A Letter from a Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Worshipper
I expressed the idea that Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is not a supreme being endowed with the power of the Almighty God in my article titled “Is Sri Sri Ravi Shankar a Con Man?” I concluded that he is doing very useful work and as evidence I pointed out that he has very large numbers of followers who are willing to pay good deals of money for his guidance. But that rubs his worshippers the wrong way. Fortunately, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a Hindu and therefore his followers are not in the habit of calling for the murder of those who hurt their feelings. When SSRS’s followers feel slighted by my not considering SSRS god incarnate, they merely write letters protesting my view.
One such arrived today asking me to keep my opinions to myself. I don’t suppose the person appreciates the irony of expressing his opinion that I should keep my opinion to myself. Here is the letter verbatim, for the record:
Subject: Blog on Sri Sri Ravishankar and Deepak ChopraDear Mr Atanu dey,
I read your blog on both of them. I have read about both of them and also know the services rendered by Sri Sri Ravishankar.
I don’t know what you do? and also not interested.
I want you to keep your personal view points to yourself and not put it on the net.
You have written history only by reading the website. It is not simple.
They are contributing to the people and to the society and if they have to hire teachers, travel all over the world, give free food, build schools, develope villages, bring knowledge, empower women,
bring a change to prisoners,, they require money. How much is a question which can be answered only by involving oneself into these services. Not by reading website.They are doing good, that matters.
Please keep your opinions to yourself and let it not float.
raghu
My father went to one of his workshops/courses that are held for 3-7 days in bangalore. He came back early because of some infection(probably stomach), this was a long time back(98-99). He was generally ok with the workshop. Didn’t really have any complaints. I too have no problems at all with such people as long as they don’t brainwash people.
Lol.
Excuse this poor demented soul. May his brains rest in peace!
No further comments! Seriously, we could do with more of these mails in case you wish to feel “normal”.
atanu, you gotta remember – this blog is your space. You have every right for posting your views
whether someone wants to read it or not is upto them!
I read your article about SSRS (the one linked to from this post) and I agree with you on most parts except this,
I believe that people like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and Deepak Chopra are useful to India in general.
and
SSRS and Deepak Chopra actually increase the awareness about Indian philosophy abroad. They are in a sense cultural ambassadors.
I believe that SSRS and DC and Osho were “good” or useful only to the extent that a good Indian businessman is useful to our country. Even though they are seen as culture ambassadors I wish they weren’t. Worshipping a person as a deity has been extremely bad for India in general and the spiritualist nature of Hinduism in particular. The moment we call someone a “sant” or “mahatma” we become blind to the human side (esp. the big backside, as you noted in one of your other posts) of that person. I think we need culture ambassadors who keep the philosophy on the forefront rather than themselves.
One of the main reasons I have become more and more inclined towards the Buddhist philosophy is because Buddhism doesn’t have this “idolatary”. It strongly emphasizes the fact that Buddha was a human first and “enlightened human” later. It also emphasizes not to mistake the “finger for the moon” also. Due to this, in comparison to other religions, it has avoided fanaticism/idolatary to a great extent. Most Hindu traditions taught today require, to a certain extent, a surrender to the supreme authority of another person and acceptance of his/her divinity.
Most of the fanaticism in Hinduism is a result of staunch idolatory either towards a person or a mythological figure. Hindus need ambassadors who will break this practice and put the philosophy on the forefront. We need more of the likes of swami Vivekanand than SSRSS, DC, and the assortment of maataas and gurus. We need ambassadors who tend to the “philosophical” bottom line rather that “financial” bottom line.
I must protest. You seem to have deliberately picked the more braindead of SSRS followers!
Atanu,
Great thoughts in your letter to your brother. It takes courage to tell a family member that their emporer has no clothes. It won’t get you any love to be a skeptic, however. My own mother is one of the most gullible people I know. She will believe any new age nonsense she is told (if the teller is reasonably charismatic).
Just one quote from the Art of Living web site:
“Developed by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the Sudarshan Kriya® is the core component of the Art of Living Course. The Sudarshan Kriya infuses the body with energy and harmonizes the natural rhythms of the body, mind and emotions.”
If the organization is nonprofit, why the “®”?
Besides your blog, another of my favorite websites is James Randi’s ( http://www.randi.org/ ). It is an excellent resource for skeptics.
“Fortunately, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a Hindu…his followers are not in the habit of calling for the murder…”
I am not so sure of what you want to convey…but i would like to add that Dara Singh(Graham Staines) is also a Hindu…so is Praveen Togadia and his ilk…
Atanu’s response: I wrote precisely what I wanted to convey: that the followers of Hindu leaders don’t go about murdering those with whom they disagree. Which part of this simple declaration do you not follow?
The person(s) who murdered the Australian missionaries were not following the dictates of some Hindu religious leader. Praveen Togadia does not represent mainstream Hindus nor is he a Hindu religious figure. If Dara Singh and Togadia was the best you could do about Hindu “fundamentalism,” I am afraid that your case is rather weak.
Hi Atanu,
First of all, I would like to say, good work in opening up atleast one person’s(your brothers eyes) to different paths of thinking. Secondly, I consider atleast the useful people for India are people like Baba Amte, who has developed the rural population in India. It is not adequate that somebody builds schools for free or anything for free, rather teach the population to sustain themselves. Like they always say “It is better to teach a man to fish, than feed him”. Any altruistic purpose, should be first to raise living humanity levels itself, not collect funds to build something or develop something which does not ultimately bring in change. Why does no cult member look at improving education standards which can bring a great deal of change? Let us think about this rather than build somethings for free, which is not a end-to-end solution.
Atanu,
I have been through a 7-day residential course in the Art of Living conducted by one of his very close followers; I believe it was the advanced version. Also, I have seen SSRS at close quarters and been to a couple of his satsangs- all courtesy the Chariman of a company I used to work for who is an ardent follower, so I can add a few observations of my own.
The breathing technique is undoubtedly useful and to that extent it is beneficial. While I do not practice the kriya, I can accept that it can help relieve stress for some people. Also, the general teachings of SSRS are reasonably sound advice even if many of the “homilies” are vague and subject to varying interpretations. Much good is also resulting from the AoL foundation. To my mind the worst one can say of this is that it is completely harmless; and to my mind certainly useful to a point.
However, I would submit that stating SSRS is a Supreme Being or God incarnate is probably over the top; and at least to me exposure to AoL, did not deliver the enlightenment that interaction with or the teachings of Swami Chinmayananda or some other great teachers has. From the reactions of various others I conclude there is no unanimity of views on this; and I am ok with this.
Atanu’s response: Thanks for seconding my opinion of SSRS, that he is providing a very useful function to lots of people.
Help! Where have my individuality and original thinking disappeared to? I am becoming a yes-man to all of Atanu Dey’s views nowadays!
!
That follower of SSRS is indeed the most pathetic of them all it seems
Everyone gets what he looks for. If you are sincere you will get a genuine guru. It is all very personal. Unless you are yourself self realized you may never know. So first find out if you are genuine and the rest will just follow. Till then do not pick on great souls and disturb their followers’ peace…. Remember what you sow … so shall you reap. As Gandhiji said ..”Be the change you want to see in the world..”. God Bless you to be a genuine seeker instead of wasting time nitpicking that helps no one.
Atanu
My God is way better than anyone else’s. Trust me on this one. However, I have chosen to keep His identity secret so noone else can benefit from His grace.
Idol or icon worshipping is an innate human character? I think so. Some psychologist can explain.
Is it because most humans are so helpless that when they get help they start worshipping? Or when they see someone do things which they cant do in real life but wish to do, they start idol worshipping (e.g: cinema stars). Not the best actors are worshipped, but one who beats 100 rogues in 1 go is always worshipped (e.g: Amitabh, Rajini).
Is it that people need a walking-stick or some sort of thing to hold to walk through life and when they get that or see that they start worshipping?
I think humans wish to be master of some people and slave of someone.
I find the article (letter) about SRSS very well written and thoughtful, I took the basic course and this is what I disliked the most, i.e. commercial aspect of it all. I paid a token Rs. 200 which is ok, but I was annoyed when they sort of interuppted the course to show the students the movies of the work done by SSRS and also asking us to buy his books (though they are good, esp. Celebrating Silence) and also ayurvedic stuff. One feels we are just being made a sheep in the herd of ppl blindly following the “n” number of holy persons we have in india. We even had a photo of SRSS on a pedestal there with a lamp in front (like if we were worshipping him rather than meditating). This is why I asked the teacher Capt Brij Paul Singh, that I will like to just call him Ravi Shakar and not guri ji, and he just said calmly that it is ok, there is no problem in that. In the end I would say that his techniques are really good and very effective in calming ur body quite simply coz it is not different than other forms preached by Deepak Chopra or Osho or our ancient saints. But you gotta find a teacher and gotta learn from somebody and for me that happened to be Art of Living course. I would say that I appreciate the immediate teacher (Capt Brij Paul Singh) more than SRSS coz he was the one who taught me, and I have respect for him not least because of his age. In the end the whole issue should be a very personal one. If you find that SRSS has helped you in some way no harm in praising him and discoursing about his methods, but to claim that he has magical powers or he is akin to God or he is a Godman, would be disgrace that I think even SRSS should discourage. In that sense I like Osho lot more, because he never claimed to be anything other than a normal guy (teacher from Madhya Pradesh) who just had some revelation one day and became a guru.
In our changing times (read : stress riden) we will be in need for more and more such ppl, who can help keep our focus and destress our lives, they are important for the world to live in peace, they may deserve a Nobel at some point of time, but certainly not the status of God. I guess it is just with us Indians, let alone this emotive issue related to religion, we even make crikceters and film actors God, havent you heard about the temple dedicated to Amitabh Bachan. No wonder Hindu religion has crores of Gods mentioned in the Vedas.
I always wondered what kind of an ego this person has when he prefixes n-number of Sri words in front of his name. Probably he did not prefix them by himself but I am sure he should be humble enough to warn his followers to not call him by Sri prefixes. Not sure this irked anybody but it irritated me a lot.
The other personality who annoyed my intellectual curiosity for a long time is Puttaparti Sai Baba.
Sigh. Religious people are so full of themselves.
intersting , I do consider Guruji SSRS close to god. He is almighty , his powers are beyond the world. What i am aginest is his followers , who are fanatic and will disslove even their marriage or friendship id you critise SSRS
I love SSRS. Not his followers
Great Discussion !!!
Enjoy…
One should read his interviews before commenting. He has never called him a God or a superhuman. With many millions following him, he may not be able to stop them from adressing him with prefixes like Sri Sri. There is nothing wrong in displaying the books or ayurveda products, there is no compulsion to buy. I too have attended the course. There need not be such a hue and cry – a person who serves the society is given respect, that too by persons who follow him – esp in a society where politicians and cine actors without any human values are celebrated the important thing is he has not harmed anybody and he reaches out to people in need of peace- his services in Iraq/Srilanka/US etc are cases in point.
He teaches Love and Harmony. By reading some books and surfing the net some people think they have become competent to teach others, why not celebrate SSRS as a Guru.
Atanu’s response: If you are the typical follower of SSRS, I guess it is proving the point that I have made in the post: that you are not reading what I wrote. It is either a personal failing as in low “reading comprehension” skills, or it is a result of brainwashing which makes one see red the moment SSRS is not admitted into the Hindu pantheon.
Please do read what I actually wrote. Brief: That SSRS is doing a good job of commercializing Indian thought and I commend him for it.
Well, well, well….(This is Ladyloneranger responding.) I see that you are absolutely serious about writing. It seems, in my opinion, that you possess the type of inquiring, analyzing mind that disassimbles and reassembles; that poses, posits, questions, critiques and creates new avenues of thought and raises new awarenesses in the minds of your readers. I am impressed. This is very useful. I am envious.
Now I will proceed to tell you that I have had the Kriya Yoga training as taught by two very well trained devotes of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. They have been long time friends of mine whom I met when we were studying shaminism. I have heard SSRS lecture when he was in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after which I was fortunate to have had a private audience with him many years ago. He seemed to me to give sound advice and and to be very wise to the ways of human behaviors and the nourishing of the soul. Is he enlightened? How does one define and measure enlightenment? A wise woman I know says that we are ALL fully enlightened. We just need to clear away the clouds that keep us from knowing it. I think some of us are more cloudy than others and I am probably one of the most muddle-headed of all. I am a student of the Great Mystery and have had some fine spiritual teachers, but I have yet to form devotion for any of the guru types, no matter how enlightened or charismatic. I have seen some pretty big egos and tend to steer clear of that. I guess I take a sort of buffet approach to spiritual teachings. I go to the buffet and take what seems to nourish me at the time no matter what tradition presents the slices of wisdom. I have heard it said that any religion is true if you follow it faithfully. Perhaps, but I have not yet found one that I want to pursue as a sole venue. Meanwhile, I daily sit in meditation, breathe and just be. I practiced Kriya Yoga breathing techniques for a time, but have not kept it up, although it would probably be good for me.
I think we need the SSRShankar’s of the world to remind us that we are more divine than we know and to keep clearing away the things that get in the way of our knowing just how great we ALL are. Marcia
As I was reading your blog, one thing was clear to me, that you have good clarity in some areas in life. The coherence (in atleast 60% of the section) in the content being conveyed and the effectiveness with which the idea has been portrayed proves that this is not possible by someone who knows only good English and one who has access to a lot of knowledge repositories which is actually not his own.
This can only happen in an attempt to express ones inbuilt and time-tested ideologies using a user understandable language, towards a particular motive.
Main points from “the compilation of your opinions†(as far as my understanding goes).
 It’s a clever compilation of what already existed for long.
 Good technique of marketing and commercialization employed.
The fact is that, we have solutions to most of our problems within us in terms of lessons learnt from our own experiences as well as others’. And for those we don’t have answers within us, we can get it from someone else who has a solution developed as a result of his own experiences or the set of others’ experience which he has come across.
Having said all this, if he has done a clever enough compilation that is helping a dynamically growing huge group to solve majority of problems of their life and has made it reachable to so many people around the world keeping his capital as people themselves, I feel his act, deserves if not appreciation at least recognition but definitely not a statement calling it to be “simple and a usual actâ€
I am not saying that he is a person to be worshiped.
My stand point is: His preaching is his own version of the open source code of the system and is very profound.
So I would like to conclude that if any one sees “The art of living†as a whole unit with an unbiased, neutral and a logical approach, they would (possibly) find that, there are few things of not great value which can be easily filtered but lots of great knowledge and practices compiled in a easily understandable way.
I would like re-emphasise that am not a follower of sri sri ravi shankar but I like the content of art of living course.
I saw that you have included few responses to your article in your blog……but then its orientation is single sided, If you really appreciate healthy arguments then go ahead and put this too….we will see where this takes us.
sorry dint include my email for any further communications
its elango.n@tcs.com
I feel sorry for those who consider Ravi Shankar God or even Godlike. Poor Raghu! So upset that a blogger might question the divinity of his guruji.
Ravi Shankar may well be doing some good for some people in India and other places through sincere devotees doing social work in his name. He and his family have also grown personally wealthy from his “work”. He also has harmed many people with his behavior and with slander and gossip of those who have dared to leave him in the past, or question his authority. Many immoral and illegal things have occurred at his ashram(s). He is far from Divine, in my opinion, and I am entitled to that opinion.
In my experience, he can be cruel, paranoid, gossipy, and ingenuine. He has successfully hidden quite a lot about himself, or he would NOT have the huge Indian following that he has today. Far be it from me to disclose those things he has hidden. I’m too scared of him and his followers. No, they won’t kill you (I don’t think) but you can bet they WILL call your friends and family, lie about you, say all sorts of fantastic things about you in your community to discredit you before you can utter “peep” about H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Heaven forbid anyone should ever know the truth about this man.
What a joke. Nobel Peace prize nominee? Well, I guess if Arafat and Qadafi could receive that prize then it’s possibly become irrelevant anyway.
It is typical for his followers to demand that you keep your opinions to yourself. You are not allowed to have any opinions around such a person, so they are used to brainwashed zombies who just say “yes guruji” all the time. You have shocked them with your posts even slightly wondering about him! God only knows what they would do if you knew anything about him and dared to post it. Probably sue you, or call you up and threaten you with a life-long curse, tell you that you’ll be ruined if you continue to defame him, blah blah blah blah. I’ve heard it all, and not from a few.
The Art of Living group is sick, sick, sick and doesn’t care at all for people. They only care to further Ravi Shankar’s agenda, whatever it might be this week.
Dear Raghav
Who are we do judge who is doing good or bad job? Every role is well defined by god.
So you need to play the role. As far as kriya yoga is concern it is good without restrictions. God never laid any rule for prayers or even SSRS. rules are laid by teachers who are too pround that they are the world.
Please read autobiography of yogi . Origins of kriya yoga have no rule just the desire is enough. Who are we to lay rules. And why one should get upset I do not know
Hi Atanu,
We form a set of opinions and judgements based on our experiences…. So you have the opinion you expressed about Sri Sri Ravi Shankar…
I’m not saying your opinion is right or wrong.
I just want to ask you, do you think that there is a possibility that you may be wrong?
Thanks,
Charuta
Atanu’s response: By the time a person hits puberty, if the person is not somehow mentally handicapped, a person realizes that one’s view of the world is just a partial view of what reality exists out there. Since I am old enough and do not suffer any impairment, I too concluded decades ago that my opinion is just that — an opinion. And like all opinions it is vulnerable to error.
ATANU
YES I AGREE WITH YOU.
fOLLOWERS OF ssrs ARE FANATICS. tHEY DO NOT SEE BEHIND SSRS. One must understand all yoga and mediation comes from stone age. Not from SSRS. SSRS is great but not greater then yoga and mediatation or god itself . Do you agree.
Atanu’s response: No, I don’t agree that the followers of SSRS are fanatics. They are devoted to him and all that, but they are not in any sense evil. SSRS is very good at explaining things to people who need simple explanations. As I have maintained, he does a good job of repackaging things that already exist in Hinduism. It is an important job because he is making good ideas more accessible. My only concern is that his personality overshadows what good he is trying to convey.
Hi Atanu,
This is regarding your comment “SSRS is very good at explaining things to people who need simple explanations.”.
I agree that the knowledge in the Art of Living Course is conveyed in very simple terms… but when you apply it to life, it can be equally subtle. It needs a lot of commitment and awareness to live the knowledge.
My personal experience is that, as time passes, I understand more and more, the knowledge goes deeper.
It is like the word ‘God’. On the surface, its meaning can be very simple, but the deeper you probe into it, it can get very complex.
Rgds,
Charuta
Dear Atanu Dey,
Do u find my blog interesting?
http://www.zimmersaleya.blogspot.com
Dr Jayanth G Paraki
I was reading the response from ” Sorry for them”. Im curious to know about the “immoral” things happening at the SSRS ashram. This could “enlighten” a lot of people. Feel free to write.
Anahita
hi anita please advice me your e mail to give details
Hi,
First of all, I am not a member of Art of Living organization. I have few friends who are into it, my opinion that follows, is based on my reading and activities of Art of Living.
I would like to draw everyone’s attention to the fact that Sri Sri is not worshipped or put absolutely parallel to God. If you have seen Art of Living followers placing his photo with God idols, that doesn’t mean that he is worshipped as God. Anyone who has studied hinduism properly would know that how much importance ’shishyas’ give to their ‘guru’. Here same is the case, the followers are having enormous respect for their guru, that doesn’t make it cult.
I also read a comment about idol worshipping by someone. Usually muslims and christians prefer to point at idol worshipping practice in hinduism. A well read hindu would know that idols are merely symbolic representation of God and not God in themselves. Someone who has read Geeta would know that God regards himself as ‘Nirakara’ as well and hence it is not necessary to worship Him through idols.
Finally, someone feel offended that indirectly muslims were associated with terror. In turn he provided example of Praveen Togadia and Gujarat riots. I would like to ask him is Praveen Togadia a substitute to Osama Bin Laden or those jihadis who behead innocent people? Recently an Afghan convert to christianity was about to be punished to death and many people were killed during cartoon controversy of mohammad. The civillized society considers it to be violence which is more common in islamic world.
Hi again,
I heard nothing from “sorry for them” or Kiranji who was going to provide me some pertinent details i believe about the “immoral things happening at AOL ashram”…Im still waiting…..i guess everyone is waiting.
A request is to write directly here only…unless Atanuji has filtered such content.
Cheers.
Anahita
Atanu’s response: I don’t filter content.
Hi Atanu,
Bless your heart and soul! The thread of thoughts/words here and now decidedly points to, what one would obviously be led to suspect is your aim of stirring some sort of controversy about a spiritual teacher.
To know the difference between devotion and worship takes not much diligence in one’s thought process. Yet we confuse ourselves by identifying devotees and worshipers as the same manifestation of just people who breathe and love and breathe and eat and breathe and sleep and one would guess breathe and stir controversy! And then we breathe again and dwell in greed and envy and breathe again in schemes and dreams. So it is not surprising that SSRS is being vilified here just like any other great teachers of the past and the present, and for that matter the future. There is really no need to name these great teachers here which one may see clearly will only facilitate your goal in the first place.
Does it really matter to you that SSRS is a marketing genius promoting a 4K year old wisdom? Face it Bill Gates is a marketing mogul too and that may or may not shed some light on why he is a controversial figure too. SSRS is simply helping people to point their attention toward regular contact with the divine, through opening hearts and souls to direct communion with God by whatever name. His teachings of inner focused breath awareness from the ancient wisdom of Patanjali may not be as appreciated and accepted universally as say Windows XP if not more! And one may not go that far to call Bill Gates a great teacher which probably brings some relevance to this comparison. Bill generates capital energy by being the marketing whiz he is just like SSRS does the same by teaching us simply to breathe. And they both pump that energy right back for the good of humanity and again in the case of SSRS if not more!
It is fairly easy to draw conjectures on a renowned spiritual teacher and even easier to judge him in context of other teachers. What is harder is to understand his teachings in the first place and practice them in real. Yes, just like Nike says “Just Do itâ€, Divinity says “Just Be Realâ€! SSRS never claims to be a supreme being endowed with the power of the Almighty God in as much you express it at the first line of this thread. He is very accessible just like you and me and yet is real! Being real is effortless.
Being real is loving yourself enough so as not to warrant self doubts of being murdered for speaking out your thoughts. Or are these self generated dark thoughts just the perfect dose of spice for the controversy curry you have so skillfully prepared that I am tempted to dive into here. Only you can tell as you own it. As for the controversy it seems your curry has gone stale since April 26, 2006 when you curtly respond you do not filter content. May be time…only you can tell…
Regards
Mohammed
I did the AoL course quite a few years back and was deeply impressed with the course and the values projected by the organisation. The AoL course stresses on empowering the individual through personal growth and development. The organisation is doing a lot of good social work, providing a framework for likeminded people to come together and contribute towards making the world a better place. I have seen the transformational effect it has on people, and have also experienced it myself.
But over the years, the organisation has become more and more cult-like and seems to have lost much of its once solid credibility. There is too much focus on publicity and collecting donations. The same courses are recycled and remixed to form new ones, for which substantially high fees are charged. Stories of miracles and angels(!) are being spread and believed by highly educated people, presumably to lure more people to the fold.
I moved away from the activities of the organisation when the focus shifted from spiritual knowledge and social work to publicity and adding more people to the cult, but I have no grudge towards the Guru or the organisation. Rather I am grateful as the course helped me at a very crucial point in my life.
I have a few friends who are staunch devotees of SSRS. They are highly educated, extremely intelligent people who regard SSRS as a SatGuru and do not eulogize him or revere him as God. Yet they justify the cult-like practices of the organisation, including the excessive publicity and hype. They continue to spend a lot of time, effort and money towards AoL courses and activities and for all their pains they don’t seem to radiate peace and joy as they initially did, after first getting involved with AoL. Ironically they sound unhappy, even frustrated at times and their families are pained and worried with their dysfunctional lives.
Everyone chooses to live life his own way, so I guess they must be finding satisfaction in what they do.
I have been ssrs follower for a long time now almost 4 yrs.i had an interim period where i moved away from him and his teachings only to find more pain and agony . so in short what i want to say is that the author of this blog speaks from a very different wavelength as he still needs to go alot of distance for his spritual quest for answers and he seems ignorant. what ssrs has done to me and many others like me is beyond words but in a nutshell he has brought back our smile.
as ssrs says we will easily believe someone saying wrong like”i hate u ” but wouldnot believe someone saying”i love you”.
my advice to the author is dont have pre-concieved notions , although i agree with him there are lot of con gurus around.
Its a process of self-realization where you go through a lot of apprehensions and doubts and finally you see the real light and delusion is no longer there.
god bless all
jai gurudev
i am just continuing with what i just said.
regarding people’s query why so much publicity by srss , if i can answer on his behalf,how else does he unite the world and spread the message of god. and about loads of money that aol is making, has any one cared to see how much of it has gone into rahab of quake victims , tsunami victims and rural india.
we guys would spend lots of money uselessly but when it comes to real cause we all hae reservation.
actually noone is to be blamed as we are ignorant and very few spritual leaders like srss is there.
#
August 28th, 2006 at 3:58 pm from Amit
#
Dear Atanu
I have been observing the AOL movement for a while now. My conclusion is that it is an organisation using religion to grow big in size and scale and bring name and fame to SRS. Would like to put forth the observations that drive me to this conclusion
1. Every one is asked to greet saying “Jai Gurudev†akin to “Hail …â€
2. Celebrities were signed on early to do reference marketing. I remember around 6-7 years back friends in Mumbai wanted to do the course because a certain celebrity was the organiser / teacher!
3. For influential people, (big business magnets), teachers are sent off to conduct one to one sessions
4. The meditation centre built at the ashram in Bangalore, with public money, is named after SRS’s mother – Vishalakshi
5. Steep fees are charged for the courses, thus accumulating huge funds
6. Close association with a national newspaper, so that SRS is in News every day. Good PR strategy.
7. It is a classic case of multi level marketing – teachers are produced after a 3 level course. From a novice, one could become a teacher in 3-4 months, and starting dishing out spiritual guidance for a fee. Easier than aquiring a driving license!
8. Participants of the courses are asked to get their friends, so as to increase collections and no. of followers.
9. There is a divine shop in the ashram, selling potato chips amongst other things. There is a brand of products – Sumeru. There are cassetes and CDs sold to increase revenues. Not only sold from campus but placed in music shops to increase revenues.
10. The 25 yr celebration had a stage set up at an estimated cost of Rs. 7.5 million. What public good is that?
11. AOL has ventured into ayurveda, schooling, etc. to increase source of revenue. It has projected itself as an NGO to increase grants from Govt. and international donors. Yet you see SRS spending more time abroad than in uplifting the poor and needy in the country.
12. Recently, there was a big buzz by AOL supporters that SRS had been nominated for the Nobel Peace prize. The truth being the names of the Nominees are not revealed, so how would they have known?
These are a few among the many questions that fox me and I dont need to do a basic course to get answers for these, do I?
I agree SRS is above the average to have started this whole movement with so many followers and centres. Hats off to his marketing skills. But any suggestion of making him out to be an incarnation, etc. is outrageous. I would agree with your scale and his rating as – “Usefulâ€
1. Jai Gurudev means victory to the Big Mind. Often we follow the Small Mind, telling us to chase fun and pleasure all the time. But then we ignore the important aspects of life, and trouble and pain comes sooner or later! Jai Gurudev means victory to that mind that includes everyone on this planet, sees the best in everyone, and all that which is best in the longer run.
2. To my knowledge, some Hollywood stars and famous singers have done the AOL-course, but it is certainly not promoted to any significant extent around the world! Never have I seen _anything_ resembling that in 6 years of AOL.
3. You can’t expect leaders and significant persons to do a regular AOL-course, so special arrangements are done to meet their steep criterias. If you were Bush, would you share your intimate person in a regular course, or in a course with Clinton?
4. It is a tradition in India to honour your mother, father and teachers. These person influence your life in such profound ways. So to name the Mantap to the mother is quite natural. In the West we often name our children after grandparents and others. This is quite natural.
5. The fees are usually below average fees for such courses and duration. Free courses are being provided in India in rural areas where there is no such funds, so some of the funds goes to funding this and other projects. But you may be right that keeping the Ashrams certainly demands alot of money, so the fees should really be much higher!
6. What to do to get media attention these days? Have journalists on the course and experience for themselves is a good and honest strategy. It is actually a part of a special journalist-program to educate journalists into more responsible reporting. Just a few days ago, news of the pope hit the world, saying he was villifying Islam, while he was just quoting some other pope that said that a few centuries ago. Now, this fuels the fire in many muslims, and they hate the West even more. What is good in that? Responsible journalism is actually a burning and pressing issue these days.
7. You go and try. See how “easy” it is.. You go and DO something good for the world, anything really, and watch how “easy” people will support you..
8. The primary source for course participants are friends, relatives and others. People have fantastic experiences on AOL courses, but may feel shy to recommend it. We shouldn’t be shy to show what is positive in the world, or to do something to contribute. This is actually one of the most important messages of Art of Living, to contribute positively to the world around us, instead of blaming others (politicians) and shunning responsibility.
9. Branding is important for all businesses, even spiritual. Music and knowledge should be available everywhere, not just in one obscure Ashram.
10. How much is that divided by the 1-2 million people that was there over the days? I would think it would be much more expensive even.
11. AOL is a global organisation, based in 140 countries. To travel so much that SSRS is doing, is evidence in itself that he is something extraordinary. In 2004 he visited 175 cities, in his tireless effort to spread the message of harmony in diversity across the globe. This was just one year, he’s doing this all the time, with multiple flights every week. Nobody of his closest aides are able to keep up with this his schedule of meetings and talks more than a week or two..
There are programs for the poor. But the most important thing you can teach the poor, is that they’re not poor. You just don’t give people a free lunch all the time, but you encourage them to find solutions themselves.
12. Officially, nobody knows. Of course, human nature is not “official”. Why, all the newspapers were announcing Bono, SSRS and others had been nominated. How did they know this?
“These are a few among the many questions that fox me and I dont need to do a basic course to get answers for these, do I?”
If your mind is loaded with doubts, I see no reason to do the course at all. However, if you want to be free from all that, I can heartily recommend the AOL-courses.
“I agree SRS is above the average to have started this whole movement with so many followers and centres. Hats off to his marketing skills. But any suggestion of making him out to be an incarnation, etc. is outrageous. I would agree with your scale and his rating as – “Useful—
We will see
My experience has been genuinely positive. Of course, you can always find things that go wrong, or left missing from the planning.
The more you focus on the negative, the more it will grow. More questions, more doubt, will grow, _in you_.
The more you focus on the positive, the more that will grow. We have the choice, and the responsibility to make things right.
Frank
I must appreciate the effort and the whole web of words used to attempt the justification of the commercial activities of AOL and SRS. Hardly convincing.
A good thing for AOL would be if insiders and followers like you are open to these ills and try to correct these rather than blindly defending the same. There are good things and there are the not-so-good ones. A true follower should be balanced in his approach and not be over-whelmed so much as to believe everything. Then it starts becoming a “cult” and meets the same fate as so many across the world.
What is funny is that if AOL were completely commercial, funded by private interests and had private stockholders, then everything is automatically “OK”. Everything people do out of greed, is understandable for everyone, and will quickly be approved and supported.
People will often not get why someone will give something without demanding anything in return! They will look at you with suspicion… (Try it!)
Even when you are a world-recognized registered charitable organization!
There are more than one way to do things, and people are genuinely working for the positive. Not everyone will approve of it when you do good. Jesus was misunderstood and crucified. So people will crucify you. No matter how much good you do, some people will badmouth you.
I can only share my heart
Namaste
PS. I would love to answer more questions if you send it to: fDrDDaDnDkDDsD {alpha} tDiDhDlDdDeD [dot] DoDrDDg
why is everyone discussing the issue , of whether Sri sri Ravi Shankar is genuine or not , of whether he is God or not?? How can u comment upon someone else’s beliefs for eg; of his followers??For some AOL may have benefited moderately but i know of people for whom it has been immensly beneficial , even close to being miraculous … So for them Sri sri would be someone that would always look upon and perhaps would want to worship ,and alos the concept of God for one person may be different from another person .So with so many differences of opinions about God , belief etc with people , it is not correct to point out on someone’s belief and check their validity.And to the best of my knowledge AOL is very much into “teaching a man how to fish rather than giving him food” , they have dealt with so many problems of rural and poverty laiden areas , by helping them become self sufficient ,by giving them that mental strength , knowledge and courage that they need to uplift themselves.If u are commenting about AOL’s teachings and work , tell me , have u done anything at all for the good of the society??? then why point at somebody , who is doing some good.God or no God , well i can say one thing , that the followers of sri sri Ravi Shankar , hold him very close to their hearts ,his teachings are actually very useful and practical , and he connects to everyone through the language of love.
JGD
i think mark made a remarkable reply to Rishi!! I thought that would shut all his questions up , but no , Mr.Rishi has a small ego problem of not to give in
even if a person with no inclination towards AOL would be satisfied with Mark’s reply , like me 
U see Rishi , even after all that u pointed out , i would still like to remind u that AOL is non-profitable organisation . yes , it needs money , money to do a LOT of development projects everywhere , so there isnothing wrong in carrying out marketing strategies etc .. to promote something , that is useful for everyone!! Did u hear about the latest news of Guruji’s talks with Prabhakar to promote peace?? And u still think he is doing all this for his own selfish interests of promoting his business ,then u must be a fool!! People like u have no better job of commenting on small issues , of something good that is happening. Please stop all this ,this is a waste of time for u… (even expressing ur unbiased opinions blah blah) cause negative pin pointing does no good to anybody , and what u say negative isnt ACTUALLY negative.Instead , go do something good for the world urself ,be useful…
Sorry ! in my prev mail , i meant Frank instead of mark
Atanu’s response: No, I don’t agree that the followers of SSRS are fanatics. They are devoted to him and all that, but they are not in any sense evil. SSRS is very good at explaining things to people who need simple explanations. As I have maintained, he does a good job of repackaging things that already exist in Hinduism. It is an important job because he is making good ideas more accessible. My only concern is that his personality overshadows what good he is trying to convey.
Dear Atanu,
If u think he is just teaching what already existed , then i think he is teaching us to go back to our basics , which i think is the best thing to do!!Its easy to preach knowledge , but make people to practice it , requires a lot of widom and skill , remember that.If guruji , was so business minded and AOL so commercial as u state , tell me why do so many of AOL followers linger on to him? why do they believe in him so much ? after all its the same knowledge thats been there for so many years , and according to so many of ur observations , he is a very shrewd businessmen too , and people dont exactly “love” or “worship” people they do business with!!
My dear , its the way u impart it , the same knowledge , u and me cannot impart it…its NOT a business!!To impart knowledge u have to LIVE the knowledge , and this requires great learning , which guruji has , nothing to do with the marketing skills.I suggest u to do AOL course , with an open mind and then tell me if it is a commercial business..
And tell me one thing ? can u name any people who have become rich or made huge properties by being into AOL?? do u have any such information .. u know… would be helpful in emphasising ur point
If AOL is marketing its product , then YES it is doing so … and with that money , it helps to uplift the society …
and about the GODLY image given to Guruji , well he cant help it, can he?? And if he has made a big difference in people’s life , then he will be worshipped , simple
ps: mr atanu,
Some people have made some ugly comments about Guruji and AOL in the blog , and u have not replied to all that?U have not replied to any of some senseless and BASELESS(ask them to give proof and details) comments by some idiotic people ..
but when people who know about AOL and guruji try to clear ur doubts , u reply by calling them “ardent follower of SSRS”
clap clap clap clap!! and all the negative things said by other ignorant people makes a lot of sense to u!!!what is ur intention ?? To defame AOL and guruji ,by using these ignorant and useless people?? ha ha ha ha ha
and mr Atanu,
U R USELESS!!! And I am not saying this because of anger ,with a quite unbiased opinion , u r more useless and less useful
and maybe jobless too !! cause only people like u would like to pin point and criticize something good that is happening around u … i think we have better things to talk about … like terrorism , and people like u will hinder whatever good anybody does to bring peace in this world
The followers of SSRS who say things like they love him but not his followers, or that SSRS would not take titles like Sri Sri, but that those are put on him, or that SSRS never claimed he is God, simply don’t know him very well, regardless of how much time they think they have spent with him.
He has told me that his name Sri Sri was given by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi long ago when he was his disciple. He wished to be called by that name because he loves MMY (even though MMY wouldn’t take his phone calls).
He told me himself on more than one occasion that he was Shiva, that he was Krishna, and also that he was Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The man is clearly out of his mind.
Perhaps his recent social programs help the poor of India, but surely not nearly as much as he himself has been personally enriched (his dear, now dead mother told me proudly that her son had “over $1 million US dollars in his personal account”), and as his useless brother-in-law and sister and newphews have been.
This man has worked the system from the outset, having failed in school, setting himself up as a guru, getting free land grants from Karnataka with the promise of setting up schools for village poor (only a tiny fraction was used for that, most was used for building facilities to attract monied people for ashram courses), and now becoming extraordinarily famous. Good for him.
In his wake he has left countless ruined families, people, minds. He doesn’t care a wit about that. He’s made it.
I count myself extremely lucky to have left his domain while it was still very small and one could still know the complete truth of his nonsense and lies.
If the Indian public once finds out what and who he really really is, they will pack it up and leave. I am certain of this, and so is he. Once I suggested he come clean, take off his false robes, put on ordinary clothes and tie his hair back and let the chips fall where they may. He declined saying, if the Indian people know how I am, they will run away.
He once told me that his mission was to do what Maharishi Mahesh Yogi could not do: to “get” the Indian population. He felt that MMY had been successful in the west, but not in India. So dear ravi has done just that.
He also indicated that he wanted to be more famous than Amritananda Mayi from Kerala. He’s working on that, I suppose.
All in all, the man is a fraud. I feel real pity for those taken in by his mesmerizing power. I feel real disgust to see him grow and grow in his deception of the public at large.
How has he kept his long time followers who “knew him when?” Easy: one teacher once told me ‘I’ve left everything. The travel is free. What else can I do with my life now?’
Too bad.
Hi
I totally agree with your blog on “Art of living”.I have read sri sri’s articles and one of his followers used to forward me the emails he sends to his followers.I think its too much hype for basic common sense.Javed Akhtar totally demolished him in his debate and any guru worth his penny would have had good points to argue.There is no depth in his writing or talking.Its all marketing gimmick.Pranayama(breathing techniques) has been there for centuries in this country and somebody marketing it with a different brand name and claiming it as his creation is similar to patenting of genes by pharma companies today.People just seem to accept yoga only if some bearded guy with a fake smile sells it to them.I am very sure all those guys who got cured would have still been cured if pranayama had been taught to them by a normal yoga instructor.
I agree with the above comments by Mosur.
Now while am typing this,Ravishankar is conducting a 3- day course for his so called followers in cochin(Kerala).Here goes a simple calculation after I understood the following details abt the course – Each person is charged Rs 500(course fee) + 150 for accomodation..The duration of the course is 3 days which is conducted in a Stadium..So a wooping “tax free” amount of 3.25 crores(assuming 50000 of his followers attends the refreshers course) is made by the cult..Imagine a public ltd company trying to get the workin capital of atleast half of the above mentiioned amount..In my Opinion Sri Sri is a good business man..he has proved himself by running his MNC – AOL. But i agree practising yoga is good and i du not have anything against Sri Sri regarding this.
Dear Shri Atanu,
I would like to know the educational background of SS Ravishankar,who must have grown up in Tamil nadu or karnataka …..What is his real formal school education? .It is said that he got his science degree at the age of seventeen..From which University? How long did he learn from Mahesh Yogi….These basic data should be easy to get and ascertain.Did he learn the scriptures in the formal way? Did he learn sufficient Sanskrit ? I found that the explanations of his during a program in the TV were very vague and school-boyish….Please let us know the early background of this new-age guru….He may be doing useful work for which the credit is to be given…As you had written,he has good marketing skills,for which he could become an advisor at Harvard or Wharton business school—-for it is not easy to do such marketing in India…
I Like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, but you are asking good questions. Let’s get some answers.
I learn from other web information that SS Ravi Shankar studied at St Joseph’s college in Bangalore.I presume that he got a Bachelor’s degree in science [a three year course] from Bangalore University…Some Bio notes of SSRS claim that he obtained “Advanced degree in modern physics” at the age of seventeen.This is claiming too much, but perhaps his overpaid PR manager did this tall claim….they have to make false claims to sell him in the west anyway…I do not find the openness and candour of Paramahansa Yogananda ,the author of Autobiography of Yogi, who got his degree from Calcutta University in 1920’s with the divine intervention of his guru–in the case of SS Ravi Shankar…Well, I wont be surprised if he adds the honorific of “Paramahansa” also before his name soon…It does not cost much; Only some PR steps…..some swami from Rishikesh can be paid to shower that honorific on him,so that he can align himself with Sri Ramakrishna or Yogananda….A still easier method—start a deemed university paying the politicians—then you can give as many doctorates as you want for yourself and your friends and family members—
Let us see the positive side of Ravi Shankar’s ministry:
1 He brings in foreign money to India;
2 He promotes tourism indirectly;helps hotels,airlines and taxi service;
3 He helps event-managers and PR men to prosper;
4 He helps publishers and audio/video makers prosper;
5 He keeps smiling and keeps others smiling or laughing–whether artificial or divine smile as you imagine;
6 He helps lot of unemployed youth to have some work or other serving his institutions;
7 He may employ a few ghost writers—good for them;
8 He does not perform so called miracles or street magician tricks;
9 He quotes Sanskrit verses, usually forgotten by the educated Hindus in India;
Does it matter whether he is a saint or not?
As for me, let him earn more foreign money to help alleviate poverty in India.
dear raghu
have u heard about asuri shakti ? in our old times when sur plans to do yagya or want to do anything good asur came and try to demolish them, but they never get success.
these are asuri shakti which try to overcome sur shakti but never get success. so dont bother them they can not overcome sur shakti.
rajkumar bhatnagar
Interesting to read the positive sides listing that you made. Most of which are true outcomes, except for employment for event management by professional firm…oops you got it a bit wrong there, most of it is done by dedicated volunteers.
If you look at the administrative cost for the organization it is hardly 6-7%, which is because it is the largest unpaid volunteer based organization (~95% are not paid). This remarkable fact is precisely the reason James Wolfensohn, former President of World Bank was amazed about in AolF and IAHV that he planned to use the model in other WB funded projects.
Many know only a drop about AoL from what they hear from the Media…what Media !! since when have they become the standard of matter-of-fact based straight news !
This marketing and PR manager campaign this is so bloated now that it makes one laugh. Maybe those who have this perception live only in India, you see a large gathering of people on Mahashivaratri etc., the media reports and you start wondering. Very few know that whatever the org. now is essentially only through word of mouth. Have you visited Poland, Eastern europe, Mongolia, South Africa etc. and bothered to understand how and why the organization has grown big there…PR and marketing? people will laugh at it. Only thro’ personal sharing of experience the being and the values of selfless service that has got people interested in it.
Someone in this blog suggested that only dullheads could get attracted to the activities of the org ! if that is so Mr. TN Seshan, James Wolfhensohn, President Anirudh Jugnauth or Mauritius, Nobel Prize winning economist Myron S. Scholes who are all assisting and involved in it are dull-heads too.
Oh ! what fantasies half-baked info can deliver
Chief,
You are not doing any good at all by hurting the sentiments of SSRS followers. At least he is doing some good.
Let me question you in return –
1. What are you trying to do through your deesha.org
2. Are you trying to gain popularity and money through these website?
Similar to the defenses you will give, SSRS started the organisation AOL with some noble objectives and continues to do so. Money and popularity are by-products.
The way I see it, even now, he is spreading love and you are fermenting agigated thoughts and useless dialouges. Live and let live Atanu. Its like a movie, life’s movie – don’t like it – keep quiet. Don’t disturb others who like it.
God bless you.
- Basanth
You are having reading comprehension problems. Please tell me where I have stated that SSRS is not going good work. If you cannot point it out, do apologize in a comment on my blog.
Sincerely,
Atanu
From Basanth – Let us talk some facts first:
1. You have stated that he is doing some recycling of knowledge from Stone age scriptures.
For that matter any godman from any religion including the founders and prophets can only deliver recycled knowledge. So, it is as a critisism against all gods and godmen.
Even the website you run, takes it input from all possible social sources and you add on some inputs from your own mind and create this public page. Everybody on earth does that. You cannot avoid or critisize this phnomenon. The difference is – are you picking on good stuff and adding on good stuff? Or Are you adding to the more serious debates in the world with petty matters.
2. He has commercialized sprirituality.
Please bring out a white paper on which spiritual course charges how much and what is net worth of each of these organisations – spiriual or religious. TTD (Tirupati) receives the maximum donation because of a myth / fact that it helps the lord pay the loans he had taken. So what would you say – it is a commericially coined story / ved / puran.
Vedas have encouraged charity and there might be a whole industry running out of it. So are the vedas written with a commercial objective?
Because of the effectiveness of the techniques or his charisma or whatever, if he has attracted wealth or popularlity, please remember these are by products. He was not popular or wealthy for 20 years after he started the AOL and he was still the same. I never saw an appreciation when the courses were conducted free for 5 years. If economics have forced them to charge – so be it. People are willing and it is thier money. Who are we to comment – whether thier spending pattern is right or wrong.
Lakhs of maths and temples receive money for doing nothing but having a idol. SSRS is at least doing something. It looks like you are another one of those jealous guys towards all who have made money or have become popular. Please envy others too. SSRS’s net worth is nothing in the market compared to the fleecing happening everywhere around. (Rs. 2000 is a disc entry these days for 2/3 hours dancing, SSRS courses are Rs. 1000 odd for a week full of spiritual teaching.)
Conclusion
Without getting into the dept of the matter, this looks like an amatuerish blog.
Mud-slinging without facts is a very harmful epidemic in the soceity. You are one of its indulgers.
Lakhs of PIL’s and blogs on the net are nothing but opinion fights. Who is interested? What right do you have to claim that your opinion is greater than mine or anyone else?
If you have some factual answers to the questions raised above, please furnish them and present your perspective. Do not speak whatever come to your mind – even on your blog! If it is about your-self, it is all right. Especially if it is about somone else, some issue of not-your-exclusive interest – please desist.
This is my last revert to you as I see it as time waste by indulging in an opinion fight.
Only humble request – no mud-slinging – this is commercial, he is recycling, etc. etc. on any person or issue. Facts with perspective is responsible writing. Kindly promote that. In the meantime, you must apoligise to all for starting this opinion fight.
Atanu’s response: I see from the above that you do have reading comprehension problems. But that may be the least of your worries. I have not claimed that SSRS is “doing some recycling of knowledge from Stone age scriptures.” Show me where, else apologize.
My final word on your comment: You come across as seriously intellectually handicapped. Fortunately, I am forced to be civil to you as you are a guest on my blog. If this were a public forum, I would have been more direct.
Atanu in his letter to his brother:
“Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (henceforth abbreviated as SSRS) has repackaged a well-known breathing technique and commercialized it.” – In “Is Sri Sri Ravi Shankar a Con Man”
Friend, please check your eye-sight and then run a blog. You seem to be having serious physical and mental ailments. Please pity yourself and then blame me of intellectual handicap.
Plus he immediately spurts on point No.1 -(reclycling / repackaging) kahan likha hai? He gets deaf, dumb and mute on point two about accusing SSRS of commercialisation.
Dear All, Atanu seems to be a blind attacker of faith. He has no facts and just keeps spurting out what comes to him ir-responsibly. One of his freinds believes in numerology and he has a problem with that too. Anyone, believes in anything and Atanu has a problem with it. He cant live and let live.
I thought I’ll avoid further conversation with him but as pure social service recommend him a trip to the eye-doctor too apart from ENT and psycologists of course!
Atanu, this is my level of being civil. If I become more direct, you may have to visit more doctors.
Atanu’s response: You, sir, are an idiot. Even though I have laid out my argument as plain as broad daylight, you have not comprehended it. That, however, is your problem, not mine. I have said this before but let me state it again: it is devotees such as you that SSRS should be rightly ashamed of. He does draw a crowd but if you are a typical example of that, the crowd is a bunch of mindless morons. Now just go away and don’t bother coming back here. We don’t need any more mindless crap. If you wish, go start your own blog and spew your nonsense from there.
Hi Atanu,
Bless your heart and soul one more time (and infinite times to come)! Patience and forbearance, my friend, should be the order of the day, don’t you think?
Here is an idea! Why don’t you try and take one of the courses offered by AOL and lay for rest all doubts or concerns Sri Sri may evoke? I recommend that you at least try and comprehend what Sudharsan Kriya means in learning and practising the kriya as Guruji recommends…even just for the heck of it! In fact I will try to sweeten the idea with offering to pay for the course fees at a location convenient for your good self. How about that? No malice or ill motive intended from this offer but just love in service so eloquently and constantly extended by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who is just like you and me.
Regards
Mohammed
[...] ea! Why don t you try and take one of the courses … – more – bkwebb posted a photo: [...]
I did the sudarshan kriya course recently and I am a committed member [initiated] of the Hare Krishna movement. . . the ultimate goal of my life is quite different from Sri Sri’s in regard to the highest tattva or truth, but I still think he’s doing helpful things in the world and certainly in India he’s raising awareness about some very pertinent issues, ie, killing the girl child in the womb or at birth. . . the old double standard for women that goes on in India.
Hi
its me again.Sir,you put Mahavira,gautama etc in the “great” category & Gurus like Sri Sri in the bottom-most “useful” category.
Have you had the privilege of staying with Lord Mahavira,Budhdha or any of these enlightened Masters to know what they were like?
Because in Indian Spirituality “Experience-not words-is everything”
Regards
Dear Atanu,
Your letter to your brother was the best analysis of SSRS I have ever read.I am one of the fools who was caught in this web for around 3 years,but fortunate enough to get disillusioned and get out with total understanding.I certainly do not blame anybody. After knowing everything about the organisation having been done lot of courses and ’seva’,I only realised the truth behind one proverb ‘Duniya Zukti hai Zukanewala Chahiye’.
There are some interesting comments from Rishi,Chaitanya,Mosur and NK Srinivasan which are very much true and I can vouch for them. This information is necessary, because many of the people are interested in knowing this side too.As a cult figure you cannot avoid this. I feel the outbursts of supporters of SSRS only further strengthens Atanu’s viewpoint. Jayant
Dear Atanu ji,
Haah! You have successfully made countless man hours go waste in a seemingly futile exrcise ! Not your fault tho!!!
I just cant comprehend why or how people need to criticise / respond to criticism … wasting own time as well as others’
Some how I just briefly appreciate some thing which appears good tome, and if not I just ignore!! You will say, its Good for me, eh? True,my dear ones.
Looks like there are so many people like you and ME (too) who have somuch free time to kill!!!
he he he I think I am getting enlightened
but Just wanted to add that if at all we need to criticise, it should be after really experiencing the object – in First person!
bye…
Sheshadri Thinks!
I’ve attended the basic course of Sudarshana Kriya. I must admit, I had a lot of health benefits apart from a certain stability of thought patterns. Indeed the breathing that is being taught is reassures people of enhanced health for sure. But to be unifying SSRS with the Almight is overdone. At the same, every Guru has his own unique way of touching his chosen devotees and SSRS has not done that to me as yet. As commercial as his circle is, atleast we do not hear of any untoward rumours about them, like we do about Sathya Sai. As far as people are not getting hurt, we are all safe. In this age and time, divinity is an index of how a person is NOT exploited, than how a person IS advancing spiritually. That is Kali Yugam
Using this as a yard stick, SSRS and his preachings are very harmless.
Thanks
Deeptha Echampati
I don’t know why people want to complicate simple things, but I should not blame as I have been in the same position at some time.
The thing is if your mind is quiet and calm and heart full of love for this whole creation then this world is a paradise for you.
But if your mind is all restless, u find this world full of problems, miseries and imperfection and u are full of fear , anxiety and jealousy … then u r in hell.
So there are different options either u are intelligent enough to find means to understand yourslef and make thie world a paradise for your self or keep living in hell thinking this is waht life is or try to learn from some one who has understanding of how to make your life paradise.
Now there are people who lived in heaven like Budhha , Jesus, Sai Baba or NAnak to take few names out of so many masters. They do not need anything from this world only thing they see is people suffering out of ignorance so they come to spread the knowledge and make difference in thier life.
And when some one living in knowldege speaks the effect is instantaneous and he will say based on the current state of person in nfront of him. So that is why there are so many flavours of the same knowledge.
Jesus stressed on LOVE, budhha on peace, Nanak puts the knowledge is such simple way and so on !!!!
But only an enlightened can see the simillarities in the teachings.. because they are actually the same .. but for a person who does not have proper understanding will only find vaguness and contradiction.
But for a stressed person who does not want to go deep and is already pissed out from his life and thinks every one is foolling and have all concepts about life thinking he knows all ::: for him these masters and the knowledge brings more anger … and frustration … So no wonder why Jesus was crucified !!!! Some one spat on face of Buddha !!!! and some abused Sai and … so on …….
Same is with current age gurus .. whether ravi shankar or mata Amritanand mayi mata … !!!!! They are just living the knowledge and each having their unique way to convey the same thing thir own style !!!!And it is helping people from all culture and walk of live tremendously !!!!!! From a distance, their style and approach might seem full of flaws .. but if you go closer then u might understand why people want to call him GOD or anything !!!!!!
The whole theory is as simple as this .. if u meditate in true sense it generates positive enrgy in you whihc gives happienss and blisfullesss from inside … that which al the money, fame and ego does not give…. If u meditate with a person already mastered meditation ur progress will be multifold …. There one touch glance or one touch of that person in deep state can bring bring u in that deep state .. so it is not wrapping of old meditation in new package .. but mastering it, and benefitting oneself and all around you … !!!!! This is all very scientfic and any one can expereince it on there own without have to beleive in any concept and geting caught in all ambiguity and contradictions !!!! I don’t know why this simple practically expreincable thing has become so complicated for the modern age educated person to understand and experience it !!!!!!!
Your own capabilities might be nothing but you can find flaws in Budhha, Jesus, Nanak… you can disprove the whole knowledge … u know why .. because that is the simplest thing one can achieve … To understand them appreciate them and to prove knowledge u need to take time go deep learn and attain … for that u need capabilities … SO just don’t say we need more people like vivekanand … take the responsibilty and become Vivekanand yourself .. andthen I will come and criticize you in 100s of way and you will find what does it take to take the resposibilty of world in true sense !!!!!
We all are trying to tackle a situation ( to discuss God ) with the help of logic. The irony is that God is beyond logic which cannot be dealt with the help of an incomapatible tool of logic . God is much beyond the field of logic which is only dual in nature. God is infinity which is beyond the realm of logic , then why break our head over who is God and who is not. Go beyond logic and then you will have some inkling of God and this is only possible when you go into meditation.
I read Atanu’s letter to his brother, and I must admit, one could not have written a more balanced and unbiased opinion. I have come to know of AoL through the experience of my wife who had enthusiasitically joined the 6-day course (“to add value to life”, she would say but I feel it was out of curiosity – shortcut to spritual discovery- and perhaps out of sheer boredome of living life as a housewife). Though she was under oath not to reveal the goings on to ANYONE, she did do so. And here’s what I feel after I learnt of the goings-on at AoL sessions. The sessions of AoL smack of arcane practices of cults founded by self-important gurus. My wife was told, for example, that if anyone was to record the discourse of the AoL teacher, the CD/VCD will not work. The criminal who recorded the goings-on would feel dizzy and will suffer severe headache until he confessed his crime. This kind of utter hogwash is puntuacted with grandiose talk on spritual achievements of SRSS. Don’t Believe me? See it for yourself. This is happening in Rajouri Garden, New Delhi. The AoL preacher claims to be an ex-GM of a national bank. It is pathetic to see public domain knowledge of yoga fall into the hands of pelf-seekers, who put their own label on the package and market it just the way commercial organisatons market other products such as soap, shampoo or toothpaste. SSRS may well be a well-meaning person – in which case, he should make this knowledge as free just as source of his own inspiration is. to prove his altruistic credentials, SRSS could have shared his discovery, his insights into Yoga (pranayama), with the rest of the world, instead of making it into a profitable enterprise. And profitable it is. Why does he not propound his ideas on an open platform? Furthermore, does SRSS really know how foolishly his so-called volunteers merrily go around peddling SRSS’s style of yoga wrapped up thick with religious imagery, loaded with superstitions and patently laughable mumbo-jumbo? The way AoL “volunteers” wangle Rs. 1500 out of gullible people by promising unheard-of rewards, and the way they lie supine at the picture of SRSS before starting any sesson would make any rational being turn away in disgust…
Yukesh,
“The criminal who recorded the goings-on would feel dizzy and will suffer severe headache until he confessed his crime.”
Now this is either made up or whoever telling your wife about this is either crazy or pulling her leg !
Yukesh over the past several years that I have sat on courses in various countries including India … what you mention is pure nonsense. It it what was said was true, it is again pure nonsense ! Have never heard an iota directly or indirectly anything resembling to what you mention !
Also SSRS I believe doesn’t need to prove anything to anybody. You have to take the effort and responsibilty to investigate the kind of monummental service activities around the world are happening under the IAHV and AoLF. Also it behoves that you understand, this cannot happen without money. If the ancient knowledge of Yoga was to be propogated to the 140+ countries where it now exists..it would not have happened without funds. I wonder, how apparently intelligent people like you skip this stream.
“Why not propound his ideas on an open platform” This statement only shows the kind of effort you have taken to find out what he has spoken and the diversity of platforms where he has spoken and enunciated the ancient principles of Human Values.
If you even have any idea about Yoga Sadhana and the injunctions on how knowledge is given, you would not have made such a statement.
That overt aside the expression of devotion by volunteers is something they should definitely be careful about. People with conditioned minds cannot grasp it… just like you and I previously did not. That is quiet true.
Mores, What I have written is truth and nothing but the truth. Carry out your own investigations. I have mentioned the place in Delhi where this is taking place EVERY DAY. And BTW, when I spoke of open platform, I meant open platform for teaching what was a charged course, not a stage for mouthing homilies and the need for world peace etc – in the fashion of politicians. There certainly is some good in what is taught in AoL sesson. My request: cut the mumbo-jumbo and make it free. Free for all. And for the sake of rationality, don’t promote deificaton of humans and idolatory.
Dear Yukesh,
I do not understand why it should be free! if something is so valuable why keep it free; why this sticky concept that spiritual knowledge should be given free ? Even in olden days a Guru Dakshina was demanded. There is some thought and process into why a fee is charged. Also as I mentioned before too, take some time and take the next step in knowing what is done with the fee. I personally have gone through its publicly available accounts in USA, Canada and India. BTW politicians mouth homilies, here I have seen that there is verifiable action (inner city/tribal schools, village youth leadership programs, prison programs…so much) happening from Detroit to Mexico City and Phaltan, Maharashtra to Buenos Aires…literally.
As regards the Delhi incident, I am certainly not putting aside/denying your claim…I maintain that if it is said it is pure nonsense and unfortunate ! and is not in anyway true. I tell you about this from a certain definite position.
Yes “deification” or put in better words expression of gratitude – if it should, should happen spontaneously, from within. Artificial promotion of it yes, is ridiculous, and does not bode well with a rational mind.
How about you do the course first-hand, do the practices from a different location and then give a complete well informed and experienced view. That will carry a lot more credibility isn’t it ?
This is a question for Nu on a coment he did in his letter, which other breathing practice is similar to the Sudarshan Kriya???, does any body knows a similar practice in any other hindu practice???
Im a follower of Sri Sri, but also not closed to comments like te one Nu did.
Thanks a lot,
SofÃa
This is a question for Nu on a coment he did in his letter, which other breathing practice is similar to the Sudarshan Kriya???, does any body knows a similar practice in any other hindu practice???
Im a follower of Sri Sri, but also not closed to comments like te one Nu did.
Thanks a lot,
SofÃa
Dear Atanu Dey,
Jai Gurudev.
Peace be unto you. If you recollect, some years ago my plans of doing something for the welfare of the poor people of Bihar was published on your blog.
My motivation has persisted till this time, purely because I had the perseverance (and time and inclination) to study the teachings of Gurudev more closely…
Presently, my plans for reducing the migrations of the poorest people from Bihar for earning money by legitimately working hard; seen presently; are planned to be addressed. The land in Bihar is very fertile, and agriculture is highly likely to flourish in Bihar if the proper infrastructure is provided.
I am a serving officer of the Indian Army, 36 yrs old presently, married, and with two children to support. My father moved to Maharashtra to work in a Yoga Research Institute there in 1969. I was born in Lonavla in Pune district of Maharashtra; and studied in Don Bosco, Lonavla and in Fergusson College, Pune before going for my Military training. We have maintained contact with our roots and property in Bihar. My wife is also from Madhubani district of Bihar. I plan to go back to Madhubani and raise a ‘Food Park’ (for minimum $ 20 Million), and thereafter raise similar food parks all over the identified areas in North Bihar. In case you are interested in this project, kindly contact me at: bpfp@rediffmail.com
[...] r of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. I believe that the most commented post is the one titled “A Letter from a Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Worshipper” which t [...]
Dear Mr Atanu Dey,
Jai Gurudev.
I hope you recollect my resolve to do my bit towards improving the lot of the people in Bihar in my own small way. The credit for gently taking my thoughts in this direction goes entirely to HH Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ji.
I am a serving Major in the Indian Army originally from Bihar, though born and brought up in Maharashtra. I am presently in contact with a Management expert dedicated to Gurudev, and have been promised of all advice as and when required.
I would like to pass on a bit of ‘knowledge’ I came across in my spiritual education process. I don’t know its effect; but, hoping for the best, here goes:
“Water boils at 100 degrees Celsius. For someone who has already attained 90 degrees temperature in his past life; he has to attain only 10 degrees more to reach perfection (boiling point; like Gurudev). Whereas, for one who has achieved only 15 degrees temperature in his past life, he will have to struggle that much more to advance in the spiritual realms.â€
So, you would be well advised to please desist from your attempts at objectively analysing the cause of success of Gurudev; and focus your energies towards realising the purpose of your taking birth in human form on planet earth. I know I can do little to convince you of your good fortune to be born in India. However, just try and realise that in a few years; you will depart from this worldly existence… and try and plan your remaining years to be utilised in the best possible manner.
My plans essentially involve setting up various ‘Food Parks’ all across the fertile areas of North Bihar which will manage the activity related to the food grains produced in the villages around them. I will raise the first such food park in Madhubani district; because though my parents are presently staying in Talegaon in Pune district- we have our property and relatives in village Babu Pali in Madhubani district of Bihar. I am married, and my wife is also from Madhubani district. I have a son and a daughter: both below 10 years of age. However, I am prepared to go to our house in Madhubani at the earliest possible for me to start the required activity for the Food Parks. My parents and wife are aware of the plans and are obviously apprehensive regarding my future; but I am confident that when I have surrendered everything to Gurudev (the Divine); I will be taken care of.
I could really do with some help. My email is bpfp@rediffmail.com. I request you to kindly contact me at the earliest.
Quoting @:
“Fortunately, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a Hindu…his followers are not in the habit of calling for the murder…â€
I am not so sure of what you want to convey…but i would like to add that Dara Singh(Graham Staines) is also a Hindu…so is Praveen Togadia and his ilk…
Atanu’s response: I wrote precisely what I wanted to convey: that the followers of Hindu leaders don’t go about murdering those with whom they disagree. Which part of this simple declaration do you not follow?
The person(s) who murdered the Australian missionaries were not following the dictates of some Hindu religious leader. Praveen Togadia does not represent mainstream Hindus nor is he a Hindu religious figure. If Dara Singh and Togadia was the best you could do about Hindu “fundamentalism,†I am afraid that your case is rather weak.
Hey Atanu,
If I gather correclty you are also on the spontaneous order yahoo group right? Anyways, its really some effort you have had to do to reply and retort at these comments on this post.
With the abpve mentioned post, as far as hindu fundamentalism goes, I think the Babri Masjid, Ayodhya case with the kar sewaks was fundamentalist and grotesque enough for us Hindus to hang our heads in shame, but then again… in purview of the international situation i agree we are still the less fundamentalist sect (religion wise), but still that doesn;t qualify for us to call ourselves a non violent group… even we have a lot of blood on out hands…
God Speed
Hi Atanu
I think you are pretty accurate about the value of SSR and AOL. Some dimwits lack (sufficient) reading comprehension and the web has become very accessible
As someone who is somewhat familiar with the organization (AOL) since y2k (but far removed from any inner circle), I have high regard for SSR and his direct disciples, regardless of the variance in their personas and fancies of the moment. Incredibly most of them are volunteers (yes, I also did a bit!), and for that reason alone as James W seems to have observed, the org is worth studying. A lot of people seem to believe that its all about breathing and meditation. It is just one component; the other components are not really advertised that much (barely if at all) and often dont involve any fees! What I have observed is that the vast majority of folks who take the course dont follow-up (much like any other course). Just like physical training, there are long term effects of sustained practice and actually few get to this point (am hazarding less than 10%).
Its pretty hard to operationalize what being enlightened means.. They say it takes one to know one.. Who knows? But I have been stunned at SSRs travel/work rate. It borders on the insane.
cheers and all the best on your work on deesha.. liked the paper on RISC
to add: I think the real value is not so much the yoga+meditation but the organizational structure (or lack of it) that glues AOL together. It is the very antithesis of a bureaucracy and there are all sorts of interesting dynamics. SSR is one of those (relatively few) people who has got large numbers of expats indians to work together without (as far as I can tell) traditional barriers (region, language, caste, and even religion). As Axelrod has noted, co-operation is a pretty difficult thing for evolution to work out and AOL has plenty of experience (as far as I can tell) in all sorts of contexts, working with all types of folks. Its also absolutely true that the branding of AOL is largely around the persona of SSR but frankly its just a convenient device although it can put off some folks.
Dear Atanu,
Glad you are maintaining this blog on SSRS.Further to my comments earlier, I wish to know how far SSRS acknowledges his debt to his guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.I dont know whether he considers Maharshi as his guru at all now.Did SSRS have a Guru different from Maharshi?
I presume that he picked up this technique of Sudarshana Kriya from Maharshi or when he stayed with him.The rest of the story is just packaging and marketing it, just the way Maharshi did for Transcendental Meditation[TM] in the sixties worldwide…Is this Kriya technique also patented or registered with Trade Mark, TM.If such practices are followed ,that is rank commercialism of our age old Yoga system.But that is the way to make money and establish a worldwide org…Good job?
Further I learn that Maharshi Mahesh Yogi wrote a book in the early sixties with he title: The science of being and Art of Living, to explain TM. THis is being revised and printed now and Maharshi appeared in a recent “Larry King” interview.”Cleverly’ Ravishankarji has borrowed part of the title for his org.Nothing wrong ,though.
I only wish that SSRS openly acknowledge his indebtedness to Maharshi Mahesh Yogi, just as Maharshi himself used to acknowledge his Gurudeva, the Sankaracharya of Jyotir Mutt.
It is hightime that the Young Guru SSRS pays his respects to his guru or mentor,Maharshi Mahesh Yogi, without attracting ” Guru Droham”.
N K Srinivasan
Hi,
I am a practicioner of Buddhist vipassana meditation for 10 years now.Recently I walked in on a bunch of SSRS who invited me to a Satsang.Although the singing and meditation were pretty handy to boost up my concentration level,some things surprised me.SSRS seem to addorn their guru as a half-god.I remember one older lady telling to me with a trembling voice:”and now He is in Bagdad!I wish I could be there!”Another thing was,that they almost non stop were mentioning about a new course being held the week after.OK,I said to myself.I’m curious!That’s when I decided to ask about the content of the course,which was pretty frustrating.The only thing they would mention was,”oh,the course is so great.You really should do it!” And :”It will change your life you will see.”Since I am quite up to date with Pranayama and the texts of Patanyali,their explanation meant litteraly nothing to me.If the technique is so unique ,why not being a bit more open about it!”Throw it on the table guys!Give some more detailed information wheter it’s nonsense or not isn’t important!”I was thinking.At the end of the satsang the teacher told us that it was SSR’s birthday and that the festivity would be on the net through a certain website:10$ .Then he told me about the book:another amount of money.Then he told me about the course fare:another amount of money.Then he told me that I could make a donation if I wanted to:another amount of money.Then he told us about a car or so that needed to be paid of:another amount of money.I don’t know guys ,but sometimes I can’t understand some people on this forum.Isn’t it a basic ethical thing that spirituality and money making shouldn’t go hand in hand?I mean if the money thing is inthere from the start it will never be washed out.Look at the Buddhists in Myanmar and their retreat centers.They don’t need a half God as a leader or too much marketing to function well.And I can assure you that they’ve got plenty of followers.The money thing makes down to earth people who are on a spiritual quest confused.It’s a “swallow it! or leave it” approach.Appart from that I liked the chanting and the medative breaks inbetween the songs.Maybe I will join their satsang more in the future,because it helps keeping up my daily meditation routine.But trust the whole SSR thing:no way!I can clearly sense that there’s more behind than just that,and that the money thing is quite big.Nothing compared to the vipassana retreats I did in Myanmar:no guru thing,no pictures on the wall,no videos with a bearded Bagwan type of person with funny eyes,no book selling and course marketing from the start,and no promesses to a 100% better life!Keep your both feet on Earth guys:meditation and breathing techniques are great(even the SSR technique)but they ain’t miracle remedies .And that spirituality can be exploited in a business like way with the justification that other religions are doing the same thing,is just fooling yourself.Spirituality shouldn’t go with marketing:it’s unethical!Toodaloo…………………………..
I totally agree with you. Only thing is that people don’t value things that come free. And the charge is for a cause which the world’s witnessing, so no harm in charging for it.
Regarding the fees and money collected from course followers, great Indian masters never charged any fees for darshan or discussions or training that I know of;this includes Sri Ramakrishna, Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta among others.I know a few saintly teachers who dont charge even today..But these are rare.When you label a course, have a few trainers and centres and so on, it is not the spiritual instruction as derived from those great masters.The course from SSRS is like a college course with an instructor.
The value of this teaching will be seen only in the future.While the name of Sri Ramakrishna or Shirdi Baba or Ramana Maharshi grows AFTER THEIR LIFETIME, the names of self-styled gurus fade away after a decade or two. In fact this is the real test of greatness of socalled Gurus and avatar-purushas in our midst.When one rakes in lot of money, be it charity org or educational institutions, corrupt practices will set in, and the org will collapse on its own without any outside influence.Men like SSRS who wish to grow with money power, instead of serving without asking any fees, cannot last long.Vippassana meditation groups never charge for their training.There are many such gurus, but they reamin obscure, as they would like to be.
–N K Srinivasan
Dear all I wish to compliment Atanu for doing such a great service to society by giving high regards to great personalities like His Holiness Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji.I would like to thank him for his research on the subject and glad to know that he is keen to spread the message of the Art Of Living Course and its founder through his blog.I wish he would be able to see himself as SSRSji 25 yrs ago with 150 little orphans to look after and no resources. That was the humble beginning till like minded people – volunteers got together and AOL is what it is today. Forget Hinduism etc.If you were an orphan or neglected outcast of society would you not consider the hand which helped you as that of God?
The way I see it is that vipassana is a much purer and safer path to walk on then blindly following a guru.It’s true that in an SSR course or during SSR satsangs we could all come to some Samadi and even reach higher levels of concentration that can be enjoyable and result in PITI(rapture).The problem arises when we get hooked on that rapturous feeling which by some charlatans could be defined as an enlightened state,although it is not more than a mental or physical phenomenon.In vipassana we learn to observe those phenomena without getting too attached to them and to preserve equanimity.If people get wrong or poor guidance they will be easily misled.Luckely I did plenty of vipassana retreats in Myanmar and Thailand before bumping into SSR.It’s true,the SSR TECHNIQUE (which is in fact not more than a very old breathing technique that wasn’t his invention)works to a certain level,but it doesn’t erase the mental or physical defilements on a deeper level.The teachers I met were all pretty vague and incoherent while talking about their techniques.One teacher was telling us about”smashing one’s own ego inorder to free oneself”.Wow!!Yoga isn’t about smashing your ego to pieces.To the contrary it helps you ,so that your spiritual identity can coexist with your worthly life,and eventually build off the latter.Yoga doesn’t predict to live like hermits and gather like cattle with a flockleader as its boss.”Smashing ego’s” and “egolessness” are words that shouldn’t be used to often with inexperienced students.On top of that,Bakthi yoga or devotional yoga are good and give fast result.If I were SSR I would use the same enjoyable chanting to indoctrinate people:it’s like fast food,easy and accessible(instant Samadi).But like with all easy things,they won’t work necessarely in the long run.I agree ,vipassana can be a stonepath,but at least it’s an honnest path without intruders and gurus and their fat bank accounts.And even when the money is used for a propper humanitarian goal,how can you really be sure of that?If you do,then it tells a lot about your own personallity which is a naieve one.Compare people!Don’t just believe.Become your own guru,by exploring yourself .The guru is inside of you,not somewhere in India.
Dear Friends,
The general view in Bangalore is that SSRS groupp is charging too much for their training programs on Sudarshana Kriya and others….
I remember learning TH of Mahesh Yogi way back in 1975.My teacher in Coimbatore asked for Rs 20 only and we were asked to bring a white handkerchef and a few flowers and some fruit..It was a very simple offer and the pious man who taught us was totally devoted to teaching that…no commercial overtones….May be the New age gurus want to collect large sums in a small time!
First of all I must commend Atanu Dey on his very well-thought-out and articulate letter to his brother. It has been a long time since I read or heard anything on this topic that was not clouded by either fanaticism or extreme skepticism without willingness to examine the facts.
I’m one of those that was an ardent devotee but I snapped out of it in a year (and thank goodness I did). Why? I found SSRS hypocritical. Allow me to narrate just one incident:
Just last week he was in a 4-hour stopover at Bahrain airport. He has a fan following in the country and it would have been no trouble at all to get a visa so he could see them, but he refused. It seems he needed a State invitation! If that isn’t hugely egoistic I don’t know what is. I was totally disgusted. And then he had the audacity to add, ‘the people of Bahrain are not ready to meet me yet.’ Yeah, right.
In the private lounge at the airport where he met a few people, everyone sat on the floor, but the Indian ambassador to Bahrain sat next to him on the sofa. Why the distinction?
Meanwhile, outside, the devotees conducted themselves in a deplorable manner over the matter of who would get a pass to go in and meet him. Instead of exercising the love and compassion and detachment that they are taught about in the course, they fought about it, hurt each others’ feelings, and were generally bitchy. I’ve seen less ‘enlightened’ people behave with more decency.
I think it’s great that he’s improving so many lives, but I have also seen families ruined by this juggernaut that is the Art of Living Foundation. The tragedy of these people is that they think they have been ’saved’.
I don’t begrudge the man his millions and his terrific booming business, but I do mind him preaching about love and humility when he does not practice what he preaches. One only has to look at the two ‘Sris’ to see just how ‘humble’ he is.
Peace.
[...] on SSRS. It is a popular category, judging from the number of responses; one post alone (A Letter from a Sri Sri Ravi Shanker Worshipper) has 87 commen [...]
A V reality check do u really think the Indian Ambassador to Bahrain would sit on the floor with/for SSRS or anyone else 4 that matter??? and about the 2 Sri’s , if u were such an ardent follower (after one year) I’m sure u would have come to know the extra Sri was added to distinguish him from Ravi Shankar the sitar player, who was/could also be known as Pandit sri Ravi Shankar. this was all very long ago. the sitar player was not happy that (the now) Sri Sri was using his well established name. Woner if the sitar player has ever played a concert for 2 million? Wonder what he thinks now.
k
Much has been written about SSRS and other new age gurus.When a Guru starts giving ‘private interviews’ in personal chambers, troubles start.As long as these gurus are open and give audiences to all without distinction of rich and poor,there is no trouble.Some gurus have VIP darshan for big people and slowly degenerate into bogus, renegade gurus or preachers.I hope that SSRS has not descended to that level.
dear Atanu!
have u done the course?
I notice that some non-hindus (wrongly) see Sri Sri as a “Hindu†only leader and get clouded by deep rooted bigotry and propaganda in their assessment of his teachings and techniques. And then there are some hipsters who think it is fashionable to be just anti-something. They don’t even realize what they are imitating. Neither of these folks have first hand experience to base their opinions on, other than some unverified notions.
So a really good question is “has anyone done the art of living course?†An opinion (good or bad) of Sri Sri after having experienced the course is more educated one. It’ll display a rather scientific temper than some medieval prejudice.
I personally find the teachings and techniques taught by Sri Sri to be very profound and transforming.
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