongdoings systematically to stop their business. Some of these self-styled gurus are still worshiped by many even if they are facing serious charges like rape or sexual misconduct, and many of them fool people by making unverified claims and selling non-tested treatments for many diseases. People are blinded by their faith and problems and follow these people without any logic or thinking.

A tireless campaign against all these fake gurus is required. People with a rational mind and the capacity to think logically need to come together and work towards this goal. It won't be easy to challenge these fake gurus. Many devotees of all these gurus are like suicide squads they are willing to do anything for their guru or God. A very determined and systematic effort is required to free our society from the clutches of these evil-minded people who take advantage of the ignorance and weakness of people. People should take the help of some professional counselors rather than these types of babas for their medical, personal, and family problems. Professional help is always better as it's more reliable. NGOs also can play a crucial role in solving this need for professional counseling for people and with the help of everyone we can eradicate the need for these fake gurus from our society.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Links:

1. Narayan Sai held for rape after 58 days

2. नारायण साईं गिरफ्तार, समर्थकों ने कोर्ट के बाहर बिछाए फूल

Do we need a Guru?

Do we need a Guru (teacher)? I think, yes, we do, not one but many. Actually, we have teachers everywhere around us, we just have to look around. There are so many things people around us can teach us directly or indirectly. We have to be open to ideas and try to grasp whatever good we see. People often expect that they will meet or find someone in life who will be their real 'Guru' who will be able to answer all their questions and solve their problems. Whereas its not wrong to have such expectations, but very often it is not easy to find such a person and we also don't know where to search for such a Guru, and everyone is not so lucky to meet them. Many times we get so focused in our search that we tend to miss many nice things that we come across during our search. We become so focused on the target that we forget to look around and fail to notice many beautiful things along the way. It's good to be focused but at the same time, we should not miss many beautiful things in our lives.

In Mahabharat, there are some interesting stories about the teacher-student relationship. I want to mention here the story of Ekalavya. He was the son of a tribal chief, he belonged to a hunting tribe but he wanted to become a warrior. At that time society was divided into four classes (Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, and Shudras). People from the fourth section (Shudras) were not treated equally with the other three sections of society. They were discriminated against because of their profession. Maybe the original intention was noble for this division but it resulted in a horrible caste system and untouchability in Hindu society, I am against such division and discrimination. Ekalavya was born as a shudra, but he wanted to become an archer/warrior. Skills required for archery were taught by very professional and talented teachers often belonging to the Brahmin section of society. Ekalavya was determined to become the best archer in the world, so he started learning on his own without anyone's guidance. His aim was to acquire as much knowledge as he could on his own so that when he asks any teacher for their guidance it would be impossible for them to reject him (because of his talent). He knew that his 'varna' (shudra) wouldn't make it easy for him to get admission to any Gurukul. He wanted to be a discipline of Dronacharya, who was a very celebrated martial arts teacher for Kuru princes (Kaurav and Pandav) and was considered one of the best in the world. Drona was impressed with his talent but he refused to accept him as his student, he rejected him because of his 'varna', and Ekalavya's talent didn't help him. This rejection was disheartening for Ekalavya, but he didn't give up, he was determined to achieve his goal. So, he went to the forest, made a statue of Drona, and in front of that statue practiced his skills in archery. He got all the inspiration he needed from that statue. He continued learning on his own and soon became a very expert archer. News of his great skills spread everywhere. Drona wanted his favorite student Arjun to become the best archer in the world. Arjun was very skillful and one of the best archers but Drona wanted his favorite student to be 'the best'. During their next meeting, Ekalavya credited Drona for all the knowledge he acquired and called him his guru even though he didn't directly learn from him. Drona really impressed by the progress of Ekalavya surprisingly asks for his right thumb as a 'gurudakshina' (sort of a tuition fee). Ekalavya like an obedient student complied with Drona's demand without any protest and in turn, destroyed his prospect of becoming the best archer in the world. There are so many theories on why Drona did that, some justify his action, some criticize, but he definitely failed here as a Guru of Ekalavya.

This is a very interesting story where we see a dedicated student, his search for a Guru, his dedication towards his Guru even after getting rejected, his thirst for knowledge, and his achievements. Then there is also this "Guru," one of the best in the world, who acts very selfishly and destroys the life of one of his talented students for the benefit of his favorite student. This story is a unique mix of dedication, determination of the student, and selfishness and betrayal of his Guru. This is a very sad story but there are many lessons to learn from this story. There is no doubt that we need a teacher, a guide, or a mentor who can inspire us, guide us, and help us to acquire the required knowledge and skills. Teacher-student is a very important relationship, commitment and dedication should be from both sides, it doesn't work if it's only from one side (only from the student or from the teacher). Students and teachers both have responsibilities to fulfill towards each other, only one-way dedication can produce very disastrous consequences like it did in the story of Ekalavya. For Arjun guru like Drona was a blessing but the same guru proved to be a curse for Ekalavya. So, we should be careful while selecting our Guru and should never surrender our loyalty without serious consideration.

Sometimes our wait for the right Guru can be endless, if he/she has to come they will come but no need to wait for that. One of the lessons from this story is that we can learn a lot on our own, from people who inspire us, or from books. Almost everybody around us including kids, adults, books, internet all have something to teach us, the only problem is whether we want to learn from them or not. It's very difficult to find one person who can acquire and deliver knowledge from all the fields to us. Some people are very good in science, some in maths, some in history, some in psychology, some in medicine, and some in philosophy or religious studies or something else. Every field is exploding with knowledge, we are inventing or discovering new things every day. One person can not specialize in all fields but it's always nice to have some general knowledge about other fields apart from our specialization, it definitely helps. There are some advantages as well as some risks involved in surrendering totally to one person and believing all his/her teachings blindly. Wherever we feel doubt we should ask questions. A good teacher won't mind honest questions from students. Asking questions is a very important part of being a student and very often we forget that. Asking our doubts or putting forward our hypothesis (even if it doesn't match with our teacher's hypothesis) is not an insult to our teacher, rather it's a part of the learning process for both, the teacher as well as the student. Actually, the teacher is also a student but in an advanced stage compared to his/her students. The aim of the teacher (Guru) should be to bring students to their level and then inspire them to go for a higher level. Ideally, there should not be a clash of egos between a student and a teacher.

We should not restrict ourselves because of our age, religion, gender, or anything else to acquire knowledge, it is an endless process. We don't learn only in school or college but our life itself is like a school where we learn new things every day. We need the knowledge to overcome our ignorance, to understand things in a better way, Wayne Dyer said "The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don't know anything about". Our generation is lucky to see such a huge transition in a system of acquiring and distributing knowledge. We have this great tool, the Internet, which has made it very easy to learn and share things. We should keep our minds open to everything, learn as much as we can, and use those things in real life. Knowledge remains only a piece of information unless it's utilized for the betterment of oneself and society. Life is a unique school, it first takes an exam and then teaches a lesson, sometimes it's hard but we should not miss the lesson. Knowledge is more important, not its source. Let's try to learn new things and also share our knowledge with each other. Knowledge and happiness are the only things that multiply even after sharing. Let's share and care.

Thanks for reading and please share your comments.

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)