Sri Sri Ravi Shankar‘s Art Of Living kicked off Sangam 2008 yesterday, a three-day All-India Summit for Environment. Using the “triple bottomline approach” (ecology, economy and technology), the confluence sought to bring together “multi-sectoral non-government organisations (NGOs) on one common platform to develop practical solutions for India’s most pressing environmental concerns.”
Organised through AOL’s sister concern, the “International Association for Human Values” in partnership with the United Nations Millennium Campaign, with “technical support” from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, promotional literature for the summit said Ravi Shankar, along with Dr R.K. Pachauri, Dr Ashok Khosla, Sunderlal Bahuguna, Dr Vandana Shiva, and Kartikeya Sarabhai would be in attendance.
BHAMY V. SHENOY of the Mysore Grahakara Parishat, who plays a lead role in bringing out a magazine for NGOs called Catalyst, was among those who signed up, paying Rs 5,000. He fled before the end of the first day. This is a letter he has written to several NGOs and NGO heads of his first-hand experience.
***
“I am back from Ravi Shankar’s Sangam 2008 within a few hours of its inauguration. It was supposed to be an “all-India NGO summit for protection of environment and access to social justice.” In reality, this was one of the cleverest hoaxes perpetrated in the name of a spiritual movement using the facade of NGOs.
“We should keep away from this “spiritual” person. His is a commercial ashram doling out psychological products specially for some foreigners and middle-class women who have studied in English medium schools. Many are working there as volunteers. It was impressive to see how so many could be motivated to give their services free of cost to produce profit for an institution. This requires genius of the highest order.
“I even met a professor from IIT Bombay who is a volunteer there. When I expressed my disappointment with the whole show, she was very “sympathetic” and assured me that she too felt the same way at first, and later thanks to “guruji” she could see the light.
“Uniformly every volunteer to whom I complained about the NGOs being taken for a ride, responded in the same manner as though all of them were robots programmed by some unknown force. The whole campus is filled with security people. Going from one place to another place was like going from one section of a jail to another where every gate is protected by a security guard.
“After charging Rs 5,000 as a delegation fee, Art Of Living was providing us a room to be shared with two others, and with no towels, soap, drinking water, etc. The food was sub-standard. We were expected to wash dishes after eating.
“We did not go there as his disciples. I do not think delegates were taking part to learn about self-help as his disciples may be expected to do. I refused to wash dishes which was not liked by some. This is not because I dislike it. I have done it often. But I did not pay Rs 5,000 to do that. Moreover on the website, I was offered better lodging and food facilities.
“What a wonderful way of advertising his product by charging us!
“Companies pay money to advertise their products, but here Ravi Shankar collects money from us and introduces us to his product.
“There were satsanghs, “free” introductory yoga classes, visit to his first abode, etc. I am sure some NGOs would have decided to buy his products and will act as his emissaries. Of course, there will be a few like me who will attempt to do just the opposite. There were spies in the ashram observing people like me. It was obvious and at one time I was even frightened.
“During an evening satsangh, there were some planted questions put to Ravi Shankar. Still, his responses were pedestrian at best. One of the questions was about the new burning topic of global warming and climate change and what he (Ravi Shankar) thought about them.
“At first, he ridiculed those who are worried about such things and proceeded to give the example of the Y2K phenomenon. Ravi Shankar dwelt on how foolishly people worried about Y2K, about places exploding, about the world coming to an end, etc and how nothing of the kind took place. He was suggesting that Y2K was not a problem and so also global warming. Little did he take into consideration the elaborate precautions taken by the world to prepare for Y2K and how India became the world capital for IT and outsourcing as a result.
“What a pity such an ignoramus is considered as a “guruji” even by the firebrand Vandana Shiva.
“Someone asked the question about the unrest and violence in Kashmir and his response was to pat the questioner and to state that youth should get involved.
“After spending less than 24 hours, I decided to leave the place. The cult-like environment was suffocating. Some other delegates from Mangalore with whom I have been conversing also decided to leave after the inauguration. One of the speakers Ananth Nadkarni, vice president, Tata council for community initiatives, too decided to leave early. Another speaker who was to talk on HIV left even before the end of the first day.
“But for Vandana Shiva, none of the advertised experts and well-known speakers (R.K. Pachauri, Ashok Khsola, et al) were present. Is it possible that their names were prominently placed to sell the Sangam?
“We were told that about 500 delegates had registered and there were three silver sponsors. They must have raised at least Rs 30 lakh and the incremental cost would be no more than Rs. 3 lakh. This is an excellent and clever way of making huge profits. Business colleges should use this as a case study. We should admire the entrepreneurial capabilities of Ravi Shankar. It needs genius.
“Despite being a keynote speaker, Vandana Shiva spoke for just few minutes and that too in a rambling manner. She took the opportunity to bash Tata’s small car, the Nano. Her so-called keynote speech was dull and did not dwell on the main subject. A high school student could have delivered a better speech with greater insight.
“A High Court judge also gave an uninspiring talk making no substantive points except offering “pranams” to “guruji“. What a joke!
“I attended the first workshop and it was also equally boring. Speakers were more interested in offering pranams than dwelling on the subject.
“I do not think we can collaborate with this group. When they were pressing us to register all the time, and not giving us any suggestions on how we could collaborate, I knew this was a commercial establishment and not a spiritual centre as is advertised. Perhaps we should write an article on how NGOs should guard against such frauds in the future.
“I am sure during your meeting with Ravi Shankar and his people, you would have come to the same conclusion. Let us now revert back to the poverty issue and stop any idea of collaborating with Ravi Shankar.
“I am planning to demand the return of payment since facts were misrepresented to me while registering. I am exploring the possibility of filing a case in the consumers’ forum. When our NGO, Mysore Grahakara Parishat, is encouraging others to file cases, I need to follow that example.”
Photograph: courtesy Art of Living
thank you for this post. plse read the latest issue of AGNI a weekly tabloid in English to know how Ravi Shankar has cheated people in this ‘summit’ (The LOOT SHANKAR). Even when poor NGOs who wanted to attend but could not pay the heavy admission fee of Rs 5000 begged for some concession thye were denied. For all his talk of being Pro-Poor he charged the participants for everything.
Sri Sri’s father Mr.Sundaram was a big fraud, who was kicked out of his job at TAFE(Tractor and Farm Equipment) on charges of misappropriation where he worked as a Inventory Manager. Later on he started the 3 wheeler car ‘badal’ and swindled the investors before the car plant was shutdown.
The son is following in his illustrious fathers footsteps by conning the general public in the name of art of living (to me it looks more like art of lying). His Sudarshana Kriya is nothing more than Paranayama nicely packaged and this guruji has the gall to patent traditional knowledge known to Indians for ages. His disciples are mostly westerners who are looking for instant Nirvaana.
I have heard to some of his audio tapes and it is full of bull crap without any traces of spiritualism. I found Sri Sri’s thoughts on spiritualism was mostly rip offs from maharishi mahesh yogi
Scoundrel! Ayogyan! Thanks to Catalyst we have one more account of the utterly worthless babble peddled by SSRS’s AOL.
Also take note of the recent mention of AOL’s encroachment of government lands near ramanagara which was found out by the committee set up to look into land encroachment. Surprisingly, this matter was hushed up and was never discussed in the mainstream media
Ravi Shankar’s reply about global warming is to advice us to do nothing while all the while we human beings have been profligate in consuming resources and destroying the nature which has boomaranged on us creating hell in climate change and global warning. Therefore we have to act. The revenge of Gaia by Lovelock should awaken to future shock and not be complacent as advised by Ravi Shankar. Bamy Shenoi has done an excellent public service by exposing the fraud.
This video features Ravishankar being cornered. This can be shown to his disciples who believe invincibility of their Guru.
http://nadunudi.wordpress.com/2008/02/01/ravishankar-cornered/
It is very stupid to assume that these guru’s are masters of everything. WTF does Sri Sri know about kashmir problem or global warming or Y2K. In fact I have heard him on a tape claiming to have revived the Ayurveda system of medicine in India. This could be bought by those innocent western devotees of his, but any one else who can do some little thinking and checking around knows that it is bull crap.
I have been one of those persons who has always hated this cult of spreading spirituality at a cost. I attended the course on Sudarshana Kriya and found that they were most interested in getting folks into their so called hi-tech ashram with my family. I am happy that I did not venture into it. Agreed, Sudarshana Kriya is good, but looting big time money from public in the garb of spirituality is as bad. The silver jubilee celebrations that were done in Jan’06 was another joke. God knows how much money was spent on this. If they ever used the same money to provide employment and food to poor, they would’ve been better off and god would have definitely smiled.
Well there may be many people who are falling at his feet, but I think he is the greatest conman after Saibaba of Puttaparthi. Only difference being that some of the social work done by Saibaba is evidenced in Ananthapur (drinking water programme) and Bangalore (hospital). I have not seen an iota of charity done by AOL anywhere.
The author has my full sympathy. What ahankaara to call himself “sri” and that too, 3 times! A few years ago I attended – by invitation – a discourse of his in San Francisco downtown. He was late by 45 minutes. He did not apologize. Cracked some really, really poor jokes. Then he sang.And by god that man could not sing to save his life let alone anyone’s. Worst of all, he dislikes children. When I witnessed his attitude towards a few children who were crying, I immediately got up and left. People around were staring at this mad guy who dared get up and leave wheneveryone else was sitting with folded hands.Idiots.
Sans for the venue being Columbus downtown and fortunately not bearing witness to his dislike for children, my experience in a ‘by invitation’ event when in Columbus(his hub in the US), was exactly like that of Sir Vibhudi’s. It was a listless, insipid rehash of mediocre banal rhetoric symbolic of a wannabe.
I always suspected this Art of Living was a bit of a fraud and Shenoy’s post confirms it! Sir Ashley, a super comment. I am uncomfortable with these spiritualists.
Please watch this –
http://www.youtube.com/v/Xxeh_vSZu-k
We miss Swami Vivekananda.
I feel so sorry for the state of India today. We are so against anyone trying to do any good, that no good ever seems to happen. So many people have benefited from the Art of Living courses – prisoners, Naxalites and the common man. I have personally seen people with substance abuse and depression problems get cured from the Art of Living course.
But no, you guys will not see that. What matters is the superficial stuff – there are foreigners in the Ashram or I have to wash my plate in the Ashram and so on. I am not saying that everyone has to prostate before Sri Sri Ravishankar (I am fortunately not a fundamentalist).
Don’t get stuck with the personality, just look at the awareness and human values that the organization is building. And why should it be free of cost? Indians just have this feeling that anything spiritual (yoga or meditation shd be free). The West, on the other hand pumps in millions into lame Yoga and meditation classes – I have attended some of those too. Believe me, they are nowhere close to what Art of Living offers.
I don’t mean to hurt people’s sentiments with my post. My only intention is to make people look at both sides of the story and not to spread hatred against any personality.
Mr. Narayana’s Post on Ravishankar cornered looks like well orchestrated drama. I do not know where and when this function was held. But as the post is made on 1-2-2008, i suppose it is a recent one. But two years ago a similar function was held at Bangalore Palace grounds and the actors were again Zakir Naik and Sri Sri and the the same scene was enacted . But from the video it does not look like a function held at Palace grounds ! Hope some one will clarify the location and date >
If only we could accept “Yes, We are here by some quirk of fate. We will see & feel pain (may be lots of it) we will also see joy (may be very little). Our body will be diseased however healthy we might be and we will perish. We have to strive and try to make thing as pleasant as possible”.
Then we will have no room for guys like these. who play on the weakened & harassed mind for a few dollars telling them they are been given peace of mind, deliverence, succour or some such.
I am reminded of a dialogue in the movie ‘Gladiators’ where Oliver Reed(the Slave master) tells the gladiators to go out and win the crowd
“……and ultimately we are dead men”
Please do watch it.
http://www.youtube.com/v/Xxeh_vSZu-k
Ravishankar should stop acting like an ambassador of Hinduism. He is no Vivekananda.
Edward Luce (In Spite of the Gods, the rise of Modern India) has shown Sri Sri as very close to Sangh parivaar too. Probably, this will cause more heart-burn amonst Nehruvian dinosaurs, and they can try some medicine :)-
We can very well understand (& analyze why its so) that there are lots and lots of heart-burn amongst Nehruvian dinosaurs in and around Bangalore(technological capital of India), seeing Sri Sri Ravishankar flourish. Guess what, nothing is going to change because of your opposition, ridicule.
Facts are: He is one of the most powerful face of global Hinduism today- has massive reach, credibility. He does NOT need to become another Swami Vivekanand- because his task is different- to popularize, give alternate solutions to issues. Many Govts, including some run by Congress works with his group to solve issues. As in the case of farmers suicide in Vidarbha.
Islam is God 3.0
However, its not expected to see video of Zakir Naik, a known Islamist preacher, who thinks “..young Muslims are raised on the view that Islam is God 3.0. Christianity is God 2.0. Judaism is God 1.0. And Hinduism and all others are God 0.0” (a term used by Tom Friedman to describe attempted bombing of British Airports by Muslim Doctors- http://freedemocracy.blogspot.com/2007/07/thomas-l-friedman-at-theater-near-you.html ) to rebutt Sri Sri.
The way a convert to Islam from Hinduism was welcomed by the mob is most outrageous to see. And unless this belief that “Islam is God 3.0- Hinduism is God 0.0” is checked forthwith, make no mistake to handover the country to Moditva.
As some have mentioned we need to see both the sides. We should not badmouth a person based on some ideology. Let us look at “facts” if we can without trying to make value judgement.
I am coming from a background of consumer protection movement without any known bias. Definitely I am not of Nehurivan bent. If any thing I strongly believe in the Adam Smith’s invisible hand of self interest theory.
Let us analyze the facts. When an organizer charges a large amount of Rs 5000 per person, and promises good housing and food, they should deliver them. There was a lapse in this. This does not require a lot of planning. If they were not capable, they should not have charged such a huge amount. It looks like a con operation excepting to those who are the devotees of Ravi Shanker which I am not. When one goes to a restaurant, is he expected to wash dishes? When one goes to a hotel charging a high tariff, can one expect soap and towel? Do you expect to be packed like sardines in a small room when you pay Rs. 5000 per person? I did not go as a devotee or follower of Ravi Shankar.
When you advertise big names like Dr. Pachauri, Khosla, Behuguna etc all well known personalities in the environmental field and no explanation is given for their absence, what should one conclude? Also when some one like Vandana Shiva does not dwell on the subject and rambles on the topic, any objective person will conclude there is definitely a lapse.
Again when Ravi Shankar ridicules the dangers of global warming and climate change through his analysis of Y2k, how can there be any credibility in the summit which is supposedly for environmental protection.
When a person supposedly dedicated to the concept of environmental protection moves around his campus in the latest air conditioned car, what kind of message does he convey to NGOs who are interested in environmental protection?
When we the NGOs are taken around the campus, and not one example of sustainability is shown and all the time subtle messages are given on “guruji” teachings, yoga classes, vedantha school, “initial abode of guruji”, etc, what should one make of such things? Is that an advertisement for Art of Living courses or some thing else?
During my short stay of less than 24 hours, I met several delegates. But for his die hard devotees, I did not come across one delegate who had kind words about what Ravi Shankar has done to extract Rs 5000 from all of us in the guise of organizing a summit for NGOs. Of course just like most of his devotees who are mesmerized by his message, it is possible that all of these delegates might have been prejudiced. However I would say the probability of the latter is small.
I have absolutely no problem in Ravi Shankar earning huge amount. He is definitely ‘meeting’ the needs of his customers who are his devotees. But let us call this a business venture for profit and not an NGO dedicated to the cause of spreading spiritual ideas. Just like a restaurant meets the customer needs by serving food and drinks or psychiatrist serves the patients, Ravi Shankar is doing a great job of meeting psychic or other needs of his customers. If they are willing to spend money so be it. But we need to be clear about the true motives and not get confused. Using the facade of non profit spiritually oriented NGO, one should not try to earn money as he seems to be doing.
I as a consumer activist appreciate those businessmen who earn profit in a legal way. They are serving the customers. I admire the business genius of Ravi Shankar. He may be like what Dhirubhai Ambani was for Petrochemical sector. It is just that his sector is dispensing psychological help using the concept of spirituality. Then he should also be paying taxes like any businessmen.
Bhamy V Shenoy
Paapa! They were only “warming up” for the real event! ;-)
Are you sure that these value adds were not mentioned in the fine-print? :D
Hello Mr. Bhamy V Shenoy
[Ref to your post: 2 February 2008 at 9:29 am ]
1. Its not as simple as you are trying to put it: advertised speakers did not show up. If you see their brochure, handouts, payment slips closely, somewhere they may have put: changes in schedule may take place, and there will be no refund. This will stand in a Consumer Court, legal scrutiny and a standard procedure by event organizers.
2. Neither its the case that people of the stature of Pachauri, Khosla, Bahuguna ever get engaged with Sri Sri Ravisankar or his organization. He regularly takes part in many programmes worldover where movers and shakers do participate. Dalai Lama, President Kalam and others took part in such a programme in Delhi few days back.
3. DO YOU HAVE ANY PRIVILEDGE COMMUNICATION FROM PACHAURI/BAHUGUNA THAT THEIR NAME WAS PUT AGAINST THEIR WISHES? IF YES, YOU THEN HAVE A CASE. If they don;t object, you have NO CASE.
4. Fact is: Your original post at Churumuri is DEEPLY BIASED, PREJUDICED, SWEEPING in nature. Otherwise you would not have made such sweeping comments like: “I am sure during your meeting with Ravi Shankar and his people, you would have come to the same conclusion. Let us now revert back to the poverty issue and stop any idea of collaborating with Ravi Shankar”.
5. Bhamy V Shenoy >>”Then he should also be paying taxes like any businessmen”. Did Karnataka Govt charge Benny Himm for his programme? What was your stand then? Can you show us any proof that you aired similar demand then?
You sure are entitled to your views. Hope, you will also accept similar deeply biased, prejudiced, sweeping comments about your views?
Right Mr. Bhamy V Shenoy ?
–Bhaskar Chatterjee
Hello Bhaskar Chatterji,
if I was swindled by Benny Himm or any one who might have been cheated by Benny Himm came to MGP, we would have taken exactly the same stand as I am suggesting now. There are many persons like Ravi Shankar who are taking people for a ride. Unfortunately not many come forward to expose them.
Thanks for your observation on Pachauri, Behuguna etc. I do not know if any of them will respond back to me to answer the question about their acceptance. The fact that only one of the prominent persons has attended raise doubts about the summit. But my main objection concerns the kind of food and lodging they provided and charging Rs 5000 for that. Can you imagine any one making Rs. 27 lakhs from a small investment and that too from the NGOs? It requires great genius and for that I have the grudging admiration for Ravi Shankar.
Bhamy V Shenoy
A very good expose of AOL. But then global warming is another huge Hoax being played by western countries on India and china and asia.
GLOBAL WARMING is beneficial to India!!!
Global warming has become the Buzz word in Social science forums across the world. It is even thrust into Corporate Social responsibility(CSR) seminar circuits that money will be earmarked for this huge HOAX
. What is the truth?
Global warming is taking place and that is a fact. But due to green house gases and it is man made say some scientists. Of course Al gore got his Nobel and Pachauri for sponsoring this cause. But there is a significant scientific community which believes that global warming is taking place due to SUN IRRADIANCE. They base their theory by taking cognisance of Mars warming in the same proportion as earth inspite of lack of human habitation and lack of green house gases. But the global warming camp say it is due to wobble of mars. In olden days the same scientific community used to say that cycles in earth temperature happens due to this wobble of earth. Ice age will come to earth as the wobble happens. Now as the global warming is taken up by western governments, they have become silent. Why?iceage doesnot gel with global warming!!!
In what way this global warming is affecting Earth? It is melting some ice mass in western Antarctica and Greenland. But in Eastern Antarctica ice mass is actually growing!!!In South pole this global warming has no effect at all.
In India as per ISRO scientists and those involved in this study have found that in Sikkim which had only 21 glaciers in 2000 has now 84 glaciers. A four fold increase in just 8 years. so actually we in India are having more glaciers and so we will have more water and our water starved country will be benefit ted.
This cacophony of chorus is basically a move by western governments to starve India and china to cut down on their Petrol consumption while they will continue to use their SUV.This conspiracy theory gets reinforced by the vehemence of opposition to NANO a small car. Instead of appreciating a small car which will benefit the poor there was this chorus that it will increase the pollution and co2 emission. But they will not stop using their SUVs!!!!!!!!!
INDIANS MUST BE MADE AWARE OF THIS HUGE HOAX.
Ravi Shankar is a clever Ayyangari. When he offers you yoga lessons or words of wisdom at a seminar, he charges you a big fat fee. But when you offer him your services, he gives you no fee. It is guru seva!
Bhamy, I understand your outrage. Bhaskar, you hit the nail on the head when you talk about Benny Hinn and Ravi Shankar in the same breath. They are both mercenaries.
Hinn only comes once in a while to India, and goes away quickly enough. This “Sri Sri” (means Money, Money) won’t leave us in peace. You have to endure his banalities and his PR.
When I went to the AKKA Sammelana in Baltimore in 2006, at some point Ravi Shankar in his speech got up and announced that he had just returned from the Immigration office where he became a US citizen. All his devotees gave him a standing ovation!
I was dumbstruck. It was surreal.
BV Shenoy writes>>”But my main objection concerns the kind of food and lodging they provided and charging Rs 5000 for that”.
BV Shenoy writes earlier>>“I am sure during your meeting with Ravi Shankar and his people, you would have come to the same conclusion. Let us now revert back to the poverty issue and stop any idea of collaborating with Ravi Shankar”.
Do they match up? Or its a case of over-reaction, sweeping statements?
Piteel Master>>Bhaskar,you hit the nail on the head when you talk about Benny Hinn and Ravi Shankar in the same breath
They are not same, neither their goal is same. However I am not surprized, as I saw some people referred Zakir Naik. Do you guys really know who Zakir Naik, Hinn are, their theological, political baggage?
GK3S,
I am not surprised. This Craft-of-living is a weirdo!
Bhamy Shenoy,
good observation. As you have rightly mentlioned, no one has the courage to expose such things in public. I agree with your arguement, having charged Rs. 5000, they should at least provide decent food and shelter, if not anything else. If I were there, I too would have run away. I wonder why T.V. 9 would not expose such things. They dwell on small issues for 4-5 days interviewing people (like s.m.Krishna and B. Sarojadevi affair, which was nobody’s business) and talking nonsense. But they don’t take up on real issues like the one you have. I appreciate your effort in narrating your experience.
hmm, That is interesting. Why would a spiritual person announce receipt of US Citizenship to a crowd? It is either just as FYI or out of excitement. If it was just FYI, he/she should not accept standing ovation for that. If it was out of excitement, then why get excited and annouce such a materialistic thing? hmmm I have no answers for that. May be one of his devotees can come up with a spiritualistic hidden message in this gesture. I am curious as to what it will be.
My understanding was, usually spiritual leaders avoid talking about me or “I”. For instance saying: “I just received US Citizenship”
In the view of cosmic events a US Citizenship is meaningless and artificial. Humans dont need liscence to live on this earth. Why should one even mention that, leave alone letting people celebrate it by a standing ovation?
It leaves me speechless.
“The cult-like environment was suffocating….”
A perfect one-line summary of all these ‘spritual leaders’.
Any affluent spiritual leader needs to be seen with suspicion. I know it sounds a little extreme, but…
By the way, it also includes ‘scholars’ like Zakir Naik who is peddling ‘sheria laws’ and ‘polygamy’ in India! If you need evidence, watch his other videos! ‘Trojan horses’ like him use ‘fredom of speech’ to push exactly the opposite views and are even more dangerous!
If you stop breathing for a minute you die. Yet you pay this dude good money to learn to ‘breathe’.
Obviously such a guy will think he will get away with anything. And in India he will. Its the same with all religious hoaxsters – Sai Baba, Benny Hinn (a thousand more names can be added to this list).
Since suckers seem to exist everywhere, we should encourage our gurus to expand abroad and earn good foreign exchange for our country. But for that they have to learn to be a professional.
After IT outsourcing – this ‘knowledge in a can’ may be a next big thing for India. And in fact art of living seems to have successfully targeted the IT worker segment very well.
Who knows, this incident may make Mr. Sri realize that he has to give some value for suckers money and improve his production values a little (like say Benny Hinn).
Gokulam>>When I went to the AKKA Sammelana in Baltimore in 2006, at some point Ravi Shankar in his speech got up and announced that he had just returned from the Immigration office where he became a US citizen.
Spent 30 minutes in google, don’t find any reference to him accepting US Citizenship.
This info appears to be out of imagination to defame somebody and his followers. Reasons could be one of those vested interests which he has taken on.
Each one of you may have any numbers of reason to criticise Sri Sri. But if its illogical, sweeping in nature and defamatory- you end up showing an ugly, intolerant face.
>>Who knows, this incident may make Mr. Sri realize that he has to give some value for suckers money and improve his production values a little (like say Benny Hinn).
Anyday, Sri Sri followers will be 1000 times that of Benny Himm in number. Do we have any reason to believe they are less valuable than that of Benny Hinn? Or care less about end-product? Of inferior intellectually compared to followers of Hynn?
Time has come to become less intolerant, less ignorant and less illogical.
as a regular occurence , whenever there is a real estate enquiry , we find the AOL in the list …somehow they are never caught , its creepy
This man has acres of land on the foothills of Chamundi Hills. It looks almost part of the Hills. Encroachment again?
BC,
Since you didnt get the sarcasm in my post (why are fanatics like you always serious anyway?), I think both Benny and Sri are birds of the same feather. I dont care who is ‘intellectually superior’. Or who has 1000 times more follower-fools (and where did you get that number from – your imagination?).
If our conman cleans up his act a little and adds some production values – he can charge more money from more people. Like Bollywood has learned incorporated some Hollywood production values into its movies etc.
BC,
And you are the one who comes across as an illogical, intolerant, superstitious person with a fanatic bent of mind.
This Ravishankar looks likes a twin sister of actress Jaya Bachchan!
>>Like Bollywood has learned incorporated some Hollywood production values into its movies etc.
Only two Film industry in the world- Indian and Chinese are self-sustainable. Hollywood cannot survive unless its dubbed into Hindi, Kanada……
Bachchan, Shahrukh are recognized by more people in the world than any Hollywod star- anyday.
Time has come not to live in mentally colonized world anymore.
@Bhaskar Chatterjee:
Gokulam may be referring to following:
Honorary Citizenship, City of Baltimore, Canada, (September, 2006)
See this line on this web page abour SSRS:
http://www.artofliving.org/SriSri/AwardsHonours/tabid/73/Default.aspx
It got probably converted during translation.
So its not even US citizenship hun?
@jeevarathna,
You are right Dr. Javed is as dangerous as any other religious heads. I have updated my post
I once heard Sr Sri speak on corruption at Ambedkar Bhavan, Bangalore, organised by Samuel Paul’s Public Affairs Centre. His speech was ridiculous and childish at best. I do not know how he could command such a huge following with his substandard thoughts….I think he is a shame on Hinduism. I agree Zakir is a more dangerous creature but look at the way Sri Sri defending his book. Unsubstantiated and ridiculous claims on Hinduism and Sanskrit are not going to promote HIndu-Muslim unitywhich is what Sri Sri claims is the purpose of writing the stupid book. People like Zakir will have the last laugh if we allow spurious gurus like Sri Sri to represent the HInduism….Thanks Dr Bhami V Shenoy for taking the courage to write against one of the holy cows….
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Somebody living in Jayanagar 4th T Block can shed more light:
Ravishankar was a failed student, who as a teenager bugged his acquaintances with his religious crap. One fine day he disappeared. After some years he had land in Kanakapura road and lots of funds from Infosys. AOL is registered as an NGO and have tax exemptions. It is said that a Japanese devotee designed & built his ashram, of course, free of cost.
Whatever he did in those years, his business acumen magnified 1000 times.
Out of curiosity I had signed up for AOL basic course. The lady tutor try to find trouble in my life (like a doctor does in a patient) and wanted to bring peace in my life. She was disappointed to find none. Once I asked her why Guruji’s thoughts were childish. She replied Guruji was as innocent as a child and it was actually a cute thing.
Couple of years back, Discovery channel did a feature on AOL & Sudharshana kriya. This kriya (without AOL & Guruji) was administered to some patients of Nimhans. Patients felt better and had better recovery.
I don’t care enough about this person or his movement to do an in-depth research on his citizenship. Anyway, this forum isn’t meant to be Journalism 101 for people to check their own facts. It is possible that he talked about some honorary citizenship which I misunderstood or misheard. I thought it might be relevant to this discussion and put it out there.
As they say, I regret and apologize for any hurt caused to real devotees of real or imaginary Godmen by my mistake :)
Thanks Setudev for clarifying the issue. It is highly likely that he referred to that incident.
Satudev>>Honorary Citizenship, City of Baltimore, Canada, (September, 2006)
What we were told it was US Citizenship- and people jumped on.
This one is a honorary one from a city in CANADA!
If this is not deliberate mischief, I don’t what it is.
Gokulam>>Anyway, this forum isn’t meant to be Journalism 101 for people to check their own facts.
Its expected that dished out facts are facts. Not from imagination because someone has other issues to settle.
As I stated earlier, you can surely have 101 reasons not to agree with Sri Sri. But you have to present facts, not what is going on here.
At the same time these NGOs are no ‘do-gooder’. They try to extract every piece of money in the name of some ‘xyz’ prgorammes.
@mrignayani: In the same issue of ‘Agni’ this rowdy editor praises Mr Parvez Musharraf a lot in his editor; and inicdentally this was just before the murder of Mrs Bhutto.
Nastika>>Whatever he did in those years, his business acumen magnified 1000 times.
hehe..Father of the Nation was a “bania”, and his closest associates were Birlas, Bajajs.
Swami Vivekanand was given lots of assiatence by (say) Maharaj of Mysore.
Missionaries in India run business, own properties worth 100000s of Crores of Rupees. All of those who manage these properties, educational institues, business are appointed by direct appointee of the Pope. Average Indian Christian has no way to elect them. Right?
Economy and faith go hand in hand. I see no problem in that. Rather, if we compare Sri Sri with many others like Amritanandamayi, Satya Sai Baba etc etc, its said, Sri Sri has developed less centers, run less business.
By the way, I am NOT a follower of Sri Sri. But I posted here few comments because:
1. facts presented were prejudiced, manipulated.
2. There is no reason to demonize a Hindu saint whom 10s of millions adore. This anti-Hindu attitude of ‘Nehruvian dinosaurs’ has been very costly for them.
3. I respect his social activism- specially for NRI communities, working to destroy caste.
Its time to show some respect to religion, even if we are Nastika/atheist. If a fraction of what people here wrote against Sri Sri where directed against a Muslim preacher, there would have been law and order problem.
Bhamy Shenoy,
Please keep us posted about what happens. Wonder if they will have the decency to return at least a part of your Rs. 5000.
And thanks for writing about this – will help at least people who browse here be aware of some of the practises of conmen collecting money under the name of one or the other religious or social cause.
To All,
Please don’t quote source from roll-call papers like Agni, et al. Whatever might be the truth, these papers have lost all credibility.
When i was first offered by a friend the details of AOl sudarshana kriya and a subtle hint to join – i was repulsed. I hate any marketing of spirtual activities. I am a yoga practitioner myself and feel there cannot be further fine tuning of these asanas as they are already fine tuned. If you practice the basic asanas of yoga, you will notice that you will reap similar benefits…
The knowitall attitude of people including Sri Sri and NRN is disgusting to say the least …. Each subject is divine. If you are true student you will never behave like a master. What does Sri Sri know about global warming. Does he know that the global warming is confirmed by measuring the temperature at the surface of the earth and oceans. Does he know about the Kyoto Protocol ?
Another gentleman Mr. NRN also has this knowitall attitude. Yesterday he was at the ‘ZERO to Billion’ conclave and gave some sagely SOFTWARE strategic advice to Mid-Day meal organizers.
nastika
Dont show your ignorence and dont accuse people without even knowing them. Calling Agni a roll call paper is sheer height of stupidity. If you dont know dont comment.
There is a huge former Sri Sri desciples community who reveal a great deal in the blogs. for eg: How genuine is Sri Sri Ravi Shankar? http://www.yunusnews.com/ and guruphiliac.blogspot.com etc
Bhaskar Chatterjee, please get off the high horse or it will throw you down.
What part of “I don’t care enough about this person or his movement to do an in-depth research on his citizenship” don’t you understand? How did you come to the conclusion that I have “issues to settle”?
I appreciate your zeal to be supportive of AOL, but the self-righteous indignation that you seem to portray is a bit off-putting. No one here owes you anything – facts or otherwise. This is one of those things that people form an opinion on based on experience, facts and hearsay. People have a right to having it and expressing it.
Piteelmaster wrote
>>Ravi Shankar is a clever Ayyangari.>>
He is a clever Iyer, born and brought up in Bangalore.
Nastika,
Sri Sri is actually from Jayanagar 5th block. His house is right opposite the new BMP park (close to Adiga’s food joint). In those years when he disappeared, he claims to be doing higher studies(?) in Australia. I believe he did his engineering and MBA from some australian university(don’t ask me why of all the places in Australia). To cue you on this, Ravi Belagere’s son is doing a goddamned course in a australian university and so also son of cine actor srinath. Bottomline, if you have loads of money, you can send your kids to study in australia. Money was never a issue for Mr.Sundaram, Sri Sri’s dad. (Read my post earlier on this). So he comes back from Australia, denounces worldly pleasures, becomes a swamiji and starts conning people in the name of AOL. Incidentally it started as a very small organisation called ‘Vyakthi Vikasa Kendra’ in Jayanagar 5th block and grew from strength to strength, which goes to prove that there is no dearth of suckers in India. Imagine, our own PM nominee LKAdvani is a ardent follower of Sri Sri and has come to Bangalore to attend a function at Kanakapura when he was a Dy.PM in the NDA government.
The Animal-Eyed One,
Thank you for the links that explain the Artist of Living. Never liked the Artful Living Dodger! Always thought he was not the genuine article.
BC,
‘If a fraction of what people here wrote against Sri Sri where directed against a Muslim preacher, there would have been law and order problem.’
Please post some doings of famous Muslim preachers, who are collecting money etc. – we would love to direct our barbs towards them too.
Will be nice if it were a little entertaining without ranting like a fanatic…
Bhamy Shenoy has our full sympathies but I think it is important not to throw the baby along with the bath water here.
From what one has heard, AOL centers is widely known for imparting a version of Sudarshana Kriya which is said to reduce anxiety and depression. This has been acknowledged by a number of people. This is commendable. As this kriya and may other similar techniques have been imparted by holy people in the past, it tends to have religious overtones.
However, there is a tendency of many individuals who have achieved fame in one area to hold forth on many other topics. This must be taken with a pinch of salt. While criticizing this aspect, the distinction needs to be clearly made, otherwise people could get a wrong impression that the religion itself is being criticized.
yesterday i visited his session in goa. on anaduttsav 2008.
may be he is doing a good job in uniting hindus,,, still i feel the amount of money they charge is exhorbitant. a course of 7 days and 2 hours a day is charged rs 700/-…, all it means is that they r only targeting the rich people … why being a saint, he is not considering the same service to poor and needy at a very nominal rate..
he would win more ppl if he accepts ppl who do not have any money.
>@mrignayani: In the same issue of ‘Agni’ this rowdy editor praises Mr Parvez Musharraf a lot in his editor; and inicdentally this was just before the murder of Mrs Bhutto.
>Please don’t quote source from roll-call papers like Agni, et al. Whatever might be the truth, these papers have lost all credibility.
I feel compelled to respond to these two points.
1. The editorial says “…..when Musharraf assumed power eight years ago Pakistan was vitually sitting on a boiling kettle. It had on the one side Afghanistan, controlled by Islamic fundamentalists, on the other the war. It also had India, ruled by BJP and political party of RSS to tackle.
Weapons were abundant in Pak because of Afghanistan… thier biggest passion was hatred towards India and anything Indian. That hatred reached such an extent that even an orndinary cricket match between the two countries was played like a virtual war. Anybody at thehelm of affairs in Pak was forced to feel that hatred towards India to his maximum capacity.
Then came the war against terror by US. Musharraf was forced to take a stand against thefundamentalists of his country who were in league with the Mujahidinis of Afghanistan. To add salt to the injury, India was hoping to assit US in its war against Afghanistan.
For Musharraf it was a tight rope walk. On the oneside he had to woark out a strategy to keep India out of war and on the other he had to convince the liberals in his country. ….
That was the time he visited India. The Indian press praised him to thesky. He invited Indian cricket team to play in Pak. He attended a match and praised our Dhoni more than any other player of his country.
Suddenly Pakistan became Dhoni fan. Hatred started diluting. Now cricket matches between the two countries are looking like friendly matches between two colleges of the same university!
The Cricket Chacha who had come to our office symbolises the present day pakis. ….if anybody tries to wake anti India sentiments it sounds like a cliche (he said)
2. Now do you find anything objectionable in this? Agni in English is a new, the only English tabloid from a kannadiga in Karenataka. The rest of the English media, except Deccan Herald, is owned by outsiders. It is Delhi and Mumbai money that is ruling the English media. We are small, tiny, tabloid struggling to make a place for ourselves amongst serious papers. If we were into roll-call journalism we would not have taken on TOI, Sri Sri, Nityananda and scores of others that we have criticised. Evenwhen TOI is blocking sale of our magazine and thretening shops not to display we have not resorted to any reaction. It is strange hwo people are fast in believing the REAL roll callers but doubt sincere honest person even without any reason. Even Sri Sri gets the benifit of doubt.
* I am the associate editor of AGNI- the alternative Terrorism. The only Weekly tabloid in English by a kannadiga, fighting corruption.
Prathiba Nandakumar,
Do you guys have a Website? I would like to see it please.
I would like to point out some elementary historical errors in your defence of your own editorial….my comments are within /// marks….
“1. The editorial says “…..when Musharraf assumed power eight years ago Pakistan was virtually sitting on a boiling kettle. It had on the one side Afghanistan, controlled by Islamic fundamentalists, on the other the war. It also had India, ruled by BJP and political party of RSS to tackle. ///This is a ridiculous assertion because Pakistan had reached the Hall-of-Fame Jehad on its own merits. BTW India was ruled by NDA of which BJP was a major party. In fact much of the ‘potage’ making came from the far sightedness of leaders like Musharaff himself. You reap as you sow was said of Paki generals. And who can forget the strategic depth doctrine practiced by the Paki generals? They sought and got the Afganisthan they wanted and more as we now realize:)///
Weapons were abundant in Pak because of Afghanistan… their biggest passion was hatred towards India and anything Indian. That hatred reached such an extent that even an ordinary cricket match between the two countries was played like a virtual war. Anybody at the helm of affairs in Pak was forced to feel that hatred towards India to his maximum capacity. ///Once again these are inane moronic comments and they don’t stand up to the searching and searing light of DB’s common sense. Right from day one, Pakistan has always played the aggrieved asshole’s card. BTW all sporting contest between India and Pakistan is like a war because we are more or less well matched–be it cricket or hockey. Pakis were always planets ahead of India in squash though thanks to the Pathans. Paki army has to have this institutionalized bias against India otherwise they will be mistaken for a NW Muslim Regiment belonging to the Indian Army:))///
Then came the war against terror by US. Musharraf was forced to take a stand against the fundamentalists of his country who were in league with the Mujahidinis of Afghanistan. To add salt to the injury, India was hoping to assit US in its war against Afghanistan. ///Only an extremely ill-informed moron could have come up with this line: US and CIA fully knew that it was the product of ISI Labs that had blown up in American face. It was not Powell’s call to Musharaff that made him blink! US simply said, assholes we know everything what you shitty things you were up to! Now choose to live or meet the famed virgins and young boys in paradise!!///
For Musharraf it was a tight rope walk. On the one side he had to work out a strategy to keep India out of war and on the other he had to convince the liberals in his country. ….///Oh really? How amusing! ROFLMAO! That sneaky turd in good suits was the craftiest asshole till last week and suddenly everybody knows that he has been taking one and all on a ride!:)///
That was the time he visited India. The Indian press praised him to the sky.///Yep I agree. many secular journalists were besotted with his good looks and were even love sick at the sight of him and literally eat from hand and hung on from his sherwani. It is said that many opportunistic secular pen turds inveigled repeat visits across the border just to catch a glimpse of the Hero!///
He invited Indian cricket team to play in Pak. He attended a match and praised our Dhoni more than any other player of his country.
Suddenly Pakistan became Dhoni fan. Hatred started diluting. Now cricket matches between the two countries are looking like friendly matches between two colleges of the same university! ///Once again, good PR mistaken for strategy! There is the same intensity and it was not because of Mushy the Fox.///
The Cricket Chacha who had come to our office symbolises the present day pakis. ….if anybody tries to wake anti India sentiments it sounds like a cliche (he said)” ///That crafty bugger said so many things, I would not seriously take his word on any thing.///
Bottom line: By the way, if this is the best you could do in an editorial I shudder to think what incisive editorial you can possibly print in your paper!!
Prathibha Nandakumar, I was a regular reader of both your Kannada & English Agni. Your glossy editions are very impressive to look & feel.
But, over last 2 years, I noticed you were specifically targeting top officers from SC/ST, Backward castes. When the officers were clean, you invented some lame excuses (such as the officer hit the security personnel, mis behaved with some staff, used Govt car for personal use, officer was drunk during office hours etc).
Initially, I believed such news. Then I met a senior journalist and this is what he told me: The paper “Agni” is an acknowledged yellow magazine and whose main business is to blackmail politcians/corrupt govt. servants. If they pay, then no stories. If they don’t pay then the colorful stories – all with some lame reasons.
With such reputation in the press circle, how can anyone believe Agni is publishing true news? He advised me to read ‘Agni’ to have a good laugh.
I felt I was doing disservice to honest officers (who can’t pay Agni). Hence stopped reading it, let alone buying it.
If I find that Agni publishes truth, then I have no objection buying it.
Nice discussion. But Mr. Shenoy and most folks here are critical of Sri Sri’s rates rather than Kriya. So if he were cheaper they would be okay with him?
And please, Dr. Zakir Naik’s “cornering” Sri Sri doesn’t say anything about Sri Sri’s Kriya. Dr. Naik is a talented orator and a fine apologist for Islam: Watch his defense of Indian Muslims eating cows (available on youtube) to see his debating mastery. Sri Sri is simply not a debater; he is, like many other Hindus, probably too mild-mannered to demonstrate his learning.
If we pitched Bal Thackeray against Manmohan Singh, I have no doubt Thackeray would win. But that wouldn’t mean he was right. If we pitched Uma Bharati against Dr. Zakir Naik I have no doubt Dr. Naik would meet his debating match.
We need to critique Sri Sri’s WORK rather than his fees or his obvious inability to debate a talented orator. To the extent that the seminar was disappointing with regard to keynote addresses, I can understand Dr. Shenoy’s disappointment. But taking it beyond that is a bit too much given the facts on hand.
Doddi Buddi – i will get back on your remarks in a while.
paciFIER – “Then I met a senior journalist and this is what he told me: The paper “Agni” is an acknowledged yellow magazine and whose main business is to blackmail politcians/corrupt govt. servants. If they pay, then no stories. If they don’t pay then the colorful stories – all with some lame reasons.” I dont know who this senior journalist is and why he said what he said. but what surprises me that how come you people believe anything anyone says with out even bothering to find out if it is true or not?! Anyone knowing Sreedhar will know that he does not blackmail. If people sit in judgement without even trying to know the truth what can be done?! On the contraray the REAL yellow journalists are let off because no senior journalists goes bad mouthing them. Please produce even a hint of which honest officer was targetted for not paying Agni? which one? Dont say he is scared to come into the open. Because there is not a single incident of Agni demanding money either to publish or withhold a write up. I sit here sweating, working hard to get stories, assigning senior journalists to write to us freelance and who write for us in a different name and you just make allegation in thin air that we are targetting honest officers, that too for money?! for what purpose. This is most unfair. U know its the classic case of having to prove your innocence, otherwise proved guilty. So far we have brought out 18 issues of Agni in English. Six of our stoiries were lifted by mainstream papers including TOI. Those are the ones we had put together working hard. If you read it in TOI or anyother paper you will say it is the truth. If you read it in Agni you term it yellow journalism? Give honesty a chance please. This hurts.
I have a feeling that this sri sri (or for that matter the sai baba)might have invented this packaging to lead the good life in bangalore targetting the non kannadiga IT segment with a feel good version of simplistic hinduism,exploiting the good natured kannadigas.
They seem to be gobbling up real estate,though they are bringing some money into bengalooru.But then there is a vacuum in the established religion segment.Ramanuja was from TN,madhva too simplistic,sringeri too orthodox,basava was sectarian,vivekananda’s hinduism a reaction to christianity.So there is going to be competition for this space among evangelists and feel good hinduism.
Why is the discussion moved from Ravi Shankar to bashing Agni. Is there some invisible hand operating here?
Let us try to concentrate on the great “genius” Shankar who has succeeded in fooling so many for so long in the garb of spiritualism. This has nothing to do with Hinduism or any ideology. This is pure business and we need to come up with ideas to stop this fooling people.
Just yesterday I met a future nurse from the US who was also taken for a ride. But she felt Shankar can create miracles. She was asking me what do I have to tell her when Shankar has cured a cancer patient. She is going to be a nurse. She had visited the ashram (really a jail) for the second time. But even she told me that she was also surprised by money making by Shankar. But it did not seem to affect her devotion since every needs money.
Ravishankar is not doing anything illegal. He is selling mental peace for nominal fee. Whats wrong in that? Its your choice. If you like, travel to his ashram & take part in satsang. Else, stay at home and enjoy your favorite TV show.
I agree Ravishankar should do what he does best & not get into global warming, Hindu-Islam co-ordination and other stuff.
Bhamy, please put forward your thoughts (delegates not wanting to wash their plates) to the right person in AOL. They might like your ideas and implement in future.
Prathiba NK
I look forward to your reply. ‘Fire’ away! Thanks.
PaciFIER
deleagtes paid Rs. 5000 for two reasons; one was to get exposed to leading envionmentalists as advertsied and second was to enjoy stay and taste satvic food in an International Center again as advertsied. They did not have plans or inclination (at least those whom I met) to learn about spiritual side of the so called ashram.
Five top environmentalists were adverstised to participate and only one showed. Even that person gave no opportunity to interact with the delagates. Was this a chance incident or some pre conceived plan? This is definitely a defficiency in service under consumer protection act.
International center implies good and decent loding facilities and not being packed three to a room and that too not having towel, soap, drinking water etc. While one pays Rs 5000, one does not expect to wash dishes. Delegates did not go there to wash dishes. This is also in my view defficiency in services under consumer protection act.
I would like to hear views on this of different people.
Bhamy Shenoy
In the absence of true heros in our society especially in the fields of sports and science (olympic gold medallists, nobel prize winners in science etc.), we seem to treat all sorts of people with business savvy as great heroes.
Saying – oh this guy has a million followers so he is great wont do. By that yardstick someone like Deve Gowda would be a legend and saviour of our society.
Ravishankar is doing good work in his chosen area – good for him and his followers. But expecting him to be treated him like some holy cow is too much.
We give way too much importance to religious leaders – though their conduct have impacted our society in as many negative ways as positive. Added to the mindless public fawning, tax breaks and lack of auditing of business-religious organizations makes them unaccountable for their actions.
@Bhamy V Shenoy Says: “Why is the discussion moved from Ravi Shankar to bashing Agni. Is there some invisible hand operating here?
Let us try to concentrate on the great “genius” Shankar who has succeeded in fooling so many for so long in the garb of spiritualism. This has nothing to do with Hinduism or any ideology. This is pure business and we need to come up with ideas to stop this fooling people. …”
We should also discuss about how the NGOs are looting? money in the name of many programmes…
i never belive in these god mans…
they brain wash ordinary people who doesn’t have the capacity to do cirtical thinking and reasoning and fool them.
why only software engineers , urban people need ART OF LIVING..why can ravi shankar show art of living to rural ppl in north karnataka..
its only because these ppl have money…. as simple as this..!!!
i have even encontered s/w couple meeting ppl in morning jog ground and pestering them to join art of living..
once i scolded 2 ppl like that.
hope at least in 21st century people will get to knw real background and facts about LANDMARK , ART OF LIVING..etc
Moral of the story:
1. Don’t run after people or programs to be in the limelight. There have been so many international and national programs with big names with little results.
2. Don’t accept anything on face value. If anyone is charging a high fee, don’t ever think it gives some exclusivity and get fooled.
3. Believe in yourself more than in anyone else. No harm in trusting people to guide you; but not to become a zoombi.
7. Eschew cash transactions as it can corrupt people. Demand transparency and accountability from every individual and organization.
any idea on the sucessor , just in case sri sri sri ??
All of you are correct… click below to see a video of Sri Sri putting His life in danger in the Red Zones of Baghdad and Najaf in Iraq… all this for what… money…???
Going and meeting leaders, widows, children in Iraq is not putting one’s life in danger. This is pure and simple media hype. The same technique was used in organizing Environmental summit of NGOs. After all Pachuari’s organization got a nobel prize for fighting against global warming. Can there be a better and less controversial topic than environmental protection? AOL’s Shankar finds a good cause. There are gullible NGOs like myself who are prepared to pay Rs. 5000. I do not know of any NGO seminar/workshop/summit which has charged that much excepting the one conducted by high profile international NGOs. Even then few more deserving NGOs get discount or concession. But spiritually oriented AOL need not show such consideration.
Irq peace making, resolving LTTE in Sri Lanka, negotiating with naxals, etc are high profile media events which can be managed only by genius led organization. That is exactly what Ravi Shankar has done. In none of this there is any spirituality involved as such. Let us call him a management guru who knows how to make money out of nothing excepting some simple ideas. This is a true picture and not the one which media has tried to do.
as long as gullible people exist , godmen exist too. sri sri is just one among the many our country has seen. its just a mass hysteria. as a popular saying goes in kannada “jana maruLo jaathre maruLo” ..
It is very easy to write not so good things about anything. Get you prana levels high, meditate, do some pranayams. you will see world in a different light!
Have you seen the movie Matrix? It was based on yoga-vashistha. Most of us are stuck in the Matrix- and then we write things such as the above comments.
Raise your prana , meditate:-)
Regards,
Harshal
I was associated with the AOL movement for five years in the early nineties and yes I was a resident of Jaynagar 4th T block. I have witnessed the con of this organization first hand. I was also teaching this AOL which is a rehash of the yogic breathing technies with some new age wisdom interspersed in between. I have also witnesed first hand how this AOL has swindled money. Bamy Shenoy is right in asking why this organization should be given a non profit status. The AOL organization commite is full of his family members and a couple of sychophants. One of them was in a major money laundering scam. Again Sri Sri is a poster boy of certain media houses and they blow up things beyong proportion. Even the soial welfare activities are all scams used for publicity stunts. Most Aol people know this. Regarding Sri Sri’s great intellect less said the better. He goofs up in public platforms and mumbles nonsense. I have seen him first hand how he has goofed up in certain seminars. But again for his idiotic followers the emperor’s clothes are really fascination. I now prefer to work in a genuine NGO into rural development and who are not real into some personality cult and working towards the personal aggrandizement of a cult guru.
This is a Fraud organisation. Money can’t buy spirituality. I am really shocked to know that many educated people, mostly IT professionals fell into this trap.
This is not at all related to Hinduism or Spiritualism. I am really worried about my religion and non-Hindu’s perception on Hindus. He is a Fake Guru but a brilliant smart ass!..
All in the name of spirituality. The Television Guru’s are all set to spoil the generation NEXT.
An awareness against self-styles Guru’s will take them to the right path, I believe!
BVS,
I completely agree! When I look at Ravi of AOL I see a man who is ‘high on something’ and who is having a ‘mad’ look in his eyes! Of course I don’t have any tears in my eyes as his devotees do and I am free to judge how he appears in public to me. Sure any form of meditation is good for the soul but to start applying it in real-life situations only for the sake of publicity and tireless self-promotion needs a ‘genius’.
I had put a similar story on another web site which is read mostly by Mubaikars. Unlike this site where I have got more support to my argument than in that site. In fact browsers of that site have written very critical emails to me. According to one of them Ravi Shankar is a brightly shining sun and I am like a child throwing dust at the sun. What a scycophantic way of praising Shankar.
But another good development is that three news papers have agreed to publish my article. One of them is Agni and another one is from Mumbai.
Can readers of Churumuri suggest what can be done to expose this kind of fraud? There should be movement to ask the government to look into the non profit status of this organization. It is perfectly all right if gullible people attend his classes and pay him huge fees. But it should be done like a profit making organization like any other doctor, or company.
Hats off to you, Bhamy Shenoy. There is a big anti- TM website called DOWN THE TM RABBIT HOLE.. This comes up on search engines when one types TM…. hopefully your objective observations should propel those who have seen through Ravi Shankar to create a similar website. This website would act as therepy for all those who were part of his cult and broke away because of being disillusioned. The scars for such people are deep, and very often are not healed.
Bhamy,
Trying to get back money you were conned out of, raising public awareness about the workings of these ‘socio-religious’ leaders is all fine.
But targeting just one organization with respect to its non profit status?
How is this any different from a church, mosque, temple which doesn’t pay any tax on its earnings and uses money it earned in ways not open to public scrutiny? Some of them may be making better use of the money than the tax money which is being pilfered by bureaucrats.
Bhamy, at this time of the year the Income Tax department puts out ads urging people to report tax irregularities–suspected or real. Why don’t you do it? Maybe that will start a raid against all such institutions, we have to start somewhere…it is not about tageting one.
Also, why can’t India have a new rule or some sanskrit/samskriti organisation “patent” honorifics like Sri under the “geographical indications” or whatever. The fake Sris can be stripped off the Sri (like medals from a dishonoured army officer) and bestowed only on deserving candidates like knighthood. I mean only, when Sri is being used for “public use.” Not as a normal form of address like Mr. Otherwise, if left to the ghost-like Ravi types, the word “sri” may soon get the opposite connotations globally! It should’nt become like well, tantrik–mostly mistaken for black magic.
Thanks for the article.
“Sri Sri” Ravi Shankar, for the information of all posting here, was a “close” (according to him) disciple of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. He never publically gives that credit to his only guru, however. Privately, to some, he does. In fact, he has been known to say “I AM Maharishi…” and swish away with the same giggle as MMY.
He was born in Tamil Nadu, he said, in a village or small town (can’t remember which) that was wiped out by floods. His family moved to Bangalore when he and his sister were small. He was raised there. He dropped out of school at 17 years old to join Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and was brought to Switzerland to chant Sanksrit there. He helped to build MMY’s ashram in Noida, outside of Delhi, and became extremely ill there. His father says that he had to go there and bring him home, and that Ravi nearly died. After this, SSRS was told by MMY to gather 200-300 students of Veda and teach them to chant. SSRS’s father went around Karnataka and gathered students from poor villages (only Brahmins). There was a property purchased in 5th block and used for the purpose of housing all of these boys (over 150, I was told) — how? who knows. It’s a three story, smallish house. But SSRS says they chanted there, and lived there. Then MMY called them all to be moved to Noida. The story from here is that SSRS’s father had promised the parents of these boys that they would never be far from home, and Noida was too far away. So SSRS started his own school for Vedic Pundits right then and there. MMY was extremely displeased and angry with SSRS. One of the first pundits was sent with a missive (this story from that man himself, thank you) to MMY. This pundit claims that MMY was angry and said basically that he would have nothing further to do with SSRS, and sent him back to Bangalore. It is widely known amoung close early followers, that SSRS used to try to call Maharishi in Holland and would be repeated told he would not speak to him. He was devasted, and used to keep a picture of MMY next to his bed. It is a very sad story, actually.
SSRS’s father went to the local government and acquired the land on Kanakapura Road by using the method of land being donated if someone promised (at that time) to build a rural school to benefit the local villages. A “school” was built (don’t know if it still ‘exists’) in the form of thatched roof huts, where students did cram in to “learn”. This was all a front, of course, to start the Art of Living Ashram. Since the police and local government are mostly bought off by the empire of AOL at this point, the organization, in spite of failing early audits, enjoys not-for-profit status.
SSRS’s mother, God Rest Her Soul, was heard to brag: “My son is a millionaire! He has his own account and has more than a million US dollars in it!” She was very proud of this. This was in the early 90s, when SSRS was already beginning to ramp up the collections from the US and Europe and Canada.
SSRS, btw, never got any degree, and used to publically proclaim the same — that he never finished school. Somehow, in some places (Wikipedia for awhile), it is wrongly stated that he earned a degree in Physics, other places says Engineering, etc. It’s false. He has no earned degree in anything, and stopped his schooling at 17 years old.
Obviously, the many pundits dwindled to a small number over time.
It is unknown by this author whether SSRS was ever able to meet with MMY again before he died a few days back.
I personally feel sorry for SSRS. There are many personal things about him that I will not report here, because this is about his organization, not about the man. But the ‘man’ is a sad case indeed.
The organization is totally corrupt, and he tolerates no advice on conducting matters in an above board and honest way.
His followers are indeed, as pointed out by several on this post, like robots.
Many have lost their lives to him, giving up good careers, ruining their health. I heard at least two say “there is nothing else I could do at this point — where would I go? At least he pays our tickets and feeds us….” They laughed but it was a thinly disguised sadness that the laughter covered. They were trapped.
I’m certain that many if not all of his full time teachers are in that situation. Have pity on them. They are brainwashed and sad people with no lives of their own anymore. He has stolen everything from them.
God Bless every one of them, and show them an exit strategy that will give them solace and real Peace of mind, not the fake peace that can be had for a moment scrambling for an audience with SSRS.
i have seen ppl in my college turning into sheep-headed hypocrites after getting atched to aol…we call it fart of livin…
on orkut…look for “we pity art of living”
aol is just a respite for losers who pay to get attched to a community of their kind…
Good post Sudarshan. You have enough info about 2SRS to write a book. How about a book? Since Churumuri is also swalpa spicy, please reveal the 2SRS, The Man :)
Dear Ones,
Facts are facts
when you critisize go to the root of the cause. when you heard something, you want to support that or oppose without knowing much. I know there are people who want to do some favour to somebody..
As all are discussing the things on Sri Sri Ravishankar ji, one should ask themself ” what they are doing to get this world to live a better life for coming generation?”
Arguing somebody is easy, but executing the work is not that easy job. you go and work for people, If you have time to lookafter your parents, your neighbours, your country people, you should ask yourself”
comment to somebody with biased mind is easy job,
if you are ready to work with us come & do. writing in website is easy.
what are your achivements ?
For what you are here?
What is your purpose of Life?
Dont ask to anybody,
please ask only yourself, within you there is energy which can be utilised for constructive work.
dont go on giving bad ideas to world, let us work for better tomorrow.
Its waste of time to blame anybody, If you have ideas implement them.
have a inward thinking !
Wish you best for your life.
Dear Sudarshan ji,
Its all fake ideas that you got somehow & writing them here with prejuidice.
You never looked the work done by AOL , you never tried to come & see yourself what is reality.
There is nothing to believe by writing big article as above.
If you want to see the school lets come & visit & see the differene in 2000 Children studying here.
One thing everybody should notice when people dont know much, & they are negative about something. & the same time they hear or get a chance to share fake ideas. They act like they are the one who knows everything!
But nobody is ready to go into deep at the root of the cause.
Anyway, whoever going to find faults of AOL, its like went for sweet coconut water – but got hard outer shell with full of thik covering. He assumed its all waste to get the water from the stone.
I would like to appeal everybody !
Dont go by the rumours who ever is spreading!
If really Mr Bhamy V Shenoy wants to do something
I would like to ask him –
Are you noticed all the work done by volunteers of AOL across the globe?
As I am associated with AOL since 2001. I am an Electronics Engineer, doing fulltime Seva in ashram,
I know what is the problem with people who want to show off everything.
There was nobody to speak about AOL or Sri Sri Ravishankarji when He & His organisation was working hard across the globe. After the Silver Jubillee Function evrybody came to know specifically about the citizens most part of Karnataka.
Then they are started what is the mantra behind the wealth of organisation & start feeling jeoloucy about it.
I would like to share that whoever feel AOL has lot of money, its not the fact, The fact is AOL have dedicated volunteers who are working voluntarily & getting good results without spending much money.
I am not here to argue with all of you, but everyone should keep in mind that
If some body doubt the good thing, oneself believe it blindly but you give them good things they will ask you really its like that?
Nothing to show off, if you want to do good things you are welcome but dont prepare yourself with prejudice mind to take a issue publicly without knowing much.
As a senior journalist , I would like to appeal Bhamy V Shenoy, the people nearby karnataka dont know the reality & what contribution is there of AOL to spread the knowledge.
You are thinking in terms of money & money with prejudice. Come out of your own school of thoughts & see with clear eyes what is the truth!
Anyway we the volunteers of AOL pray for peace of your mind & soul.
Think & Speak Dont Speak & think!!
yours
sandip
Hello Mr.Sandip,
Where is all the money going. He is a fake guru. People like you are foolishly working there for free and you are paying them for your work. How stupid? Spend your money for poor. That would make you feel more good than breathing on and out..
Come & do some work for people. You sincerely want to know Without prejudice.
For what you are asking? By what purpose ?
get involved in activities then you come to know
As you are asking
when you do something then you have right to ask something !
dear friend get out of your own ideas
I am clearly said I am not here to argue. The time is the answer!
do not blame anybody ! who is foolish & how nobody can state.
Anyway Sincerely if you are asking you do something by your own! & feel the difference you can make!
Do it , My best wishes to you. You all have complains from Bangalore only.
Dont gossipe do it!
best luck
Wow first we have His Royal Highness of Karnataka HDD masquerading here as Dr Ramesh and now we have the SRI SRI ( *1008 times) Himself calling himself Sandip come here to dispel the ignorance of the chattering sinners at Churumuri!!!
No offence Mr Sandip, please pursue your interests and let other pursue their’s. The question is, what is the truth about AOL? We are only interested to ensure your services are for a good cause.
I smell grass :)
I smell the rants of a brainwashed sisyan.
dear gabby ,
you are ignoerent is ok but are you willing to come out of it?
if you are interested give your mobile or contact no. then I will give you mine.
without sincerity you can not dig a well, by digging 100 times at different places.
Any way all paths lead to death of human body & coming close to the spirit that controlling each & every activity in the universe.
ignorance is first qualification to get on a path,
but the will take you on the path with the focused direction to the ultimate goal!
FOr you what is the quest find out & ask yourself , your innervoice will give you the answer !!
but you should first prepare to accept that only….
You can cheat everybody
BUT
Can not cheat “yourself” !!
Dear Sndipji,
thanks for a courteous rseponse to my note on Ravi Shankar. First let me ask some questions to respond to some issues you have raised.
I have been to Ashram and talked to many volunteers. Every one of them was extremely courteous and fully sold on the philosophy of Ravi Shankar. Every one of them was talking the same way. What does this show? In your work place, in your surroundings, colleges and schools you have studied, have you even seen two human beings talking the same way? After all having different opinions is healthy and that is what Upanishads and old gurus (who were not interested in acquiring wealth) has taught us. Given this why are volunteers at AOL as robots including the IIT professor?
If Ravi Shanakr knows about environment and at least attempt to respond global warming, why did he comment by giving the analogy of Y2K that it was a fad or a fraud? Do you think Y2K was a fad? Do you think that billions spent to avoid the problems of Y2K was wasted? Do you think global warming and climate change a fraud?
What does one assume when it is advertised that lodging will be provided in “international center”? Do you think it will have some minimum standard?
You are talking about money being used for “good” purpose. have you seen an audited account of AOL? There is a lot of information on the web site of AOL. Is there an audited account of AOL put there as all the corporations do?
This is where I and you differ. I have the highest admirtaion (Not respect) for Ravi Shankar as a businessman. There is much many MBA students can learn. Even Peter Drucker could have lreant a lesson or two from Ravi Shankar. The very fact he is able to give mental peace and happiness to many literate. rich and urban people from 160 countries show that he has some service to sell. But let us not call that spiritualism or non profit function. There is absolutely nothing wrong if he makes money the way others do. But let him do it as other do.
Looking forward to gettting your response.
Bravo Bhamy Bravo! Even I noticed the samething. All AOL volunteers behave in a same strange way. Probably they might have got influenced by drugs…not sure though. Sri Sri can do anythng! One of my friend fell into this trap. He was a very brilliant student, Superb athlete, used to enjoy the life like anything. Many used to be jealous! .. He got a good job. But he is not concentration in it… doesn’t want to improve his career. Now he is only interested in AOL, AOL and AOL. He is addicted to it. His parents are very much worried as he doesn’t want to see any girl or want to marry any …
Mr. Sandeep, you have no place here. Get the hell out of here. You say you are not here to argue, but you only argue. You are sick.. get well soon. Go and enjoy the life.. chill out, play, work, get a girl, spend with family and friends…. I hope you will recover soon!
Good Luck
I am from a farmer family there are plenty of volunteers working in field.
If your concern is money & standard , It will happen by the coming time. If you see the old photographs of the Ashram place you will come to know how mabny people put their efforts to make this place Green & Green.
You are saying its jail, that is your view Its up to you by which way you are looking.
” Saundarya dekhanewale ke drishti main hota hai, drishya main nahi, drishya se hatkar drishta ban jao, tum dekhoge ki mere siva aur kuch hai hi nahi”
It is one’s intention what he want & He used to listen that things only. As you are responsible citizen of Mother India, you look yourself for what you are responsible.
I will tell you when Guruji was travelling by bus in early days nobody bothered about the person “Sri Sri Ravishankar” why they are bothering themselves without contributing to the organisation or participating His work now.
As a Citizen of Republic of India you have freedom to speak, but that not allow to blame somebody without knowing !
I have respect for you, though you raised some questions, but the manner you raised & intention behind it is not that much powerful.
My dear friends, I appeal you please look into your goodselves & focus the problem community is facing, countering each other is not an issue.
Time is answer. Nothing to worry from myside.
If you are looking from outside like a person on bank of the river want to learn swimming. If he make his mind then only he will go deep & swim very nicely.
My quest is if you are sincere dont argue with anybody on any issue, try to get the root of the problem. & if you are raising You are only first responsible to get a solution. Then others are responsible.
Only fighting or going publicly is not solution, or it will not affect the problem.
Our life is just 50 – 60 years nobody serious about the past or future. Anyway everybody will leave the body & will settle peaceful spirit with nature.
Our Aim should be How we can leave the present world to coming generation, a better place to live.
If you are interested , find the answers yourself dont ask, gossipe with anybody the focus will shift on other issue.
YOU ARE THE SOURCE OF EVERYTHING!
RESPECT YOURSELF & IF POSSIBLE OTHERS!
All this I am writing is my personal feelings. It is not the statement from AOL.
yours
Sandip
Dear Shamanth,
You are searching for a Joy like a cat playing with its own the tale ,
You are prepared to listen aginst somebody , try to prepare yourself to look in the truth.
Anyway you are the owner of your way of life!
God Bless You!
Dear Sandip,
I am disappointed that instead of responding to my question, you are taking the same strategy of those robots at AOL jail. Now I can appreciate what Jiddu Krishnamurthy had been syaing about modern gurus. His frequent comment was not to accept what others precah inlcuding what he says. Perhaps in an ironical sense you may be a follower of Jiddu. In that sense you are not accepting even what he said of what he said of not following others and accepting blindly the AOL precepts without questioing. That is how robots are designed.
By the way like you being a farmer, I am a villager, grew in a village, went to Kannada medium school in that villege. If that is the qualification you want me to have (Not that I believe in this) I am qualified to question AOL.
Please do respond to my questions and do not suggest that I just accept. Can you please help me to get back part of my fees of Rs 5000 which I felt was illegally obtained by AOL? This is not because I need that money. This is a question of principle.
Sandip,
Do you think I liten to somebody and say these things??!!! What a joke? That is you, not me. You follow a person blindly who has no ethics and morals. Cashing on people is inhuman. He is a fraud.. many AOL followers see him as a God. He is just a man like you.. infact you are better than him and you are not that idiot as Ravi Shankar. Do you think cheating people, Plagiarism is great?!!!
I am just wondering if you had eaten any stuff at AOL ashram when you joined there in the begining.. Probably they are mixing something in the food to make you follow them! Many Babas follow this trick… Your leader is dangerous, cunning fellow..kick him out with your left leg. :)) Poor Sandit.. I pity…
Dear Shamanth ji,
I understand your feelings !
That come out of your ignorence. I am cooking in our own Kitchen. There is no mixing going on. If you asuming ” Probably they are mixing something in the food to make you follow them!”
You cant understand, I will tell that is “LOVE” which does not want anything !!
I am not doing for H.H. Sri Sri Ravishankar ji, Not For my Parents, Not for Anybody. I am getting on the Path of Truth! I am whatever doing is for Myself & my development!
If you feel something is “your” feelings. You can not drink water for me in same way I cant do for you!
There is no point you should bother about me! I have that much strength & Divine is given to me! It is given to you also!
Whatever you say , my friend dont bother yourself, If you are criticizing somebody Ask yourself
1. Who are You?
2. What is your goal in your Life?
3. For what you are on planet earth?
4. What are you doing yourself to move on in your life?
5. Are you doing enough for your own growth?
I know You may feel I am advising you, but it is not like that, If you are serious Think again & again about it.
Dont think about myself, Sri Sri Ravishankarji, or anybody else nobody can bother me.
If you are on your own you do something for society!
You take care yourself!
My dear friend, Its up to you, Time is an answer.
Dont worry! Dont Hurry!
Say Hari ! Hari !
With Love & respect
yours
Sandip
Dear B V Shenoy,
You know better to whom you should approach for your money?
Why my help is needed? Did you think what you are going to write? Its OK , you got excited & you written something as you understood in your own way!!
Questions said by you there is no point I should answer. what is the point if you take it in your own way. So ask yourself & dont work in biased manner. As you are responsible person, you know your responsibilities!
I am sure one day you will get the truth & that day you will have a nice laugh & divine feelings!!
Take care & focus on your own!
Do not bother about anybody my friend, You take good out of it !!
With love & respect.
yours
Sandip
Sandipji maharaj,
Couple of questions for you. I am merely curious.
1. Even Sridevi had only one sri and she was far sexy than Ravishankar. Why do you call the man Sri Sri Ravishankar?
2. Have you heard of HHH Sir Sir Abraham Koovor? What are your thoughts about this saint?
For Sandip,
From your posts I can see you are most sincere and longing for Truth and God. If that is so, I strongly suggest that you look somewhere else. AOL will never give you what you want. Neither will Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. It’s useless to even give very good details of why I know this. But if you trust God, trust that God is possibly speaking even through my words/mouth:
Get away as fast as you can. Don’t tell anyone you are leaving the organization. Just say things like “i’m so busy with work right now” making excuses every time it’s time for satsang or seva. This is the ONLY safe way to leave Guruji. Otherwise, you would possibly be injured by his anger, which is powerful and real. Don’t delude yourself into thinking that you have “arrived” anywhere just because you feel so good around him. That “feel good” has to constantly be replenished by going again to satsang, by getting near the personage called Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. It’s like a drug. If you have been attending for a few years, and still you are not able to maintain your Peace and Love and Assocation with God without running back to the ashram again and again, ask yourself “why?”
Please trust me, my friend, you will never have any permanent Truth from that place or person. Anything that goes away, that is not permanent, is not Truth. It is a phenomenon. Good or Bad, it is a phenomenon. That which slips away, is of this world, not God, the Absolute.
There are saints who will tell you this. Ravi Shankar is not one who will tell you this. He wants you to come back and serve again and again. He feeds off your love and adoration. He can not exist on earth without all of you. He becomes enraged if anyone leaves who has been close. So be extremely careful if/when you do walk away. Walk softly, quietly, and don’t tell.
Love your family. Forget Ravi Shankar. He will destroy you, yours, and everything you really love.
Concerned for you in Bangalore
Seriuosly, I am grieved by the kind of discussion I accidently witnessed here. I wish I had never come across this blog.
You are very right Mr Sudarshan, that’s the easiest and by far, the most practical way of leaving guruji. Its actually of no earthly use atleast to do something for which you feel ashamed of when looking in the mirror at night when you are all alone…….. guruji would forgive you again and again and again, but after all, he always wants to see a smile on your face. So, if you are happy otherwise, better be !
Here people would call such things as ‘blind faith’, won’t they ? Even I was among them till 6 months back, making fun of people who seemed to be content with what they were made to see and not what the reality is, atleast this is how I used to justify my critisisms………… bt who is blind? a person who can see nothing even after being with such people as those in the bangalore ashram, or a person who believed that his eyes were undraped they day he saw the world after coming back from the asram? The former is ‘they’, the latter is ‘us’…
Everyone here misses the point. AOL never says that you have to kowtow to the Guru. Believe me, I have been an administrator in it for a long time. It is too democratic and each person does his or her own thing without any discipline.
Sri Sri takes a lot of flak here for his overenthusiastic followers. I am not a blind follower of Sri Sri but his Sudarshan Kriya is a fabulous thing. Just learn it and do it. You need not even go to the weekly long Kriya. Incidentally for the gentleman who thinks that Rs 700 is too much for it, I paid Rs 1000 and consider it the best Rs 1000 I spent in my life.
What sucks is his followers, especially the ‘enthu’ guys who are as bad as the baptists. However, you cannot separate Sri Sri entirely from his followers. One may think that 2Sri is an evil guy who takes revenge on those who leave him. Far from it. He is a gentle soul and is worthy of respect at least. He may not be perfect, but that has to do with his being human. Let’s agree that he cannot be without consequence if he has achieved all that he has.
As for Bhamy Shenoy and the imbecile Anonymous guy who is obviously of the community that Z.Naik belongs to, let them confine themselves to their businesses and not put down the good in AOL. Let Mr Bhamy Shenoy ask for his money, he will get it back. Stop cribbing in public fora like losers
I read most of the posts here, to me it kind of made sense to have a debate on this issue.
We should not get carried away with what others have to say regarding this issue. Question is what are our personal experiences? Be it good or bad, can we generalize them and come to a conclusion?
Daylight has no meaning without experiencing the night. Similarly there are always two OPPOSITE sides to most of the things we perceive.
So is the case, with Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
You are responsible for what is going on with you. Be responsible for your own actions. It is your weakness that let someone cheat you.
I don’t want to justify any of the facts/accusations put forward here.
All I can say is that instead of pointing towards other people, be with our own experiences and think twice before saying something. The word spreads fast. Just imagine, actions/blogs like these can spread so much negetive/positive energies around.
Most people have ONLY accused of AOL taking lot of money for the course? But did anyone, including me, even tried to contact AOL representatives to see how exactly the money is spent? What projects are being undertaken?
Instead of spreading the same message (being conned by AOL), lets move forward and do something with which we can come up with actual data and show people what the reality is.
Lets stop fighting among ourselves, but instead try to prove others wron by providing the facts.
for all we know, bhamy might have gone there with a Pratham donation dabba.. and got thrown out unceremoniously. And Bhamy, as seems to be his wont, is letting it all rip on churumuri. che! che!!
It is interesting to find so many people ready to jump on selective facts to support individual statements, experiences and bash or support AOL.
First–Rs. 5000–Did not get satisfactory food and lodging. But did u go there to eat and sleep? Dint you go there to network with the NGOs and seek options and solutions? You ran away on the first day…how can you claim it to be wasteful when you have thrown away Rs. 5000 and not done justice by staying through out to get the full picture? Was it your personal money? were you charging your NGO for the trip?
Second–What can the organization do if the speaker’s dont turn up or walk out? Or if the speakers dont deliver the speech of the century? You are entitled to be dissapointed but you cannot call it a scam!
Third–Yes, Sri Sri’s programs are expensive. But the money from those programs fund many programs such as prison rehab (which govt. has failed to do!) and supports over 140 schools across India. They fund schools in Indonesia and some African nations. They provide for free food, clothing and education to children. check out http://www.careforchildren.org The web site is not high funda…it is just getting established…so dont denounce it right away! Only 20% of the money collected by AOL is used for admin costs the rest is pumped back into the community. You can contact AOL and ask for their annual statement and they will provide it. If not go to the tax offices.
Fourth–Why cant a failed student become a sage? Is there a rule against that? Sri Sri went to live with Sri Mahesh Yogi before starting on his own. The Australia thing is just hearsay.
Fifth–Why does is bother you whether his father was a fraud or not? Just because, my father cheated people doesnt mean I am a cheat!
Just get over your biases. Just because you dont get it doesnt mean it is a scam. By the way, I am not an AOL follower…I did the course but dont follow it…I am simply impressed by their entusiasm to provide a chance for the world, their dedication to bringing education to our country.
It makes me really sorry to read many of the responses to Bhamys postings. Not so much because of their nasty remarks about Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, but because of the deep seated prejudices that people have about anything remotely connected to spirituality.
The first example of our prejudice is that we are overwhelmed by “an experience posted by one frustrated participant of a conference attended by over 500 delegates”. If the whole conference was so bad, I am sure that other participants would have also brought their experiences to the public through media. Surely media would have also been invited to witness the conference.
The absence of such feedback from any sources other than Bhamy makes me doubt his story. Either, he was carried away by his prejudices or he is mentally not stable. More so, when he admits that he ran away from the conference soon after the inauguration. How can he be in a position to pass judgement on a three-day conference after running away from it just after the inauguration?
If he was really serious about knowing about the conference he would have stayed back for the entire conference despite his discomforts. I am also appalled to know that a person who makes such a big fuss about washing his own plate represents an NGO to help others. When he seems so averse to helping himself how can he help others?
To be able to able to appreciate spirituality one needs to have some depth. It is inevitable that those who lack the depth feel like a fish out of water in a spiritual atmosphere. In order to justify their shallowness they coin terms like ‘cult like environement’.
It is regrettable that many so called intelligent people have become gullible to Mr Bamy Shenoy’s prejudices and shallowness. Thankfully their tribe is confined to the blogspace.
Hello All,
I want to bring the bloody AOL down. But one can not do that. I am just starting to build a community to do accomplish my task. Does any one have any better ideas?? Unfortunately many people related to press and police are in AOL.
Not just AOL…many like AOL. I found another famous fraud in Andhra Pradesh. People call hii Kalki Amma Bhagwan. India can not move forward if we have People like Ravi Shankar andother fake babas. So, please come up with some ideas. Otherwise our kids might be praying to this idiot’s (Ravi) idol. So, I want to expose his fradulence before he dies..
Thank you,
Shamanth.
I was at home for last two -three days. I know the problem people are facing in villages. We, who are using daily internet & most of the time using electricity for not needed & less useful purpose in urban areas.
Nobody can make a effort to do something, Let us think ourself. What best I can deliver to my coming generation. There is no point who is doing what?
My dear friends,
there is so much work to do! by doing coments & questions & answers what we want is the quest!
I am writing all is my personal feelings. I am not blaming anybody who are writing against H H Sri Sri Ravishankar ji, He is He.
If anyboddy has problem let it be with them.. its their ignorance.
I dont want to waste my time again on this blog.
I am saying ” Time is an answer”
I will continue my work as per guidelines by Guruji.
Its my personal experience, nobody can feel others feelings in reality. He/she has to assume it may be like that something which I feel.
So I request all my friends, dont point something for sometime.
You are sencere, You know the path.
I am here to serve humanity!
Jai Gurudev !!
If my reply hurts somebody, I am sorry for that But at the sametime one should realise what they asking , for what & for whom?
All the best!
with love & happiness!
Sandip
know, what they want & need
Since the publication of my note a long time back, some of the newcomers to the blog especially those who are ‘hurt’ by my protest might not have read it carefully.
To AI, you are right I did not go for good food and world class lodging. But when it was implied in the announcement that world center, it sends the message that it is not like what one can expect in ashram style. I have done such stays in my younger days as an NGO even sleeping at the railway stations etc. I would have made alternate arrangements. This looks like a fraud to any one who sees the things objectively.
You are also right that Ravi Shankar is not responsible if speakers do not deliver a speech of the century or they do not attend. Here is the catch. Vandana Shiva is a fire brand speaker and always deliver a good speech. Why did she fail this time? Why did she leave the space immediately? When only speaker turns up of the famous speakers, what does it show? Does it smell rotten? When the organizers do not even bother to give reasons for their absence what does it show? When there is no details on three days event (like who is going to speak on what subjects etc) and there is no material on/articles on the sustainable development or articles by any of the speakers what does it show?
By the way there were many others like me who had left the place and in their own ways they have protested. I am not the only one. I have seen beautifully written detailed story about Ravi Shankar’s fraud in Kannada. I hope some kannada magazine will publish that article. The author along with a friend of his also left the venue the same time I left. I have called and talked to an NGO friend of mine to find out what has happened and learnt that it was a totally wasted efforts. He stayed for all the time.
By the way these gurujis and yogis build schools, hospitals, orphanages etc. This is good. As some may recall robber barons of yester years who made crores by cheating also built schools, temples etc. Therefore just building schools, hospitals do not amount to much. This is another marketing tool like Corporate social responsibility projects of some of the companies.
If some one gets psychic help from Ravi Shankar it is well and good. Let us appreciate him. Let us even admire him and award him. But to call him spiritual guru and to give charitable status is questionable. It is high time, we start questioning the charitable status of gurus.
In the Feb 8, 2008 issue of “Business Week,” there is an article entitled “In India, Dow Jones Meets Dharma.” Apparently Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is on the board of advisors for something called the “Dharma Global Index,” which recommends stocks based on “good governance” and “environmental friendliness.”
In prior posts, some people have questioned Ravi Shankar’s integrity, and have suggested that he has friends in law enforcement, the media, and politics. In this new role, he can also indirectly influence the investments patterns of his followers. Companies having his blessing must feel very fortunate.
Mr. Shenoy’s makes a strong argument. He was expecting to attend a professional conference, not an ashram. Perhaps the IAHV will publish the conference proceedings that can be evaluated by experts. I’m not holding my breath.
India needs more level headed people like Bhamy Shenoy and Mia. They put their point across logically and analytically. Cant say the same for some of the posts which were only just rants and rumbling.
someone please give bhamy shenoy 5000 rupees, he is going on whining non-stop
“jaideep Says: India needs more level headed people like Bhamy Shenoy and Mia. They put their point across logically and analytically. Cant say the same for some of the posts which were only just rants and rumbling.”
My Dear Jaideep,
What Bhamy and Mia are using is logic but it is negative logic. There are 3 types of logic – see http://www.totallyok.com/yoga/sutras/17sutra.htm Kutarka – reasoning oriented towards the negative: Whatsoever you say, the man who lives in kutarka, always thinks how to deny it, how to say no to it. He is always complaining, grumbling. He always feels that something somewhere is wrong — always You cannot put him right because this is his orientation. If you tell him to see to the sun, he will not see the sun. He will see the sunspots; he will always find the darker side of things: that is kutarka – wrong reasoning – but it looks like reasoning.
Does the definition of Kutarka sound familiar with the postings of Bhamy. It may not be a psychological problem, its just how some people are, just negative.
Quit psyco babble, Mahesh!! And as far as Avand is concerned- why does he not give Shenoy the money? Shenoy has presented his case well, the ones who are whining are the AOL followers. All Cults are dangerous- they take ove critical thinking as is evident from posts defending Ravi Shankar.
Dear readers,
Recently my cousin told me about this discussion that is hapenning in this site. Mr Bammi Shenoy had gone to the Art Of Living ashram with an intention to do false propaganda against Art Of Living and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar Guruji. I am sure that he was paid for it. My cousin who had also participated in the same NGO conf had told me how Mr Shenoy was purposefully trying to create a scene. It seems, first he said that he cannot share room with anyone ; immediately the ashramite who is in charge of housing came and politely offered a single room for Mr Shenoy. He did not expect that. Then he started complaining that he cannot wash his own plate after meals!! It seems many other particpants were observing Mr Shenoy’s eccentric behaviour and it was very evident that his sole objective was to tarnish the image of Art Of Living Foundation. It is unfortunate that people like Mr Shenoy (IIT graduate!!!!!!) can stoop to such level just to make some money !
Any sensible person reading Mr Bammi’s article will agree that it is not truth. I agree to Dr Kammath that Mr Bammi was paid to write negative about Sri Sri Ravi Shankar swami and his ashram. Those who have read what is publisehd in the Kannada magazine know that it is junk and Mr Bammi says that it is ”beautifully written” !!! This shows the conection between Bammi and this yellow magazine…Yes, it is clear that this yellow magazine has hired Bammi to do the ”job” for them. Poor Bammi fell into the trap (people who have known him from long knows his greed for money)…we cant expect anything different from people like Bammi…
And just how is Shenoy trying to make money, Kammath?
I have stumbled upon this post and I am shocked at how many people are jumping to conclusions based on 1 person’s completely prejudiced opinion. I thought I should spend some time here and separate facts vs fiction. Even though I am not an expert in debating, I want to write what I think about this posting.
It has become a fashion to some of these left oriented “Hindus” to throw mud at their own heritage/culture/tradition and anyone who upholds dharma.
“I am back from Ravi Shankar’s Sangam 2008 within a few hours of its inauguration. It was supposed to be an “all-India NGO summit for protection of environment and access to social justice.”
>> Above must be a fact.
In reality, this was one of the cleverest hoaxes perpetrated in the name of a spiritual movement using the facade of NGOs.
>> This is your prejudiced opinion.
“We should keep away from this “spiritual” person.
>> That is a very wise decision by you. You dont deserve to come anywhere close to spiritual people, not in this life time.
His is a commercial ashram doling out psychological products
>> Ashram is a fact. “Commercial” – yes commerce does happen at the ashram, people buy services and products, so you can perhaps say it is commercial. Courses for mental peace can be considered as psychological products, so it is a fact.
specially for some foreigners and middle-class women who have studied in English medium schools.
>> Not some, many foreigners, according to their website they are in more than 140 countries. “Middle-class women” – probably your brain could see only women and not men, that is very much possible at teenage.
“studied in English medium schools” – probably some truth in it but I am not sure how you came to that brilliant conclusion.
Many are working there as volunteers. It was impressive to see how so many could be motivated to give their services free of cost to produce profit for an institution. This requires genius of the highest order.
>> Above could be a fact. There are usually many volunteers at the ashrams and unless they are motivated they don’t volunteer. I am sure you have also volunteered to some NGO or the other because you were motivated by their work.
“Requires genius of the highest order” – I see it in a positive way and that is a fact based on the amount of work done by Art of Living
“I even met a professor from IIT Bombay who is a volunteer there. When I expressed my disappointment with the whole show, she was very “sympathetic” and assured me that she too felt the same way at first, and later thanks to “guruji” she could see the light.
>> Could be a fact. I will give you the benefit of doubt.
“Uniformly every volunteer to whom I complained about the NGOs being taken for a ride, responded in the same manner as though all of them were robots programmed by some unknown force.
>> Maybe a fact, I guess you were looking for a different response. I have seen that myself, I have met few Art of Living teachers, they are very calm and have a smile on their face, maybe they become good robots. I guess you didnt like calm and smiling faces, it happens when you are irritated and angry.
The whole campus is filled with security people. Going from one place to another place was like going from one section of a jail to another where every gate is protected by a security guard.
>> Here starts the drama. Now what happened to the foreigners and the middle class women. Did you try to do something bad to the “middle class women”, that suddenly you were surrounded by security people and put in jail. Did you have a bad dream in the conference?
Or is it possible that you never had a glimpse of peaceful mind. The ashram environment can be like a jail if you cannot take peaceful atmosphere.
“After charging Rs 5,000 as a delegation fee, Art Of Living was providing us a room to be shared with two others, and with no towels, soap, drinking water, etc.
>> Could be a fact. I guess Art of Living did not meet your expectations. You probably expected 5 star lodging.
The food was sub-standard.
>>Come on now, how will you like the food in a jail, your mind was already biased. Did the rest of the delegates also throw the food away?. Was the food too sattvic for you? Its possible especially if you are used to eating unhealthy.
According to Sangam website it was quite clear about the food:
http://www.sangamngosummit.org/schedule.asp
Sattvic meals prescribed in Ayurveda which maintain the body equilibrium by balancing the tridoshas – vata, pitta, kapha .
We were expected to wash dishes after eating.
>> That is common in the ashrams you are supposed to wash your own dishes, were you expecting some servants or bus-boys to clean your plates?
“We did not go there as his disciples. I do not think delegates were taking part to learn about self-help as his disciples may be expected to do. I refused to wash dishes which was not liked by some. This is not because I dislike it. I have done it often. But I did not pay Rs 5,000 to do that. Moreover on the website, I was offered better lodging and food facilities.
>> Agreed you did not go as a disciple, but so much fuss about washing a plate. What do you mean by better lodging and food facilities. Did they say that they will cater the food to individual tastes and provided 5 star hotel lodging. Did they post the menu ahead of time? I am sure you would have complained if they had 5 star lodging also, you would have said that Art of Living spends all this money to build top class ashram facilities.
“What a wonderful way of advertising his product by charging us!
“Companies pay money to advertise their products, but here Ravi Shankar collects money from us and introduces us to his product.
“There were satsanghs, “free” introductory yoga classes, visit to his first abode, etc.
>> Must be a fact. You are complaining about satsangs and yoga classes. I am sure they were optional, if you don’t like yoga don’t do it, who is forcing you. Were you expecting free beer and disco nights. BTW whenever you visit a company/organization/home they like to talk about their place/ products – that is normal. If they are hiding their products, I would be either suspicious or I would think that they don’t have any respect/pride for their own products/place.
Again according to their website it is very clear that it was optional (it says participants may enjoy)
http://www.sangamngosummit.org/schedule.asp
During the Summit Participants May Enjoy :
Sri Sri Yoga – Wisdom and techniques of yoga taught in a pure, joyful manner bringing one back to one’s self!
The Art of Living Part 1 Course – Eliminate stress and experience peace through simple breathing techniques.
Satsangs – Evenings of blissful singing, celebration and knowledge.
Nadi Pariksha Consultations – Ayurvedic pulse diagnosis.
I am sure some NGOs would have decided to buy his products and will act as his emissaries.
>> If someone likes a product they will purchase it and it is quite natural to tell others.
Of course, there will be a few like me who will attempt to do just the opposite.
>> Your intention and attempt is quite evident from your posting.
There were spies in the ashram observing people like me. It was obvious and at one time I was even frightened.
>> Vow what a drama? “Spies” – Were they the middle class women from the English medium schools?
“Frightened” – Are you sure you did not get a nightmare while you were sleeping in the conference? Hope you did not pee in your pants, then you would have been expected to clean that too.
“During an evening satsangh, there were some planted questions put to Ravi Shankar. Still, his responses were pedestrian at best.
>> “Planted questions” – how do you know? If you think you have better answers, that is well and good. Anyway you went with a closed mind, how did you expect to get anything? One thing is true though, that wise people like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar talk in a very simple manner so that a common man can understand, but it still takes a certain level of intelligence to understand even the simple things.
One of the questions was about the new burning topic of global warming and climate change and what he (Ravi Shankar) thought about them. “At first, he ridiculed those who are worried about such things and proceeded to give the example of the Y2K phenomenon. Ravi Shankar dwelt on how foolishly people worried about Y2K, about places exploding, about the world coming to an end, etc and how nothing of the kind took place. He was suggesting that Y2K was not a problem and so also global warming. Little did he take into consideration the elaborate precautions taken by the world to prepare for Y2K and how India became the world capital for IT and outsourcing as a result.
>>You are taking the answer completely out of context. I have heard him speak, he is not one of those who creates fear in peoples mind. If he is not concerned about the environment why would his organization organize such a conference or do any work in organic farming, tree plantation etc. Recently I read an article about Art of Living’s work in Vidarbha. http://www.indiaabroad.com/news/2007/nov/01aol.htm . His work and your interpretation seems contradictory. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is action oriented, if there is a problem I am sure he will say, lets discuss solutions and implement them, not sit and write thesis after thesis on the problems and certainly not scare the people.
“What a pity such an ignoramus is considered as a “guruji” even by the firebrand Vandana Shiva.
>> Just like you have been given a freedom to have an opinion on Sri Sri Ravi Shankar why don’t you give the same freedom to Vandana Shiva.
“Someone asked the question about the unrest and violence in Kashmir and his response was to pat the questioner and to state that youth should get involved.
>> Did you forget to write something negative here. I don’t see anything wrong, if you want to do something about Kashmir, do it, don’t simply sit and ask everybody’s opinions and just talk. Atleast Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is not sitting quite about it. I have read that his organization is doing good work in Kashmir too. Again I found an article from rediff. http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/may/08jk.htm
“After spending less than 24 hours, I decided to leave the place. The cult-like environment was suffocating. Some other delegates from Mangalore with whom I have been conversing also decided to leave after the inauguration. One of the speakers Ananth Nadkarni, vice president, Tata council for community initiatives, too decided to leave early. Another speaker who was to talk on HIV left even before the end of the first day.
>> About you leaving the conference must be a fact. I don’t know about the others. Based on your prejudice so far, it is tough to believe anyone else left like you are saying, I hope some organizers or other participants of the conference can verify this.
“But for Vandana Shiva, none of the advertised experts and well-known speakers (R.K. Pachauri, Ashok Khsola, et al) were present. Is it possible that their names were prominently placed to sell the Sangam?
>> It does happen that high profile speakers cancel at the last minute. According to their website he seems to have either attended or sent a message (usually happens when speakers cant attend).
http://www.artofliving.org/Initiatives/Conferences/NGOSummit/tabid/334/Default.aspx
“Raising the alarm of unprecedented climate changes, Nobel Laureate Dr. R.K. Pachauri, Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, urged the need to shift to more sustainable lifestyles.”
“We were told that about 500 delegates had registered and there were three silver sponsors. They must have raised at least Rs 30 lakh
>> It’s a simple calculation so must be a fact.
and the incremental cost would be no more than Rs. 3 lakh.
>>Ya right. Can you organize a conference for 500 people just for Rs 3 lakh (Rs 600 per person including meals, lodging for 3 days). Let me know, I will be the first one to register.
This is an excellent and clever way of making huge profits.
>> If profits was the main goal (by the way they are doing good work in rural India and other countries, so at least profits are being put to good use), why would Art of Living organize a NGO conference and try to milk money as you are suggesting, they have enough products and enough customers.
Business colleges should use this as a case study. We should admire the entrepreneurial capabilities of Ravi Shankar. It needs genius.
>> I am sure some business school might be doing it but with a positive mindset not like yours. It is a wonder that they expanded to so many countries and reached out to so many millions in such a short time just with volunteers. It does need a genius.
“Despite being a keynote speaker, Vandana Shiva spoke for just few minutes and that too in a rambling manner. She took the opportunity to bash Tata’s small car, the Nano. Her so-called keynote speech was dull and did not dwell on the main subject. A high school student could have delivered a better speech with greater insight.
>> Okay that is your opinion and I guess you were expecting Vandana Shiva to talk about something more. So she also did not meet your expectations. Were you expecting some PhD thesis papers or what.
“A High Court judge also gave an uninspiring talk making no substantive points
>> Oh boy, even a high court judge did not meet your expectations. Did you tell the organizers that next time they should invite you as speaker and you can do a better job?
except offering “pranams” to “guruji”. What a joke! “I attended the first workshop and it was also equally boring. Speakers were more interested in offering pranams than dwelling on the subject.
>>It is our Indian custom to offer pranaam to the revered speakers first. I am sure it is a custom all over the world, that you greet respected speakers before you deliver your speech. You might have forgotten your tradition, culture, religion, values or simply not taught but dont expect that from others please.
“I do not think we can collaborate with this group.
>> Duh.. After all that opinion.
When they were pressing us to register all the time, and not giving us any suggestions on how we could collaborate, I knew this was a commercial establishment and not a spiritual centre as is advertised. Perhaps we should write an article on how NGOs should guard against such frauds in the future.
>> So here you admit that you went with a prejudiced/closed mind and came back the same way and now you want to warn all the NGOs. Pity you. BTW their website is quite clear about the post summit objectives also.
“I am sure during your meeting with Ravi Shankar and his people, you would have come to the same conclusion.
>> You will find some closed minded friends for sure.
Let us now revert back to the poverty issue and stop any idea of collaborating with Ravi Shankar.
>> Looks like you love to be poor. You went to the ashram poor and you came back poor. With this mindset you will remain poor unfortunately. (I am referring to poverty in a different sense not materialistic)
“I am planning to demand the return of payment since facts were misrepresented to me while registering. I am exploring the possibility of filing a case in the consumers’ forum. When our NGO, Mysore Grahakara Parishat, is encouraging others to file cases, I need to follow that example.”
>> Demand money – what a joke. You should be charged with a defamatory suit my dear, for false propaganda. But I am sure that Art of Living people are busy doing good work and have no time to attend to your nonsense.
Bhamy, I know no matter how much anyone writes will not make sense to you, even God will not be able to make sense to you. As Mahesh posted, you will see only negative in everything. I wrote this reply not for you but for other readers who dont know about the work of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and have an open mind.
If a man is creating a scene about washing his own dishes after meal, it shows his dignity and hidden agenda !
Dr. Kammath’s cousin who seems to have followed me as a “spy” to observe my “eccentric” behaviour has informed Dr. Kamath wrongly.
I did complain not having a room for myself after paying Rs. 5000. To placate me and also to stop my “eccentric” complaining robot like volunteers of AOL promised to look into the possibility of giving me a single room. This never happened. Dr. Kammath’s cousin is telling a lie.
My purpose of attending AOL’s Sangahm was to collaborate with them to bring a special edition of Catalyst magazine for which I am the Chief Editor. We had earlier planned to bring the next edition on poverty. My friend Dr. Rao (publisher of Catalyst) had met Ravi Shankar few weeks back at AOL. We were discussing with his staff the possibility of bringing the next edition on NGO summit. Though Catalyst and AOl are supposed to be equal partner, we were treated as though AOL is doing us a favor. This started to raise questions in my mind.
We had carried a full page ad costing Rs 10000 for AOL on their NGO summit. Still they were asking us to register and pay the full amount. In fact there was one more person from Catalyst who had also registered paying the full amount. However after my sad experience (lodging, food, jail like environment, no participation by the announced speakers, lack of written articles, no definite agenda with the topics and names of the speakers, no useful discussion on the topics etc), I suggested to our editorial board to drop our earlier plan of bringing a special issue on the NGO summit.
This naturally created a problem for us and we had to postpone our next issue by one month. Thus one can see that I was not sent by any one to attend and it was my own decision. I do not feel sorry for losing Rs 5000. I got a valuable first hand experience about our gurus, sadgurus, Mahayogis, Sris, Sri Sris. etc. Till this time I kept my mind open and did not allow myself to be influenced by what others had said. Incidentally some of my close relatives have taken part in AOL and paid handsome money for Sudarshan Kriya. Many of them are still his devotees.
The reason I am claiming Rs 5000 from AOL is to make a point and not to make me “rich” by Rs. 5000. Just to give one example, when I could have earned thousands of dollars as an advisor on fighting corruption in Georgia (one of the former Soviet Union Countries), I worked for free and I have done the same in India also. Therefore for those who want to bring the level of discussion to few rupees, let us think of some other excuses other than money. Basically I am an activist and cannot keep quiet when I see some thing is wrong. Incidentally Catalyst editorial board offered to pay my Rs 5000 and stop my protest. They are concerned that some of the readers of Catalyst may be disappointed with my protest. By the way those interested can see Catalyst at http://www.afhd.org
As Mia has suggested if AOL can bring out a proceeding on NGO summit with learned articles presented and the intellectual discussions that took place during the summit, one can truthfully be critical of me for raising this issue. Just yesterday I saw a reference made to the comment made by Dr. Pachauri during the summit in AOL’s summit. This was news to me. He was not there during the inauguration and there was no explanation on why he was not present. To my knowledge he did not come later either. Then how did he make a comment at the summit? This has intrigued me.
Perhaps Dr. Kammath’s cousin can throw light on this subject. Since he knows so much on what I was doing at the summit, can he also tell us why so many left soon after the inauguration? Can he also tell us why so many participants were complaining at the venue?
Shri Shri Kamal, Couldn’t find the true feedback from the Sangam site. Still it is talking of the registration. Could you get some official MOM. Good Analysis. But your mind is already biased against Bhammy V Shenoy as he is biased about Shri Shri. So no end to it!
***
Now now.. kammath Mam, dont fight with Shenoy Mam with half baked information received from a Zombie at the summit. Mr.Shenoy is questioning the content of the summit as well as how the participants are taken for a ride. If it was a spiritual summit to humble our egos, Mr.Shenoy should wash not only plates but also feet. But it is not a spiritual summit. With due respect to the allmight, will “hare Rama, Hare Krishna” bring down the ill effects of Global warming?
***
Coming soon: Shri Shri Shri Muthappa Rai. Registration free.
***
Kamal – a very detailed reply, i have been following this conversation from start . I was not sure abt the AOl organization and did know much about it. Infact was negative about it. But through out this discussion .. one thing is very evident. .. people want to talk .. mostly bad but never ever do anything Good. All these people have a great sense of detectives to find out what is wrong in the organization. but one wants to support what ever good this organization is doing for militants , for naxals, for farmers … just the other day i over heard someone in my office talking very highly about AOL. He was from Kashmir and the fact which he reveled were shocking. Infact he also told us the facts that the AOL courses were held for our armed forces , BSF jawans.. who really are so stressful..I amazed at you Bhamy & Mia.. you guys have just blabbering for the sake of doing it.. you should be ashamed about your selfs. You dont do any work and you try to become to rodent in others way.. Mr Shankar is rightly getting the deserved position of Indian Culture, Heritage & Science in this world which we lost due to our stupid politicians and a number of other reasons. Due to people like you.. India has reached in a position where we debate whether lord Rama was there or not.. It is pity Full that people from this land doubt and ridicule their own Culture & Heritage. And some one above was talking about saving Hinduism.. You want to save Hinduism go and fight with Sonia Gandhi & Congress Party… dont park yourself and talk rubbish about things which you dont have guts to change..
Kamal – its amazing that you written your posts so well.. but somewhere i feel we are giving Mr Shenoy to much time… we need to really rethink . does his issue really deserve it…
Mr shenoy – i have suggestion for you a very .. dont be surprised and satrt saying that people from IIT and lot of intellectuals follow Sri Sri .. and you feel so stupid. I would just ask you to rethink .. that how can so many people be crazy wit such high amount of intelligence.. before labeling people i think we should always.. think where the hell are we.. i hope you get my point.. if not GOD SAVE U
Shri Shri Harshad!
<>
What diu mean? We are bloggers and need not update here what we are doing elsewhere. At this point I am not sure whether you are wanking or doing something good.
Bammi, people have better things to do in life rather than spying you ! Your eccentric behaviour was very obvious and maybe you wanted everyone to notice it because you had come with a hidden agenda. Yes, I spoke not just to my cousin ,but many more people who had participated in the conferrence. They were all of the opinion that this one was simply superb becasue they all got very chance to network with other organisations and The Art Of Living Foundation provided a very good platform for it. When I asked few others about you, they just told me to ignore you because of your past records. One person jokingly said,”maybe Bammi has been washing everyone’s dishes in his house always, he wanted to take a break when he came here ! ”…
Dr.Kammath, BTW your friends seem nuts to crack such jokes. Now apart from Networking what is the outcome of the conference? The website still shows the registration form. There is no resolution taken. And why dont you just try to get details on what the speakers presented and why so many walked out abruptly. Do they plan to have such summits every year? It all looks like an eyewash. Now stop clinging to mundane points in the posts like Washing dish and food which was incidental. What about the real issues? Nobody is trying to ponder that. Dont we need whistle blowers in this country but hypnotized zombies like YOU?
Yes, we definitely need whistle blowers in this country ! We need sensible dignified whistle blowers and not yellow magazine street whistle blowers like Shenoy !
Who the hell are you people? We have a right to discuss anything…
You know what.. you are so scared that your fake Guru may get exposed..
Can some one tell me which Kannada magazine has published an article on Ravi Shankar? When I do not even know the name of the magazine which has published my article, how can I be paid to write for it.
Sudha has published my views on Nano and using that connection I had requested to publish my article in Kannada version. I am not sure if they have done it yet.
By the way there are others from Dakshina Kannada who had attended the Sangham and feld like I did have written far more scathing article and that too in beautiful Kannada. I wish it could be reproduced here. Mr. Manjanath Rao, former Syndicate Bank manager is the author of this article. He is very disappointed that not only he lost his money, but also the precious time of attending the ashram.
I wonder how many must have left like us?
By the way this is not the first time I have been a whistleblower. I do it all the time in Mysore. Intent was not to bring bad name to a Hindu culture as suggested by some. Why does one take such an easy way to arouse the emotion? In fact it is the true love of genuine Hinduism which has resulted in trying to be whistle blower.
I wish there was Jiddu Krishnamurthy now to expose gurus and mahagurus like this. In his days, he used to be critical of all such. But their number was few when he was alive. Among the educated, he had a powerful voice. But now they are mushrooming like wild weeds. This is a phenomenon worthy of a study. How one can earn huge money without any capital, but just with saffron robes and some patented yoga system.?
4 Marketing Lessons from the World of Spirituality!
India has been known for its spirituality, swamis and sadhus for as long as anyone can care to remember. Spirituality has been one of India’s most successful exports (Bollywood’s “soft power” notwithstanding).
Given the vast spirituality “market” it is not surprising to find a bewilderingly large array of spirited entrepreneurs of spirituality. Yet there are only a few that have acquired a pan-Indian or global following. The success of these few therefore offers many interesting marketing lessons to entrepreneurs from the temporal world.
Lesson 1: Unique well defined customer segment:
Each guru has a well defined set of followers. There are hardly any overlaps and fewer instances of cannibalization where one guru weans away followers from another. For example, one would be hard-pressed to find, say, a follower of both Sri Sri Ravishankar and Osho. Or of a Baba Ramdev and Mata Amritanandamayi. Each segment is uniquely defined.
Lesson 2: Unique Motifs:
Each guru has a unique motif that defines his/her message or persona. For example, Sri Sri Ravishankar has his Sudarshan kriya, Baba Ramdev has his Yoga, Swami Prabhupada had his Krishna Consciousness, Maharshi Mahesh Yogi had Transcendental Meditation, Osho had Dynamic Meditation (most significantly), Mata Amritanandamayi has her unique hugs.
Each guru also has a unique pre-fix or suffix that defines them. “Sri Sri”, “Baba”, “Swami”, “Acharya”, “Mata”, “Bhagwan”, “Ma”, “Maharshi”, “Amma”, and so on. Who gives them these titles?
Some perform “miracles”; Others talk in “holistic” terms integrating everything from Christianity to Zen; Others advocate a back to basics or back to nature approach. But each is unique in its appeal to a target audience!
Lesson 3: Laser sharp initial focus, Growth in concentric circles later:
Each guru initially just had a focused simple spiritual message usually of enlightenment, how to live a stress free life, deal with personal angst and so on. Later, as the number of followers grew, the messaging reach spread up and down and across different customer groups. For example, Baba Ramdev, primarily a Yoga guru, now holds forth on AIDS, role of MNCs and fast-food; The Art of Living movement offers spiritual solace to Defence personnel and to prisoners; Deepak Chopra from mind-body medicine to “Seven Spiritual Laws of Success” and “Kama Sutra”. Swami Sukhbodhananda has corporate training programmes.
Almost all gurus today predominantly perform social service reaching out to many tens of thousands of people every day. They have established disciplined and sophisticated structures for co-ordination, command, and control of operations.
Lesson 4: Communication, Branding and Positioning:
The communication techniques are interesting as well. For example, some adopt the time-tested formula of having celebrities endorse them (politicians, film-stars, sports personalities). Others use the well-known MLM (multi-level marketing) model where each follower organizes local gatherings (usually a home) where the uninitiated are invited and so on down the hierarchy. Yet others use mass media (e.g. TV) for reaching out to large numbers at a time. Mega events such as meditation camps, international meets on spirituality and consciousness with several national and international dignitaries in attendance. Aggressive pamphleteering, noisy processions and colourful banners proclaiming the arrival or presence of the gurus are employed usually catering to the mass audience.
The creation of the personality cult via the addition of adulatory prefixes and suffixes. For example, a recent banner in a city proclaimed the arrival of “His Holiness Shree Shree Param Pujya (insert guru’s name) ji Maharaj”! Clearly, some organized group of people is bestowing these honorifics and popularizing them.
Usage of modern communication tools such as TV, Events, Audio, Web-sites call for a sophisticated understanding of the role of these tools and the target audiences for each of these media vehicles.
Sample this from the web-site of a spiritual leader with a reasonable name-recall:
QUOTE “Times of India in their recent poll on “who talks the best” places Swamiji as the one, who tops the list on all counts as the best speaker; The Week magazine acclaims Swamiji as one among the top five best exponent of spiritual knowledge (sic); His other English books are marching best sellers; Swamiji was invited as a dignitary in five different panels at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and was a special invitee to the United Nation World Millenium Summit of spiritual Leaders” UNQUOTE
Clearly, gaining recognition abroad is an important element is gaining acceptance at home. Indians love things “phoren” and spirituality is no different. Most gurus started out at home, acquired celebrity Indian followers and then acquired foreign followers, which helped increase the following in India; Some like Swami Yogananda and Swami Prabhupada (ISKCON founder), and Maharshi Mahesh Yogi emigrated to the US; However, with India’s rising self-confidence (thanks to the attention in the international arena and recognition by the global press!), gurus like Baba Ramdev have gained immense following in India even with a negligible international following with their simple earthy communication bolstered by savvy TV based messaging.
Well, what do you think of these four lessons?
if u dont like the guru’s peaceful approach..
i guess its time to call the opposite of the guru.. one man who can deal with lazy kashmiri muslim jihadi terrorists. in a language they understand: NARENDRA MODI
Make Modi PM, within two days kashmir problem will be solved.
I mean modi uses jihadi techniques on the jihadis
osama and other muslims know if u attack one innocnet hindu.. modi will kill a thousand muslims.
950 million hindu’s support Modi.
Sanjay,
you have caught the unique features of the phenomenal success of the holy men of India. One observation which comes out of these four lessons is that they indicate the essential elements of any profit making organizations. Thus our holy men have adapted the western successful formula to sell age old Indian philosophy. If we realize this and treat them exactly the way we treat titons of industry there should be no problem.
However their products are sold under a different guise to “fool” the people. This is where the problem arises. Ravi Shankar definitely has a good, viable product to sell. He has well established brand recognition. He has a motivated volunteer groups who are capable of selling his product. If people know these things the way you have explained through the four lessons, then one has no right to complain about him. Unfortunately AOL wants to create what they think is a more noble idea of their organization. They think of themselves as non profit organization doing social work. This is what some of us find as inconvenient truth.
sanjaya,
Hanumanthun bala thara…
Sanjay, great analysis!
you guys………..
great work!
totally enjoyed each and everyone’s post.
again hats off to you guys.
great stuff for entertainment.
Dear Friends,
Star of Mysore had published my article on Ravi Shankar and one of his devotees from Australia got offended by my letter and he sent a rejoinder. For that Dr. Narendra Nayak, President of Rationalist Association of India has sent a response. You may like to read it.
Sir,
When people cannot prove something, they resort to name dropping as suggested by Dr. Anand Shastry’s diatribe against Dr. Bhamy Shenoy’s complaint about Ravi Shankar’s sort of business in the name of Art of Living for the NGOs (SOM dated Mar. 3). Perhaps when he suggests that Shenoy take the views of many ex-IITian, he does not seem to know that the correspondent himself, Dr. Shenoy, is an ex-IITian!
When Ravi Shankar takes the credit for the all so-called “success” derived from the money collected from the gullible, why not the complaints? Well, his organisation, by whatever name it may be called, should be responsible for what goes on in the name of their training. It is their duty to check about the facilities provided to the entrants and not the other way round. Particularly when the camps are conducted in places where nothing is available but what is provided by the organisers.
Coming to the proponent of this, Ravi Shankar, why should he flaunt to Sris before his name? Who has accorded him that title? That apart, he has a simplistic way of condensing issues to suit his prejudices. For example, in North India, he made statements like the Indian farmer is poor because he is lazy and got properly slammed for that. How can a person who has never done a hard day’s work in his life claim that the Indian farmer is lazy?
Besides, he advised them to seek alms instead of committing suicide and there was nothing wrong with that as people like Mahaveera and Gautama Buddha have done that! Well, if all resort to begging, including the Indian farmer who grows the food, which we have been eating all our life, it doesn’t need the sixth sense developed by Art of Living to tell you that all will starve!
And Art of Living and cancer. What? The way it was organised with himself strutting about, it looked as if a new treatment for cancer had been discovered by him! When the proceedings were followed closely, it turned out that all the patients attending the meet were receiving conventional treatment for cancer but were also doing Art of Living along with that! A clever way of making it look as if it was their mumbo-jumbo that was responsible for the cure!
Sri makes tall claims like developing the sixth sense, increasing immunity without a shred of evidence. He has a message to the people that the poor man should be happy with his poverty (and conversely the rich can enjoy their wealth without any qualms of conscience). This will certainly make his following which includes Vijay Mallya and such capitalists happy.
One reason why criticism of Ravi Shankar and his Art of Living or Sri Sri Yoga does not take place is because of his hold over the media.
The English media in particular is dominated by his followers and besides he has many friends among politicians who always wish to appear on the right side of Godmen like Ravi Shankar.
— Narendra Nayak, President, Federation of Indian, Rationalist Associations, on e-mail
Mangalore
Sri Sri bestowed this title upon himself!!
The very fact that Mr Bammi Shenoy is keeping this going on and on shows his nature , his state of mind, his hidden agenda. It has become very very clear that he stepped inside AOL ashram with this agenda only. That is why he started to create conflict from beginning,basically he was creating a subject so that he can talk bad aginst AOL and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar swamiji. This is the reason why first he complained about room (I found out from a participant that he was given twin occupancy because he himself had booked that only!). When AOL volunteers told him that he will be given single accomodation, he came up with this plate washing issue! Thanks to Mr Bammi Shenoy I visited AOL ashram in Kanakapura road for the first time last week. I was so impressed. More than 2000 school children who are first generation students from neighbouring villages are fed mid day meals every day! (btw I also saw that everyone including many senior Swamis of the ashram are washing their own plates … even international people are washing their own dishes.. ).
Poor Shenoy has now sought help of rationalist association ! And anyone who is logical and sensible will know that whatever that man (no one has heard about him before!!) has written is totally foolish and baseless. We all read in the newspapers that hundreds of Vidarbha farmers had come to bangalore AOL ashram last year to express their thanks to Sri Sri Swami Ji for bringing solace in their lives.
Before leaving the AOL ashram, I bought a book of Sri Sri Swamiji. It was such a beautiful co incidence that the page I opened was his discourse on CRITICISM !!! I dont remember verbatim,but, i will convey the gist. He says,” You should be able to give criticism and take criticism. If they criticise you to correct you, accept it. But, if people criticise just for the sake of criticising or just to pull you down, you just smile and move forward”.
At his age, I sincerely feel that Bhammi should not keep his mind full of frustration, agitation, anger etc. I really request Bammi to just go and meet Sri Sri Swamiji and talk to him directly. He will accept Bammi with all the love and will really encourage Bammi to speak out whatever is the opinion he has formed in his mind. Bammi, it is very easy for you to say ”off” to me or say that ”I will never go and meet that man” etc. Please listen to my humble suggestion and stop this stuff which is just dragging from long time, take some time off and without a biased mind take an appointment to meet Sri Sri Swamiji.
Millions are being fooled by siritual leaders. I was one of these but was fortunate to get out of AOL ‘nasha’ which lasted for almost three years. I learnt many lessons and feel that AOL heads the list of such business organisations running under the garb of spirituality.
Please see the link below which is a very sensible article regarding genuinness of AOL guru. The effect can be seen from the reaction coming from AOL ashram. Again apt replies have been given to all questions raised by AOL.
http://www.yunusnews.com/node/486
But I feel this phenomenon will continue as long as there are takers and so called seekers. I can vouch from my personal experience that lot of your time, energy and money gets wasted once you fall prey to such organisations. AOL has a business like approach to all this process of attracting people and AOL teachers are the agents who get their share by way of fixed percentage of fees collected. So the stress is on making more and more people to do the course.
However thousands of people have realised this and are quitely going away and the recession has started. But meanwhile an empire has been created on public money.
Buddha’s spiritual journey was from kingdom to forest but in case of today’s spiritual leaders it is exactly opposite.
By looking at the hangama going around I can only recollect the famous saying
‘Duniya zukti hai, zukanewala chahiye’
Sri Prabhu,
you have missed the issue over here. I have great admiration for Ravi Shankar. He is a great entrepreneur like Bill Gates, Narayana Murthy, Azim Premji etc. He has been able to create wealth on a simple idea of Sudrashan Kriya. Many seem to get psychological help. It requires great genius to attract so many well educated volunteers from all over the world and to establish hundreds of ashrams in more than 100 countries.
But Bill Gates and others call their business profit making and our Ravi Shankar calls his as religious organization for non profit purposes. It is in this background I happen to see myself when I attended NGO summit. Here had he organized it as a profit making event, I would have had no problem. I would not have attended. I am sure ministry of environment might not have been a sponsor.
I am glad that thanks to me you attended AOL ashram and even bought a book by him and learnt about criticism.
Can you just help me to get back the fees which I paid. By the way washing dishes is just one of the most trivial things I had indicated. Incidentally when I paid, I was neither told about a double room nor was I gievn a chance to stay in a single room. As you correctly pointed out, I was making scene when I learnt about three people sharing the room. Just to get rid of me and to quieten me down, I was told by a volunteer that they would look into my problem. When I inquired again I was told that since there are many attendees they cannot do any thing. Do not try to repeat the lie that I was offered a single room. Again food, washing dishes, three people sharing etc are not the significant things for which I am complaining about. I am against the whole premise of bringing all these NGOs to sell AOL giving the pretext of NGO summit. Let us concentrate on main things and not divert the attention.
Sri Sri Raghavendra Prabhu,
Now why do you feel that Mr.Bhammy is keeping it going? It is a blog and it has invoked mixed responses. Could you find the Minutes of that Conference? The website doesn’t provide anything and since many of the speakers were missing or walked out after a brief talk, it would be wiser to talk to them not Sri Sri ji!
IN THE NAME OF SUDARSHAN KRIYA THESE PEOPLE ARE EXTRACTING THE MONEY.
IN REALITY INDIAN GURUS ALWAYS TEACH THE GOOD TO THE PEOPLE IF THEY GIVE ANY DONATION THEY MAY ACCEPT.
BUT IN THIS CASE EXTRACTION TO START WITH Rs 1000 AND SO ON
BUT WHAT IS CONTRIBUTION TO SOCIETY?
I DONT THINK ANY THING SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION THE AOL HAS GIVEN OTHER THAN NONSENSE PAPER RELEASE
LOOK AT SRI SAIBABA HE ADOPTED AND DEVELOPED A VILLAGE & FREE MEDICAL TREATMENT
MATA AMRUTAMAI BIG HOSPITAL IN COCHI WITH ECONOMICAL TREAMENT.
THIS IS WHAT IS CONTRIBUTION
EVEN AOL HAS GOT MANY DONORS AND SCHOLARS
BUT ONLY EXTRACTION IS GOING ON
IT IS FRAUD ORGANISATION
AOL MEANS ASSOCIATION OF OLD LAFUNGAS
CHEATING IS THE ONLY BASIC
Anil.. You are absolutely right… Association of Luchas.. money suckers
I googled about this organization, Mysore Grahakara Parishat (since someone enquired with me for more details about its activity) and unfortunately the only noteworthy stuff that results threw up was this.
BHAMY V. SHENOY of the Mysore Grahakara Parishat – Hmmm…..it means nothing to a common man. I am no big fan of any Godmen, but Bhami Shenoy is no lesser culprit. He is also chasing popularity which unfortunately does not seem coming at all. Pity!!! I am sure even this Rs. 5000/- doesnt come from his pockets. Easiest way to popularity is to find a popular person and take potshots – like some crazy nut claiming Aishwarya Rai was his wife – ha ha ha. Mr. Shenoy sounded pretty much like this crazy guy. His reliance on Agni (a titiliating yellow journal – not worth the ink and paper it is printed on) proves his credentials. And pray! what has this NGO he is supposed to head done till date. He tried to find an easy way to get himself into the limelight and has now made an ass of himself. As I know Ravishankar has more educated followers than this two penny Mysore Grahakara Parishat because the work apparently seems evident in the country that I live. Mr Shenoy rather than waste the Mysore Grahakara Parishat’s money why not get going doing something worthwhile. The issues seem extremely trivial to waste the organization’s money. The best way to counter Ravishankar is to organize a similar event and prove them as to how it ought to be done – not being a crybaby – they made me wash, they made me walk, they made me share room – blah blah. If this is what an NGO in India means God save the nation. Government Organizations are bad enough and NGOs like yours are adding to the numbers. And when you say millions of educated people are being fooled, you are not being very intelligent.
I also happened to view the video purportedly put forth here. Hey guys! I found nothing wrong in that video. I guess a great deal of Indianness emanated in the response. Mistakes were accepted and the conference moved on (and we did not find anyone walking out ;-)
I checked with a couple of NGOs who attended this conference and was given to understand that this guy Shenoy was out to create trouble for the sake of creating trouble and it was purely a publicity-monging excercise (unfortuantely for him, apart from this web community no one seem to have taken notice of him). Being originally from Mysooru and living abroad for a decade now, I sincerely wish Shenoy to do something for the city rather than project himself and more importantly the entire NGO movement in bad light to the world.
Oh yes! You have got me interested in studying Art of Living organization to understand what makes it tick. I dont agree that tens of thousands of educated people can be fooled (this is an insult to these people and also those who educated them). As a IITian you just got my curiosity aroused. Give me a couple of months and after my next vacation to India, would help you understand what this means.
As I see the whole issue is as a Indian living in India you never realize the values and respect that you take it for granted. You should attend a conference or meeting abroad to realize what it takes to make a mark abroad. You could easily be ignored (let alone ask to do your dishes, if you get one you can count yourselves lucky) and made to realize your roots again and again. So stop hankeing and cribbing and get on with life, kid.
Suresh,
and did you get anything online regarding the great great NGO NGO meet? Any minutes or what happened in the meeting. I couldn’t get anything and the website still shows the invitation!
Since you are “ASSuming” that Mr.Shenoy would have used Grahak Parishath’s money I feel you too are Ravishankar’s agent. I dont think Mysore Grahak Parishat needs publicity outside Mysore and learnt Mysoreans know what MGP is doing. Since you have entered into mudslinging and likely to be a zombie at the AOL, now you convine us with your own research what was the stuff in the NGO meet! All the best.
its a shame 2 c ppl fight on such issue.. well i think one shuld not comnt on spritual guru tht also frm ur ur own counrty who is an inspiration for millions abroad.. well u never complain against mnc’s like coke.. they r selling poision n tht also on the cost of lowering ur own water table.. few days bck there was a report abt a drought in a village in south india due to lowerd water table coz of a softdrink plants cunsumtion of water.. these companies sell our water 2 us n charge mony dnt u thnk thts wrng.. n more over this guy is doing real good work in many areas.. AOL alone has adopted many villages in vidharba.. atleast he is doing sumthing he is a god 2 millions u ppl r bragging ur knowledge without even clearing ur facts…. i dont care if he is rite or wrong but he do make ppl smile… n now come 2 the point of him charging money.. well thts funny he is charging money its ok its ur choice u do the course or not.. y dwell on it… if u dnt want 2 pay dont do it.. if u want 2 do it 4 free u can go to any of the central jails where the prison smart program is happening…. this is a program to rehabilitate prisoners n its absolutlty free.. good news for u.. hehehe.. more over there r sum navchetna shivirs vich aim at the lower class society n teach them the same tech absolutly free.. but the point is it is for those ppl who realy cant pay.. nt for ppl who spnt on smoking, drinking n any thing simmilar 2 it but ven it come 2 sprituality n yoga the highest knowledge of our sages they want it free of cost.. funny na..this shows wat is the value of spritualty for u.. its free just like air.. u dnt care for it.. u dnt hv any right 2 b given such knwoldge until n unless u hv sum respect ffor it.. i dont intend 2 hurt any one n if i did m sorri but its fun 2 c ppl against such a person who is atleast doin some good work…n he never force anyone 2 follow him.. its compltly ur wish.. n he is harmless… if u work for ur ppl 2 tht level then u deffintly hv the right to comnt against him… bt wat hv v done?? nothing.. there is no point crtisizng anyone until unless u hv a btr idea n r willing 2 work on it.. there r many issues in our socity tht nds 2 b workd on.. y dnt v look at thm n thnk of how 2 work on them.. rather than frustrating ur self by just sitting n complaining, this wont change anythng.. the ppl who love sri sri will keep on loving him.. wat ever u do.. nthng will change….
Rocky. You rocked. We do protest against coke as well. But not in this post!
i did AOL course a few years back when i was under depression & I benefited from it & i do practice sudarshan kriya .Its my only connection with AOL.I don’t consider sri sri a saint or any thing like that,but i do pity Bhamy V Shenoy who lost Rs 5000.00 .i think we should all make a NGO to help Mr.shenoy get back his Rs 5000.00 & in the process make millions our selves.Mr shenoy should have been smarter. he him self runs a NGO & he knows that NGO are run for personal gains & public service is a by product .Most of the NGOs are made for personal gains .I am in hospitality industry & i have seen NGO heads travel business class with NGO money be it maneka gandhi, CRY chief ,sri sri or any other .
Mr shenoy you made a mistake & you should pay for it,u trusted your own tribe.well there is a saying a in Hindi CHORI KA MAAL MORI MEIN .Do Not cry & we should all make a pledge that we wont pay any money to a NGO ,because NGO are meant for looting govt,UN & other peoples money .I would request people to learn sudarshan kriya & then teach it to people Free of cost so that people don’t have to pay to learn > I am planning to make a NGO for that any one willing to join
rocky buddy u really rock..!! i toaly agree with u.. sri sri is a guru for many ppl .. guru is nxt 2 parents.. how would one feel if some one critisize his father in frnt of him… so v shuld not comnt until n unless v have some solid proof.. n more over this guy is realy doing some good work.. recently i heard abt some de addiction camp in our area.. n that also for free so all those ppl who dnt want 2 pay but still learn can go there..lolz..
i hv experienced the sudarshan kriya… 1st it seemd ok but good 2 relax my mind…. but then i reapeatd the course n as i started doing it on regular bases i see amazing results.. this thng is intoxicating… i feel so realxd n so much joy.. this thng cant b explaind in words…. n its true 2 know it one has 2 experience it… but i agree 1000 is a huge amnt of money… but i also thnk tht wat u get out of it, IF U Do IT 100% is worth the amount… its true atleast for me… wat do u say??
Hi All,
was going through the comments/Views that you people expressed on NGOs, Global Warming, other society related Issues and the main person His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (Guruji).
Well for the attention seeking Bhamy M Shenoy…. good work… i really like the way you ” EXPRESSED” your experience in the AOL… its a question of personal experience and one has to be there inorder to feel such a severe treatment.. I do agree with you..
Bhamy.. Why dont you do one thing? Its jus a small favour i ask from you.. Im sure that you being such a knowledgable person ( one who can bring ppl out in public by judging them in the right way ) you would surely be able to get me the best available service im gonna ask you for…
I NEED TO STAY IN A CLEAN DECENT HOTEL in bangalore (With an attached bathroom ofcourse) along with towel and soap… oh and not to forget breakfast and 2 meals ( appetizers + main course + deserts) for 5 days.
KINDLY NOTE THAT THERE WHOULD BE DRINKING WATER AND ALSO GOOD FOOD… aaaaah NOT the sub standard food that u were served in the ashram….
OH I FORGOT THE MAIN PART HERE… FINANCE… kindly make sure its not soo expensive as the ashram… it should surely be a lil less than Rs5000.
Im sure a knowledgable person like you would surely be able to find a decent hotel like this for me..
Look my dear friend Bhamy,… wat you see and experience is not wat you deserve… FOR INSTANCE.. Your comments on the food that was provided to you “SUB STANDARD” to put it in your own words.. was not at all accepted by me.. firstly i believe you should be thankfull to god that you get 2 times bread to “feast” on to.. look around and see the thousand who dig for a small piece of some left over bread that was thrown into the bin by some “STANDARD” personality like you..
Coming on to your criticism on the AOL ashram food and the expense… jus for your kind information… the ashram makes food for 30,000 people every day and that to not jus 1 meal but 3 complete meals.. WHERE DOES THIS MONEY COME FROM?
There are so many villages that have been adopted yes “ADOPTED” by ART OF LIVING… WELL SINCE YOU ARE THE REVEALING KNOWLEDGABLE PERSON… you wouldnt know wat adoption of a village means.. just to brief you on it.. adopting a village means providing strong concrete houses for everyone.. which is converting their mud houses into concrete Houses.. establishing a hospital and a school in that village and last but not the least providing methods where these villagers can gain some monthly income so as to live their life in better “STANDARDS” as compared to the “SUB-STANDARDS” they were living in..
oh but with money comes bad habits too.. but not to worry as all these people have done the NAV CHETNA SHIBIRS ( free courses ) and thus they do meditation and are very well aware of the illeffects of drinking , tobbaco chewing, and other money consuming bad habits…
And like this there are many more villages which are Adopted by Art Of Living….Again the Million $ Question : WHERE DOES THIS MONEY COME FROM?
A lot of farmers in maharashtra who were on the verge of suicides due to indebtness to the landlords were saved by just one mans work… yes… again my beloved Guruji… His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.. How did that happen Bhamy? It all happened when Guruji himself visited these farmers personally and gave them ideas to use natural manure rather than buying FOREIGN fertilizers at higher prices and thus reducing their costs.. oh yeah.. and FOR YOUR INFORMATION… this talk was not charged.. there were no tickets sold to hear him…
There are various topics of this sort that i can go on n on n on n on again n again till you get some knowledge my friend..
Bhamy , Kindly note that i have no personal grudges or disrespect for you… i Respect you the same way i respect myself and other fellow men and women who are involved in this discussion or who are reading it…
My words would have been harsh and insulting at places in the above written clarification.. and i Apologize from the bottom of my heart if i have hurt you by any means… Hope you forgive me for that…
Last but not the least, I would like to say that seeing is not believing… always try to get the reason behind what is happening around us… At times wat you see is not wat it really is and wat really is can not be seen…
My final quesiton to you Bhamy is ” CAN YOU IMAGINE THE COST OF RUNNING SUCH A BIG ASHRAM? and then THE COST OF BUILDING VILLAGES, ORPHANAGE HOMES N SCHOOLS, OLDAGE HOMES…”
The Million dollar quesiton : “WHERE DOES THE MONEY COME FROM?”
All this money comes from the courses that you do.. its from that 5000 rupess that you had paid to stay there.. all this money is gone in giving these smiles to the needy… so Bhamy feel proud that you too have gifted a smile on an orphan’s face..with those 5000 rupees..
the defination of art of living : it is a NON-PROFITABLE,CHARITABLE , NGO..
Cheers n peace,
loads of luv..
hugs…
Rikhav Acharya
DO the Sudarshan Kriya THEN ONLY you can speak against such a humanitarian NGO and its founder’s enormous efforts to unite the whole world in a culture of selfless service. Commenting against it before doing Sudarshan Kriya is as good as trying to explain the taste of a sweet to a person who has never known how sweet tastes it.
Do the Kriya then comment…you have full right to comment then, instead of being religious against someone who is trying to do the best for the WORLD.
“THE WAY OF THE WORLD IS TO PERSECUTE THE LIVING SAINTS AND TO PRAISE THE DEAD ONES. ”
JGD
Rama
First up, my joining the issue was not about the Art of Living or the NGO summit. The issue was the way this crybaby put his case (non-issue) forward – a typical pampered citizen of this great nation a colonial hangover and a brown sahib expected peons and attendants to be at his disposal. And my research on this organization is how a single man was able to sell the idea to the world. Want to learn a few things that can be adapted to my company (oh yes!!!! I own a company and had no chance to crib about step-motherly treatment at every stage presented by the government of my adapted country).
I am not going to offer my research findings on a platter to you – spend your dough to find out what makes that organization tick. Since I also graduated from IIT that he claims to have graduated from, we are expected to act similar too :-) We sell ideas – there are no free lunches in life. And regarding NGO conference’s proceedings, I am least interested because in the end, what NGOs in India do is not something I can proudly write home about.
I am planning on visiting my hometown this winter and I would definitely be reaching you out, if ever any contact details exist. Coming to the zombie stuff (agreed – a zombie, proud citizen and zombied IITian too) and being an Agent – I am proud you labelled me as Ravishankar’s agent – atleast he is an Indian. As I wrote in my rejoinder post, you never realize the value of living in the great nation and freely allowed to take potshots at famous personalities. In the place where I live at every step you are being reminded that you are an immigrant and run down.
I’m sorry you had a bad experience at the Ashram. Most of which seems to be related to your ego and unfortunate state of mind that day. Really your whole rant is about how things were not the way you expected them to be. That doesn’t mean they were bad.
Staying in an Ashram is not the same as going to a conference at the Hilton hotel. If you are not familiar or mature enough for ashram life, that’s doesn’t mean Ashram life is a hoax. True, in Ashrams there are no syndicated employees to wash your dishes, clean up after you and serve you with silver cuttlery. That doesn’t mean simple living is a bad thing, on the contrary, it’s a heart warming and humbing experience.
Had your mindset been a little less negative that day, you could have taken the opportunity to grow, share, and help improve things, rather than complain, drag people down with you, and demand luxuries that you thought your nominal financial contribution entitled you to.
Most of the participants who stayed until the end had a great time! You were quick to judge and decided to leave based on your concepts and closed mindset. And now your solution is to bash up someone who actually cares enough to make a difference, unlike you who cares so little you left at the first discomfort.
It’s easy to criticize and attack those who have dedicated their lives to service and to bettering the conditions of millions of people around the world. But people who criticize and throw personal attacks towards others are generally the spoiled ones who do the least.
So go ahead, keep bashing up Sri Sri, and Vandana Shiva, and you can bash me up too if it makes you feel smart, but instead you could also spend that time learning from their example, and doing precious service to make this world a better place.
Look at it on the bright side, now that you have learned what not to do, I’m sure that when people will come to your conference, it will be absolutely flawless, all the speeches will move everyone to tears, there will be sumptuous meals and lush room service, the outcome will please everyone equally, and you will feed and host everyone for the night for free. Thanks in advance for the kind invitation!
Tony,
Hey pal, listen up good. When folks get a whiff of bullshit chances are that’s exactly what it is, a big smelly festering pile of bullshit. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.
Dear Friends,
we had 166 responses so far. Still there is definite idea about AOL. We are still searching in the dark.
Just to bring you up to date about my Rs 5000. I had filed a case in Mysore Consumer Court and to my surprise the judge did not even admit the case after two hearings. Since I am travelling I have not yet been able to find the reason for the rejection. This should please the admirers and devotees of AOL. I lost another Rs. 200 to file my case in the process of getting back my Rs. 5000. Looks like another consumer activist who also left the ashram the same time I did, is also planning to file a smilar case. Hope he would not get discouraged by my experience. Different judges can have different interpretation of the Consumer protection act.
Coming to Mysore Grahakara Parishat (MGP) which has been brought into this discussion. MGP did not finance me. I am not even an executive member though I was the founder working president 19 years back. MGP does not need any publicity from this case and does not seek any either. Incidentally MGP is a well recoginsed NGO in Mysore.
I have expressed often that Ravi Shankar definitely has great talents to have established ashrams all over the world. He must have also satisfied thousands of his devotees. He is supporting many good causes like educating the poor, helping the farmers etc. This needs to be appreciated. I also agree that all this requires money. But means are as important as ends. When some thing is promised and it is not fully met, there is deficiency in service and that is what I was after. When NGO summit on an important subject is held, it should be for that purpose and not to introduce ashram life or ashram service. That is what I saw and experienced. This is what I want to concentrate on and not on other aspects of what AOL does. I have not done any research and thus not competenet to comment. As an NGO I have considerable experience of attending several seminars, workshops and meetings. Never have I paid such a huge sum. One was asking if I could show any hotel in Bangalore which could offer room, meals etc for Rs 5000 for five days. No I cannot do that. But no hotel is promising such a sweet heart deal. Here AOL’s brochure created an image of providing in an “international center” comfortable lodging. I did not expect five star treatment. I did some minimum comfort of at least one person per room. It was not the case. Even more important than the room which I would have gladly ignored was the organization of the summit. There was no written information giving the details on the speakers and topics (excepting the five famous speakers and only one turns up and no explanation given for the absence). That is when I felt that the whole summit was a hoax. Let us concentrate on the conduct of the summit. More than a month, is there any development as a result of the summit? Any proceeding on the web?
Bhamy I really admire your guts and spirit for not giving up on your fight. Most people in India have been numbed by these spiritual conmen like Ravishankar. As you mentioned there is no news or any intelligent conclusion or minutes of the summit which is available.
I was involved in this organization in the early and mid 90s when it was still small and had not grown into the full blown cult that it is now. But all the cultish prpoganda mechanism and publicity stunts were right in place even then. Ravishankar had learnt a lot from his guru Maharishi Mahesh yogi on organising events and mobilizing funds. Mahesh Yogi was also the crazy guy who taught yogic flying. Esentially you can sell anything in this mad spiritual business market and there are enough gulliable people who will buy.
I was also instrumental in strating up some of the social welfare and development activities of art of living and one of the first teachers of AOL to teach in Bangalore central jail. However these social welfare activities are a big mask and the intention of this organization is the self aggrandizement of the Guru and his cult. Most of these social movements and adoption of villages are big publicity stunts. I know it first hand. I left this movement when I realized their sham social welfare schemes were used to recirculate money from alternate sources ( black money) into personal assests for Ravishankar, his family and associates and all the while doing some token social work. Incidentally Ravishankar’s immediate family (Sister, Brotherin law, father – pitaji and others) are the main members of the AOL trust.
It is another matter about the law suits and land grabbing the ashram did and encroached on the Green belt sorrounding bangalore. There was a law suit in Karnataka High court on this which Ravishankar’s sister Bhanu and another teacher (now he has left AOL) used to attend court for almost two years. Finally they won and went through an out of court settlement.
Take even the example of the village adjacent to the ashram – Udipalya. There is no development work done in this village except that their land has been encroached by the ashram. The land this village used to use for Grazing their cattle in the late 80s is now no longer available. Now you find hotels, restraunts and STD booths opposite the ashram all owned, controlled by aol devotees and of no benefit to the villagers. All the people who own and control these establishments are not locals from udipalya.
It is difficult to fight a mighty powerful and vicious organization like art of living cult. Although it is a losing battle, I commend Bhamy Shenoy for atleast taking up this issue.
Finally I remmember a scene from the movie Anubhava, when the progressiveyouths counter the hero and conman ananth nag about the creation of a fake temple, he replies that “If you have 10 people on your side I can get 1000 on my side’. Ultimately it is herd instinct, irrationality and zombies who truimp especially in such a superstitious country like ours.
The Anant nag movie being mentioned above was Udbhava. The other movie Anubhava I’ve heard was another experience altogether:)
i feel bad for u aashabdabhoothi…. god bless u…
Mr. Ravi is a smart ASS …. cleverly evading tax & fooling people publicly!
Suresh,
What the hell do you know about MGP? Mr.Ravi is making ASSes of people like you and you want to link the post to MGP’s activities. If you can go on assume, you bloody well furnish your sources as well. Just because you and your family are hypnotized by Mr.Ravi it doesn’t give you rights to talk about another organization. MGP is not Mr.Bhamy alone.
This is another whistle blower’s letter :
” ….I wish I had read your Web site, long before my fiancé and I were lured into registering for the Part 1 course of the Art of Living Foundation. We walked out on the last day of the course because we couldn’t stand it any longer. I couldn’t have written or explained the experience better myself. You have beautifully verbalized your opinion of the Art of Living Foundation.
I have lost my money permanently, and I am also, without permission, included as a statistic in the set of AOL “followers” of 20 million or so now, even though I strongly oppose the organization. I have to believe that are many others like me. Only about 30% of the Part 1 course was about breathing and the remainder was ear-splitting, fear-psychosis propaganda (for example, “A question is a hook that tears the brain”, and “Questioning SSRS’s principles and teachings can prove costly”), illogical analogies and anecdotes, and disguised pressure to encourage more people (friends and family) to give their credit card numbers to sign up for the course.
It is a totally for-profit, commercial, very well-marketed product and organization. I do see some token projects here and there in poor and tribal areas of India and around the world, the expenditure on such projects is negligible compared to the hundreds of thousands of dollars that the organization earns from a single “US tour” of a “specialist teacher” from India. I have not seen any document showing or even referring to exactly how much money the organization is really spending on building schools or hospitals for the disadvantaged, other charitable projects. Since the organization is so fond of shouting out the numbers of their followers and so fond of promoting themselves as a philanthropic organization, why not reveal how much they are actually spending on these philanthropic and charitable projects? Wouldn’t that make them more credible? Almost everyone that “works” for the organization does so on a voluntary basis. Almost every piece of land that the organization builds something on, is donated by the government or a wealthy but gullible member of the AOLF. So where is all the money that is collected from their members really going to? What is being done with the profits?
During several of our Part 1 propaganda sessions, we were told we would be the “privileged few” whose place would be reserved for the “coveted” Part 2 course, if we signed up right now. The whole six day course looked like a live version of one of those late night paid commercials that we were participating in and listening to. People from the class were picked on, randomly, to come up to the front and dance and sing, “so that all inhibitions would be vaporized and self-confidence would be developed”.
“Jai Gurudev” had to be the greeting instead of “good morning” or “good afternoon”. I cannot think of a better way to humiliate and control masses of gullible people than to make them do what is being commanded of them to do in front of uncontrollably laughing people. What upsets me more than my loss of money, is the sheer number of followers this organization has. When you can control a small class to dance on command, you can use that power to control the entire 20 million. SSRS is gaining popularity around the world, like never before and he loves to paste pictures of himself shaking hands with world leaders, on his Web site. “Wow, if he is shaking hands with world leaders, he must be good”.
He certainly falls in the “useful” category. Who is stopping all this madness?
Regards.
SG ”
http://www.deeshaa.org/2007/01/30/art-of-living-another-letter/
kalyani,
bro..do u like chocolate..?? u no my girl frnd love chocolates n i hate em.. same way u think AOL is bull shit but for the other 20 million followers it is the sweetest thing in the world… if u dnt like chocolates tht does nt means tht chocolate is bad or no one shuld like it.. thts obsrd.. dnt u thnk so?? m not a follower of ravi shankar but i do respect him for wat he is doing…. dancing in frnt of ppl or doing sum wierd stuff is not only in aol but u c this method in many other personality devlopmnt classes, acting classes n this is a method used in NLP ( neurolinguistic programing) invented by richard bandler… n is used by clinical psychologsts through out the world…. this practice increaases ur confidnce, ur expression of feelings n reduces ur fear of ppl but only if u do it 100% n honestly… sitting there in crowd n lookin at ppl doin it may seen wierd.. u might b feeling fearful, ur heart beat rise n all the signs n symptoms of anxity appear thinking tht wat will happen if i m told 2 do all this stuff.. this shows tht u lack confidnce n u r wk inside but u dint wantd 2 admit it so u came up with an excuse tht this thng is absurd, illogical n of no use.. brother this single activity has changed the life of millions including my gf… i no u will feel ofended at me calling u wk or an underconfidnt personality.. but once u no it u can over come it.. and now coming 2 the breathing part.. the sudarshan kriya.. one of the most wonderful things which is even amazing the scientists of nasa… search on net for the biochemistry of sudarshan kriya n u will no all its medical benifits wich r scienticly proven.. for example in terms of physiology it gets u in a state of hypoxia.. which in turn induces secreation of erithropoitn frm the kidneys which increases ur rbc formation… it helps in increasing ur hb.. n tht also within few days.. it works as an antioxident… takin care of all those free radicals which make u grow older… so in normal language if u do sudarshan kriya regularly u slow down ur ageing process n this is medicaly proven..!! sudarshan kriya is a part of training for astronauts in NASA … now do u thnk they r also fools?? AOL training is a part for miss india participants so tht to incrses their confidnce…. n this thng is even certified by WHO…. sudarshan kriya is bieng used t treat extreem cases of dpression… with 70 % sucses rate… u may b a part of the other 30 % but think of the 70 % whos lives hv been changed… its just like any other exercise equipmnt.. u buy it n then use it… its good for u… but if u pay for it n then dnt use it.. its usless… wastge of money…..rubbish.. crap… bull shit.. nonsense.. illogical.. got my point?? n here a link specialy for u frnd…it will deffintly change ur preception abt tht dancing process… wish u ahppy married life ahead… god bless u.. http://www.saladltd.co.uk/nlp_tip_97.htm
Why did Ravishankar build a monument in memory of his mother which costed around 30 Crores. He could have utilized this money to his so called social welfare activities. But no they are least bothered about these things and social welfare is the last priority item in their wish list. The hall is of no utilitarian value and is used to conduct public meetings and it can hold up to a couple of thousand people. This could have been acheived by building a cheaper building.
Another AOL scamster is suggesting here that Miss India’s do breathing exercises and NASA scientists do it as well hence AOL is not a scam. Breathing exercises are not the monopoly of AOL. Ravishankar lifted this excersie and even the name of sudharshan kriya from Yogi Bhajan who used to teach this similar excersise in 1970s in america.
Aashadabhoothi’s post dated 9th April is the ultimate analysis of AOL as well as today’s overall scenario of “spiritual bazaar”
Although not a AOL teacher like him, having got close to it, I can vouch that what he has stated is cent percent truth.
Dear Ashadabhothi,
thanks for your kind remarks. I hope there are more people like you, Kalyani, and others who have been sharing their bitter experience about Ravi Shankar.
Just the other day I saw a book on Ida Tarbell, a journalist heroine of early 1900s who stood against one of the Titans of that era, John D. Rockfeller. Compared to him, Ravi Shankar is not even a pygmi. Roackfeller was the richest person at that time though considered as robber baron. He had also donated many worth causes. Univeristy of Chicago was just one such institute and he did not even visit that once. Unlike Ravi Shankar he did not advertsie his generosity. He sincerely thought that he was helping the industry through his monoploy practice by cutting costs and selling products at low cost. Politicians were supporting him. Most of the people were awe of him because of hsi immense wealth. Still it was to the credit of Ida Tarbell who exposed the shenanigans of Rockfeller and succeeded in breaking down his company. Also congress adapted anti trust act as a result of her work.
Now where and how can we find Ida Tarbell to expose the empire of Ravi Shankar? Like Rockfeller, he is indeed doing yeoman service to many of his admirers. He is justfied in charging whatever they are prepared to pay him. But ny no generally accepted standard what he is doing can be considered as non profit or charitable activities. The new income tax regulations are tightening what is considered as charity activities and many of the NGO activities will come under income tax net. I wonder which bureaucrat will have the courage to treat AOL as money making activity. It is for this reason we need a movement like the one by Ida Tarbell against Rockfeller. Can you or kalyani or others who had first hand experience suggest ways ? This will be a great contribution to a vibrant NGO movement and also to India’s development?
Bhamy,
Thank you. Much earlier when I started writing first hand experiences about this aol cult to a supposedly ” hinduism saving nationalist” blog, I was brutally muzzled. ravishankar has a powerful lynch mob. And spin doctors.In fact the plethora of charlatans marketing Spirituality are extremely diabolical.
A very old man in the know of things advised me :
” In today’s world, take care of yourself; by trying to save someone else you would end up endangering yourself. Let each follower or ” devotee” think and decide for himself”.
Initially I thought that was the height of apathy. But I am wiser now.
i don no y u ppl r against this guy… he is just selling his ideas n providing his services… n we r the guys who pay him… it means those ideas n services r good… let him earn n let him decide how much charity he wants to do…. who r u 2 determine wat the other person needs 2 do until n unless its a crime…. he never robs money out of ur pocket n never forces any one to follow him or work for him… if u thnk his followers r fools then let them b… atleast they r happy bieng fools…. and if v c he is doing a gr8 job of gettin lots of foreign currency in india… n now westrnrs also know india n they look up to it… its fun 2 c those goras dancing around him like small puppies
@Aashadabhoothi
i realy doubt if u were ever a teacher of AOL.. but its ok even devine makes mistakes.. so my dear teacher dint they ever told u during ur training tht sudarshan kriya is cerified by WHO.. n go up n plz read the ENTIRE post.. do u think all those medical benifits are also a scam.. sweet heart am a doctor n i can prove my statement through laboratory tests.. gat it.. n the NASA people do it under the AOL program… 40% of the indian out of 70% indians in nasa hv done the course n it is compulsary for the astronauts.. n sudarshan kriya may b like anyother breathing exersise .. but its the rythemic breathing that makes it unique.. its rythem is unique.. dint they even told u this in ur teachers training program..?? every thing in nature has a rythem.. a viberation.. if u happen 2 study quantum physics u will know tht even the smalest pasticle ie the electron is nothin more than a viberation.. so everything around u is vibrations.. go read some 12 standard physics books.. n sudarshan kriya has its own rythem, which helps 2 get ur brain frequency in harmony with the nature…. n even if kriya is lifted but it still works for people who practice it.. n u can c positive results in them medicaly, emotionaly n spritualy…. so wats wrong in it?? if u can pay for medicine, u can pay for smoking , drinking, movies.. then y not sudarshan kriya??? n if u dont want 2 pay then dont do it.. simple as that…
Rocky,
you are absolutely right about we paying the doctors and your comparison to AOL. Since AOL is doing a similar service like a doctor (though not certified by competent bodies ) “paying” AOL is the right thing.
Just like coca cola advertises its products, AOL is also justfied in “marketing” its services.
On both these counts it is a business for profit. The fact it does some “social work” will not absolve it from paying its taxes. By the way many doctors also donate funds for good causes. But they still have to pay taxes.
On this basis AOL should be consdired as a for profit organziation and should come under the tax nets.
I had filed a case in the consumer court on this basis for deficiency in service and also unfair trade practices against AOL. But the learned Mysore Consumer Court did not admit my case and I still do not know the reason since I have been travelling.
there was a recent report by the world bank wich was in news papers a few days back wich says that aol is an organisation wich spends 97% of its earning for social welfare.. and only 3 % is used to run the organisation.. where as the red cross society spend 60% for social work n rest 40% is used to run the organisation..
aol is among the 15 NGOs which recive funds from the world bank… the rest of the world is giving n u urself want to impose tax on some one whos working for ur welfare only… here r some links i would luv u 2 have a look at em..
http://www.artofliving.org/aol/press/aol.pdf
n have a look here too…
http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news/Art-of-Living-concept-expanding-around-the-globe-4730-1/
and mr.bhamy vs shenoy wat hv u gat 2 say abt this link….
http://www.artofliving.org/Initiatives/Global/TraumaRelief/tabid/79/Default.aspx
“Since AOL is doing a similar service like a doctor (though not certified by competent bodies ) “paying” AOL is the right thing. ” HOW MANY TIMES DO I HV TO SAY THAT SUDARSHAN KRIYA IS CERTIFIED BY WHO( WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION) GAT IT??
rocky.. u r the best man…!!! u rock..!! hats off to u…
If the world bank report on the spending of AOL for welfare is authentic, credible and trustworthy, then I will completly change my present veiws of AOL. Not onlt I will apologize publicly (I will drop my charges against AOL in the consumer court), I will start singing its praise. Jut 3% overhead is simply fantastic and it is almost like using transmitting electricity with zero losses.
I googled to get more information on the world bank report. I could not. Can you please either copy the report here or send information on where we can get it.
Starting a trauma center is a highly visble place like Iraq where the US is spending billions on all kinds of things is a perfect example of doing “small things” by AOL to get maximum publicity. Do you think when the US is ready to spend billions, even a rich organization like AOL can make a difference in a fluid place like Iraq? Prioroities are misplaced. If trauma center is located in Darfur, it has more credibility.
Rocky,
Where is the world bank report about art of living spending 97% on … etc.? And dont link back to some art of living website or something similar.
The WHO is not a Certifying Body in the first place. It is principally a Poiicy setting agency and a collaborator in providing expertise and funding of health research.
All the medical evidence for SKY seems to suggest a potential role as an alleviator of mild depression and stress , modulator of gene expression and immune function and as an enhancer of general well being. The maximum publications on SKY in peer reviewed scientific journals seem to be the Department of Biochemistry in AIIMS, Delhi and the Departtment of Psychiatry, NIMHANS, Bangalore. Interestingly although the authors do start by mentioning SKY in their introduction and methodology give the credit ( very sensibly) to Yogic practices in a generic fashion than to SKY as a specific procedure.
Rocky- are you a real ‘doctor’ ?? Your choice of words, thoughts, reflections and overall flavour of writings does not suggest so. I hope you are not lying.
Anyway, I know many senior people at WHO, UN and other agencies. Am sure you would be keen enough to prove that WHO has given money to AOL. Please share your contact details with me. US office would get in touch with you next week to certify your statements. And I am sure you know, making false statements about US based UN organisations invites criminal proceedings, so you would have doubly checked all your statements.
JGD
I am getting such emails almost on a daily basis and whenever I ask them where is the money being spent, they ask me to ‘beleive in HIM’ , ‘dont ask questions’ ‘small mind’ etc etc…. Am sure all of us work hard to earn money, why dont we have the right to ask for our own money’s direction in AOL Land ??? Maybe Rocky or Tony or Suresh will have answers.—
The email is —
Gift 52 Smiles
Our Gurudev’s 52nd Birthday is soon coming…..
It is an honour and a blessing that we are able to give a very very special gift – 52 smiles on this most special occasion.
The idea, is to get 52 sponsorships for 52 children for Guruji ‘s 52nd Birthdday.
Let’s make it happen together.
GIFT A FUTURE GIFT A SMILE
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His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is the inspiration behind this unique institution.
Free Transport is provided to all children. Every day, the school bus picks up children to take them to school and drops them back home. A fleet of four buses ferry the students to and from the school. The transport facility enables students from villages within a radius of 10 km from the school to attend classes and avail of the educational facilities.
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A spacious playground and a well equipped sports kit gives the students an opportunity to let off steam in the playground. Trained sports instructors guide the students in their respective spheres of sports to deliver a rich and enriching experience.
Along with academics, education is balanced with an emphasis on social responsibilities and human values. The children participate in various co-curricular activities like music, dance, drama, debates, tree planting campaigns, literary clubs, computer training, tailoring workshops for girls and a host of other cultural events.
The children have been provided with a healthy and nurturing atmosphere. The school follows the State Board syllabus. In spite of 95% children being first generation learners, the school has 100% results in the exams!
The task is gigantic. We need to educate more and more children and we invite you to participate in this noble cause.
HOW CAN I CONTRIBUTE?
GIFT A FUTURE – GIFT A SMILE
Sponsorship is Rs 10000 per child per year (includes the cost of tuition, uniforms, school books, bags, transport, regular medical check-ups and mid-day meals for one child). All contributions are tax exempt under Section 80 G of the Income Tax Act
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You can send your contribution by courier/mail to
Gift a Smile Delhi Desk. A-15/15 Vasant Vihar New Delhi – 110057 Tel Shikha 9810223588, Richa 9818291552
my dear truth seeker.. JGD.!! n i belong 2 u…. sweet heart i have done a lot of hard work for gettin tht smal dr. in frnt of my name n m realy hapy with it n i did for MYSELF so i dont nd 2 prove to anyone.
secondly…. plz rather than concentratin on my FLAVOUR of writing n my overall selection of words n thoughts concentrate on wat m saying… i never said WHO gave money to aol… its the WORLD BANK.. gat it?? n if u r patient enough rather than fiering bck on me right now.. go through the very first link… it says aol is being given funds by the world bank.. now coming to the fake statement thing.. u said u no ppl in who n un.. can u give the contact no. of any one single person frm un or who?? even the security guards no. will do… now will c whos fake n whos real..
I am terribly sorry to say this but why do I get the feeling that the discussion between Rocky and Truthseeker is like two queens btching – sorry guys Rocky and Truthseeker I didnt mean to be rude but had to ask.
Dear Rocky
JGD
I am scared that you belong to me !!! ROTFL :-))
As for your Dr. thing and you not proving it to anybody, you are wrong. Perhaps you do not understand the law of the land. You might be required to prove. But on that, later.
First, I mixed up WHO and WB and so you think you have scored a million points over me !!! Which office, which department, which particular executive’s number do you want ? Let me know and (with that person’s permission ONLY), I will be happy to post it here, all within 1 hr. Would you like to share your contact details to enable them to reach you ? For you, WB or WHO or UN or IMF might be a BIG thing, for which you think i will lie !!! hahaahhahah what a brain you have. Typical of star and ‘big’ fanatic AOL !! I have worked with WB for over 6.5 years and IMF for over 3 years in US, EU and India offices my dear. Besides, I am a IIT-Delhi and IIM-A pass out who also qualified for IAS in 1998. So these, so called ‘big’ names don’t make me rush to them gushing with folded hands and perfumed white kurta pyjamas, mouthing sweet songs !!
I was expecting you to respond to the email spam that AOL is running these days for raising funds in children’s name . pls share your deep insights my dear. I am sure you would be well conversant with their expense sheets, accounts and all other projects.
And returning to your ‘Dr’ thing, I still refuse to believe that a medical doctor can be of such a puny brain as yours, unless ofcourse you have been helped by VP Singhs and Arjun Singhs of this country.
The very ‘MYSELF’ in your last message smacks of sheer arrogance and impertinence. It is behaviour and conduct like this that has rubbished a well meaning institution like AOL. Sheer arrogance. What do you mean ‘even the security guards no. will do… now will c whos fake n whos real..” ?? who are you challenging ? Become aware of yourself and your nadir karmas, you ignorant soul. Wake up. Not for me, but foryourself. For your well wishers. Do something good to people around you than take up fights for an organisation that is so strangely and sadly embroiled in a huge credibility crisis. That is a service to humanity.
Gaby- that’s an interesting observation !! Thanks for bringing me back to awareness.
Will monitor my thoughts and writings before posting.
JGD
Hello all…. any thoughts on these fund raising forms and email spams !!?
dear truth seeker.. love u.. muaaah.. now listen.. i still belong to u.. coz frm deep in side u r pure soul like every one else so u n me r 1… now coming bck 2 the point… sweet heart i never scored on u.. its ur mind which makes u thnk tht i scored on u coz u r here 2 score.. n thts the point i was trieng 2 prove.. n tht also fr ur benifit.. really even if u r shattered intp pcs debating with me n on ur knees in frnt of me.. tht wont make any difrnce 2 me.. coz i dnt want tht.. i want u 2 rise with me… n even if i wnt 2 feel gr8 abt myself ill go out n help some realy needy person n thts enough 2 make me fl good abt myself.. u r not concentratin on wat m saying… coz u r mind set is in a combat mode not in a receptive mod.. i told u some of the medical benifits of kriya n told u tht i no this coz m a doctor… n look wat u did.. u dnt even had a look at those benifits.. did u ?? coz u cant prove em wrong they r medicaly proven benifits.. u have 2 do sumthin so u fierd bck saying tht u r not a doc… even if i am not a doc wich i am, does it makes any diffrence 2 those reports..?? funny.. now i realy doubt with such a mind u did tht AIS N IIT n all tht… u gettin my point?? there is no point talkin 2 u until n unless u hv a neutral state of mind n u realy want it 2 b constructive…. read ur last post.. wat can u make out… ?? anger..!! frustration.. lack of confidence… there is a desire in u to prove urself.. isnt it?? u want recognition frm the entire world.. c even gr8 person like sri sri hv ppl against em.. so y dnt u jst belive tht u r the bst?? will u ever say tht rocky is the bst?? no na.. so no other person will ever say tht 4 u .. wat ever u do.. n c u r trien so hard jst 2 prove ur self.. just go n practice sudarshan kriya n every thing will b alright in just 1 month.. its my promise…
JGD…
You are the best Rocky !
JGD
Good the queens have made up!
Gaby has had the maxium fun ;-)
but my question about the email spam still remain unaddressed !! Rocky, lets try to the address them, together :-) jgd
I accidentally happened to follow this blog & all the series of questions & answers. I am a native of Bangalore working in Dubai of late.
As is characteristic of any typical Indian, i have seen lot of bashing of someone who has achieved something great. I wish, first & foremost, that Mr.Shenoy has got his money back(May is approaching & this debate started in Feb) coz i believe he is the only person who has been ‘affected by it’.
Secondly, i definitely accept the point that people are all of a sudden ‘concerned’ about THE MONEY in the organisation, because it is FAMOUS..
Were these people anyway concerned about the auditing matters during the initial years of AOL.
Anyway that money was given by people’s own interest/consent. Are you at loss?? If all of those donors are best concerned, they will file a petition on the same. Iam sure there are many who has contributed more than the mere Rs.5000/-. Let them raise the concern if required.
To boast that a man is WISE is one thing & to ridicule millions as FOOLs is ummm really another thing…It is not the tax that you are paying that is going there right?? There is an elected GOVERNMENT to take care of the welfare of people.
Third & the last point..If you are really bothered about the rise of that organisation & IF YOU REALLY want to create awareness against its activities, tell me how many of you who cried repeatedly in this blog over a period of 2 months..have already FORMED a community(not ONLINE but REAL) & staged a protest??
All the cowards who cannot come out & protest in the open have now a reason to justify their actions or lack of it by saying they are doing it ONLINE…pleaseeeeeeeeeee take a break.
For everyone’s information, iam not a follower of any saints & iam a civil engineer busy in my own professional world in Dubai.
Comments most welcome…
Reg
Ajay
And i hope and pray that you , my friend- Rocky, understand that my questions were not to pull you down dear. They were only to highlight that so much money raised from innnocent people is being channelised in some dark corners. India is a poor country friends. we need to save money for our poor brothers and sisters :-)
Friends,
those admirers and devotees of Ravi Shankar will do a great favour to them and to us if they can show authenticated and certfied accounts of AOL. How much money is raised from well wishers, from whom, how much is spent for what and what is the % overhead, etc. I seriously doubt any international financial institutions can study AOL and make definitive statements like the overhaed of AOL is 3%. This looks more like a joke than a serious statement.
Now let us take a look at the cost of Rs 10000 to educated a poor child at Kanakapur school for 2000 childern by AOL. I am on the management of several educational institutions in my town including a high school where we are educating about 600 students. It does not cost us any thing close to Rs 10000 per child. But I do not claim that ours is an ideal school with highly qualified teachers. I readily agree that the actual cost to give a good education will cost more than Rs 10000 per child.
Knowing a little about the operational style of AOL where quality is substandard and excellence is unknown concept, cost of educating a child like most ‘convent’ type of schools where childern are packed like sardines and teachers are paid ‘coolie’ wages, cost to educate a child can be as little as Rs 3000 to 5000 or even less. Can our freinds of AOL give some details about this Kanakapur school. If it is indeed run the way it should be, then we need to applaud the efforts of Ravi Shankar and support these poor childern. I have doubts based on my experience of Sangham where we were charged Rs 5000 and provided sub standard loding and food. Even worse the organization of the program lacked any professional touch. I can expect any different standard in managing this school. But I am prepared to change my opinion if facts are presented.
Rocky,
Where are the world bank links? Or any authentic source besides hocus pocus you spouted?
Looks like another example of the misleading ploys art of living marketing try to use to fool people.
You are only showing us some of the tactics used by AOL marketing. It may be accepted by people who are blinded by religious fervour. But on these forums it only shows how things work for you – making unsubstantiated claims and then hoping people will take the bait.
And whenever i have asked these two people listed in the spam emails- —- Gift a Smile Delhi Desk. A-15/15 Vasant Vihar New Delhi – 110057 Tel Shikha 9810223588, Richa 9818291552—— they have never bothered to reply !!??? Mr Ajay- this is reflective of attitude that people like you and these 2 listed on these emails represent. As you said -‘mere 5,000’. how dare you say this ? that ‘mere 5,000’ would be somebody’s hard earned money, sweat toiled money, money for which he would have been away from his loving family, small kids, ailing parents etc and then earned those ‘mere 5,000’. Shame on you. It is disgusting to see that Gandhi’s India has produced such people who would call other’s blood, sweat and toil as ‘mere 5,000’. If there is God, and am sure there is, you will realise the importance of 5 rupees. Shame on you Ajay, Shame
Truthseeker- you dont need to get so agitated. Remember, Aol is made up of rich people for whom money, people, simpilicity, values etc dont matter. what matters is only power, which they get thru sitting in a monkey like chorus. Chill man.
@ truthseeker:Accepted my friend, that Rs5000/- is indeed not ‘mere’…but you have read in this blog that ‘many businessmen who have joined AOL have already contributed THEIR hardearned money’ which amounts to a few lakhs. When they are not bothered or concerned about it, why are you all bothered?? Anyway, i repeat, welfare of the society is the responsibility of the governing bodies & NOT at any cost that of AOL’s.
Fine in that case, how much of your hard earned money have you contributed to the welfare of the poor?? Saying & doing are two oppositely directed actions in case of we INDIANS.
Never mind, all i mean to state here is that rather than digging deep into their MONEY matters, all you bloggers here could think of starting an alternative group to counter AOL…please do that…lot of bashan & less of action is seen in this forum….
I have been associated with a kannada theatre group for more than 15 yrs & it also includes doing street plays in lower class areas to create awareness on AIDS, polio, dowry etc..I have known thro my dad(who is the organiser) how the eyes of people fall on you the moment they hear that this or any group has earned SO & SO money. Come on, it is an individual’s effort of many years that is translated to what he(SSRS) is.
As ‘friend of all’ says- it is upto the people who are going to AOL to seek what THEY want…
so when positives outnumber the negatives, no one will listen to you my friend.
By the way, your reponse is only on the ‘mere 5000/-‘ statement. Please do respond to my other points & enlighten me more.
***
Another point i would like to put across is:
Every person has become something by his own choice- example Dr.Rajkumar, Rahul Dravid, NarayanaMurthy etc..etc. Agreed that our people expect these very few famous people to contribute to the society by way of CHARITY, but it is not a duty on they part to do so. They will contribute in their own way, whether economically, socially or culturally.It is the DUTY of fellow citizens to recognize that aspect first & then the expectations people have. Is anyone rubbishing on the MONEY earned by the above mentioned people?? No, coz u don’t have the right to do so.
Same applies to SSRS. Even though iam a neutral person to this controversy, i will look at the positives than the negatives.
One thing is clear, if anyone had created this blog based on the other religions- it would have become a law & order situation in Karnataka. Anyone here dare so??
My response as below:
Ajay-‘many businessmen who have joined AOL have already contributed THEIR hardearned money’ which amounts to a few lakhs. When they are not bothered or concerned about it, why are you all bothered??
Response- I am bothered because we all know the ‘hardwork’ of a businessman is different from a hardowrk of a service person. Also, dont try to confuse the matter by going in numbers. Numbers are just those- numbers. Please open your eyes and look at the big picture
Ajay- Anyway, i repeat, welfare of the society is the responsibility of the governing bodies & NOT at any cost that of AOL’s.
Response- If AOL shouts from the rooftop that it is taking this responsibility then it has to fulfill it. else, in simple english, it is called ‘LYING’
Ajay- Fine in that case, how much of your hard earned money have you contributed to the welfare of the poor??
Response- None of your business
Ajay- Saying & doing are two oppositely directed actions in case of we INDIANS.
Response- It seems that by sitting in Dubai, you have become superior to Indians, Mr Ajay. This is ARROGANCE
Ajay- Never mind, all i mean to state here is that rather than digging deep into their MONEY matters, all you bloggers here could think of starting an alternative group to counter AOL…please do that…lot of bashan & less of action is seen in this forum….
Response- You will see apples on apple trees and oranges on orange trees Mr Ajay. In a blog, you will see discussions and not street processions
Ajay- I have been associated with a kannada theatre group for more than 15 yrs & it also includes doing street plays in lower class areas to create awareness on AIDS, polio, dowry etc..
Response- very good
Ajay- I have known thro my dad(who is the organiser) how the eyes of people fall on you the moment they hear that this or any group has earned SO & SO money. Come on, it is an individual’s effort of many years that is translated to what he(SSRS) is.
Response- not clear what you want to say
Ajay- As ‘friend of all’ says- it is upto the people who are going to AOL to seek what THEY want…
so when positives outnumber the negatives, no one will listen to you my friend.
Response- Friend of all did not say that. pls read his/her comments again
Ajay- By the way, your reponse is only on the ‘mere 5000/-’ statement. Please do respond to my other points & enlighten me more.
Response- later
***
Ajay – Another point i would like to put across is:
Every person has become something by his own choice- example Dr.Rajkumar, Rahul Dravid, NarayanaMurthy etc..etc. Agreed that our people expect these very few famous people to contribute to the society by way of CHARITY, but it is not a duty on they part to do so. They will contribute in their own way, whether economically, socially or culturally.It is the DUTY of fellow citizens to recognize that aspect first & then the expectations people have. Is anyone rubbishing on the MONEY earned by the above mentioned people?? No, coz u don’t have the right to do so.
Response- these people say that they are eaarning money for themselves. They dont raise money on people’s goodness and for something else. PLS SEE THE DIFFERENCE MY FRIEND
aJAY- Same applies to SSRS.
response- It does not
Even though iam a neutral person to this controversy, i will look at the positives than the negatives.
Ajay- One thing is clear, if anyone had created this blog based on the other religions- it would have become a law & order situation in Karnataka. Anyone here dare so??
Response- you may be right here.
i totaly agree with u ajay about what you said regarding the indian mentality, its a shame to see docotrs and iitian free enough to fight here, demonstrating the typical crab metality by pulling each other down, if any one of you really want to make a change then go out and do sumthin rather than sittin here and bragging…
Krishna- you seem to agree a lot ! It seems you also agree with the shameless practice of asking peeople for their hard earned money in the name of children or other projects and then not be accountable for it.
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To look at positives and igonore negatives
When a thief steals and with the stolen funds takes care of his family or poor families or pays for cancer patients, should we praise him for the good things and forget about he being a thief?
When politicias expolit the people, takes bribes from the rich, spends a little of it to help the people, starts a school (again spending little on that), should we concentrate on his good deeds and ignore his corrupt practices?
By this new logic of our Dubai activist, we should stop criticizing our political leaders. After all they all take care of their families and do not ignore them when there are some who ignore their families like Mahatma Gandhi. This is good logic.
Ravi Shankar has indeed taken care of his families based on this bolg.
He has indeed built schools (just look at Kanakapur where it costs Rs 10000 per child to educate).
If he does not open is accounts we should not worry. After all there are many rich businessmen who have given their hard earned money also do not worry about some lapse (is it even a lpase for our Dubai activist?) why should others worry?
Sirs, Iam a very normal person who believes that untill & unless something is actually done in reality there is absolutely no use crying over the issue.
Yes sir, you people are repeatedly showing what i had mentioned in the beginning of my comment that people love to criticize..& will keep on doing that with ZERO result in the end. Even if I join you in the list of ‘critics’, i will just remain in that ‘list’ till the end of my life..i mean NO ACTION TAKEN.
@Shenoy: I accept your reply to my comment.
But just one question for you-What has been your/ your supporters’ action against them after almost 3 months of creating this blog??
@ Truthseeker:
I don’t want to be personal in this discussion, but FACTS won’t change if u call me arrogant or stupid or whatever. If asking you ‘what is your contribution to the poor?’ is not my business, then it’s not your business to ask what activities AOL is doing..If you have spent money & got cheated, go there & protest.
If i pay ticket & go to a cricket match & if it rains or if i myself exit in between stating that the match is boring..will the cricket board refund me the ticket?? Next thing(according to you all) i do is start a BLOG crying that the organisers did not refund me the ticket coz the match was boring.
Should i laugh or cry for this???!!!!!
If i agree on the point that the AOL money matters should be made transparent, will you all make it a point to apply the same principle to lot of minority & ‘+’ organisations that collect money similarly??
Would you also question the Govt’s policy of diverting the money from hindu temples for facilitating the pilgrimage of the minorities??
Iam not trying to divert the issue..but are u willing to fight for these causes?? If you say it doesn’t matter, then what else matters???
In the end, understand my point of view. Iam not here to bash anyone but to seek the solution & that’s about it. There is no use in getting personal & calling people names.
Some good things have happened since the publication of this article.
Some had called me to tell/write that they were having some doubts about AOL and they may reconsider not attending the high fees based course.
Many have told me that they had attended the AOL courses and were put off by the money driven efforts of putting pressure on them to take up next courses. They were telling me that they are now cconvinced of their initial feelings. They just did not know how to expose these things and they are happy that some one has done it.
You may say these are trivial results in comparsion to what a real activist like say late H. D. Shouri (father of more famous Arun Shouri) would have done or what Ralph Nader did to GM. I agree.
Few years back I would have done that. I had taken up struggles against the those who were swindling even greater amount of money through diversion of PDS kerosene which I am fighting even now. My house has been stoned and I have been nearly man handled and even got death threats. I have organzied and particiapted in many protests againt the mighty. Thus this is not coming from an arm chair fighters as you implied.
Please be not neutral as you state. As a wise saying goes those who keep quiet when injustice is done is as guilty as the one who perpetrated the crime in the first place.
Well said Mr Shenoy, well said.
My response to our dear Ajay’s last post.
Ajay- don’t want to be personal in this discussion, but FACTS won’t change if u call me arrogant or stupid or whatever.
Response- Apologies for use of strong word like arrogant, but I hope I am able to drive the point that I love my country, wherever I be. As our scriptures say, (which you should defnitely know) that our country is our motherland. Interestingly, I had once walked out of a gyan session by Mahesh giri (all AoL ites know him) when he said that a Guru is above ‘mother’. Shame. Just look at Guruji himself consturbint a huge buidling in the name of his mother but all of his chamchas ask people to place him above their mother and father. Shame
Ajay- If asking you ‘what is your contribution to the poor?’ is not my business, then it’s not your business to ask what activities AOL is doing.
Response- It is my business because i have given money and more importantly I have placed FAITH and TRUST. Money can be earned again, but trust and faith, lost once, is lost forever my dear friend
Ajay- If you have spent money & got cheated, go there & protest.
If i pay ticket & go to a cricket match & if it rains or if i myself exit in between stating that the match is boring..will the cricket board refund me the ticket?? Next thing(according to you all) i do is start a BLOG crying that the organisers did not refund me the ticket coz the match was boring.
Should i laugh or cry for this???!!!!!
Response- Dear Ajay ji, you are again missing the point by a mile. If you purchase a ticket and cricketers place bets (what Hansie Cronje and Azhar did) then it is called CHEATING, for which they were punished. Similarly, if the schools do not work because of any external happening, then it is different. Hope you get the difference here :-))
Ajay- If i agree on the point that the AOL money matters should be made transparent, will you all make it a point to apply the same principle to lot of minority & ‘+’ organisations that collect money similarly??
Would you also question the Govt’s policy of diverting the money from hindu temples for facilitating the pilgrimage of the minorities?? Iam not trying to divert the issue..but are u willing to fight for these causes?? If you say it doesn’t matter, then what else matters???
response- this is simple and crass diversion of issue and brining religious and communal overtones to the entire discussion. Reading this para, I have lost all kinds of respect (even human respect) for you Ajay. Please go and canvass for your communalism to the mother who has lost her only child or the 1 month old baby who does not what is mother or old parents who do not have any support. All victims of crass and disgusting communalism perpetrated by people like you. is this what Aol has taught you ? could never fathom that it would reach such levels. Shame on you Ajay. Shame
Btw, what happened to the evidence of World bank giving money to AOL !! ??? hahahhahaha
Come on Rocky, I expected some stellar performance from you dear ! JGD
@truthseeker
I have collected enough of ‘shames’ from your vocabulary, save them for others, or u will run out of them. Don’t worry i wasnt in my dream begging for ur respect or AOL’s respect. Time will decide if people want to continue there or not. NOT U..
What a silly excuse u get any given time when matters like religion are brought in front..communalism…pleaseeeeeee chill out. Hav the guts to answer straight to the point & not deviate using some more high-funda words. When u spoke about MONEY, i also replied in the same tone..but the area concerned was & is BIGGER & WORSE.
If something is crass & disgusting for u, then whatever u r grunting/braying/moaning here in this forum with zero paise contribution to society & lots of bashan..is & only is stink. :-)
I really wish for the day when u will come out victorious having officially defamed that organisation..& we will really have a blast and i only hope i will be alive by then..
@Mr.Bhamy Shenoy,
Nothing personal intended at you, i just wanted to know if people have progressed beyond writing crap in forums(for which they don’t have to shell out any money) & done something to seek justice in real.
Anyway justice to one person is injustice to another. Sense to one person is nonsense to another..
I might not have done as much as you have done to society..due respect to u on that front..but i am trying within my capacity to do a bit.
I don’t mean to stay neutral but in this case I still cannot buy the relevance of the whole issue & so iam happy with my decision.
I will anyway keep tracking this on this website & i hope for something JUST to happen.
Dear Ajay- Jai Guru Dev !
@TruthSeeker
I can’t help but notice that your reasoning is flawed. You sound like the disgruntled voter who is seeing his tax money going down the drain. Only that in the case of AOL, the money that you shell out is completely voluntary. I’m sure none of the AOL fans are patrolling the streets and pointing guns at gullible people to pay up. If in case, you lost *your* money, badmouthing other bloggers and trying to be a crusader in an online community won’t work. You’ll find little takers other than probably Mr.Shenoy.
Your cricket “match-fixing” analogy has little relevance to the arguement. It only shows your staunch inclination for a confrontation with other commenters.
Disclaimer: I have no association with AOL which gives me no right to question the rationality of millions of happy AOL “customers”. And for people intending to carry out expose operations in churumuri, well, good luck.
Thanks for your sweet and loving reply Ranga. I can surely learn something from it. Anyway, my response to your post–
Ranga- I can’t help but notice that your reasoning is flawed. You sound like the disgruntled voter who is seeing his tax money going down the drain. Only that in the case of AOL, the money that you shell out is completely voluntary. I’m sure none of the AOL fans are patrolling the streets and pointing guns at gullible people to pay up.
Response- There is something called ‘subtle blackmail’ or ‘subtle application of force’. It is so funny Ranga. Oo one hand you say, you dont have any association with Aol and on the other hand you say that you are sure that none of hte Aol fans make gullible people pay up !!! Make up your mind pls.
Ranga- If in case, you lost *your* money, badmouthing other bloggers and trying to be a crusader in an online community won’t work. You’ll find little takers other than probably Mr.Shenoy.
Response- Not worth a reply
Ranga- Your cricket “match-fixing” analogy has little relevance to the arguement. It only shows your staunch inclination for a confrontation with other commenters.
Response- Am sorry I could not make you understand my friend.
Ranga- Disclaimer: I have no association with AOL which gives me no right to question the rationality of millions of happy AOL “customers”. And for people intending to carry out expose operations in churumuri, well, good luck.
Response- thanks spectator
Dear Mr Shenoy, I was just contemplating as to why are there so many ex-Aol people who are against AOl… why do you think this is ? loss of trust/faith…feeling of betrayal ? I have done the aol progs and per se they are good but the paraphranelia that comes along with it (too much !!) is beyond limits of decency and volunteerism.
Thoughts ? Rocky ? gaby? ranga? ajay ?? lets discuss dear friends !
JGD
@Truthseeker:
It is God’s creation that 4 out of 10 people think differently. One wants to LEAD & another wants to FOLLOW. Since the reasoning of those 4 people differs, one would laugh at the path taken by another & vice versa..
So like u said, the growing number of those dissatisfied is because they think THEIR contribution could be much bigger than just volunteering or doing some simple tasks or that something better could be done.
Also as regards FAITH or TRUST, iam sure to say one thing- the bigger an organisation gets, the more saturated their work becomes. And unless each & every member contributes(by doing service) the same way as it was say 10 yrs back, probably the degree of satisfaction increases as it does down the hierarchy. And this transforms to loss of faith (which is typical INDIAN mentality)
Out of around 60-70 artists that our troupe(Antharanga) has seen in 15-20 yrs, only 8-9 have remained loyal & supported our troupe through thick & thin.And we have seen people of extreme degrees of ego.
So the margin between the urge to lead & to follow is very thin..my friend.
I think this puts some thought to your question??
do u really want to discuss?? u are here 2 show urself off.. ur response to most of the questions is irrational and you give such comments to save ur face.. there is no point discussing things with u coz u r not worth being a part of the discussion…
Ajay- I see some very valid points in your post. Though i would say, i agree with the second argument more than the first one.
Thanks dear.
JGD
Dear Truthseeker,
by asking a good question, you might have suggested the solution to this problem.
Since I am a consumer actvist, I may be influenced to see AOL issue from that point of view.
You are right that many who have commented against AOL are those who have taken part in their programs or “convinced” by others to take part in them.
There is no doubt that AOL is meeting some needs of people. Otherwise it would not have grown like this. But what it is doing is “selling” their services using the garb of non profit spiritual and charitable organziation. This is where those who attend the programs get cheated. It is like large coproations or large private hospitals selling their products or servcies. When customers of these profit making companies get cheated they have a recourse to get redressal. When they stand up for their rights, other customers do not criticise like it is done in the case of AOL.
If AOL just changes their structure from non profit to for profit organziation, then all the probelms will be solved. In fact they may be able to expand their operations even on a larger scale. Other religious groups will not be against them. If AOL works like a private company, they need not be transparent, they need not give their accounts, and they are not accounatble to any one.
Why won’t AOL then change its structure which gives them so much flexibility?
Quite a thought there Sir. Perhaps getting labelled as ‘for-profit’ will deprive AOL to pitch for the Nobel Prize :-))
Btw Rocky dear… all of us are eagerly waiting for that World Bank report !!
Friends,
recently I learnt that “Art of Living” was coined as early as 1935 by Pastor Vincente Peale in the US. Here are some excerpts about his activities. We will never know if Ravi Shankar got the idea of using “Art of Living” from Vincente Peale.
“Peale started a radio program, “The Art of Living,” in 1935, which lasted for 54 years. The Power of Positive Thinking is by far his most widely read work.
“Positive thinking,” as described by Peale could be broken down into a three step process of practicing repeated self-hypnosis, attaining “divine” or God’s power to use for oneself, and eliminating and avoiding all negativity in life.
The first step in positive thinking is focused on the use of repeated “techniques.” Peale describes positive thinking as first and foremost as “simply a series of practical and workable techniques for living a successful life.” [6]
Peale, who had no mental health credentials, was vague as to a definition of his “techniques,” although he repeatedly stated that they were scientifically proven and “firmly established as documented and demonstrable truth.” Mental health experts, however, clearly saw and identified the techniques as hypnosis. Hypnosis is defined as “A trance like state that resembles sleep but is induced by a person whose suggestions are readily accepted by the subject.”
I do not know if any of the several organizations started by Peale has taken any action against Ravi Shankar for using his brand name “Art of Living”. Does any one know about this?
From a a website, i quote”
She apparently was the real thing, that combination of spiritual understanding and compassion that Sri Sri Ravi Shankar so skillfully emulates in the masquerade of his false sainthood:
Pushpa Anand, a Hindu guru and social activist who worked ceaselessly for the health of Indian villagers and the empowerment of women, has died. She was 83.
None of the hundreds of thousands of people who benefited from her charitable work knew her name. Nor, indeed, did many of her disciples. She was known simply as Ma, whose dedication to the poor, especially women, inspired followers from around the world.
From the age of 34, she dedicated herself to several years of intense religious study and spiritual practice, and thereafter became known as Param Pujya (Her Holiness). But she always preferred Ma.
While the false saint Sri Sri spends millions upon millions celebrating himself, a real saint like Ma would have plowed that money right back into charity. Think about that the next time you attend another AoL birthday celebration.
” Unquote
Link- http://guruphiliac.blogspot.com/
http://www.thetimes.co.za/PrintEdition/News/Article.aspx?id=756850
See the following blog to find simple and straight forward answers to majority of your questions on Sri Sri. I am not into spirituality, so I see Sri Sri as a person who is trying to bring some change in the society.
http://vasugokaraju.blogspot.com/2008/04/my-take-on-sri-sri-ravi-shankar.html
Also take some time to read my response to the following articles.
Is Sri Sri Ravi Shankar a Con Man?
How genuine is Sri Sri Ravi Shankar?
I am yet to get hold of the book “In Spite of the Gods” and see what Mr. Edward Luce had to say about Sri Sri.
Vasu- Your information and knowledge is quite amateurish. In your innocence, you have been asserting oft repeated beliefs as facts. I can only laugh it away :-)
rocky— dear friend ! Am still waiting for the report from WB !
Where is everyone !!??
i think now u hv made ur point and ur search for truth is over u are enlightend…
u r the bst truthseeker… no one can dare to spk against u..
‘Art of Living’ is a common word in self help circles since ages. Sri Sri infact got this title from his Guru Maharishi mahesh Yogis’ Book “Since of Being and Art of Living”. That whole book is a big piece of promotional literature for Maharishi Mahaesh Yogis teaching of Japa which he rechristened as Trancendental Meditation.
Much before this there was a Buddhist Author Leonard Bullen who wrote a book called art of living. THe vipassana Guru wrote his book ‘Art of living” mch before sri sri started growing his beard. So all these trademarked terms and techniques used by scamsters like ravishankar are not so original. It is original only for the ignorant masses and people like ravishankar are too secretive and hide their sources.
Aashadabhoothi- how to ensure that the ignorant masses get to know the facts. Am sure, blogs like these dont get a million hits a day. Any thoughts ?
This is so shocking !!! What a way to market AOL.
Check it out friends-
http://guruphiliac.blogspot.com/2008/05/sri-sri-infects-internet.html
Art of Living Kool-Aid distributors are working overtime to make Sri Sri Ravi Shankar more famous in the States with some viral internet popularity scamming. From a message sent on the U.S. AoL mailing list:
If we can have you and the people in your network (local satsang groups and other AOL networks) follow the simple steps below, we will have an EXTREMELY powerful marketing campaign for guruji on the internet.
If we can have a large group of people follow the steps below, we can have the links to articles/blogs on guruji, shoot right up to the homepage of the website of an extremely popular site digg.com. This is a very powerful way of marketing, as lots of people visiting digg.com would see it on the homepage.
Name, fame and fortune are Sri Sri’s game, and he’s got an army of dupes to get it for him.
But what of those who see right through him? AoL has a plan for that too!
There seem to be a lot of comments on the two articles listed below on digg.com. If you did digg it, then do remember to go back and give a “thumbs up” to the comments that are pro-Art of Living, and a “thumbs down” to those comments that are anti-Art of Living.
Also, it would better if the people who dugg the two articles also dugg a few more (random) articles as well, and made a few random comments on some other random articles as well, so as to camouflage this campaign, otherwise it becomes very transparent, if you read the comments. It should appear that we are just normal users of digg, if you understand what I mean.
Yes we do. You are dishonestly gaming the digg.com system to make your pathologically narcissistic guru even more pathologically narcissistic.
We hate to break it to you, but AoL’s marketing campaigns have always been transparent, as clear as the air above Annapurna. You are only fooling the fools, Sri Sri. Anyone with half a brain can see you for exactly what you really are, a flimflamming fraud who does it all in an effort to burnish his own reflection in the mirror.
is this why most of the ‘supporters’ have been saying that they have got nothing to do with aol, that they are not connected with aol, that they are objective 3rd parties ???
Hey Mr. Truthseeker…
I still find that your comments & not other’s comments are to be laughed at..time & again.
If different people come & state the same things at different points of time, it means it is a FACT. FACTs wont change..
By the way, i will give you a movie name for you(& all) to watch. Please don’t respond by giving the same ” this is no way related to AOL, you have deviated …it is nonsense .etc etc..” reason. Look at it from a point of ” How people/ a person can MASS INFLUENCE an opinion”.
People do cry their hearts out saying he is spending millions on so & so..& again the response is the same..none of their business or money.
When i give an opinion, i keep in mind lots of things along with the main issue in hand..
Search for “ZEITGEIST” English documentary movie on youtube or anyother movie site & give your opinion on the movie with respect to MASS INFLUENCE. I will respond after you watch it & reply.
Dr Janakiraman one of the directors of NIMHANS who has done a great deal of research on Yoga and Neuro sciences with Vivekanada Yoga Kendra, Iyengar Yoga and Art of Living does not have many good things to say about AOL scamsters. Unlike the reputed yogic institutes like Vivekanada Yoga Kendra and Iyengar institue, AOL thrives on hypocrisy and false propoganda.
In a published paper by Lousiana State University Dr. Janakiramaiah has recognized the marketing behind the spirituality and expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that although the research had been conducted jointly between the Art of Living and NIMHANS, he felt that the research findings had been published much before any valid testing could be done to prove the results were valid. Especially claims like improved areas of function in the brain etc were not done according to the approval of NIMHANS. The preliminary ‘positive’ effects had been observed and then published and used as a validation for the Sudharshan Kriya before any actual scientific testing could be done.
He referred specifically to one example and said that in one of the brochures they describe that doing Sudharshan Kriya leads to a tingling in your fingers and toes. The brochures claim that this has to do with ultimate brain function and is a result of Sudharshan Kriya. “But if anyone keeps breathing like that- essentially they are hyperventilating and flushing their body with oxygen, which is what is going to happen. There is no mystical meaning behind the tingling in their fingers and all that. Then you have those people who will say that they felt guruji’s presence while doing the Sudharshan Kriya and when you ask them why they will say the same thing- that they felt this tingling sensation. If you keep breathing like that then what else will happen. I know these things- they say all this because they are swayed into believing that what is happening to them is spiritual or mystical but it is not. It is a common physiological reaction to hyperventilation. Then they throw in all this science and research that they
have done with AOL and all that. One very clever thing they do- they tell you that other than teaching you the Sudharshan Kriya method the rest is up to you. They have this subtle way of attributing any changes to you and this goes down very well with the western audience. It is easily accessible also so there are a lot of people who are coming in to do AoL courses.’ By attributing some aspects of the course as appealing to the western audience, Dr. Janakiramaiah is referring to the marketing of the AoL which takes into consideration the different backgrounds of people that it can refer to and then works on that basis.
My response to Mr Malur-
Ajay- Hey Mr. Truthseeker…
I still find that your comments & not other’s comments are to be laughed at..time & again.
Response- so ???
Ajay – If different people come & state the same things at different points of time, it means it is a FACT. FACTs wont change..
Response- I have never seen or heard a more nonsensical argument.
Ajay- By the way, i will give you a movie name for you(& all) to watch. Please don’t respond by giving the same ” this is no way related to AOL, you have deviated …it is nonsense .etc etc..” reason. Look at it from a point of ” How people/ a person can MASS INFLUENCE an opinion”.
People do cry their hearts out saying he is spending millions on so & so..& again the response is the same..none of their business or money.
Response- i have answered this so many times. Either you dont understand or you just DONT UNDERSTAND !!
Ajay- When i give an opinion, i keep in mind lots of things along with the main issue in hand..
response- self praise, AOL style
Ajay- Search for “ZEITGEIST” English documentary movie on youtube or anyother movie site & give your opinion on the movie with respect to MASS INFLUENCE. I will respond after you watch it & reply.
response- next month then. thanks for the suggestion
Response:
Truthseeker style: blah blah blah blah blah blah
Watch the movie, whether next year or next month…it is really thought provoking.
Response to Aashadabhooti:
Due respects to all the information provided..But a single question to all you AOL bashers: What has been the result of so much investigation into the “scams” of AOL?? Has anyone filed a PIL against the org? I don’t see any such action mentioned here in the blog or any new forum for that matter..
I am pretty sure this blog will continue for another 5-10 yrs to come (courtesy all the truthseekers) but the result will be the same. Coz you know, we Indians love criticism but take no action.
KIND REQUEST to any person who reads or responds to my comment-
please watch the documentary movie- ZEITGEIST (which is banned by the US govt) it exposes the least known but biggest ever conspiracy of innocent human manipulation. I hope people can spend 1 day on downloading & watching from the Internet.
Ajay- just because you dont like my line of thought, should that lead you to attempt humiliate me or pass sarcastic remarks ?
Aashadabhooti:
It is amazing the way good intentions and scientific research is twisted for banal and narcisstic groups. A true revelation in your post. Incidentally, this research by NIMHANS is highly publicised by AOL, though not many ppl would know abt it’s truth as unfolded by you.
And for you Mr Ajay- pls see my earlier post above. An important link there is – http://guruphiliac.blogspot.com/2008/05/sri-sri-infects-internet.html
this describes people like you who are camouflaging themselves in -oh-i -am -not- a aol-person-but-a third-party attitude.
Truthseeker, thanks for the visit to my blog. I am happy that I made you laugh. Please be specific about the points that caught your attention so that we can determine who is amateurish?
By the way, why are you hiding behind a fake name?
Don’t wait for quick reply as I only spend limited time on blogs.
Thank you,
Vasu Gokaraju
http://vasugokaraju.blogspot.com/
toughtI love the way you people fight over a non issue ,i think its like a dog fight over territory,both of the groups have some hidden agenda to pull each other down.Guys if you don’t like AOL do not join it,don’t pay the fee ,let AOL people f**k up their lives ,if you haven’t paid fees or joined them y the hell you want to pull them down,its a consumer friendly world,consumer will buy what it likes,bring a better product & market it better ,AOL will itself close down.
If anyone runs a NGO & earns its living from it,it is not a social service ,its a business & you can do anything to promote your business so nothing wrong about it.Mr.bhamy I am with you in mater of getting your money back ,if you did not like the seminar ,you should get your money back ,go to supreme court to get your money back.After you win i will sue my school & college to get my fee back,90% of what i studied did not benefit me & i lost my valuable years of life in college.
Another thing I don’t under stand is why this noise being made about people from IIT joining AOl or Mr shenoy being from IIT.95 % of students joining IIt are droppers who waste more than 2 years of life trying to get into IIT,not all are genius 30 or 40% maybe brilliant ,but what is their contribution towards society or India .Tax payers money is wasted on their education & these snobs run away to USA.Like all of you people i too love to pull people down be it NGOs or IIT graduates,its a CRAB mentality,we don’t want to do anything,if anyone tries to do something we tend to pull him down ,so suckers go on pulling each other down & I pray to god that at least in another 200 years a day comes when we don’t have any NGOs lechers OR consumer activist blackmailers & every one earns his living by working hard .
Response @ Truthseeker:
Hmmm, come on man,now you cannot tolerate a single piece of derogatory remark!!?? Doesnt this strike to you when YOU make personal comments as responses. I won’t bother coz u represent that part of the society which wants to escape by crying on & on & on but still have the issue unresolved.
You have a clever way of responding to comments(& deviating from the ISSUE) by either getting personal or by replying to statements which won’t ask you for action.
I have never gotten personal before- but i just gave a taste of your own medicine.
*************
I repeat my question for the N x N x Nth time— what has been the “productive” action taken by all or any of the AOL bashers so far in churumuri???
*************
If you say that the productive action is “creating awareness by blogging”- iam so sorry i cannot accept it- there are million others across the world who do the same.What else then??
For a change, don’t get personal- just answer me the above question enclosed between the stars & pleaseeeeee watch the doc movie. By the way, i checked all the links that u have provided, but my opinion remains the same.
Response @ Ilamba:
Well said!! What you have said is stark reality & that’s how people love to live. When we choose to watch a movie, we take a chance- we are not sure we will like it or not, but still go & watch it. And if we crib that it is bad after coming out of the movie, will the producer refund the money??!!
It will take ages for the general Indian to come out of the ‘destructive attitude'(or criticism) phenomenon. Being intelligent is good but it is not good enough unless we take proactive action.
I thank the readers in churmuri for creating awareness on the AOL scam. That is the least they can do.
There have been many litigations against and by AOL. SOme of them were related to the land deals and acquisitions. However there was one where AOL/Vyakti Vikas Kendra filed a case against Rangaraju, a friend of mine and the first AOL teacher who was initially instrumental in spreading AOL across Karnataka. Rangaraju got disgusted with the false life he was leading ever since he came to know the internals of this vicious organization. He could no longer lead a duplicitious and false life and opted out of the AOL organization. After leaving AOL, he started teaching Yoga and breathing exercises on his own as this was the only thing he knew. He was a reputed yoga teacher even prior to joining AOL. It was during this time he was threaned by the AOL goons. Senior AOL teachers Vinod Menon and Arun Madhavan even came to his house and threatened him not to teach and told them of the reach they had in the government. They also brough several vicious messages from the Sri Sri Himself. Sri Sri had told him that he would be destroyed if he goes against him. But Rangaraju stood by his convictions, AOL slapped a law suit on him. I admire the guts of Rangaraju for fighting this law suit right from the sessions court till the Karnataka High court. Finally the Karnataka High court gave a judgement in favour of Rangaraju and mentioned that “In this land of Patanjali and Shankaracharya no one has any exclusivse rights over teaching certain Yogic techniques”. This news was published in many newspapers including a couple fo english language national newspaper. It was indeed a trail of courage and conviction which made Rangaraju to come out successfully in this particular case with AOL. Unfortuantely not many people are lucky while fighting against injustice with oppressive and powerful organizations like AOL. Gurus like Sai Baba and Ravishankar have a long reach and can get away with practically anything. Remmember the four murders in the Satya Sai Baba ashram in putparthi. It is not easy to nail these Godmen as they have powerful allies in politicians, judiciary and press.
The amount of time the guru cults like AOL spends on false propoganda is quite a lot. As teachers we were told to cook up miracles of Sri Sri Ravishankar. This used to be published in their periodical called ‘Rishimukh’ and we also used to talk about these miracles in a subtle way during the course to basically explain the efficacy of the Guru’s Grace. One of the key message to all we teachers was that we should supress all negataive evidence by people who come with compaints resulting from the practice of the breathing exercises. This was a message given to us from the Sri Sri himself in his own Kutir from his own mouth.
Among the numerous miracles of sri Sri, I will give you a few instances of some miracles published in Rishimukh (in 1993 – I have the copies). Sri Sri himself did the final proofreading of the copies of Rishmukh. I myself used to take the proofs from a printer in VV Puram to the ashram. In one copy of rishimuck a belgian lady claimed that because of the grace of Ravishankar she was cured of Cancer in just one single sitting in a satsang. This was completely false as she never had cancer at all and never even mentioned it in the Basic course of which I was the teacher. She just cooked up the story and became a celebrity of sorts within the AOL community for a brief period of time as a result of the due publicity given. In another instance a man claimed how he was saved from a major accident from a speeding lorry due to the Grace of Guruji. Ironically after a few months four sincere and loyal AOL teachers met with a serious accident while they were coming to Satsang to the ashram. One teacher died on the spot and the other had rib cage fractures. The two others survived. Why did not the Guru’s grace operate in this case. When Sri Sri who was in Germany at that time was informed of this accident he mentioned that this is because of Karma and their spiritual evolution has speeded up because of this accident. IT is a case of Heads I win and tails you lose. Thats the logic in the Guru cult. Anything can be explained and accounted for. A couple of years later the daughter of the Times of India chief Indu Jain who was an enthusiastic AOL teacher died in a plane crash while touring the North East in a AOL volunteer campaign. Again the same answer from Sri Sri. But even now they make all kinds of outlandish claims of miracles and miracle healing. Why was the ailing mother of Sri Sri- Mrs Vishalakshi Ratnam hospitalised for three months in Apollo hospital before her death. WHy did she not rely on Sri Sri Ayurveda and AOL techniches if it is so efficacious. There are many many more incidents of Guru doublespeak and hypocricy.
I am not saying that Yoga lifestyle and practices are no good. I have found lot of benefits and healing in Yoga and the satwic diet in myself and others. But going out of board for propoganda and twisting facts is unethical.
Mayura Says:
1 February 2008 at 6:48 pm
Sri Sri’s father Mr.Sundaram was a big fraud, who was kicked out of his job at TAFE(Tractor and Farm Equipment) on charges of misappropriation where he worked as a Inventory Manager. Later on he started the 3 wheeler car ‘badal’ and swindled the investors before the car plant was shutdown.
The son is following in his illustrious fathers footsteps by conning the general public in the name of art of living (to me it looks more like art of lying). His Sudarshana Kriya is nothing more than Paranayama nicely packaged and this guruji has the gall to patent traditional knowledge known to Indians for ages. His disciples are mostly westerners who are looking for instant Nirvaana.
I have heard to some of his audio tapes and it is full of bull crap without any traces of spiritualism. I found Sri Sri’s thoughts on spiritualism was mostly rip offs from maharishi mahesh yogi
Lamba , Ajay and Vasu- Unfortunately there is very little that you do except throw your own dirt around. You are not worth speaking with.
Aashadabhoothi- Your examples are so apt. I have seen and experienced them so many times. heads I win, tails you lose- this is the only motto. Every word of what you write is making me gush and relive all those moments. So true, so apt, so reflective. May god bless you.
well i am not one of you suckers pulling each other down,i want to pull all of you down,to most of neutral people in this fight Bhamy is as good or bad as AOL.As for truthseeker u mentioned my name,who do you think u r ,mohammad, lord krishna or mahatma gandhi,i think you are bhammy in disguise .you can go on bashing any one you like but tell us about your contribution to society ,ur community or towards your family .Even if you feed a stray dog i think i think you are better then all these NGOs ,but if you think you are better because you can pull people down ,then you are worse than AOL & bhammy put together.if you people are so sincere about your country why don’t you write against terrorists who blast innocent people,pull down USA,Pakistan ,Zimbabwe ,invasion of Iraq or even khalistani or Muslim terrorists .You cant because a single word from them & you will shit in your pants.Grow up guys no one is bigger than your country
As i said, llamba is all dirt !! thanks for proving me correct dear llamba !!! hahah
and Trusthseeker goes blah blah blah blah again…
You are just shying away from a genuine debate by giving your amateurish “responses”. You are a disgrace to the anti-AOL tribe. The debate was much better and healthier before you crept into this forum. Before you start showering us with more of your “responses”, please, grow up.
How does it fees now Mr.bhamy@truthseeker ?.If you think running a NGO is social service ,do it voluntarily ,i will join you ,but running a NGO as business you are as good or bad as AOL.So what truth are you seeing truthseeker ,any thing you say is truth ,other say it is dirt hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.I love my country & i hate NGOs ,extremists & terrorists .Say something against attacks on innocent people in jaipur or your Rs 5000.00 is of more value than hundreds who lost their lives in jaipur
totally incoherent and zonked out you are my friend ! suggest you take some rest, a genuine advise as a friend (even if you dont consider me one)
@Lamba
I’m happy there’s one more person here who believes in action more than blabbering his guts out. But i feel Mr. Bhamy(who is not truthseeker) is a more genuine person because of his background. As for the rest of them, they are here to manifest themselves & their egos..I pity them all.
And as for Truthseeker- i pity you coz you proved again that personal attacks matter to you more than the issue or PRODUCTIVE ACTION. If i were in Bangalore, i sure would have organised a meeting of common thinking people who are here. As the other guy said- making the minimum most contribution to the society is good enough.
Iam expecting your reply still Mr.Truthseeker, put your ego beside & tell me. I am not against any person, i am against the thoughts..that’s it.
Simple example: My juniors in the engg college(9 yrs back) where i studied were asked to pay an amount of Rs.200/- along with their annual fee, which the management said was part of a donation..but there was no reciept for that. Meaning- it was unaccounted for. All the students put together it amounted to more than Rs 1 lakh. Those students were brave enough to make a silent demonstration in front of the admin office. Believe me- there was no Student union there, so a few classmates of mine joined hands with them & together made a louder protest. The management didn’t ask a single question. The protest ended in half an hour.
Action speaks louder than words.
Mr Aashadabhooti: If your examples are real enough, which does seem like, i am with you. But is there a way in unifying all the people & making a common statement?? Say by preparing a video showing all the misdeeds thro those people & many more? Iam pretty sure, some media channel will grab it – if it is geniune enough.
My dear Ajay- it seems we are still at tangents. let me take the inititaitve of bringing us on the same page.
I am very much in favour of an action, in fact I would support it wholeheartedly. So there is no dispute about that., was never !
Thank you for your pity, but I am not in bangalore.
To answer your *** question, I dont think any ‘action’ has been taken so far. But i would be happy to support if we decide to do so.
Some of my friends here have chosen me to be their punching bag ! no problem, somebody has to take this role. What is a problem is that the big picture is being lost sight of
And I hope we all have read the news of Monday where a godman from Kerala was arrested with drugs, police unifroms, tiger skins besides a litany of sex crimes
Shreyas-
Hello. I am afraid but i do not see any of your prior posts, so either you have been a silect spectator or you are changing identities.
My ‘response’ (u must be cringing now)
Shreyas- and Trusthseeker goes blah blah blah blah again…
You are just shying away from a genuine debate by giving your amateurish “responses”. You are a disgrace to the anti-AOL tribe.
Response- I am not against AOL. It is doing some good work my dear !! Pls open your eyes and look around. The problem is that it is getting too commercialised and separated from the main objective
Shreyas- The debate was much better and healthier before you crept into this forum. Before you start showering us with more of your “responses”, please, grow up.
response- Thanks for your feedback. You are free to ignore my posts.
Hello guys,
My 2 cents:
I have not studied the operations of AOL to declare if it is good or bad, but have observed Cult like behaviour in my friends who are volunteering there. They treat their Guruji like god and are reluctant to answer any logical question put forward against AOL’s operations. And Cultism is very dangerous. (Similar to those in network marketing/MLM business like Amway etc-unquestioned faith in their organization and outright refusal to hear anything that is negative)
Also it is very much expected that AOL makes its account book public. People have every right to know how the money is being spent.
Dear Friends (both for and against AOL),
I just finished reading a book on Ida M. Tarbell, a actvist journalist of early 20th century. She was the one who led the protest against Rcokefeller after a thorough research into the “illegal and clandestine” activities and brought down Standard Oil Company. It was an epoch making event and still celebrated in some circles in the US. It was an era of gilded age of Rockefeller, Carnegie, Mellon, J P Morgan, etc and it was simply unthinkable that a journalist and that too a female could do such an outstanding muckraking job against the richest man in the world. She did and succeeded. By the way Rockefeller was well known for his charitable contributions when Tarbell was writing about him just like AOL’s Ravi Shankar.
Now our “rich” Ravi Shankar who presides over AOL is also a genius like Rockefeller. It is not a simple feat to have so many ashrams all over the world or attract thousands from all over the world to his place and ask them to pay money for the previlege of being assocaited with him. One needs to admire his great marketing genius like we need to admire Rockefeller for “killing” all his competition for the good of oil sector.
While admiring Ravi Shankar, let us find out what actually he is doing? Is he really charitable? What has he done with all his crores of assets? If it a charitable association as he claims then he has a responsibility to open his books for public scrutiny. Why has he not done that yet?
It was only after attending the so called NGO SUMMIT, I started to have doubts about his true intentions. It will be only a question of time, some dedicated and concerned youth from some NRI family from the US will dig into AOL and write an expose like Tarbell did. This is my prediction. I wish some of our own youth from India could have done this.
Unfortunately our educational institutions do not instill such high values into our youth. As one can see from this blog, we have not seen any one showing interest to dig into “facts” of Ravi Shankar. Yes there have been some interesting revelations and anecdotal findings about the wrong doings of AOL. But can they stand in the court of law? How can we prove that money is siphoned from AOL? How can we prove that AOL is indeed a commercial organization in a court of law if we want to file a PIL?
Even my small and inconsequnetial case against AOL in a consumer court was not even admitted when I thought that I had a strong case and one of the judges agreed with me.
In short what we need is Indian version of Tarbells to expose not just AOL, but many such modern gurus who are taking ordinary folks for a ride. Any suggestion to find them?
Agreed Sir, agreed. Your thoughts very much hit the nail on the head
@ truthseeker..
i thought u atind enlightenment but its sad to c tht u r still searchin for the truth.. anyways here s sumthing for u my special frnd.. here s a video exclusivly for you… i hope this will help.. well i thnk this is the only thng tht could help….. plz go through the entire video n i hv a msg for u at the end.. n belive me if u dnt get enlightend aftr this there s no chance for it in the next 10 thousand centuries….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qev6xgnvdKY&feature=related
hi… why dont someone use the “right to informations act” and gather informations about the volunteer services, and the belongings of art of living?… then make it public.. so that we can know if service activities are really happening with all these money collected.
take a look at this webpage…
http://persmin.nic.in/RTI/WelcomeRTI.htm
Could anyone take up the responsibility?.. Bhamy maybe?
RTI Act is “An Act to
provide for setting out
the practical regime of
right to information for
citizens to secure access
to information under the
control of public
authorities, in order to
promote transparency
and accountability in the
working of every public
authority….”
Section 2(h) of the Act
defines “public
authority” as any
authority or body or
institution of self-
government established
or constituted-
a.by or under the
Constitution;
b.by any other law made
by Parliament;
c.by any other law made
by State Legislature;
d.by notification issued or
order made by the
appropriate Govnt, and
includes any-
i) body owned, controlled
or substantially financed;
ii)non-government
organisation substantially
financed, directly or
indirectly by funds
provided by the
appropriate Govnt.
Going by the above
definition, AOL does not
come under the purview
of this Act.
Rakesh,
I would have gladly taken this task of seeking information on Art of Living if one can get such information under RTI. Perhaps some information can be obtained. But it may not throw light on the total assets and also how those assets are used.
What we need is an investiagtive team of volunteers who can look into this. If some volunteers come forward I can try to conince Mysore Grahakara Parishat to support them by paying for their expenses. We need public service minded youth with dedication. That is why I was predicting that some childern of NRIs will take up this challenge.
Mr Shenoy I am curious and frankly bemused about the last statement you make. I am a child of an NRI and neither me nor any of my ilk are any more public service minded or dedicated than a young person from Kalasipalyam or Kuvempunagar. I hope you were being facetious in your predicting things.
Hey men, whatever might be AOL, its harmless to society.
Some people are benefited by it.
If you feel you will waste time there, then don’t join – its not for you.
Unlike other Hindu mutts, gurukulas, AOL is broad minded in welcoming even the down trodden, socially unwelcome groups into its organization.
We have to compliment AOL for that.
Gaby,
I was serious in my comments. I know of several childern of NRIs who have come to India and are involved in India’s development projects. Have you heard of Indicorps started by two NRI children from Houston? They have brought several NRI children to work in rural areas on some interesting projects. These are not the ones who are interested to get a certificate so that they can meet the requirements while seeking admission into colleges.
Pacifier,
I do not know the criteria you use to define harm done by AOL and such cult like groups. Let us assume AOL is doing a great job unlike other groups. Then an objective study will bring it out and it may help to continue its “noble” work.
As far as allowing downtrodden into ashram, I could not see any one. In fact jail like enviornment kept all such people out. All those who were in attendance (excepting for employees taking care of toilts, garbage collection, etc) in ashram were well to do, college eduacted, middle or rich.
Hello friends. I am reading Paul Brunton’s ‘Search in Secret India’. Any thoughts, comments, views on the book will be welcome.
thanks
Well Mr Shenoy, good luck as you wait for your Messaiah who doesnt need certificates to get into college. let me also tell you that the possibility of meeting any of these messiahs in the ‘ satsangs’ at AOL is pretty high. NRIS and their progeny like working on projects involving seksy things like povert, malnutrition etc. They wont touch leave alone investigate the ‘Sri Sris and Gurujees’!
hahaha this is HILLARIOUS !! am told by some contacts at AOL’s bangalore ashram that in a recent sewa activity some of htem were given the task of combating online criticism of AOL !!! I am sure ajay, rocky, etc etc are all from that tribe !!!!! poor you !!
If one of the things AOL does while combating online criticism is take a look at the real issues mentioned in the criticism (leaving out the name calling etc.) – it will be good for AOL itself. Self-introspection is good for any large organization. Very few criticize things out of pure malice – and you can easily ignore such criticism.
Hope AOL can look at the reason behind the concerns raised by Bhamy and others and take action to improve on these (these include collecting high fees for events and not giving back what is promised, aggressive marketing based more on hype than substance, some degree of nepotism in the inner circles, etc.). And then after some time maybe publish replies on how the things were addressed. Instead of encouraging unintelligent spammers who only make their cause look bad.
Anyway AOL is a big organization, a few online comments wont hurt them much. How they act on these comments will show their mettle as an organization.
@trrrrrruthskr
Iam the one in disguise..I gave the information to our fellow tribesmen..
Big brother is watching u, all you cry babies beware. internet is an insecure form of communication..
hahahahahahhahahahaahahahahaaha :)))
it feels good to type ‘hahaa’, isnt it guru? I love it.
Is washing your own dishes a big deal? I personally mistrust all spritual types but this post and the letter does not give any fact that showes that this meet was a charade to make money. And anyway just because they make a profit from the meet they dont become anti-socials. Ravi Shankar might call himself Sri Sri, but we don’t have to mind him. What matters is if he does help society like he claims to or not. Who cares if some people were dissapointed with the treatment? If you must, think of him as a self conceited person who might be doing good to people; for whatever reason.
Barmy Shenoy… Now that you have lost your illgotten INR 5000 bucks !!!
I have a few more tips to you on how to loose money and feel betrayed.
Visit SAICS(South Asian Institute of Christian Studies on Hennur Road in Bengaluru).
Missionories of Charity(Kolkatta)
Jehovah’s Witnesses(St. Thomas Town,Bemgaluru)
Madarasas(Eastern UP)
Conventional wisdom states the largest profit making industries in the world are Religion and WAR.
Now that you have faced religion and your next objective is to wage War against your adversery mentioned.
Wish you Good Luck !!!
WTF is SriSri ? or whatever he is ?
Once Buddha said ” Go get mustard from Savu Yilladha Mane’
I think Sri Sri and his parents are healthy and still kicking by doing Pranayama day and night .His house must be Saavu yilladha mane .
I am a youth and have done my 1st Yes!+ (Youth Empowerment & Skills workshop) 2 years back. I have since volunteered for many other yes!+ programs and done other advanced courses. and each program has been a revelation to me. it had opened all kinds of possibilities for me. Experiences that nothing can offer. The experience had been extremely cathartic and beautiful. I love the Satsangs and sri sri’s ancient knowledge for new millenium, which would ave been lost on MTV genX like us.
There are a few people who do go out of their way to enroll others to experience the bliss, that they experienced. But 1st they are volunteers and do not earn any money by doing that and 2 the money goes for charity. Lots of charity work is done by AOL – find out some on the AOL website.But there is a lot more work going on a micro level, which is not doccumented, a testimony to the fact that AOL is not looking for cheap publicity.
There is no ‘marketing team’ for AOL. Everything is done by volunteers some younger than me. It’s better to be engaged in such, rather to be sloshed at pubs. There have been thousands of youths who have been helped in more ways than one.
Yes, there are few issues which are not very transparent and anyone who wants to REALLY find out the ‘TRUTH’, should do that actively coz a blog post or searching on the internet WILL NOT reveal it to you. About the money AOL makes you may ask for a balance sheet etc. Experience the program for yourself. 1000 Rs. for a 40 hours program is as low as 25 Rs. per hour. More than this one pays to a plumber. Your mind certainly deserves much more.
About Sri Sri- you can slander him all you want, for millions across the globe he is a light of hope and fun and knowledge and unconditional love and nothing will change that. Because what ever is said here are just concepts – what I have is experience, which cannot be disproven and I cherish it. You should give it a try too. If nothing else, it will be a very different adventure.
There are certain issues which might offend purists but one can find negatives even in a rainbow, forget aout a human being. Even Jesus was crucified, sri sri is anyway still a human being, yet.
I was doubtful before I did my 1st course and I have some other doubts still but I am finding answers to the doubts and that canot be done by reading on the internet.
And lastly, Mr.Shenoy AOL Bangalore is an Ashram & not a resort where you’ll get room service or 5 star hotel ameneties (and I am sure nobody would have promised you that). Is it not childish to denounce someone on this basis? The facilities are the same for everyone.It has become my second home and it is BEAUTIFUL.Even if you HATE AOL and Sri Sri still visit once.
or if some dignitary did not turn up should you not denounce (if you have to) that person rathet than AOL? or how many SRI’s one has in front of his name. etc. etc.
My take on ‘spirituality’ being commercialised-AOL is a nonprofit NGO and it is involved in LOTS of charity,
1)charity cannot happen from empty bowl, 2) they are offering you a service, there is charge to that service; 3)Initially and for a long time programs were free of cost, course fee was brought in for commitment coz where one invests money one invests time.
My teacher is from IITM and IIML and I was wonder struck to see such an intellectual in such an environment with such wisdom and faith. He is not a hermit. He is working, have kids, plays guitar, sings, amazing sense of humor and has a deep unshakable calm & is dedicated to AOL. And such role models are a plenty in AOL to inspire youth like me to become and do more than go to college-pub or got to work 9-5 – sleep.
The Art of Living really is a Beautiful experience!
Annonymous Guy,
It is a good idea for organizations like AOL to introspect what went wrong in this NGO scam. Unfortunately these organizations are quite totalitarian and fascist in nature. There is nothing wrong the Guru can do so there is no need for any improvement as the Guru’s words come from some divine source and hence unquestionable. There is no learning from mistakes as such because there is no acknowledgement of mistakes. Intelligent and logical decision making process is absent. What the organization thrives on is sloganeering and concluive cliches.
As a person who has involved in may important conservation and development projects in Rural India, I have worked with national and international NGOs and organizations. I have been in many commitees where there has been intense brainstorming and descion making. These kind of things are absent in Organizations like AOL. They browbeat and publicize a lot of things but there are no intelligent decisions or action plans. This is clearly evident in this particular meet as well as in another meet which I had attended in AOL. Their agenda is quite clearly the self aggrandizement of the individual guru and furtharance of the personality cult. The petty bougeouseise followers of these organizations blow up the work beyond all proportion.
Now there is a latest and new Seminar / NGO scam that Sri Sri is conducting. This is about combating AIDS by gathering 200 hindu religious leaders and NGOs in his ashram. No prizes for guessing the execution and conduct of this seminar.
My dear Loka samsta sukhino bhawantu – It is so good that you are enjoying. May god continue this dream trip for long. May you not get exposed to and hten hurt by seeing, observing and knowing what all AOL does or does not. May you live in your illusions. Coz for you, your truth is only that.
Loka samasta…. because AOL misleads people as innocent,trusting and gullible as you, make cults such as AOL a complete scam. Dear Loka and all those reading these posts, who are members of cults, God is application of common sense. Bhamy and other whistle blowers need to be encouraged to make those misled by these Guru’s, to see sense.
I am not intelligent and expert to decide on something but it is common sense which is not so common.
One can make fool to billions of people. I think there is something above all those comments which makes AOL so popular.
Do think any Hoax can do this?
Hi,
I have never seen n read faltu bakwas blog like this one before. I accidently visited this blog and wasted time. Feeling sorry for that. This churumuri blogger’s intention is only to earn some chirimiri n it seems that many intellectuals haven fallen to his pranks. Please donot waste your valuable time and stop writing on this blog.
These people donot have intellect to understand the noble cause behind AOL.
My dear Pravin
From your enlightining post, it seems that you are of superbly high intellect my friend. As a rank holder from IIT and then IIM and now a senior IAS officer, perhaps I need to learn something from you Pravin. My intellect is lower than yours but still it seems to have gone into areas where your enlightened self is not going. Why ? think Pravin. You are talking of intellect, then pls think.
by the way, where is rocky ? krishna ? ajay maloor? and so many others !! or was it one only changing identities !!
>>>As a rank holder from IIT and then IIM and now a senior IAS officer
I was refraining from commenting on this post but couldn’t hold off my temptation on seeing this line. Mr. Truthseeker, did it occur to you that your netiquette doesn’t match well with your “credentials”? Or perhaps we need more truthseekers to relentlessly seek the truth behind your “credentials”, bashing up anyone who dare come in the way.
I know Mr. Truth “I am always right” Seeker will pounce on me with his blistering response and prove how wrong I am and how right he is and make me speechless just like what he did to other mortals here. Because for Mr.TruthSeeker, that’s the way of seeking truth.
Mr Shenoy, you should probably be spending your effort and time elsewhere to get back your Rs. 5000. Perhaps you could use some inspiration from Dr. Anil Kumar/Ganapati Sachichidananda Swamji episode reported in Churumuri. Dr. Kumar was definitely not waiting for NRIs and children of NRIs to come and help him get his land back.
My dear Ranga, (and I wont make fun of your net id), your thoughts are well taken. Apologies if my response has been deemed to be not in line with the netiquettes.
The seed of communism has spread across kerala like weed. No development is possible as long as communists and their puppies(DYFI and SFI) are there. A daily wage earner and govt office employees all want a dose of Stalin and Lenin at the end of the day(along with a bottle of toddy. prepared by comrades after mixing with yesterday’s kunji water). They get goosebumps when they talk about china(the paradise for them). These days top comrades are busy DISTURBING THE TRADITIONS OF THE TEMPLE, AND MAKING MONEY WITH FRAUD SANTHOSHMADHAVAN
So but far away in Bengal, Buddha is laughing and crying hysterically what his comrades have been doin since last 30 years. Even after 30 years, there are hand-pulled rikshaws running in Kolkata.
I am sure once the oil get dried up in gulf, we are also going to do the same. you can see the handpulled rikshaw everywhere. They will run from Kochi to Thiruvandapuram also.
What is communism in Kerala go to do with the above topic? I am puzzled
I guess the attitude of some on this site are typical that of the communists. The biggest threat we are facing is naxal fundamentalism…not even religious fundamentalism. There seems to be a few people (same people) posting with different names arguing for and against AOL…keeping this blog well and alive.
I see some hurt egos to incorrect expectations to total ignorance to lies to anger. As one pointed out..some are aruging for the sake of aruging…some people need attention. Good luck.
Hi to all!
Jai Guru Dev!
Dear friends, I am a student, pursuing my M.B.A., and came across art of living ONE YEAR BACK. It has changed my life and guru ji is like God for me. You people may not know that how blessed we are that we took birth in the time, when he is visiting this planet. Most of you are simply ignorent( though I am just 23 yr. old and many of you might be older to me but still believe me, time will prove it.) One day you will come to know that what he is. and I am sure, he will forgive you for your ignorence.
But please think before writing anything, because you are not typing it for anyone, he is the beloved of crores of people. We love him, I personaly love him most, even more than anything, anyone.. Don’t you think even for a while that why so many highly educated people love him?? Think for a while.. and please for god sake, think before anything which you say…
It’s really pity
May God Forgive you!
Dear Rohit Kumar Pandey- you are the true symbol of love and generosity who is great wisdom (perhaps only after Lord Krishna) is still blessing the opponents of his Guru. Wah .. wah waah May you remain in that self concocted belief till harsh reality confronts you and by then you will have little to defend for except your incredulous acts. Btw, from where are you pursuing your MBA ?
To Rohit Kumar Pandey
my congratulations to you for finding a perfect teacher.
Since you are studying for MBA, you should consiser writing a thought provoking article on branding, marketing (ethical and non ethical) and promotion stratgey for a non profit NGO using your own example as a case study. It would be of great help to many.
Your “guru” is an embodiment of marketing genuis. Since you have that rare insight into his unbounded energy, please enlighten us with that wisdom.
When I attended the ashram, I could only see the profit making activities using his great power of marketing. That is why I fely I was cheated.
@Bhamy
We call this as “Ethical Dilemma” in MBA terminology (Today Ethics is something we learn in university, seldom used in real life). Nothing is wrong or right unless its forced upon you or forced by yourself. Sometimes this mindset will foster Sri Sri Sri’s & scam scam scams…, life is such … what to do ?
People with Addiction related problems say the same thing as Pandey –
‘We love IT more than anything else in the world’. My heart goes out to both varieties of individuals!
The latest spin is that Sri Sri has brought Gujjar agitators to the discussion table !!!!!
“When I attended the ashram, I could only see the profit making activities using his great power of marketing. That is why I fely I was cheated.”
Just that you wanted a palace for 5000 rs. Obviously you are disappointed. Bhamy as I said earlier you just want attention.
Truth Seeker – IIT, MBA, …oh what else??? You are playing for spin when you have to play for straighter ones. Obviously too much spin in your mind. Get it straight.
And now, because of the Gujjars, he’s get himself nominated for the Nobel Peace-HA!!
check out the latest on http://guruphiliac.blogspot.com/ all you aol followers, and see the truth for what it really is
raj- you are totally incoherent
Are koi ‘ BHAMY V. SHENOY’ ka Rs 5000/- wapas kar do bhai….I observed the whole discussion was revolving around Rs 5000/- :-)….Take my suggestion, Think as if you have donated or lost your money some where, belief me you will be happy after wards….
“Be blessed by the ‘Divine Bliss'”
jaideep – why not you create your own blog and point a link to it …?
TS – of course your confused mind cannot get it.
My dear friend Raj- I agree that I am not of a superior category as I am not a member of the present aol team, but I am sure you are. The way you are behaving on this blog, by calling people names, is this the way Guruji has taught you ? Do you think you are making him happy by doing all this ? What are you trying to achieve by calling people all kinds of dirty names Raj ? Think. You are only hurting your own self. This is also mentioned in Yogavashishta, chapter 8 & 9. Remember ? Remember Bhagfwad gita ? remember Narad sutra ? remember shiv sutra ? Go back to your soul my friend, become hollow and empty and then you will get your own answer. You dont have to come here and announce to the world what you found, but just be with it. just be. that is important. I know you do not like me. You and your friends have also made fun of my qualifications, my blog id and so many other things. When you do So-ham next, thing about this. Does your soul become happier by hurting another part of hte divine soul ? think.
Guru ji is like guru ghantaal. A scammester he teaches how to scam and never get caught. what he preaches is already borrowed or copied from someone else and at the same time he got them patented also !!!. This requires great genius. Some thing to be learnt from him.
He is more like BARISTA and Cafe Coffe Day where people accumalate get some cofee in nie environment at an exhibourent and high cost than a neighbouring coffee shop.If a fool wants to spend his money lavishly than why other should stop him ?
Mr. TS.
I am glad you have a great knowledge of all the great books and I hope you are using all the knowledge you have gained in your day-to-day life.
Seriously, I do not have any of that knowledge. But, please do not ‘SPIN’ saying that I somehow called someone with a ‘dirty’ name. (btw, I am not incoherent or here to call someone with a dirty name – no name calling please. If someone did so, please go after them).
It seems to be that some of this new yuppie guru community (befittingly parrodied in ‘Love Guru’) are something like rent-a-guru !! I know what some of the die-hard Guru fans will say (not only in India but here in NY as well) but the fact remains that Myers has parodied Sri Sri Ravi Shankar totally and completely in ‘love guru’ !! Dont believe me? No probs mate, just checkout this link
http://www.lovegurumovie.com/
http://www.thegurupitka.com/
US has seen a deluge of them. But this one goes all the way upto the White House !!
From what my friends in India & UK tell me, these hogwashers schmooze with the wealthiest, have ‘fun’, have the sexiest women around kissing and feeling them up, get RICH, make a fool of people at large, get their cronies into politics and rule in absentia. My brother has a huge farmhouse in Los Angeles and some of the people mentioned in this blog have also been there !!! And I have been also ‘blessed’ by them ! How many of you know his rich ‘tastes’ ? Just check out his mobile phone and shades next time kidos
Though not many of the people have cared to respond, but ‘Search in Secret India’ by Paul Brunton is indeed a window to the real spirituality. It is sad to observe but Sri Sri bashing is all what you all are interested in. Search for the real source, and that has been clearly guided in ‘Search in Secret India’
TruthSeeker- it would be good if you concentrate your energies there. You would do a lot of good to yourself, your soul and some of your friends here, who dont really seem to like you !! You will find real solace, calm and the true Guru. Dont be seen here longer mate. you are wasting your time.
And pls dont start a hate campaign against Mike Myers guys….. He is doing only what your Sri Sri asked for. It is a befitting (but yes, a humiliating) reply to him
Good and bad are complimentary not opposite…….and many more…i see AOL as a great place who simplified “Yoga”, “Veda”, “Upanishad” for a professional like you all nothing more than that. I say its 100% truth…… It’s a place for rich people……I have not seen any poor guys in AOL Ashram yet. Every coin has two sides my dear friends but I am very happy to see you all with great clarity of thought…. “YE KEVAL DRISHTI AUR DRISHTIKON KA FARK HAI BHAIYON”….I see all of you know lot of things about ancient books and tradition…….The best thing i see here “data mining and pattern mining” skills of you all…superb….. true example of quite old for India but new for the rest of world “non linear algorithm” and “Stochastic theory”, now a day’s getting applicable in every field. You all are true strength of INDIA to make is again as knowledge super power…
Let me come back to common topic of (LOVE/HATE) discussion. sri sri is keeping all of you at same platform. It’s up to you guys how many sri you want to add or remove….simply superb discussion…..you all are doing it perfectly…. All such guru says our religion is oldest none of them says there is no name of our religion…….why not these modern ashram able to find out good leader….…we all are follower……even our leaders and follower of these gurus……our country is famous for being follower now, being part of the hub of outsource industry. Being sri sri based at Bangalore for him it’s time to in cash opportunity cost, there is nothing wrong in it….at least he keeps you refrain from alcohol & bad habbits…..people do “pranayama” regularly whatever “kriya” he has named it….nothing is wrong in it… I see it’s constructive…you pay him to bring back your good habit…whatever you have lost till now. If you see he provoked you doing something bad then its sin. You have money you pay and bring back good habits. In AOL ashram you get good ambiance and free food as many as you can whenever you go there. You don’t have to pay next time. So you all know if you want to have free food in weekend go there and enjoy. You don’t have to pay second time it’s just one time investment. At least many of us know meaning of SO-HUM now. In “Guru” Movie there is dialogue “Jab log jalne lagen to samajh lo ki tarakki kar rahe ho”. So please keep stop discussing on this topic here otherwise SSRS we keep going on progressing. If you want to stop him please ignore him! Else he will be part of discussion and will keep gaining more and more popularity. May be some internet blog company will make him his brand ambassador. Though he is already brand ambassador of our top national newspaper. You have to stop him from making money in future…if you guys will stop here. This ignorance will be a potential threat for him. Love/hate discussion always stimulates our hormones. Hope all of you must have experienced it personally :-)
Quite interestingly put Al.
wow !
I got dizzy reading Al. ..Sir abhi bhi chakra raha hai
Thand rakho bhaiyon……have lassi and chill madi. Gyaan kee ganga me kudne se pehle koi life jaket nahi pehnta………usme dubna hee uski fitrat hai. This is called PARAMANAND.
No one is permanent hear….do any one of you remember “Pulkesin” or “Samudra Gupta” or “Kanad” they were one of the greatest ruler , strategist and scientist respectively…..no one remember them even though they conquered the world……..remember one thing mob cannot be intelligent…..they follow trend……we all are part of that …..else we would ware DHOTI in our offices in place of trousers…….
when I was kid there was big fame of “Shriram Shrma Acharya” founder of gayantri samaj and many other things….many ppl use to claim him as similar to SSRS get claimed by his followers…….but he has gone after some time…every one try to be great here……they all are simple human being with greater leadership quality but why we forget that he is also a human with all human nature within him……….all of us are result of SEX only, so why you think he came out from some other process, so he will be different from us….let him be a simple human…..Embrace your/his good qualities and forgiv bad one…….in VEDANTA there is term called NEERA KSHEER VIVECHANA ….if you don’t know meaning let me know…….remember nothing is linear in this world.
Enjoy this beautiful song by movie “kabhi kabhi”….which says no one is permanent here
Kal nayi konpale footengi,’
Kal naye phool muskurayenga,
Aur naye ghass ki nayi farsh par,
Naye paaon ithlaayenge,
Woh mere beech nahi aaye,
Mein unke beechme kyun aaoon,
Unki soobha aur shamona ka,
Mein ek bhi lamha kyon paaoon
Main pal do pal ka shaayar hoon
Pal do pal meri kahaani hai
Pal do pal meri hasti hai
Pal do pal meri jawaani hai
Mujhse pehle kitne shaayar
Aaye aur aakar chale gaye
Kuchh aahein bharkar laut gaye
Kuchh naghme gaakar chale gaye
Woh bhi ek pal ka kissa thhey
Main bhi ek pal ka kissa hoon
Kal tumse juda ho jaaoonga
Woh aaj tumhaara hissa hoon
Main pal do pal ka..
Kal aur aayenge nagmon ki
Khilti kaliya chunne waale
Mujhse behtar kehne waale
Tumse behtar sunne waale
Kal koi mujhko yaad kare
Kyoon koi mujhko yaad kare
Mashroof zamaana mere liye
Kyoon waqt apna barbaad kare
Main pal do pal ka..
Let me know if you want to know meaning of any word in this song.
Cheers!
AL
Crap ! I say ! Fools i say !! But i dun really want to blabber infront of fools ! AOl is always a turning point in my life ! I owe a lot to AOL and to the courses i have attended.
Varsha Joshi, Everyone is different in this world….ppl are writing there own thoughts here…Your thoughts can be positive about AOL but you cannot stop ppl …..”Darkness” make “light” more important else there will be no importance of light in our life…..reminding you basic rules again…Good and bad are complimentary not opposite……Don’t be football of other’s opinion….I am highly oblised with the people here who has shown me so many new dimentions of SSRS…..
What is truth…?
Truth is that which does not change. Examine your life and identify all that changes as not truth. With this outlook, you will find that you are surrounded by only untruth. When you identify that which appears to you as untruth, then you will become free from it. When you don’t identify the untruth, you cannot become free from it. Your own experiences in life make you identify your own untruth. As you mature in life, you find everything is untruth – events, situations, people, emotions, thoughts,
opinions, concepts, your body – everything is untruth. It is only then the satsang (company of truth) in the real sense happens. For example, a mother cannot see the child as untruth until the child becomes an adult. For a baby sweet is not untruth, and for a teenager sex is not untruth
prajegale swalpa tamtamma yAksabladegalanna kammi madtira
Yaake karihaida, avaru churumuri ‘space’-alli blade hakkudhre haakli, nimigenu?
Diff. people have diff. views, diff. opinions, diff. thoughts at diff. interval of times. You may find his organization a crap but for others, many others, the AOL course has helped them to get rid of many physical problems.
Why you concern about others? Concern about yourself, first. Have you done basic and advance course of AOL? I suggest you do that, leave your though for a while and go for the course. You’ll see the difference in yourself. Whether he add bucks to his pocket or not when you pay for the course is not a matter of concern, if you have been benefited with the course than who ever own/run the organization, you are the KING. And if this happens then you’ll have diff. opinion at this stage.
I have done all courses at AOL (in all exotic ashrams that it runs) and I have a BIG problem with this money making engine, which attracts people with a humane, gentle, goodie goodie face but has someting else running behind.
If you are blind, I cannot help it.
Lot’s of SriSri bashing going on here. It’s expected when there is hugh success. I’ve spend money on quite a few art of living courses and let me tell you, it’s worth every penny. Increased productivity at work, superb health condition, great relationship situations with family and friends, and most importantly peace of mind. As a result, I’m contributing my time in gratitude.
I think some of you in this discussion have to get a life and be happy, too much bitterness.
We seem to be going around the bush. I for one have a lot of admiration for the marketing genius of Ravi Shankar. In fact I wrote in the beginning it is business schools which should study AOL model and have case studies on his success.
Any one who can convince to take courses in thousands whether putting old wine in new bottles or new wine in old bottles is worthy of admiration.
My reason for complaints is based as a consumer activist. I was sold a product/service which did not meet the promised standards. I felt India’s NGO movement was taken for a ride and I just wanted to set the record straight by taking AOL to consumer court. I wanted to hear their side of the story in the court of law. Before that I gave them an opportunity. But AOL did not even respond to my email. However they did find time to respond to my artilce which was published in Houston ethnic papers, but not in Indian papers. Some bloggers may be able to figure out the reasons for such step motherly treatment.
UG Krishnamurthi used to tell this about the holy business – Holy Business is the only Business where you can promise something and don’t deliver. You can always get away by claiming that your efforts are not sufficient or some past life karma or lack of sufficient devotion. There are many out their selling their pieces of goods in the spiritual market. Also people are guided by hope and fear when they approach these gurus. The hope for gaining something they don’t have and fear of losing what they have. There are many number of Gurus to cater to the Gulliable populace. One thing common across all these gurus is that they all need your MONEY.
@ Art of Living Community
A little bit of self knowledge for you
“Why you concern about others? Concern about yourself, first. ”
Why don’t you apply this to yourself here. It is quite hilarious that you are not practicing what you preach.
Bhamy:
What is wrong with marketing? A good product ought to be marketed well. Otherwise someone with a sub-standard product with a better marketing campaign is going to do better. I also see nothing wrong with charging 5000rs for a 3-day event. No one is going to charge you exactly Rs2062. Your argument that their expense is probably only 3 lakhs has no ground. AOL has enough reach to raise in 27-lakhs in two minutes. They do not have to conduct a 3-day conference to do that.
Your expectations are mis-placed. I have never been to any of these Ashrams, but your expectations that you must be provided with a towel, paste, soap, royal treatment in a ashram set up shows that you are naive. And top of it calling AOL with a headline like ‘NGO Scam’ is a cheap shot. That just tells me that you are seeking attention more than anything.
Bhamy:
You must have some agenda in your mind before going to AOL ashram specific to your NGO or something else. Do your agenda is to just criticize AOL/SSRS, Value for money or royal treatment…..I don’t see any where that what is your actual agenda in entire BLOG…..were you completely shocked to see how people are so happy and keep smiling in AOL……….Why not file a FIR against all, if you are so disturbed at least Fraud/mental harassment kind of case will be quite strong along with that you can get your RS 5000 back with interest of couple of months!! :) Why not you also make money so your NGO have popularity as well as some positive cash flow!
As evidence you can show this blog…Any way India is a democratic country. Some of the MLA/MP can come to support you as same as Ms Karat has done for Swami Ramdev another yoga guru though his services are there for all class of ppl (rich & poor)
AL aka spokesperson of AOL: It’s not just Rs.5000. We need whistle blowers to alert us before falling into traps (Sugar coated slow poisons). How is AOL different from Reddy’s Country Club? When the Ashram is organizing a seminar for NGOs (Mind you.. these NGOs are not dejected in life and keen to embrace Vaanaprastha), it needs to be organized as per expectations. THey can’t have ‘Speakers’ who dont speak! As I understand, the purpose of the post is not Ashram bashing, it stands for pure Consumer Rights.
Raj and Al,
you have raised some different issues and I will respond to them.
I do not see any problem in self promotion and any good product needs good and honest ad. But it is the deceptive part of the ad which I found offensive. What was advertised was “international standards”. Will any one think that “international standards” mean ashram type living where one has to share room with three and no basic amenities like soap, drinking water, towels are not provided? Where one is expected to wash dishes? I am perfectly happy to enjoy ashram type of living if that was mentioned early. in fact I do not like five star and prefer simple living. But once promised, they cannot go back especially when they expect NGOs to pay Rs 5000 which is still a princely amount for most NGOs.
I did have an agenda which was to help AOL. I wanted to promote AOL as an NGO though a magazine Catalyst which is dsitributed to NRIs and RIs to promote NGO movement. I was the chief editor of that magazine. My friend had met earlier Ravi Shankar in this conenction. Thus I did not go there with any hidden agenda of “bashing” AOL. I was sincerely interested to meet NGOs, collect information for many articles and bring out a special on AOL summit at our cost. This was to help AOL.
But when I came to the ashram, met some of the like minded participants and saw what was going on I was shocked. When I heard the comments made by the Ravi Shankar during the satsnag on the eve of the summit, it was an eye opener and realized how shallow he was and how he was completely out of touch with the reality.
I do not need any publicity. What I will do with all this publicity? I am not standing for election now. I am getting more than required recognition from my articles published in other places. This is the easiet criticism thrown against NGO activists that they are after cheap publicity.
As Ananth Shenoy stated this is just a consumer rights case and as a consumer activist I am compelled to bring to the attention of the public. in fact as a result of principled stand I took, I have stepped down from Catalyst when my article on AOl was not accepted by the editorial board. I was one of the founders and still I stepped down and paid a small price for my principled stand.
Bhamy, can you provide an update whether you filed a court case of any sort against AOL and if yes, what is the status?
I had already reported on my filing case in Mysore consumer court which was not admitted. I still do not have details on why it was rejected. I have been travelling and I do not have details yet.
dear Bhamy
I love you,
its natural in kaliyug that truth has to suppressed.Any thing false will flourish .
It becomes very difficult to prove a pirated Godman as a fraud among fools.
Kaliyug is a period when certain people will try to destroy good things. Earlier it was invaders who try to destroy India and Indian culture. Now the invaders and present within India itself in the form of communists and other negative-minded people.
Bhamy Saab – Your case did not stand in the court. There ends the matter. AOL has nothing to gain by cheating people like you. Move on sir!!!
This is also indian culture:
In Mahabharat Vidur said,” O Dhirtraashtra , there are many people who would say sweet things to please and flatter others, but rare is the man who would say or hear a truth which is unpleasant to his ears but really coducive to his good.”
An opened mind is one that has courage to impartially examine before coming to the conclusion of what is truth and what is false. And obviously quite the opposite is a closed(negative) mind.
Well a better conclusion cannot be expected from one who is not familiar with what the truth is . The ignorant call it hate for it hurts,but the learned looked at it as a duty.
Now figure out who is sacrificing truth(indian culture) for loyalty .
Unfortunately, Kaliyug is full of people who criticize saints with little or no proof to back them up. No saint has escaped criticism. Even Krishna faced opposition and criticism. At the end of the day, these criticizers come and go but saints live on. In Kaliyug these people even quote Geeta to back their false claims. The very same people have a closed mind and think that others mind are closed. Unfortunately and historically these negative people don’t go too far
It is pity that man has relegated their intellects to such perverted state in this age , that they don’t even know what is truly of benefit to their souls anymore. It is those void of rational thinking write for the sake of writing.
Resoning and critical thinking is the path to enlightment and one void of it can only rely on grace which is false hope .
Jai Gurudev!
We are happy to announce that in July’08, Sri Sumeru Realty Pvt Ltd (SSRPL) is launching multiple properties for ownership in Bangalore Ashram surroundings… taking us one step closer to making our collective dream of Sattvic Communities near the Ashram a reality!
All available information is summarized at the link: SSRPL Ownership Project
We are releasing pre-launch information only to those who have registered with us in advance, so those of you interested can reserve your place before the public launch. You are requested to use this information for your personal use and not post or forward to mailing lists, esatsang etc. In July, we will ourselves broadcast the same, complete with all architectural plans and details. The pre-launch offer ends on Guru Poornima (July 18, 2008) and we open to the public thereafter. Quick action from you will ensure your place is reserved for you.
We are expanding our team to respond to you faster. At the same time, request you to send all your queries and feedback, as far as possible only on email, to info@sumerurealty.com. You can also call or meet with prior appointment, with Sneha or Ruchika, during office hours at +91-80-28432328 or +91-80-32415989 or our Soudhamini-Tripura Office adjacent to the Ashram.
If there are other people who you want this information to go out to, please send us their name, email and mobile number and we will send the same based on availability of the properties.
Sending you enchanting weather and lots of masti from Bangalore Ashram!
Warm regards,
Digvijay Choudhari
CEO – SSRPL
Friends, This is the link of the real estate venture announced by and for art of living devotees . Check out http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dc69vz9h_33nszbx5db
People like my friend Utrue are only being Critical and but there is no thinking. Poor thing is that people like Utrue make irrational statements by calling others as irrational Utrue also sounds like he or she knows THE PATH and the ONLY PATH (again unlike you, I am not saying your path is wrong or right). Let people choose their own path and find their enlightenment. Stop lecturing others on what path he/she should follow.
Appreciate your response. Let us say what you said is 100% true. Even in an Ashram type set up “International Standards” need not mean that soap, towel etc should be provided. Yes, may be they should put it in the disclaimer that the attendees should expect Ashram type set up and not Hotel type set up. I am sure they would do it next time to avoid any controversies. LOL
But taking this issue to the level calling it a scam for just money making and all that holds no water. Like I said earlier, AOL need not conduct a 3-day conference for making 27 lakhs. They can do it in 2 minutes. You cannot call someone shallow after seeing him/her for a couple of hours. You have gone a bit too far with your judgment.
It is okay to disagree and it is okay for you to take up this issue..you have every right to do that…but in that process by choosing a sensational headline (which to me says that you are seeking attention. This is what a typical media would do) you have taken up this issue too far and given room to some unwanted people to come and bash others here. As I go through some of the posts, it is clear to me that some people just have hate, you have provided them with a platform to come and express their hate in different ways here.
Thanks Guardian…will certainly do.
It is good thing that you are still laughing my freind,
if evey one has their own path to enlightment then there is no need of your guru .Or are you saying that there was no enlightment before your guru?
Hey Folks,
Why to think so much about AOL and SSRS. Ppl ought here dieing for ROI.
Our mind itself is victim of this good or bad…….i remember one exp of my life….In chieldhood when i was watching a movie (Love song in movee Silsila…”Ye kahan aa gaye hum”) my elders says its wrong its bad…”GANDI BAAT HAI CHALO TV BAND KARO”……and when i grown up same person was pushing me for marriage or asking me about my girl friend etc etc…..if i conclude i dont know what is bad…it has created quite conflicting impression in my mind about him. I was judgemental…then i thought ….what kind of person he is….so i realise i will stop judging ppl. But by the actions and behaviors of people, you either approve or disapprove. We should always remember that everything is changing, and do not hold onto the judgement. Otherwise your judgement gets solidified like a rock. It brings misery for you and for others.
If judgements are lighter like air, like a breeze, they bring in fragrance,
then move away. They could bring a foul smell, then move away. They should not stay there forever.
Judgements are so subtle that you are not even aware of their existence.
Judging or labeling someone as judgemental is also a judgement. Only in the state of Being when you are full of love and compassion can you ever be free from all judgements.
Yet the world cannot move without judgements. Until you judge something as good or bad, you cannot do any actions. If you see rotten apples in the
market, you say, “No good.” Good ones you buy. If someone lies to you ten times, you think next time it also could be a lie. A judgement happens
automatically.
See the possibility that people and things can change at any time and don’t
hold onto the judgements.
You need to judge your company. Your company can pull you up or pull you down. The company that drags you towards doubt, dejection, blame,
complaints, anger, delusion, and desires is bad company. The company that pulls you up towards joy, enthusiasm, service, love, trust, and Knowledge is good company.
So better decide your own…..In the words of economics/game theory……try to avoide case of prisoners dilemma…..in each case u will have lower pay off…….some one else have higher payoff by knowing information…….until you dont reach Dr. Auman’s state of War & Peace……Better to play win win game rather playing zero sum game like being judgemental on AOL.
Some people are proving that they are rationally irrational.
I remembere a sloka my grandpa use to tell me…and i see the reason to share why ppl folow religions teachers
tarko’pratisthah srutayo vibhinna nasau rsir yasya matam na bhinnam
dharmasya tattvam nihitam guhayam mahajano yena gatah sa panthah
‘Argument alone has no solid foundation. The scriptures contradict each other. No one is considered a sage without having expressed an individual opinion. The truths about religious duty are concealed in the heart. Thus, the only true path is the one that has been followed by great authorities.’ (Mahabharata Chapter “Van Parv” Section- “Ysksh-Yudhishthir Vartaa”)
Al- you seem to be one of the saner voices here. Happy to read your posts
When Marxist leader Brinda Karat attacks Swami Ramdev, she is not attacking Ramdev in particular, she is attacking Hinduism in general.
This guru or that guru makes no difference to her; she is against all gurus.
Other gurus might think they are safe, that Ramdev committed some sin for which he is paying. But one of them will be the next in the line of fire!
Swami Ramdev: Yoga does it
Hindu gurus are all vulnerable in today’s India: The Kanchi Shankaracharya has already been hit. So has Satya Sai Baba. Amritanandamayi has to live under the constant shadow of a hostile Kerala [Images] Communist-dominated government. Dhirendra Brahmachari is dead and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is periodically targeted as the ‘Guru of the rich’, the ‘Glib Godman’ etc.
May I be forgiven my arrogance, but what Indian gurus have to understand is that for Indian Communists, Hinduism is the Number 1 enemy. Mao called religion ‘the opium of the people’. But for Indian Communists, what stands between their ambition for absolute power in India (and eventually the triumphant return of Communism in the world — as Indian Communists believe) is the hold Hinduism has in the hearts of the rural people of India, who constitute 80 per cent of this country.
Yet, the humble farmer from Uttar Pradesh to Tamil Nadu has a natural understanding of the universality of God, who takes many names throughout the ages who could be Buddha, Jesus Christ, Ram or Mohammad. This humble farmer possesses the knowledge that there is a something deeper than the skin and the mind, and a life beyond death. This knowledge is inbred, it is not in his head, not even in his heart, but in his or her genes from generation to generation.
Ramdev vs Karat — who’s right?
Of course, the English-speaking media is too happy to oblige Brinda Karat and come down hard on gurus with all kind of accusations.
Before Ramdev, they came down on the Kanchi Shankaracharya, before him on Osho, before him on Dhirendra Brahmachari. You can even go back to Sri Aurobindo, who was accused in the early 1900s by the moderate Congress-controlled press to be a ‘fanatic’, when he was only demanding total independence from the British long before Gandhi took it up.
Accusations against Hinduism of superstition, brainwashing, ritualistic ignorance, date back from British missionaries and have been taken up today by the Communists. Yet, Hinduism — at least the Hinduism which goes beyond the rituals and becomes universal spirituality — has nothing to do with superstition and conmanship: it is all about science, knowledge and light.
Look at Pranayama, a science that has known for thousands of years how to harness breath and use it for controlling the mind, for a better, more healthy, more spiritualised life. If you read Osho’s books today, you find a lot of solid common sense, wisdom, even light.
Satya [Images] Sai Baba cannot have millions of disciples from the most humble to the Presidents of India without ‘something’ which is beyond superstition. So goes for Amritanandamayi, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Ramdev, or Guruma of Ganeshpuri.
And why should Brinda Karat target Ayurveda, the most ancient medical system in India still in practice, the first medicine to realise 3,000 years ago that plants and minerals offer the best cure, that many illnesses have a psychosomatic origin, the first to practice plastic surgery on patients?
In India today, every third shop is an allopathic medical shop, whose profits go to Western multinationals (hello Mrs Karat!) at a time when Ayurvedic medicine is becoming increasingly popular in Western countries, after being disillusioned by antibiotics and other heavy-handed medicines.
We are witnessing an interesting phenomenon in India today. Some Communists, some Christians, some Muslims and some Congress leaders — all of whom have nothing in common and often hate each other are united against Hinduism and Hindu leaders.
In contrast, look at the Hindus: Swami Ramdev himself criticised Sri Sri Ravi Shankar live on television, advising his followers not to practice Art of Living breathing techniques. During the tsunami relief operations in Nagapattinam, disciples of Amritanandamayi and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar nearly came to blows over who would give relief to whom, instead of networking and uniting their efforts.
And who came to the rescue of Osho when he was maligned to death, or Dhirendra Brahmachari when the entire press came down on him, or Satya Sai Baba, when he was slandered, or the Shankaracharya when he was thrown into jail, or Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, when Javed Akhtar accused him of coming ‘from a cave to live in a palace’ (and not from a palace to a cave like the Buddha)? None of the previously mentioned. Yet, Indian politicians can commit any crime, have any number of court cases against them, and they still end up as Union ministers and get positive press coverage.
The greatest curse of Hinduism throughout the ages has been its disunity — and more than that — its betraying each other. The British did not conquer India, it was given to them by its warring Hindu princes, jealous of each other. The same is true of Islam: the last great Hindu empire, that of Vijaynagar, was betrayed to the Muslims by the Lingayats.
I know there is something mysterious and unfathomable in the manifestation of the Divine upon earth, and that each guru has a defined task to fulfill and that the combined task of all the gurus may solve the great puzzle that is this ignorant and suffering earth.
Thus, it may not be necessary for each guru to communicate with each other. But nevertheless, it is of the greatest urgency today that Hindu leaders unite to save Hinduism, rather than ‘each one for his own’ that we see today.
The Catholics have their Pope and his word is binding on all Catholics. Muslims have Prophet Mohammed’s words and that binds all of Islam together. Indian Communists have the words of Marx and Lenin, even if it has become irrelevant in Russia [Images], Germany [Images], and also in China. But the poor Hindus have nobody to refer to, so as to defend themselves.
Yet, if you take the combined people power of Satya Sai Baba, Amritaanandamayi, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Swami Ramdev, Guruma of Ganeshpuri, the Shankaracharya of Kanchipuram, and so many others I cannot mention here, it runs in hundreds of millions.
Again, in all humility and conscious of the limitation of mind compared to some of these great gurus whom I have met, I propose that a Supreme Spiritual Council, composed of at least seven of the most popular Hindu leaders of India, be constituted, maybe under the leadership of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the most travelled of all these, the one who has disciples and teachers of all religions, both from India and the West.
It should be a non-political body, and each group would keep its independence but nevertheless. It could meet two three times a year and issue edicts, which would be binding on 850 millions Hindus in India and one billion over the world.
Then and then only can this wonderful spirituality which is Hinduism, this eternal knowledge behind the outer forms, the wisdom to understand this mad earth and its sufferings, be preserved for the future of India, and for the future of humanity.
I bow down to each of these gurus mentioned above and to all those not mentioned, to Swami Vivekananda, the initiator of modern Hinduism, to Sri Aurobindo, the great avatar of the supramental, and to all the great gurus who have graced over the ages, this wonderful and sacred land which is India and beseech them to hear my prayer:
Hindus leaders, unite, if you want eternal Dharma to survive.
u r a sick mind FG. Go and do some pranayam in public loo and drown yourself in pig’s pee
Truthseeker uses his rational non-sick mind to counter FG’s points with some invaluable insight that he gained from his years at IIT, IIM, IAS, ISI, SIA or whatever. Lovely message TS.
Lovely message FG,
I guess, what you say will happen if there is a divine will for it to happen that way. Of couse, These things, I guess, can work only as per a devine plan.
UFalse- Apologies for my conduct but FG’s post was communal and representative of the lowest creations, hence the outburst, which should not have happened.
thanks for pointing out
Apologies again
SSRS is a thumping success in Pakistan.
TS, your post was hilarious – “praanayam in a public loo” Ha Ha. Is this your own or borrowed? Anyway I don’t agree with you that FG’s post is communal in anyway. It may be a weird idea that you might not agree with and I can categorically state that none of the current guru’s or Godmen or women are going to unite. They are too busy competing with one another and trying to undermine one another, sometime like politicians. Then how can they ever think of collaborating. But it is certainly an idea for them to reflect upon- I don’t think there is any communal intention behind FG’s idea.
Even though you may want to discount the ‘intention’ factor, the result was dirty communal.
We can agree to disagree
What a pity that FG missed the whole argument of reviving hinduism. Great thinekrs like Swami vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo, or Raman Maharshi, or Ramakhrishna, Mahatma Gandhi did not preach Hinduism unllike the heroes of FG. They practised Hinduism. They did not monetize their power over their admirers and followers.
Look at what Ravi Shankar is doing. he is collecting millions by holding sudarshan Kriya. Does any one know what happens to those millions? Is any one accountable for all those millions? Yes there are examples of some schools run by AOL. yes there are some examples of poor being helped. But has any one seen the audited statements?
In fact most of the so called Hindu leaders of FG if any thing has run down the real philosophy of hinduism like pope, imams etc. And FG gives the wrong example of other religions as model for hindus to follow.
FH has forgotten or decided to ignore the reason this topic was started. It was to debate the alleged scam of AOL and what can be done.
Bang on Bhamy brother. Point made quite well
Many were inquiring what happened to the case I had filed against AOL in Mysore Consumer Court. I was able to get the order and it is here. Even a cursory look show how the consumer court has erred in their observation in not admitting the case. On one hand they state that I have paid Rs 5000 for registration and accomodation. Then they observe that I have not paid for any “lecture”. The commission members do not seem to have any concept of seminars. This is fit case for appeal.
Please read and enjoy the way our learned courts function. What a shame!
DISTRICT CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL FORUM MYSORE
No.845, 10th Main, New Kantharaj Urs Road, G.C.S.T. Layout, Kuvempunagar, Mysore – 570 009
consumer case(CC) No. CC/08/76
Dr.Bhamy V.Shenoy ………..Appellant(s)
Vs.
Art of Living
Art of Living International Center ………..Respondent(s)
BEFORE:
1. Smt.Y.V.Uma Shenoi
2. Sri D.Krishnappa
Complainant(s)/Appellant(s):
1. Dr.Bhamy V.Shenoy
OppositeParty/Respondent(s):
1. Art of Living
2. Art of Living International Center
OppositeParty/Respondent(s):
OppositeParty/Respondent(s):
ORDER
This is a complaint presented by representative of the complainant against Opposite party alleging deficiency in the service of Opposite party with their further grievance that the Opposite party had arranged a seminar at their premises by inviting few scholars to speak on a subject and issued publications inviting the public to attend the seminar as delegate by paying fee of Rs.5,000/-. It is further contended that the complainant after paying Rs.5,000/- attended the seminar found that the speakers whose name had been published in the advertisement except one the others did not attend and therefore there was sort fall in the quality of lecture. It is also contended that the accommodation and food provided by the Opposite party in the course of the seminar was not of good standard and therefore the Opposite party caused deficiency in its service in providing such service and therefore has prayed for refund of Rs.5,000/- with interest at 12% and to award exemplary damages of Rs.1,00,000/- with cost. Heard the representative of the complainant regarding maintainability of the complaint having regard to the definition of consumer and the service. The literature produced by the complainant shows that the Opposite party had received Rs.5,000/- per person which is inclusive of registration fee and accommodation for up to 4 nights (31st and 1st January, and 2nd February at summit venue. Admittedly the Opposite party is an institution involved in preaching cultural activities and arranging seminars to create awareness among the people. The materials pleased before us do not indicate the Opposite party having had received any consideration for arranging lecture, but received delegations fee for providing accommodation and food to the delegates who attended the seminar. Here also the Complainant has not made out that the Opposite party had assured a particular standard of accommodation, food and service so as to complain that such facilities offered by the Opposite party were of a particular standard and that was not kept up so as to call on deficient. Therefore for these reasons we find no relationship of the consumer and service provider between the complainant and the Opposite party and hold that the Complaint under law is not sustainable and therefore dismissed at that stage.
Smt.Y.V.Uma Shenoi
………………….
Sri D.Krishnappa
03/04/2008
Hey Bhami …..a lot of missing links in your argument in the previous post
1. First of all AOL is charging fees for the Courses and people pay to attend the courses because they find it (or hear about it) benifitting their friends and colleagues and so on want the benifit for themselves. It is nobody’s case that AOL is collecting money in name of charity. It is another matter that they choose to use the hard earnt money for charitable purpose. Had they collected money from you in name of charity, you had right to ask for explanation for usage of the funds. Whatever donations are paid (voluntarily of course) by people, they are done directly in the name of benificiary organizations such as schools or specific projects, which are managed by AOL volunteers . and FYI, there quite a sizeable number of them.
2. AOL does not employ people of professional agencies for marketing and advertising Their course is spreading at a high pace primarily by word of mouth. So, for this to happen, people’s experience should be able to speak for itself, which itself suggests that a large majority of people must be finding experince to be very good. In other words, If for instance, 4 out of 10 people find it good, there will be x rate of growth, if 6 out of 10 find it good, growth rate will be y and 8 out of 10 finding it good, will translate into rate of groth of z. It is no secret taht AOL courses (specially Sudarshan Kriya) has grown really fast. Let us say 7 in 10 find it good, the worst the reamining 3 can say is that they have wasted money for the worst that the course can do is “ cause no harm”. And i things in such things there will always be some people who will not find it a big deal.
3. I think it is more upto a third interested and curious party to do a simple survey and get a feedback about it’s effectivity. From AOL’s perspective, the fact that it is growing in demand on its own and a sizeable number of people are reporting its positive effect itself should be sufficient incentive to continue with the activity. As regards social service and social projects done by AOL volunteers is concerned, any sensible person with his eyes and ears open will see that thare are indeed quite a few things happenning,
4. Comming back to item 1, i will remind you of one thing. If a friend of yours, earning one lac of (hard earnt) salary per month, claims he is spending 70,000 on charity, and you later discover that he is spending only 40,000, the worst that you can say about hims is that he is exaggeratinng his claims. You can call him a scamster for that. In fact I will tell you that he is at least doing that much , the rest of us only talk and crib and citisize.
Advent- It is nice to see that AOL has left its messengers here also. Welcome friend. you are also welcome.
Whether Advent is a messenger of AOL or not, he misses the whole point. So many wasted paragraphs and the time and energy that went into them. Displays lack of basic critical reasoning skills.
Dayalu, Fienends etc,
Just in case….. my reply is to Bhamy’s post on 12th july and not the one on 14th july (abt court order)
Dayalu, thanx for the comment it is good to get one’s ego busted once in a while, for those are the very qualitiies that i am supposed to possess in plenty (or so my friens/colleagues believe)
Bhamy, on court order..
reading the court order, it does not seem to me that you have much of a case there
any way good luck to you
My room-mate was crazy for this Art of Living thingy and she was all-praise for it all the time. She said I must pay $250 and join it to experience the immediate bliss.
I said instead of me paying again, since you’ve already paid and know the kriya you can teach me and I’ll do it. But she said “it was against the ethics”.
Somehow I did get fooled and paid $250 for the course. I found nothing great and it is simply pranayama with some bullshit added to make it feel different and given a name “Sudarshan Kriya” to sell it for $250 per head!!
It is just another form of the fraud Quixtar/ Amway group where they don’t allow you to make a copy of the CD as its against their “ethics”!
Avantika if you can describe & teach us how to do sudarshan kriya it would be a great help to those who are gullible to be cheated.So why not make a clip & post it on u tube & post a link here ,you don’t have anything to do with ethics that your friend had.
In Star of Mysore dated 21st July 2008.
MYSORE’S CONSUMER COURT: IS IT ANTI-CONSUMER?
Sir,
I was surprised to read the news item titled Speedy Disposal of Cases by Consumer Court (SOM dated July 16). One can dispose of cases speedily if the cases are dismissed at the admission stage itself in favour of the service providers.
I want to share with SOM readers how my case against Art of Living was dismissed at the admission stage itself without even serving notice against the opposite party.
I had paid a delegate fee of Rs. 5000 to take part in an NGO seminar organised by Art of Living. The AOL brochure had advertised the names of five prominent speakers to participate in the event. It had also stated that “accommodation will be available at one of the comfortable housing complexes at the International Centre.” My complaint was that except for one speaker none showed up and accommodation provided was not up to international standard as implied in their brochure.
The NGOs were misled by the hyped advertisement. The real purpose seemed to expose NGOs to their products (connected with Sudarshan Kriya) by AOL and not to discuss the environmental protection and development.
In early years, when consumers filed the case in these courts, notice to appear was served against the opposite party without going through the so-called admission stage.
The President argued that registration fee does not give any right to the consumers. According to him, the organisers need not provide the lectures by the speakers even though they included it in the brochure. It is an astonishing argument.
Anyone who has attended any seminar/conference/workshop paying a fee expects to participate in talks promised by the organisers. That is the purpose of attending any seminar when participants pay huge fees. In fact the lady member of the court argued with the President and tried to convince him that my complaint was justified. But he overruled her plea.
Despite the objection of the lady member who felt I had a legitimate case, the President dismissed the case even without serving the notice to the opposite party. If this kind of approach is applied to settle disputes, I can understand how Mysore Consumer Court can dispose of cases speedily despite a heavy load. Does it imply that Consumer Court meets the spirit of Consumer Protection Act of 1986?
— Bhamy V. Shenoy on e-mail
Camp: Houston, USA
Ganapathi didn’t write about Ganapathi. At least Ganapathi published about Ravi anna
I don’t read ur whole article but just few lines.
u r looking with stressed eye and having something in ur mind before visit.
one can see sun set and other see that sun is going to rise somewherelse.
I m very sure that complaining person are doing so by nature.
but u can get recovery of this sickness.don’t worry. this is a place where there is space for everyone.
should look that half bottle is full and half door is open.
get well soon
It took me more than 2 days to go thru each and every comment listed here! I came in contact with AoL in 1997 and have done their 2-3 Basic, 2 Advance, DSN (Divya Samaj ka Nirman), Sahaj Samadhi (Meditation) and TTC (Teacher Training Course) – Phase I. To be eligible to become teacher and train others one needs TTC Phase II which is not at our disposal! It is by invitation. We have option to do upto TTC Phase I and after that produce documentary evidence about our contribution in assisting teachers, seva, work in slums, +++. During this phase of over 10 years I have experienced and observed a lot. During DSN a casual and innocent mention that AOL is actually a registered NGO turned couple of heads with suspision towards me! During TTC at Bangalore Asharam, even the dumbest individual could feel that the place was full of informers and “watchers” leaving you with a sense of unease!! I stopped my journey at TTC-I for the following reasons –
– Furthering on the path demanded lot of time;
– Making use of learnings to improve just the self, not easy – believe me;
– Fully knowing it is impossible to change people – only nature can do it;
– Even after being taught so much in this path, disciples donot appear disciplined;
– Groupism/leadership – if all want to become leader where would workers come from?
– Politics – a blind race to do things and reach as close to Guru as possible and fast;
– Increasing ego !! – a bitter truth – a teacher bang opposite my house does not have the courtesy of informing and involving me at SATSANGS taking place in their house for four years; on the other hand I enjoy it fully taking stroll in the street and listening to Bhajans. I am not complaining a bit for SATSANGS are constantly running within me at all times.
Criticising, blaming, complaining are most easy things. The more we apply intellect the more we invite sadness and stress. At some stage (sooner the better) we have to learn to accept things as they are. Faith moves mountains. If you have faith, you worship a stone. After finishing an overseas assignment and jobless, I learnt that Sri Sri is visiting our locality and I had a faith that this would turn things around and it did happen when I got a call very second day for employment. On another occasion, at my silver-jubilee wedding anniversary a few years back, it suddenly became cloudy making me uncomfortable as our function was in the open. I turned my head towards sky and remembered Guruji seeking his intervention. Whole day dark clouds kept playing cats and dogs. In the evening, closer to function time, it actually started raining. I looked up again and repeated my prayers with Guruji in mind. Would you believe, we had wonderful party until sharp at 12 midnight. Thereafter it might have taken an hour before we settled accounts with the caterer and guests must have reached home that suddenly sky opened up. I simply cannot forget the way lightening, and cracking thunder sounded that night, as if in full anger and protest for stopping it forcefully the entire day, from doing its job.
Have you, all aggrieved people of the world at something or the other, got the point I am (trying to) making here? Even after having unease, suspicion, and my own intellect, I could not care less on anything, except making good use of what was taught. As long as you are sure that the message is right and good for you, you donot care (even if a Guru is fraud) what he is doing. On the other hand, if you still show faith in him (regardless of his activities) even the nature comes to play its positive role in your favour. Nothing comes free in this world. The course teaches you – yoga, meditation, stress busters techniques, knowledge (not information), seva (is it bad if you are taught to be self dependent by washing, cleaning), satsang, etc. etc., – and shows you a path. How far you are receptive depends only on you. Implementation is the most difficult part in practical terms.
Coming to the basic question of not getting products and service worth 5000/-, though grievance appear to be valid and genuine, please note that one has to apply little logic and understanding of situation and circumstances. When you are invited to stay at Ashram, you cannot expect comfort of a hotel. Here again, I agree with you that guests are not disciples and cannot be expected to wash after eating. Here the purpose of inviting participants is different (not teaching them spiritual values). This is one of those things against which we avoid to raise our voice and end up becoming victim of our own follies! Every question has an answer. But have we ever closed our eyes, sat down with calm mind and dared to do questioning – from ourselves!!!???
As part of our “system” prevailing in the country, AOL may be making merry but still making contributions (leave behind manipulations) on the surface towards uplifting moral and forgotten values and telling us how to become a good, aware, sensitive and awake society. If we dare to become what AOL wants us all to become, can they survive, if they are manipulative? Things are bad not because the system is too strong to be broken, but we are too weak to speak. And instead of doing something constructive, end up in wasting precious time in making comments over comments.
Thanks heaven it has reached its end! or has it?
As long as less-than-true organisations last, this discussion cannot end, Cute Guy
or even as long as people continue to have mindless faith in some ‘occult’ powers than the power of the God above, they will make such mistakes and continue fighting.
my two pence
As long as negative ppl like ‘Friend of all’ who thinks that only their way is the true way and questions other people’s faith…and continue to make such mistakes this discussion will continue.
My two cents.
:-) god bless you UFalse
FOA – God Bless you too.
I deserved the smiley my friend ! :-)
Did not figure out how to post it!!!!!! may be just a :)??
Advent
” lac of (hard earnt) salary per month, claims he is spending 70,000 on charity, and you later discover that he is spending only 40,000, the worst that you can say about hims is that he is exaggeratinng his claims. You can call him a scamster for that. In fact I will tell you that he is at least doing that much , the rest of us only talk and crib and citisize.”
And if your friend gets a non profit charitable status for his trust. Gets the Tax ememption. Get the politicians, businessman to hoard their money in their trusts. Uses them for token social welfare projects. We honest tax paying citizens of the nation should bow down our heads and sing praises to the great service rendered by this friend.
Gampa – You sound like no one in this world can run a tax exempt organization. May be you are the only honest person in this world!!!! Btw, you neither have to bow down nor have to sing praise of anyone. You already called yourself a ‘honest tax paying citizen’. That is a good start.
Avantika – You have to be a little more aware off Sudharshan Kriya type breathing exercises. Do some research including what Lord Krishna said in Verse 4.29.
TS – Thanks. I guess you got too emotional. I am yet to see anything communal in FG’s post. May be FG said something that hurt your religious sentiment. After all you may be following a different religion.
Health care, stress management etc etc is a leading emerging industry in the world. Start an org, claim yourself a guru with some knowledge of yoga and hinduism. Guess what in a short time, you have bounty of $$$, name, fame and respect.
All these orgs tap onto some element inside human heart which is vulerable and weak. Once that is cracked, the whole individual is a programmed robot to like you.
All the benefit that one talks is due to Yoga and great seers of India who documented them and not due to todays gurujis.. People tend to forget that
Forgot to add, Health care industry is not only emerging industry but prone to all recession, inflation and has global reach. No great marketing strategy to emply, quote this upanishad or yogasutra, people will flock and pour $$$S
What a perfect business model
Nag- you cannot be more closer to truth.
This Guru business is the most lucrative. How about setting up a Guru Coaching Institute ? :-)