Spiritual Pretence Of Godmen And Spiritualism - Part 3

The deprived poor people of the ‘Bahujan Samaj’ turn to the ‘Babas’ to get relief from their poverty and the accompanying difficulties. The well-to-do educated middle class go to the ‘Maharaj’, who preach ‘live and let live’ policy. And the highly educated higher middle class go to ‘Acharya’ in search of ‘the art of living’. All these three institutions-Baba, Maharaj and Acharya- are individual centred. They start with the dictum-if the individual changes, the society will change. Next they preach the audience to uplift their own selves and progress. Finally they ask them to leave all the problems of their lives to the Adhyatmic powers of the god man and surrender to him. The audience is convinced that their beatitude lies in the total surrender to the god man. This whole process gradually de-socialises the individual.

Today all our energy is spent in fighting superstitions of the primary state. Those who do not openly indulge in deceit and exploitation but harbour very regressive thoughts and act accordingly as do the Maharaj are unfortunately left alone. And the fight against the Acharya is altogether out of the question. Such Babas hold workshops for personality development provide health facilities and also do some other socially useful work. But they also generate indifference and aloofness towards progressive movements, administration, community life and even generates religious hatred at times.

All this leads to the destruction of youth’s reasoning and gives it a wrong direction. This is quite dangerous and does not have a simple solution. We can only chalk out the direction thus: on one hand there is the responsibility of determining what is truth and what is not, what is right and what is not right.

For centuries, religion provided the answer to this. Scientific outlook fulfilled this responsibility in the field of investigation of knowledge and this was accepted by religion too. But in addition, with the help of rational thinking, scientific outlook also could find answers to questions such as- what kind of life should one live; what is good and what is bad; what should be the ideal of human life, etc. in the behavioural field. Adhyatma might do it too. But in the field of ethics, the difficulty Adhyatma faces is that the scriptures and the prophets’ words of different religions differ widely and at times contradict each others. Many times the ethical grain gets lost in this confusion and attention is concentrated on the sheer husk of rituals that remains. We all experience this every day.

So even in the ethical domain rationalism will have to undertake a critical appraisal of what is a ‘good life’. On the other side, in action, every rationalist will have to resolve that he will never loose the faith he has in himself. Dignity of a human being lies in living one’s life with the humanist stance, how and to what extent they can be solved. We all have a Guru in our own honestly and with courage. With the help of reason we are capable of identifying our problems and also understanding rationality to make us aware and alert. The individual’s journey on the path of life, under the guidance of his Guru within, is the essence of his life, liberation from Adhyatmic Buvabaji and also foundation of a healthy society.

Spiritual Pretence Of Godmen And Spiritualism - Part 2

Recently Satya Sai Baba celebrated his 80th birthday with all pomp and show. The birthday bash was dutifully telecast by all TV channels and reported in the print by all news papers. In the prestigious daily, Hindustan Times, Veer Sanghavi, the noted journalist raised some questions in his article ‘The Truth of Satya Saibaba’. He writes, you get a number of evidences of Satya Sai Baba’s perverse homosexual activities on the internet with the help of Google search engine. All these victims of Baba’s lust were in earlier times his devotees. A few of them might be bogus but all can not be so. How can hundreds of them publicly complain of sexual exploitation? This Baba performs miracles like pulling out gold chains, costly watches from thin air and a ‘Shivalinga’ from his mouth. This he or his devotees claim to be the sign of his divinity. But such miracles are common for any magician. Why doesn’t the Baba allow others to examine him before performing these miracles to prove his divinity? Why does he not pull out from thin air any thing that is bigger than his fist? Why did this god man hide himself in the bath room when his own disciples attacked him?

Another example is Asaram Bapu of Surat in the Gujarat state. This whole sale trader in Adhyatma secured for his institution a huge piece of land worth Rs. 40 crores for a throw away price of Rs. 29 lakhs. The Gujarat High Court castigated the authorities severely and ordered that the land be freed from encroachment by the Bapu’s institution and handed over to the District Collector within three months. Asaram Bapu has established Ashrams in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgad and Bihar which are presently in dispute.

Narendra Maharaj, one more godman openly talks about creation of a Hindu Rashtra (not secular but Hindu nation) and brazenly challenges the constitution. He instigates his disciples to indulge in violence against his opponents telling them to cut off their hands and feet. When he was asked to keep his religious sceptre away from him, while in the aeroplane, his disciples created a riot on the airport damaging its property.

Yet another god man Aniruddha Bapu claims that he knows the past and future births of all his disciples and also that he appears before them as different deities. The famous Ramdeo Baba gives a list of incurable diseases like cancer, AIDS, epilepsy, etc. on his website and claims that all these diseases can be cured by Ayurvedic medicine and regularly practicing Pranayama. The central ministry of health have served a notice on him in this connection. This Baba who is building ‘Patanjali Yoga Peeth’, a university for Patanjali Yoga, at a stupendous cost of Rs 100 crores does not pay his workers in the Ayurvedic medicine factory even the minimum wages. He maintains that there is nothing wrong in it.

Despite these and many more revelations of wrongdoings and corruption by the god men, their roaring business remains in tact. It is, therefore, all the more necessary and urgent to begin a harsh criticism of this phenomenon, for, this ‘Buvabaji’ is leading the public away from the legitimate social problems and their solutions and changing their awareness and understanding regarding the real causes of their difficulties. Under the influence of the Babas and Buvas taking action to solve the problems is altogether out of the question.

People today are more self- centred and absorbed in themselves. They do not like to talk about social commitment or equality and want immediate solutions to their own problems, stresses and strains. The modern Adhyatma offers ready made answers to their problems. The answers are deceptive but appealing and capture the imagination of educated young generation. In fact the path shown by these god men leads our young generation to run after the mirage called “Moksha’ that brings all investigating endeavours to a stand still. It contains the seeds of demolition of the social fabric. If the crowd that is presently enamoured of Adhyatmic Buvabaji is diverted towards progressive social organizations then we can hope for some social change.

Spiritual Pretence Of Godmen And Spiritualism - Part 1

The path of the rationalist movement is full of difficulties and challenges. One of those challenges is the spiritual pretensions of the god men. The nature of Adhyatma (spiritualism) of these men is different from that of the traditional Baba-Buvas. Their language is modern and sophisticated. With a few exceptions they refrain from performing miracles. They guarantee ethical sublimation to their disciples. Their spiritualism has a philosophical foundation and is coupled with some social service or other.

One tends to ask at the first glance, ‘So, what is wrong in all this?’ The people of this country are enamoured of the word ‘Adhyatma’ and all the practices and rituals that go with it. Although there are different opinions regarding the concept of Adhyatma there is some common understanding about its nature. Generally it is believed that – Adhyatmic principle is different than the material principle in that unlike the material principle it is a vital principle; for various reasons it gets shrouded in ignorance and becomes impure; being caught in various bindings it suffers. When this vital principle becomes aware of itself, i.e. realizes what it is, the vital principle- Atma becomes one with the Paramatma it attains unending bliss. This certainly is a very charming idea and we need not enter into the debate whether it is scientifically true.

For the present let us only consider how to recognize such a sublime Adhyatmic (spiritual) person? There is a standard answer to this. Such a person is self restrained, virtuous and would never take what belongs to others. Truth and non-violence are the core principles of his life. He is moved by the sorrow of other people and acts for the good of human beings out of compassion. He is an idol of purity and piety. He lives in this material world but his life illustrates that there is some thing more precious and beatific beyond this material world and it is several times more valuable than this corporal life. Swami Vivekananda, Gadge Baba, Gandhi, Vinoba and a few others are excellent examples of this.

A number of saints in Maharashtra with this line of thinking did valuable social work. Charity, forgiveness, truth and altruism are the most cherished values in the literature produced by these saints. Gadge Baba used to say, ‘God does not reside in the temples; he stays in the hearts of human beings.’ This is the back ground against which we should examine the present abundant crop of spiritual Buvas and Babas. On one side is the saint Gadge Baba a standard bearer of selfless service while on the other side are rallied our modern spiritualist self styled Baba, Maharaj, Swami and Acharya.

These so called Adhyatmic personalities never think of liberating the ordinary men and women from poverty, hunger, ignorance, diseases, exploitation, ritualistic practices, etc. They did not care to teach them dignity of labour or strike at the senseless superstitions; nor did they endeavour to purify the concept of god and religion in the minds of the common people. Instead of caring for the lame, helpless needy people, these modern spiritualists wrest personal service from them. Instead of pulling out the ignorant from the quagmire of rituals they organize big pompous and wishful Pooja rituals for satiating their vainglory. They wear garlands round their own necks but do not remove the noose round the neck of the common man. Of course cleaning the streets with a broom in their own hands, excavating gutters, living in a hut, wearing tattered clothes and eating only a small piece of bread from the palm and gulping it with water is not their cup of tea. This was Gadge Baba’s mission which he observed throughout his life.

Superstitions - Part 2

In general superstitions are considered as product of religious matters. Religion never changes whereas science adopts every new change after proving it. The holding and clinging to old unproven matter, which is peculiar to the particular place, time or community is also superstition. Superstition gives birth to fanaticism and fundamentalism. It is hindrance to progress and development of human beings. It often blackmails the emotions of a person.

The continuous change, i.e. evolution, is a law of nature. Survival of the fittest is the rule of evolution. During the millions of years of evolution of species physical ‘might is right’ was the law of the survival. This was changed when homo sapiens evolved on the earth. The brain of human being evolved has something ‘extra’ than any other species. That is thinking power. Without this human race couldn’t have sustained the harsh conditions of the nature. The might of human thinking or intelligence was new law of the survival. It was the beginning of the rational thinking. However it was raw and primitive. With the help of thinking power human being has created the civilization and captured whole world without bothering about other species and even his fellow human beings. Though the sword of scientific progress is for the human benefit, it should be in the hands of rationally intellectuals.

The present civilization is not a better one despite it is modern and progressive. We will have to create a super civilization by thinking more and more rationally. This may be possible through by adopting means of unexploited nature and species around us for producing superior, sustainable, safe and simple but sufficient material for everyone to live happily. That may be perfect rational thinking of super civilization.

Superstitions Part - 1

Superstitions

“Superstitions consist of beliefs and practices, which have no evidence to support them, and are inconsistent with the degree of enlightenment reached by a community.”

The above definition of superstitions, taken from the textbook of university degree course, is a most logical yet neglected definition of superstitions. It has wide range and covers every field of human activities and knowledge. The analytical explanation of above statement is that as long as faith and practices of a community are in line with its present acquired knowledge and experience (those might be wrong) can’t be called or felt superstitions themselves. This is because their level of enlightenment or understanding is not raised to the higher level of knowledge available in the present world. To raise the level of level of enlightenment they have to think rationally. To create rational thinking one has to adopt a scientific attitude. To develop this scientific temperament, knowledge about the world based on examination, tests and facts those can be proved is essential. This requires sympathetic attitude.


The science is the best instrument to stimulate the rational thinking and investigation of knowledge and experience acquired so far. This does not mean that rational thinking is a right of learned people only. The rational thinking is a born instinct in every human being, which is suppressed throughout the ages. Any individual capable of truthful reasoning is ought to be rational.


There are many doctors, engineers, leaders and even scientists who are learned people and sufficiently enlightened persons yet they believe in superstitions. Despite their modern living using all modern amenities and leading happy life, they are not performing science in practice. They avoid scientific attitude in their daily life. These intelligent people believe and practice superstitions because no one is forcing them to do so. But basically they are selfish or are afraid of something or simply they are hypocrite. By their untenable attitude, common people are confused but ultimately follow them. This act of contradiction is inconsistent with their
enlightenment and as such they can be called superstitious. The second reason for many learned and knowledgeable people being superstitious is because of their lack of rational thinking and its awareness. They couldn’t use science in practice and interlink it with matters of superstitions to investigate the truth behind it. They couldn’t really understand it without some guidance. One has to guide them with sympathy and friendliness.

Overview of Superstitions - Part 2

Scientists are also prone to having their untenable beliefs despite their eminence in their field of specialization. Even scientists can err in matters as religious superstitions. Clearly one man’s belief is another man’s superstition. Does education help remove superstitions? Not necessarily. Education will not help much to eradicate superstition; the latter will merely shift its ground from time to time without losing appreciably its hold over the human mind. There will still be that murmuring to intimates, or consciences, that it is after all better to be safe than sorry: I don't really believe, but . . .

Does religion help? Not necessarily. Religion may in fact fuel irrational beliefs. In this respect no religion is exempt. Some of the most basic beliefs of most religions can be classified as superstitions if the test of common sense and evidence is applied. The superstitions were taken for granted and none was dare enough to question them.

Perhaps there is an unshaken belief in miraculous cures, magical remedies and supernatural phenomena which might have persuaded to remain superstitious even in this age of reason and scientific progress. As such there is a section of the society which manipulates the minds of the gullible to their advantage and amass wealth and power exhibiting so called miracles and supernatural feats under the garb of divine blessings. These Godmen, Babas, Buvas, Matajis and Maharajas are main transporters of superstitions and have got their stronghold on Maharashtrian society. Educated and elite class also supports these godmen to protect their vested interests. This class has completely twisted the meaning of superstition (Andhshraddha) under the name of faith (shraddha).

One person's faith is a superstition for another and what a third person considers to be a superstition is a very strong faith, almost a question of life and death for a fourth one. The faith that does not allow to be questioned on the basis of facts or truth is superstition. Whether faith is superstition or not can be assessed by using following four criteria:

Verify the facts or the truth. When faith is used in everyday affairs, it generally means religious faith, faith in the other world or in the liberation of soul from the cycle of birth and death. While verifying the facts should not be based upon the testimony of words of some individual, or the testimony of the person or testimony of the book.

Ascertain whether faith adheres to non-violence principle. In any society people have diverse faiths. They all should be allowed to preach and propagate their faiths as long as they confine their activities within bounds of propriety. It is tolerance that is rooted in non-violence.

Fear and lure should not weaken the determination to adhere to faith. It should be dynamic.

Faith sublimates value judgment while superstition debases it. Faith should be replaced with loyalty towards human values, moral principles and ethical behaviour.

Since superstitions do not allow people to think and act rationally, irrational behaviour leads to heavy losses in terms of money, health, peace of mind and sometimes life also. The superstitious activities harm the environment. It leads to intolerance and violence which disturbs the law and order situation in the society. The strong belief in alternate therapies like psychic healers, faith healers, acupuncturists, homeopaths etc my ruin someone's health beyond cure. People still believe in miraculous cures offered by witchdoctors and faith healers (mostly babas and buvas) even though science and modern medicine has gone into depth about prognosis, diagnosis and cure of most of the diseases.

How then can we eradicate superstition? As Einstein endorses" Over thousands of years of evolution, everything has changed except the way we think " . There seems to be something in the human condition, in the thought process that makes us surrender to superstitions and to believe in the unbelievable. The primordial emotions of man have remained the same over millennia—fear, greed, hatred, envy, anger, desire. Every religion asks us to conquer these but to no avail. No Prophet, saint or holy man or woman has made much of a difference to humanity at large in our conquest of these negative emotions.

Overview of Superstitions Part 1

Introduction

No matter which part of the world you tour, you will find the people nurturing certain beliefs and superstitions and India is no exception in this case. Though the Indian society is fast progressing, there are many people who are still superstitious and have a strong faith in the local beliefs. Most of the beliefs have originated from Indian religious texts and scriptures. Dharmsindhu, a Sanskrit scripture, prescribes the day-to-day behavioral patterns for the followers of Hindu religion without assigning any reason/logic for its directives. The standard viewpoint is that most of the Indian beliefs have sprung with an objective to protect from evil spirits, but some were based on reasoning.

Superstition is a belief that can be negated by common sense or scientific knowledge based on evidence. With the passage of time, the reasoning part behind the origin of these religious beliefs got eroded. That is exactly why most of these beliefs appear unsubstantiated and false. However, in reality, there are many such beliefs in the Indians culture which are absolutely absurd and have no logic behind them.

Superstitions are deemed as pertinent in India and specially in Maharashtra, because these, generally, hint at future occurrences and can be either good or bad. Thus, anything from the call of a bird to the falling of utensils is considered an (ill) omen in India. Many of the traditional superstitions in India are connected with some particular places, certain body parts, trees, animals, birds and reptiles.

Once upon a time life was extremely hazardous and the central feature of day-to-day existence was a preoccupation with the explanation for the relief of human misfortune. Vagaries of climatic and geographical conditions, hostile neighborhood, fear of predators etc were constant concern of the human society during those days. These things might have influenced for the superstitious behavior which are being carried till date. Witchcraft, women wedded to the gods, marked by the evil eye, stars that affect earthly actions – these are just some superstitious phenomena that inspire fear. We can see the superstition, therefore, as a constancy; a kind of reassurance against fluctuation as though we are part of an impenetrable mystery with incomprehensible rules. All superstitions remain as outward expressions of the tensions and anxieties that hold sway over humanity as it struggles down the corridor of life from birth to death irrespective of education, status and richness.

Materialism And Spiritualism - Part 3

Materialism and Spiritualism in Practise

Spiritualists tell us not to place “too much” reliance on science. They tell us that most important truths are beyond the reach of science. Hence they encourage us not to believe things on the basis of evidence, experience, and practise but to take them on trust from those who pretend to know better and to have some higher source of information. Spiritualism tells us that what is most important is the inner life of soul. They tell us that we shall never solve our human problems except by some inner regeneration. Spiritualism has very deep roots in our ways of thinking, and so men often clothe their thoughts and aspirations in spiritualist dress. But the spiritualist form is always an impediment, a hindrance in the expression of truth- a source of confusion and error.

On every issue we should be followers of materialism against spiritualism. This is because we know that it is in the light of materialist theory, which studies things as they are, without spiritualist fantasies about them, that we can understand the forces of nature and society so as to be able to transform society and to master the forces of nature. And because of this too, materialism teaches us to have confidence in ourselves- in people. It teaches us that there are no mysteries beyond our understanding, that we need not accept that which is as being the will of god, that we should contemptuously reject the “authoritative” teachings of those who set up to be our masters, and that we can ourselves understand nature and society so as to be able to change them. We should hate spiritualism, because under cover of high- sounding words it preaches subjection of man to man, belittles the power of humanity, which was expressed by Maxim Gorky when he wrote:

“For me, there are no ideas beyond man; for me, man and only man is the miracle worker and future master of all forces of nature. The most beautiful things in this world are the things made by labour, made by skilled human hands, and all our ideas are born out of the process of labour.

“And if it is thought necessary to speak of sacred things, then the one sacred thing is the dissatisfaction of man with himself and his striving to be better than he is; sacred is his hatred of all the trivial rubbish which he himself has created; sacred is his desire to do away with greed, envy, crime, disease, war all enmity between men on earth; and sacred is his labour”

Materialism And Spiritualism - Part 2

Spiritualism and Supernatural

Spiritualism is the way of interpreting things which regards the spiritual as prior to the material, where as materialism regards the material as prior. Spiritualism supposes that everything material is dependent on and determined by something spiritual, where as materialism recognises that everything spiritual is dependent on and determined by something material. And this difference manifests itself both in general and philosophical conceptions of the world as a whole, and in conceptions of particular things and events.

At the bottom, spiritualism is religion, theology. All spiritualism is the continuation of the religious approach to questions, even though particular spiritualist theories have shed their religious skin. Spiritualism is inseparable from superstition, belief in the supernatural, the mysterious and unknowable. The roots of the spiritualist conception of things are then the same as those of religion. Materialism on the other hand seeks for explanation in terms belonging to the material world, in terms of factors which we can verify understand and control.

Conceptions of the supernatural and religious ideas in general owe their origin first of all to the helplessness and ignorance of men in face of the forces of nature. Forces, which men cannot understand, are personified – they are represented as manifestations of the activity of spirits. From the most primitive times men personified natural forces in this way. With the birth of the class society when men were impelled to act by the social relations which dominated them and which they did not understand, they further invented supernatural agencies doubling, as it were, the state of society. The gods were invented superior to mankind just as kings and lords were superior to the common people. All religion, and all spiritualism, has at its heart this kind of doubling of the world. It is spiritualistic and invents a dominating ideal or supernatural world over against the real mankind.

Very characteristic of spiritualism are such antitheses as soul – body, god –man, heavenly kingdom – earthly kingdom; the forms and idea of things grasped by the intellect and the world of material reality, perceptible by the senses. For spiritualism there is always a higher, more real, more material world - which is prior to the existing material world, is its ultimate source and cause and to which the material world is subject. For materialism, on the other hand, there is one world, the material world.

For nearly 300 years there has been put forward a variety of philosophy known as “subjective spiritualism”. This teaches that the material world does not exist at all. Nothing exists but the sensations and ideas in our minds, and there is no external material reality corresponding to them. And then again this subjective spiritualism is put forward in the form of a doctrine concerning knowledge: it denies that we can know anything about objective reality outside ourselves, and says that we can have knowledge of appearances only and not of “things in themselves”. This sort of spiritualism has become very fashionable today. It even parades as extremely “scientific”. They say that the real world is unknowable, the area of mysterious forces which pass our comprehension. It is not difficult to see that the fashion for such doctrines is just a symptom of the decay of society.

Materialism And Spiritualism - Part 1

Materialism and spiritualism are not two opposed abstract theories about the nature of the world, of small concern to ordinary practical folk. But they are opposed ways of interpreting and understanding every question, and consequently, they express opposite approaches in practice and lead to very different conclusions in terms of practical activity. Before trying to define materialism and spiritualism in general terms, let us consider how these two ways of understanding things are expressed in relation to certain simple and familiar questions. This will help us to grasp the significance of the distinction between a materialist and a spiritualist interpretation.

First let us consider a very familiar natural phenomenon – a thunderstorm. What causes thunderstorms? A spiritualist way of answering this question is to say that thunderstorms are due to anger of god. Being angry he arranges for lightning and thunderbolts to descend upon mankind. The materialist way of understanding thunderstorms is opposed to this. The materialist will try to explain and understand thunderstorms as being solely due to what we call natural forces e.g. ancient materialists suggested that far from thunderstorms being due to the anger of gods, they were caused by material particles in the clouds banging against each other. That this particular explanation was wrong is not the point. The point is that it was an attempt at materialist as opposed to spiritualist explanation. Nowadays a great deal more is known about thunderstorms arising from the scientific investigation of the natural forces involved. Knowledge remains very incomplete but at all events enough is known to make it quite clear that the explanation must be on materialist lines, so that the spiritualist explanation has become thoroughly discredited. It will be seen that while the spiritualist explanation tries to relate the phenomenon to be explained to some spiritual cause – in this case the anger of god – the materialist explanation relates to material causes. In this example, most educated people today would agree in accepting the materialist interpretation. This is because they generally accept the scientific explanation of natural phenomena and every advance of natural science is an advance in the materialist understanding of nature.

Let us take a second example, this time one arising from social life. For instance, why are there rich and poor? This is a question many people ask, especially the poor. The most straightforward spiritualist answer to this question is to say – it is because god made them so. It is the will of god that some should be rich and others poor. Those who favour this type of explanation say that it is all due to eternal “human nature”. The materialist, on the other hand, seeks the reason in the material, economic conditions of social life. If society is divided into rich and poor it is because the production of material means of life is so ordered that some have the possession of the land and other means of production while the rest have to work for them. On such questions therefore the difference between a materialist and spiritualist conception can be very important not merely in a theoretical but in a practical sense. A materialist concept of thunderstorms for example helps us to take precautions against them, such as fitting buildings with lightning conductors. But if our explanation of thunderstorms is spiritualist then all we do is watch and pray.

Spirituality in India - Part 3

Present Day Godmen-

This is the back ground against which we should examine the present abundant crop of spiritual Buvas and Babas. On one side is the saint Gadge Baba a standard bearer of selfless service while on the other side are rallied our modern spiritualist self styled Baba, Maharaj, Swami and Acharya.These so called Adhyatmic personalities never think of liberating the ordinary men and women from poverty, hunger, ignorance, diseases, exploitation, ritualistic practices, etc. They did not care to teach them dignity of labour or strike at the senseless superstitions; nor did they endeavour to purify the concept of god and religion in the minds of the common people. Instead of caring for the lame, helpless needy people, these modern spiritualists wrest personal service from them. Instead of pulling out the ignorant from the quagmire of rituals they organize big pompous and wishful Pooja rituals for satiating their vainglory. They wear garlands round their own necks but do not remove the noose round the neck of the common man.

People today are more self- centred and absorbed in themselves. They do not like to talk about social commitment or equality and want immediate solutions to their own problems, stresses and strains. The modern Adhyatma offers ready made answers to their problems. The answers are deceptive but appealing and capture the imagination of educated young generation. In fact the path shown by these god men leads our young generation to run after the mirage called “Moksha’ that brings all investigating endeavours to a stand still. It contains the seeds of demolition of the social fabric. If the crowd that is presently enamoured of Adhyatmic Buvabaji is diverted towards progressive social organizations then we can hope for some social change.

Despite many revelations of wrongdoings and corruption by the god men, their roaring business remains in tact. It is, therefore, all the more necessary and urgent to begin a harsh criticism of this phenomenon, for, this ‘Buvabaji’ is leading the public away from the legitimate social problems and their solutions and changing their awareness and understanding regarding the real causes of their difficulties. Under the influence of the Babas and Buvas taking action to solve the problems is altogether out of the question.

Why people get trapped?-

The deprived poor people of the ‘Bahujan Samaj’ turn to the ‘Babas’ to get relief from their poverty and the accompanying difficulties. The well-to-do educated middle class go to the ‘Maharaj’, who preach ‘live and let live’ policy. And the highly educated higher middle class go to ‘Acharya’ in search of ‘the art of living’. All these three institutions - Baba, Maharaj and Acharya - are individual centred. They start with the dictum- if the individual changes, the society will change. Next they preach the audience to uplift their own selves and progress. Finally they ask them to leave all the problems of their lives to the Adhyatmic powers of the god man and surrender to him. The audience is convinced that their beatitude lies in the total surrender to the god man. This whole process gradually de-socialises the individual.

Challenge posed-

The path of the rationalist movement is full of difficulties and challenges. One of those challenges is the spiritual pretensions of the god men.Today all our energy is spent in fighting superstitions of the primary state. Those who do not openly indulge in deceit and exploitation but harbour very regressive thoughts and act accordingly as do the Maharaj are unfortunately left alone. And the fight against the Acharya is altogether out of the question. Such Babas hold workshops for personality development provide health facilities and also do some other socially useful work. But they also generate indifference and aloofness towards progressive movements, administration, community life and even generates religious hatred at times. All this leads to the destruction of youth’s reasoning and gives it a wrong direction. This is quite dangerous and does not have a simple solution. We can only chalk out the direction thus: on one hand there is the responsibility of determining what is truth and what is not, what is right and what is not right.

Spirituality in India - Part 2

Nature of Adhyatma-

However present day self proclaimed saints and Gurus do not follow the path of the old saints like Gadge Baba, Tukaram etc. These Godmen boast about the knowledge of Adhyatma but try to amass wealth and prosperity in the name of spiritualism. The nature of Adhyatma (spiritualism) of these men is different from that of the traditional Baba-Buvas. Their language is modern and sophisticated. With a few exceptions they refrain from performing miracles. They guarantee ethical sublimation to their disciples. Their spiritualism has a philosophical foundation and is coupled with some social service or other.

One tends to ask at the first glance, ‘So, what is wrong in all this?’ The people of this country are enamoured of the word ‘Adhyatma’ and all the practices and rituals that go with it. Although there are different opinions regarding the concept of Adhyatma there is some common understanding about its nature. Generally it is believed that – Adhyatmic principle is different than the material principle in that unlike the material principle it is a vital principle; for various reasons it gets shrouded in ignorance and becomes impure; being caught in various bindings it suffers. When this vital principle becomes aware of itself, i.e. realizes what it is, the vital principle- Atma becomes one with the Paramatma it attains unending bliss. This certainly is a very charming idea and we need not enter into the debate whether it is scientifically true.

How to identify Adhyatmic person?-

For the present let us only consider how to recognize such a sublime Adhyatmic (spiritual) person? There is a standard answer to this. Such a person is self restrained, virtuous and would never take what belongs to others. Truth and non-violence are the core principles of his life. He is moved by the sorrow of other people and acts for the good of human beings out of compassion. He is an idol of purity and piety. He lives in this material world but his life illustrates that there is some thing more precious and beatific beyond this material world and it is several times more valuable than this corporal life. Swami Vivekananda, Gadge Baba, Gandhi, Vinoba and a few others are excellent examples of this. A number of saints in Maharashtra with this line of thinking did valuable social work. Charity, forgiveness, truth and altruism are the most cherished values in the literature produced by these saints.

Spirituality in India - Part 1

Spirituality and mystical charm have always drawn people from all over the world to India. As the world becomes increasingly capitalistic and materialist, the quest and urgency for spirituality grows more and more. India, its people, its infrastructure, and indeed its very soil, encourage and breed Spiritualism, allowing religions to thrive, flourish and prosper. India boasts the presence of every major religion in the world, as well many of their off-shoots and facets, all being supported, nourished, and living in comparative harmony. The age-old environment has always supported such freedom of belief.

Whether you define spiritualism as "having something to do with the spirit or soul" (for example "an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace given unto us”), "caring much for things of the spirit or soul", (such as "men are they who see that spirituality is stronger than any material force"), or "having to do with spirits; supernatural" ("Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth unseen"), you will find all of your senses saturated by spiritualism in India.

Indian Philosophy-

Belief in God is an inseparable part of the Indian philosophy. Intertwined with its sheer spiritualism, Indian philosophy stands as an emblem of ultimate consciousness. The very presence of the metaphysical God, ideally unifies with the absolute reality in Indian philosophy whilst reverberating the aura of spiritualism in the most eloquent way.

Thus, Indian spirituality is all about showing respect to all living beings-animals trees, rocks and even water and lead a positive and healthy life. It is believed that the supreme Creator has put each one of us in this world for a purpose and that purpose is to be compassionate, caring and loving to one-another. The great Indian spiritual personalities and gurus have played an important role in spreading the message of love, care and the need for positive living all over the world.