Indogenes ?

[sjr]

I was wondering how an Indian views all of the Gurus in your country.I have read that the Indian mindset on them is quite similar to the American mindset of T.V. evangelists.

[Indogenes]

Originally Posted by sjr

I was wondering how an Indian views all of the Gurus in your country.I have read that the Indian mindset on them is quite similar to the American mindset of T.V. evangelists.

Dear SJR,
I am not sure what exactly you mean by the 'American mindset' on T.V. evangelists. If you could clarify, I can attempt to answer to the point.

In general, I think the Indian mindset or approach, to a person that he/she considers as a spiritual Guru, is one of absolute respect and reverence. There are Gurus who are very knowledgeable philosophically, but do not seek followers, and lead the simple lives of ascetics. Yet they have acquired a following of enquiring people, who approach them for philosophical knowledge or guidance. Then there are the Gurus, who are known for their philosophical knowledge, but have developed a great following and fame; in some cases, because of their capacity to perform miracles. Some of the Gurus in this category are equated by their followers to the level of a living 'avatar' of God or a direct link to God, and even worshipped by them. They have permitted their followers to even form establishments and organisations in their name. Like the T.V. evangelists, would you say?

One could speculate that the poorly educated or illiterate people in India would be the ones expected to exhibit blind faith in Gurus, but one would find even highly educated people, both from India and the developed world with this mindset. I personally have come across devoted followers of Mahirishi Mahesh Yogi, both in India and the US, who swear by him and his teachings on everything. Though I have personally benefitted tremendously from practicing his technique of Transcendental Meditation (TM), I have never felt the need to join TM groups or advertise his philosophy. I'm just not a 'groupie'! But I do have an (inexplicable) affinity for a famous Indian ascetic (maybe I knew him in a past life?! ), who still has a large following even though he passed away in 1915. I have no desire to join his groups of followers, though I consider him my spiritual Guru, because I felt that he answered in my mind a couple of philosophical questions that I have put to him. Voices in my head? That's right - here is the third category of followers that I forgot to mention - the 'looney' ones!

[sjr]

i am sorry about that , americans mindset of T.V. evangelists is they are wolves in sheeps clothing preying on the old, uneducated , and fears of our christain based society...for one reason MONEY and of course power.

HAPPY NAVARATRI

[Indogenes]

SJR,
Thank you very much for the greetings for Navaratri! Two more days for the festival to end. How do you know about this festival?

Like I said in my earlier message, there are gurus in India who have genuinely inspired faith and total reverence in their followers by their teachings and actions. Some other gurus have achieved a large following mainly due to performance of 'miracles'. Some people in India do look on some of the gurus in the latter category, i.e., the miracle-makers, as charlatans and masters of emotional manipulation, similar to the American mindset that you described:

Originally Posted by sjr

they are wolves in sheeps clothing preying on the old, uneducated , and fears ...

Add superstition to this mix, and you have a heady cocktail of the ideal follower for a manipulative, charlatan guru.

I want to qualify a statement I made in my earlier message about the followers of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. My intent is not to belittle him or them because I can't emulate their absolute faith in him. Actually, I do respect all the people that I have met, who are connected with the TM groups: they all were very pleasant, peaceable and quite accomplished, each in their own way; and his meditation method worked well for me.