By: Nada

Nada — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:28:15 +0000

Every now and then I hear about some free talk given by some holy person from India, and as a seeker I always go to check it out. There is some kirtan and meditation and then the same canned speach about how we are all looking for happiness outside of ourselves but it can only be found within us. All good stuff, mind you, but then there is some mention of initiation or shaktipat which is to take place a few days later, for those interested. We are told all about it and about some of the preparations which need to be made. But no one says anything about a fee. It isn’t until later that I look at the written instructions given to me that I find the part about a “required donation” usually somewhere between $150 to $300. Now maybe I’m crazy, but how is that a donation if it is required? And what do they do with all that money? If only 10 people are initiated, thats $1,500 to $3,000. And that’s apart from all the book sales, CDs and malas and other non-required donations. And that’s just in one city. After all, these teachers are touring the whole country in order to “help people”. Okay, so maybe it all goes to those charities which they claim to have created. But if they’re into charity then why is it that when someone like me, who is poor and cannot afford their “required donation”, is turned away when I tell them about my financial situation? They never seem willing to make an exception. I know that if I were rich I would probably just hand the money over, no question. But since I am forced to question, I think that it wouldn’t be worth my money. I think that in future, should I be blessed with great wealth, I will still claim poverty when dealing with travelling gurus, just to weed out the true ones from the fakes… assuming there are any true ones these days.

By: Manoj

Manoj — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 03:19:25 +0000

Comments on: Gurus of a Disturbing Kind

By: Nada

By: Manoj