Those believers of rote and ritual will probably not like this post, but I write what I feel and see around me.
God is just a business today, and a very profitable one at that. The number of gurus, maas, ashrams and ways to nirvaana that have sprung up in the last few decades is astonishing. What's more is that they survive purely based on donations, and some hefty ones at that. One you have latched on to a rich businessman or a politician, you are all set to succeed in the path of becoming a god man.
These so called messengers of god own wealth equal to kings of yore. Be it land, gold, precious stones, latest gadgets, swanky vehicles or private armies, name it and they have it. What bugs the hell out of me is the gullible crowds whose blind belief crowns these thieves into god men.
Nityananda is just one highlighted case in recent times, and it is a high profile one. But swindlers in the name of god are present across the socio-economic strata. Do this puja for 25,000 and your child will get a good admission, give this prasad of 5,000 and you'll get a job or a husband or what-not. Just a few weeks ago I had gone to this trip to the north east and as usual temples were a part of sight seeing. It's so obvious there, priests counting cash from donations instead of praying, blatantly asking for dakshina even to let you see the idol. Disgusting!
For me, god can never be this. God is in a place which is peaceful, serene, beautiful, and where your soul comes to rest, separated from the chaos outside. THAT can never be achieved in these temples of today that are so commercialised by a population of lazy, good for nothings who expect to be fed and clothed and idolised just for some mumbo-jumbo they utter at rituals that are outdated in the current context.
Well there is nothing to be done about it, these things are so deeply set in people's physche that talking about it makes no sense to them. In any case, to each his own, and I say no to such a god and such means of getting his attention!
God is just a business today, and a very profitable one at that. The number of gurus, maas, ashrams and ways to nirvaana that have sprung up in the last few decades is astonishing. What's more is that they survive purely based on donations, and some hefty ones at that. One you have latched on to a rich businessman or a politician, you are all set to succeed in the path of becoming a god man.
These so called messengers of god own wealth equal to kings of yore. Be it land, gold, precious stones, latest gadgets, swanky vehicles or private armies, name it and they have it. What bugs the hell out of me is the gullible crowds whose blind belief crowns these thieves into god men.
Nityananda is just one highlighted case in recent times, and it is a high profile one. But swindlers in the name of god are present across the socio-economic strata. Do this puja for 25,000 and your child will get a good admission, give this prasad of 5,000 and you'll get a job or a husband or what-not. Just a few weeks ago I had gone to this trip to the north east and as usual temples were a part of sight seeing. It's so obvious there, priests counting cash from donations instead of praying, blatantly asking for dakshina even to let you see the idol. Disgusting!
For me, god can never be this. God is in a place which is peaceful, serene, beautiful, and where your soul comes to rest, separated from the chaos outside. THAT can never be achieved in these temples of today that are so commercialised by a population of lazy, good for nothings who expect to be fed and clothed and idolised just for some mumbo-jumbo they utter at rituals that are outdated in the current context.
Well there is nothing to be done about it, these things are so deeply set in people's physche that talking about it makes no sense to them. In any case, to each his own, and I say no to such a god and such means of getting his attention!
