[gamblingstats]

Again it all starts.
Now the Swami's side gets upper Hand.
All these things happen in the Name of Religion.
We are Listening/watching.
Things are going Interesting manner.
T.Alwan

[megatrendsZ]

Nithayanandha and other similar 'self proclaimed Gods" are not real!!. Claiming another avatar, magic tricks etc are just a joke!. Nowadays it is a very profitable business to earn money and live rich. Once it rolls, it is self sustaining - via colleges, universities, hospitals and such. Only startup for the business is to have to a skill to "talk" scriptures and stuff. Sadly, people who fall for it, can't reason out themselves that they can acquire these knowledge through books or other good people, than worship them as "god".

I can't believe people fall for it even in this 21st century.

Above post is my humble opinion, not intended to hurt any others feelings. Just that, I differ.

[fectsnanteemy]

Sir:

I think there was a discussion about this in this forum sometime ago. I am told
that the men in power - money,media and political - have acquired a lot of landed
property in TN and have been after many persons to sell their land. I think the
position in Karnataka is no different.

The property appreciates quite fast , particularly the land adjoining the roads which
will be widened as State or National highway. They get hefty compensation for it.
These influential men have prior-knowledge of development plans and hence they
swiftly move into action. They apply all sorts of pressure to grab these lands.

Nithyananda has acquired landed property and it might be that Marans might be
keen on grabbing it, and Nithyananda might have refused to give in.

I do not hold any brief for Nithyananda and am not convinced that he is a sannyasi.
I am not advoating his case.

[BrodiKennedy]

Dear DRB,
YOU ARE RIGHT IN YOUR VIEWS ON THE SO CALLED SWAMI.I ONLY DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW PEOPLE FALL FOR HIS TRICKS.WE WILL WAIT FOR THE COURT'S VERDICT IN HIS CASE.
Alwan

[Ijkavylo]

Dear NRRji,
I wonder how Nithi is fighing a week case.The videos have been proven Authentic.Sun TV is daily projecting various people's opinion and showing clippings of his Gimmicks.Still Nithi & co comes out and make a case that nothing wrong has happened.Only a speedy court verdict will shut his mouth.
Alwan

[BartRonalds]

it is amazing, the gullibility of our tamil folks. the ordinary folks.

i looked at myself in the mirror the other day, and figured, in saffron, with a salt pepper beard, benign almond shaped hazel coloured eyes, ray ban sunglasses, and a carved walking stick, and mused to myself, if i could pull of another nithiyananda

one look at this guy, i can see, smell, feel, hear, touch only word - sleaze. could not figure about this guy. the new guy kalki.

and all the samiyaars.

i guess the common folk have to satisfy a need somewhere.

there is another samiyar, whose larger than life photo graced the greeting doors of a society wedding in chennai, a couple of years ago. the lady of that household, in addition to being a high profile figure in chennai, was also an ardent follower of this swami. i, belonging to the opposite faction, was quietly warned, but with a lot of firmness, to keep my views to myself; which i did.

just a few months ago, i hear, that the daughter of the aforesaid lady's household, a pretty bright medical student in chennai, has forsaken her studies, home and gone to live in the swami's ashram. much to the devastation of the mother, who till earlier, was one of the swami's most ardent vouchsafers.

i think when it comes to hurt your own kith and kin, one has to be doubly careful of the inherent duplicity and selfcentred corruption inbuilt with the saffron clad ones. sad.

[Phassetus]

Recently there was a function about one of the Bengali Gurus who lived about 150 years back in East Bengal. Loknath Baba.

I was listening to the speeches, songs, poems, bhajans etc.

The reason why God men/women are more popular than even Gods/Goddesses is that there is no condition.

Let me explain.

When you visit a temple, you are asked to pray to the Deity to get its blessings. There are some rituals like Archanai etc.

But with God men nothing is required. You express a wish and he will fulfill it. No pre conditions. One could be even a heinous criminal. But nothing matters. Believe in the God man and all your wishes are fulfilled. You do not have to even belong to the religion of the God man. All that is required is that you believe the God man to be God.

All your wishes would be fulfilled.

This is true of all God Men. No wonder they are more popular than even Gods and Goddesses.

[PypeMaypetasy]

As Kunjuppu said, people have a need - either to wash their sins, seek peace, relieve stress etc. Common route is through spiritual means. And when these fake saints offer such things by 'talks', they fall for it. Every saint uses a different 'unique' technique to cut them apart from other saints.

Some bring out powders from thin air, levitate etc. These seem magical to our literate and illiterate folks and think they are God. Once these fake saints amass enough crowd - they claim they are God. Politicians too have a role as wealth is involved. Why people are not questioning when tons of gold biscuits and stuff are found in saint's room. Do saints really need those? Do they need to sleep and sit on velvette/satin sheets - meaning of asceticism is corrupted.

I am sure Nithyananada will come out clean because of his wealth. He can shut people/Judicial system through money. Caught red-handed and still claim that he is not the one in the video. A complete mockery of our knowledge and common sense.

So sad!!!. I hope the upcoming generations, do not fall for these. Definitely my kids will not. I will make sure of it until my last breath. To me, this has become another valuable knowledge that I impart (responsibility!) to my following generations.

[realfan87]

I have no dealings with Nithyananda though someone once gave me a book of his once which I did not read except for few pages.
When he came to NY city two years back to give a lecture at a temple I heard there were lines going to the streets with many unable to get in though they had come from other states. This included people from all walks of life and all races.

I am sure he did have sex and he was doing R&D with some tantric things which may have been his explanation.

While I will not fall for fellows like him , let me also defend him and say that he had charisma. There are many that swear by his ability to make them feel better about themselves. I dont think anyone can be in the swami business and he has talent to be in swami business.

So why not live and let live. If he makes money and people are happy feeling better by his teachings, why get angry at his enterprise. He is running a business and his clients are happy since they seem to be getting value. In this sense, I think Nathyananda's rights to conduct his swami business is fine and should be defended.

I think there were many made up charges. If the main charge is that he has sex with many women, so what? He gives lectures, teaches them meditation etc and his audience is happy to pay for these classes. If they want to pay $1000 to touch his feet let them. He is not asking anyone to have sex with him, just select women for his R&D into Tantric approaches. Big deal. One of his book offers solutions to problems of many items including sexual problems.

I dont understand why people are so angry with him. I have not been keeping up with the case and I am not well informed. I can be corrected!

[Usogwdkb]

Sri tks,

I agree that this is one way of looking at it, particularly when one does not live in
India. Here we normally think that a Sannyasi is one who has renounced
everything and has no desire for the worldly objects. We have seen great men
like Ramana, Seshadri, Paramacharya of Kanchi and sri Chandrasekhara Barathi
of Sringeri and hence believe that a sannyasi must have eschewed all desires.
That is why people here are indignant.

If anyone else is seen with a woman llike this, people do not bother to look at it.
It is just like 100 passengers who die in an aircrash making news while thousands
die of starvation unreported and unsung !

[amehoubFomo]

Sri tks,

I agree that this is one way of looking at it, particularly when one does not live in
India. Here we normally think that a Sannyasi is one who has renounced
everything and has no desire for the worldly objects. We have seen great men
like Ramana, Seshadri, Paramacharya of Kanchi and sri Chandrasekhara Barathi
of Sringeri and hence believe that a sannyasi must have eschewed all desires.
That is why people here are indignant.

If anyone else is seen with a woman llike this, people do not bother to look at it.
It is just like 100 passengers who die in an aircrash making news while thousands
die of starvation unreported and unsung !

Sri N.R. Ranganathan -

That is an excellent point - there are expectations of a real Sannyasi.
I have no idea who his Guru was and if he is a real Sannyasi. I dont think he is one and should be asked to get rid of his Sannyasi attire

Such people should not be allowed to call themselves Sannyasi. Not sure if that is enforceable.

When I first heard about this scandal first I thought respectable Swamijis informally agreed to a resolution that he go into a 'spiritual isolation' for the rest of his life.
He almost started on this direction. That would have saved our tradition.

However many of the anti-hindu elements want this news alive. With political parties, police and SUN TV each for their own goals want to go after this guy to put him in jail with flimsy evidence and trumped up charges. This forces anyone (I dont think he is a Swami, he is just a person) to fight back which is not good for anyone or to our tradition.

A great resolution would have been for him to disappear somewhere with no connections and the rest of Hindu organizations force the dropping of charges removing this person from being in the news. If that is not possible then he is just like anyone and if he agrees to get rid of his Sannyasi cloth, he can continue with his business.

Please feel free to critique me and this position.

[2swasseneons]

I will take a contrary viewpoint.

If the video is true, deifnitely he must be condemned and shunned. However, today it is very easy to manipulate photos and videos to any degree. Truth and falsehood is decided by media before anybody else, often controlled by evangelists and so called secular people. There are numerous examples of this in the last decades.

It is very difficult for a propogator of Hindu culture to be left alone in this scheme of things against so many elements. Looking at only the video, and not having any other exposure, it is very easy to come to any conclusion about Nithyananda. I have listened to his lectures on youtube, and feel there is a lot of depth and substance in what he is saying, and it will not come without some real understanding...it is not a matter of pulling out some magic tricks out of the bag.

Let us wait for the truth to emerge about the veracity of the videos is what I would say...

Ram

[haudraufwienix]

During the past few days all News Channels were telecasting video clippings of the Guru Poornima celebrations in the Ashram of this "Paramahamsa". In the name of raising Kundalini his male and female followers were made to jump up and down like frogs.

After viewing this spectacle I can describe my reaction to this in one word:
Disgusting.

Regards,
Brahmanyan,
Bangalore

[PharmACT]

During the past few days all News Channels were telecasting video clippings of the Guru Poornima celebrations in the Ashram of this "Paramahamsa". In the name of raising Kundalini his male and female followers were made to jump up and down like frogs.

After viewing this spectacle I can describe my reaction to this in one word:
Disgusting.

Regards,
Brahmanyan,
Bangalore

B,

sir, is this the newsmedia revenge on nithya, for bringing out cases against them?

i think the best form of insult, is ridicule. if the news media has pix of bhakthas making asses of themselves, i do not know what more will be needed, to have the court case dismissed.

sir, i hope you had atleast a chuckle or two, before disgust overcame you.

[bashansasasasa]

Sri N.R. Ranganathan -

That is an excellent point - there are expectations of a real Sannyasi.
I have no idea who his Guru was and if he is a real Sannyasi. I dont think he is one and should be asked to get rid of his Sannyasi attire

Such people should not be allowed to call themselves Sannyasi. Not sure if that is enforceable.

When I first heard about this scandal first I thought respectable Swamijis informally agreed to a resolution that he go into a 'spiritual isolation' for the rest of his life.
He almost started on this direction. That would have saved our tradition.

However many of the anti-hindu elements want this news alive. With political parties, police and SUN TV each for their own goals want to go after this guy to put him in jail with flimsy evidence and trumped up charges. This forces anyone (I dont think he is a Swami, he is just a person) to fight back which is not good for anyone or to our tradition.

A great resolution would have been for him to disappear somewhere with no connections and the rest of Hindu organizations force the dropping of charges removing this person from being in the news. If that is not possible then he is just like anyone and if he agrees to get rid of his Sannyasi cloth, he can continue with his business.

Please feel free to critique me and this position.

tks,

is there not a competition for the hindu soul, not only from the followers of abraham, but also from the various shades of saffron? there is big money involved here, and gullible people.

not much can be done, except do our best, to protect our near and dear, and that too, through education.

[abishiots]

Hello tks,
Personally, I am not against any teachers teaching yoga, meditation etc. It is like our physics, chemistry teachers etc. I do not hold them against for teaching their subjects.

How these saffron clad saints who are supposed to have denounced all desires - are filled with greed in all aspects
- money
- land
- to be worshipped like God etc.

That is where the problem arises. When one claims to be a saint, he shouldn't be indulging in these desires. It is sad to see their pictures being worshipped as 'God'. To me it is highly incomprehensible to worship somebody like that who has same bodily functions like mine, suffers with same diseases and dies like mortal.

If they offer yoga and stuff, let them claim fees for it but not make followers to worship them as god.

[adultcheee]

Hello tks,
Personally, I am not against any teachers teaching yoga, meditation etc. It is like our physics, chemistry teachers etc. I do not hold them against for teaching their subjects.

How these saffron clad saints who are supposed to have denounced all desires - are filled with greed in all aspects
- money
- land
- to be worshipped like God etc.

That is where the problem arises. When one claims to be a saint, he shouldn't be indulging in these desires. It is sad to see their pictures being worshipped as 'God'. To me it is highly incomprehensible to worship somebody like that who has same bodily functions like mine, suffers with same diseases and dies like mortal.

If they offer yoga and stuff, let them claim fees for it but not make followers to worship them as god.

Hi drb -

I agree that no one should denigrate symbols such as a Sannyasi's robe. When someone does that it will be great if media can 'out' such people.

I do not like Nithyananda's game so this is not defending him but a discussion on how to enforce a set of rules without official law which cannot be defined.

It is up to the people. I have heard many people paid $1000 to touch his feet and get his 'blessings'!

There is no way to enforce laws to stop gullibility.

Sannyasi is a life style choice - does not automatically make someone enlightened once initiated. In fact this is spelled out in BG (Gita) very clearly.

For most Sannyasis who are not crooks I would not judge their authenticity by the kind of money they deal with. They are great if they are not *bound* by money even if they have access to lots of it from donors - hopefully to be used for good causes. It is difficult to judge such characteristics.

When there is lots of money a powerful organization is born which can control the media.

The only thing one can do is to create more centers of authentic learning. This can remove bogus organization out of existence.

Until then there will be active Swami business - therefore I use a different yardstick. If they do not use symbols of Sannyasi let them practice whatever they want provided they do not break any laws.

Comments?

[krek-sikUp]

Hi tks,
I guess we are in the same page. I do not care if they charge and make money out of services like discourses, yoga etc. And then throw in a fraction of their revenue towards charity (hospitals, etc) to evade "prying eyes" and provide a false 'being generous' image.

My major gripe is that the name of sannyasam, they project and preach great things - but truly do not practice none of it. Example: his latest scandal, for other saints - holding tons of gold, money etc. As clearly described in bhagavad gita (one of their preaching tool) which is against being materialistic - they are after materialistic things and pleasures.

Adding fuel to the fire - is the self-proclamation of being 'god'. Which is how they 'enhance' more of their wealth. I should blame those folks, paying 1000$ to touch his feet. Just because he shows yoga, brings out powders from thin air, or jump like frogs - they are not 'God'.

To me, since there is recurring history of abuse of such spiritual things - I think, these behaviors should not be encouraged at all (at any level) and totally banned.

[NEWyear]

sir,

Look at the way Paramacharya lived, at the way Seshadri swamigal lived, at the
way Shirdi Sai Baba lived. This is what we expect from Jnanis. Sri Adi Sankara
gives a beautiful description of a Jivan muktha in Viveka choodamani.

But, not all sanyasis are Jnanis. Some are genuine seekers whilst others have
converted it into a source of income and luxury.

Alas !. People fall an easy prey to the latter.

[Maydayvar]

sir,

Look at the way Paramacharya lived, at the way Seshadri swamigal lived, at the
way Shirdi Sai Baba lived. This is what we expect from Jnanis. Sri Adi Sankara
gives a beautiful description of a Jivan muktha in Viveka choodamani.

But, not all sanyasis are Jnanis. Some are genuine seekers whilst others have
converted it into a source of income and luxury.

Alas !. People fall an easy prey to the latter.

Exellent point indeed.

We have a multi-dimensional problem. On one hand we have people engaged in Swami business.
They do provide comfort to their audience, otherwise they cannot stay in business.

We also have an active campaign by powerful and well funded organizations of the two aggressive religions.
They have staked out India and due to their theologies do not think it is harmful to destroy ancient civilizations to convert people.
If the current trend continues supported by many educated, West-worshiping-Indians who in the name of being liberal do not care what is going on, then India will not be what it is in 50 to100 years dominated by warring religious people.

Nithyananda who I think is a NB had huge influence on many around the world. His Youtube lectures had so many visits that I am told they contacted them to offer some better way to show up in searches (in return for money of course). Such events also does not sit well with those staking out India for conversion. Some of the charges trumped up are funded by these external organizations I am sure.

That is why it is important in my view to not kill his organization but find a way to not allow him to denigrate symbols of a Sannyasi while doing his business.

Nithyananda was a good antidote to zealots who are seriously investing in conversion.

Just a point of view, please do critique!