India opening its eyes to tricksters who prey on blind faith

[Guest guest]

Reuters/October 3, 2002

By Jayashree Lengade

 

Bombay -- In tradition-bound India, if someone claims to be able to exorcise ghosts, levitate or pull a gold chain out of thin air, it does not take long for him to become known as a "godman."

 

While many godmen are not confidence tricksters, there are numerous "miracle babas" who are just out to get rich by duping as many people as quickly as they can.

 

But Bombay police are cracking down on the charlatans and have enlisted the help of a group known as the All India Committee to Eradicate Superstition and Blind Faith to convince people that special power is more often than not a sleight of hand or an illusion.

 

"The campaign is meant to be an eye-opener. We want to put a complete stop to those posing as godmen. They are involved in outright cheating and violent acts," S. S. Vagal, joint commissioner of police for crime in Bombay, said.

 

Mr. Vagal said the campaign, which includes public meetings and television programs, has begun to show results.

 

"Certainly, we have been able to make an impact. Several people have voluntarily made complaints, and we have nabbed at least 25 of the fake godmen," he said.

 

Activists say the "miracle babas" come to India's commercial hub from poorer parts of the country and seek their fortune by exploiting people's insecurities.

 

"It's easy money -- without any investment. As long as fear exists among people such godmen will thrive," said Narendra Bhabolkar, founder of the 20-year-old committee that seeks to expose the tricksters.

 

A committee worker at a public gathering shows how a gold chain that looked as if it had been plucked out of the air had actually been tucked up a sleeve.

 

"It's simple. If you want people to bow down at you then you perform a trick," said magician Anand Tayade, who is helping with the campaign against the fraud.

 

"There's no such thing as performing miracles on this Earth.

 

"These godmen are unlike learned saints who renounce worldly life, give sermons and induce a feeling of positive energy. They are out to cheat gullible people to make money," Mr. Tayade said.

 

In another demonstration, a man clad in saffron robes and a false beard seems to sit suspended in mid-air without any support but for a hand resting on a pole.

 

A superstition-busting activist tells the hushed crowd of more than 100 people that the long garment actually hides a wooden seat fixed to the pole.

 

Many godmen call themselves "tantrics" -- followers of the esoteric Hindu and Buddhist tradition of ritual and yoga. Some claim to be able to perform miracles and solve just about any problem under the sun -- from helping jilted lovers and solving marriage problems, to comforting those with job worries and healing the sick. "It's the environment one grows up in that's usually responsible while others are looking for avenues to overcome stress in adversity," said Shyam Manav, another activist trying to educate people about superstition.

 

The godmen charge anything from about 150 rupees ($5) up to millions of rupees. And people seeking help from all walks of life can fall prey to their tricks.

 

While most godmen restrict themselves to relatively harmless fraud, others get caught up in much more sinister affairs, including human sacrifice to appease "evil spirits."

 

In July, a nine-year-old boy was found dead on the outskirts of Bombay. A man told police he killed the boy after a godman told him doing so would save his troubled marriage. "We have intensified patrolling day and night to arrest fake godmen. Another human sacrifice cannot take place," R. D. Jagtap, assistant police commissioner, said.

 

While Bombay police say the fake godmen are becoming scarce in the city, the activists campaigning against superstition are travelling to towns and villages to spread their message.

 

"We understand that blind practices cannot be ended easily. It will take generations. But our effort will continue," committee member and Bollywood actor Shreeram Lagoo said.

 

[Guest guest]

I live in Toronto, Canada and there is a mandir called "SIDH SHAKTI." There is a mata ji there and the followers of the mandir claim that the "light of God" comes into her. Every Sunday there is worship service there and the mata ji comes and sits on the stage. After a while of chanting Hindu songs, the spirit of Baba Balak Nath enters into her and she calls people to the front of the stage to diagnose their problems and heal them. Apparently, she knows things about their lives that is astounding. Do you think people like her are "fakes" or really endowed with "the light of God"? My father thinks this mandir is just about making money but I don't know. What do you all think?

[Guest guest]

Hi, I go to that mandir in Toronto, Canada called Sidh Shakti. I've actually been going since 1991. I

[Guest guest]

Hi, I live in Toronto, Canada and I go to the Sidh Shakti mandir. I have been going there since 1991 and I won't for a second believe that Bibi Ji (we call her Bibi Ji, not Mata Ji) or anyone there is in it for profit. And after all these years many people going to the mandir have been healed or helped. Can cancer just 'go away'? No children for 14 years, and now you have 3? And what about crippling arthritis that is gone? That's just some of the miracles there. Don't come to the mandir if you 'just want to see'. Come if you believe.

 

Jai Baba Ji Di

[Guest guest]

BABA BALAK NATH JI IS THE LITTLE SON OF SHIVA. SO DO NOT SAY ANYTHING BAD ABOUT HIS TEMPLES CUZ HE IS KNOWN TO DISTROY ALL EVIL AND ANYONE SAYING ANYTHING BAD ABOUT HIM IS CONSIRDRED EVIL.

[theist 1]

Fake or real. Such healing is not the goal. The cancer free body is still destined for the funeral pyre. Modern medicine with all its flaws also performs some "miracles". Who is emanating Krsna preme? That person is the transparent medium for Krsna Himself.

 

From our experience in the west we also have these scammers and so-called mediums. Among them some may be genuine at what they do. But what they do is just not enough to satisfy the longing of the soul for union with the Lord.

 

So from that perspective they are just as unreal as the out and out frauds. Just another part of the phantasmagoria.

[Guest guest]

sidh shakti is a place of worship, so it is best if we dont say anything horrible about it. After all at least they worship God there and do good unlike the rest of u bastads that walk past the temples and churches to go to for a drink or eat a burger. so keep ur traps shut please

[Guest guest]

want to remove hope and God from everyone's lives that need a lesson.

 

Yes, there are charlatans out there in abundance.

 

But to say "There's no such thing as performing miracles on this Earth." is making a conclusion without proof. It's an act of trying to disprove something that might actually exist. It goes against the philosophy of Vedanta, against spirituality. These people are materialists, masking themselves under the guise of people out for the truth. And I do not respect these men just as much as I do not respect charlatans.

 

There are miracles out there on Earth. Just because there are people who perform cheap tricks as if they're miracles do not make them miracles as such. Nor does that disprove the presence of miracles.

 

Any TRUE self-realized guru has shakti and can manifest miracles.

[Guest guest]

who gives a hoot about shakti!!! who cares about miracles????

shakti is useless, without bhakti. even Krsna, who is shaktiman, is nothing without the love of Radharani.

those that are impressed by miracles, do not understand the miracle of bhakti.

indeed, as theist said, each body, healthy or not, is for the funereal pyre. what is the use of a healthy body and mind without bhakti? it is a useless heap of flesh and bones.

[Guest guest]

firstly, baba ji is said to not enter into women to heel people or for any other reason. if you read baba ji story then people in toronto should know this!!!!!!!!!! i think she is a con!

 

saty - UK

[Guest guest]

God does not enter into people he is already in people everyone jus too evil to see him and are jealous of the people that can

[Guest guest]

"who gives a hoot about shakti!!! who cares about miracles????

shakti is useless, without bhakti. even Krsna, who is shaktiman, is nothing without the love of Radharani.

those that are impressed by miracles, do not understand the miracle of bhakti.

indeed, as theist said, each body, healthy or not, is for the funereal pyre. what is the use of a healthy body and mind without bhakti? it is a useless heap of flesh and bones. "

 

 

why wouldn't I care? While this existence is indeed transitory, that does not mean the prospect for miracles isn't important. Miracles bring hope, brings confirmation that there is more to this life than everyday perception. It brings faith, and even more bhakti for those who are lost and need God to guide them. So anyone who says miracles are useless does not understand much.

 

True power doesn't come from simply having no desire. True power comes when you have all the power in the world, the capacity to manifest miracles, and at the same time, you have no DESIRE to. That is true enlightenment and true power.

[Guest guest]

God does not enter into people he is already in people everyone jus too evil to see him and are jealous of the people that can

 

This is very accurate assesment

[Guest guest]

BABA BALAK NATH JI IS A GOD WHO IS KNOWN TO DISTROY ALL EVIL IN HIS WAY. AS SOMEONE ELSE SAID BEFORE, HE WILL DISTROY ALL EVIL IN THE WAY. AND YES SAYING ANYTHING BAD ABOUT HIS TEMPLES AND UR A EVIL PERSON.

 

[Guest guest]

Bawa balak nath is everything 2 me, and any blessed person that has a connection with bawa ji let it be the mata ji from your mandir- is there to help people with the blessing from bawa balak nath ji. if you cant say anything good then please keep your opinons to yourself. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Guest guest]

how can u say that? livin in england!

[Guest guest]

to funny

[Guest guest]

has the cat got all ur toungues no one talking

 

[Guest guest]

the thing is that there are people out there doing black magic. ALOT OF BLACK MAGIC but holy places are not 1 of them

[theist 1]

And they are far more subtle then the sitting in air yogi trick.

 

During the early 70's in America we had this guy who was called Guru Maharaj Ji. Many will remember him. A kid some say others pointed out that in some photos he appeared to be in his 40's.

 

Anyway he had his disciples traveling around and giving intiations. I forgot the actual process but it was bogus. But I met a couple of his ex-students once and one told me of this experience of "intiation" he had through one of these disciples.

 

Now keep in mind this kid grew up a Christian and reading the Bible. In there it says Jesus will return in the clouds. Christians call this the second coming and they look forward to it.

 

The initiator pressed on his eyes in such a way that he saw a white light in his mind. And then out of the white light he saw a vision of clouds and then Jesus appearing from those clouds. Then the inage of Jesus transformed into one of this Guru Maharaja ji. LOL

 

So they convinced this person that this twerp was the second coming of Jesus Christ.

 

About three years later a nice couple that used to visit the Honolulu temple as guests went to hear a talk by Muktananda who was traveling there.

 

They were becoming attached to Krsna and really liked Prabhupada and even heard him speak.

 

Well when Muktanada was in the room speaking, after a short time he looked in bhakta Joes eyes Joe said he felt like he was going into a trance. Eyes open or shut then I don't recall.

 

He said he saw a vision of a beautiful form of Krsna and then that formed turned into Muktananda.

 

He then thought Muktananda had to be an incarnation of Sri Krsna. Fortunately we were able to keep Joe attracted to coming around the temple and he lost track of that notion but if he would have fallen under the association of the other Mukti groupies he may have been lost. Krsna's mercy.

 

There is an obvious thread here. Some common subtle technique of influencing people's mind's in the same way.

 

We will know the real thing ONLY when Krsna reveals him.

[stonehearted 0]

Regarding the guy called "Guru Maharaj-ji": I met many of his followers in the early to mid-'70s. Most were really wishy-washy when you confronted them with any real philosophy. In 1973, four of us in LA went to a big gathering the kid was supposd to attend at some big auditorium on the other side of town. Umapati, Nara-Narayan, Ragavedhu, and I went in dhotis and tilak, and loaded for bear. We were determined to confront him in front of his whole crew. We were given special seats and garlands. But we had to sit for two or three hours and listend to a load of . from followers, apparently while the kid circled in his limo until we left, which we finally did at about 10:45 pm. (We heard later that he showed up a few minutes after we left.) One old Prabhupada disciple named Mahapurusha, who was unsteady since the '60s, came under this guy's spell and wrote Srila Prabhupada to advise him to set a good example by surrendering to the kid. He regretted having done so, and told me a few years later that he only wrote the letter under pressure from a couple of those "mahatmas." The lore in the Divine Light Mission at the time was the Hare Krishna devotees would be the last to come, but that they would be the best "devotees" of the kid. Now he's doing something else.

 

I also had some experience with Muktananda folks in Honolulu. In '79, I was asked by the ISKCON center's attorney to visit their place, then on Diamond Head Circle, to assess its suitability as a temporary residence for a criminal client of his who was an addict. My older (then only) daughter, Krishnamayi, and my wife went with me. When we pulled up across the street, Krishnamayi, who was almost 3, asked where we were. I said that we were at a sort of Mayavadi ashram. Mayi refused to get out of the car: "I'm not going into any mayavadi ashram!" I found the place immaculately clean, and their programs punctual to the second. (I heard a conch blow, at which I looked at my watch and found that it was exactly 12:00 noon. They had some sort of puja at noon every day.) A couple of years later I visited the place they had in Makiki Valley with my friend Vrindavan das, who had a cookie and juice account with them. Their place was very well organized and really clean (bathrooms, too), but their philosophy was a little goofy. I saw a video lecture with Muktananda, who had to read from a page a basic 2nd-chapter verse from Bhagavad-gita:

 

sukha-duhkhe same krtva

labhalabhau jayajayau

tato yuddhaya yujyasva

naivam papam avapsyasi

 

Do thou fight for the sake of fighting, without considering happiness or distress, loss or gain, victory or defeat -- and by so doing you shall never incur sin.

 

I was less than impressed.

 

theist, when did that incident with Bhakta Joe occur? Did Narahari have a nickname for you?

[Kulapavana 0]

he he... that is funny... even snakes can hypnotize mice... /images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

but seriously: I have a feeling that Naga yogis are somehow involved in that stuff.

[theist 1]

 

theist, when did that incident with Bhakta Joe occur? Did Narahari have a nickname for you?

 

 

I can't remember the year but it must have been 78 or 79. Bhakta Joe was my name for him and his girlfriend Bhaktin Beth and that just in my mind. Nice folks. I wonder how they are.

 

You were probably around when someone left a ginseng offering on Prabhupada's vyasasana. That was them. I think I read where Prabhupada asked what it was and someone said it was an aphrodisiac. Actually they were offering it as a health tonic. Do you remember that?

 

After hearing Joe's account I came to view Muktananda as some type of worlock.

 

I never met Narahari as by that time I was staying away from the temple. There was alot going on there then that we needn't go into. I remember his beloved boat though.

 

 

 

[theist 1]

Nagas or whatever sure is some creepy stuff. There must be a known name for that parlor trick. Who would know? Mesmer? Creskin? Houdini? Somebody..

[Guest guest]

Baba Muktananda is a true Guru,,,you must be a iskon person..with such a perspective i have to woner what did you or have you gained from sri prabhupad.....As a BABA devotee i learned to respect other teachers and paths..In the future i suggest you do not post such negativity about gurus as it makes your own Guru appear to have taught you nothing...I respect all Spiritual beings especially Muktananda JAI SITA RAM, JAI HANUMAN