The Book by Gail Tredwell on the hugging saint has put the Kerala media on a debate frenzy on TV and social media… No I have not read the book and I am just awaiting my copy…. But there are a few things I wanted to write about before I even start reading that book… a look at how I see these spiritual industry complex we have….

Firstly I think we live in a one eyed society….. you close one eye so you can focus…. and focus is good if you are in an Archery Competition…. but I think we do more that just shoot arrows and we need to see more to be doing more….. So we need to have both our eyes open…. I think the biggest feed for these spiritual complexes are the fact that many people in our society are confused when it comes to spirituality and so they try hard to bring a believable and acceptable existence to it…..

For example think that you have gone to a temple like anyone and spend hours praying and you come out and then you overhear someone say…. “Man today the God and Goddess looked great… when they both walked towards me and hugged me and said that the project I am in is going to be a success, that I am going to get a pay raise I was very relieved… they even said that the Pooja on overall well being is better than the one on financial well being because it also takes care of our kids education….. that was a great tip…. I should try that next time” Irrespective of how big a believer you are you will now think the guy is crazy or is disillusioned…. because you know that inside the temple the God and Goddess are not going to walk down and talk to you anytime…. but still you do it…. you stop questioning, forget what you overheard and move on…. you made the choice to now be duped by some real Gods with flesh and bones and not just fumes….

So in my opinion the problem is not always Amirthanandamayi or Amma or Sudhamani however you wish to address the individual…. the question is ” Is it only the person claiming as the humangod alone at fault?…” Even someone insane can claim to be God…. Kerala is a place where even a low level thug like santhosh madhavan is put on the pedestal of divinity…. and now serves his time behind bars… My post on asaram bapu that enraged many is still active on my blog where you can see the threats and comments from his followers… people who have been following Asaram Bapu for the greater good…. You can read the comments are judge the extent of the teachings imparted to these folks…

Blaming the head of a spiritual complex is the easiest way even for a non follower (and I mean non-follower) like me to feel less guilty and not responsible for what happens …. Opposing an individual is nothing different from following an individual because in both cases you limit your focus on one person who is just like you…. So this spirituality gimmick with its ugly corrupt face has to do more with how we as a society approach any person in a position of power… Be it political, religious or otherwise, our society elevates people to a position of godlike which is beyond and above the common laws of the state that govern most of us….that is a big Issue especially when there is huge amounts of money involved and much gets clothed under the rug of charity and greater good…

Most times the money and activities are much more than what one person can handle and a machinery is established to run, grow and defend it…. And these human deities while sitting on the chair just become the symbol, a brand ambassador to the mess…. So I really have no comments on any of these Human Gods or religious leaders as an individual….. because if you remove one; another one will come… it is just like politicians in a corrupt system or officials in a corrupt corporation….. the machinery gets oiled by people who are not human gods…..

If you look close you will find that politicians with tainted past, present and definite future are all in the godmen and god women bandwagon from that respects… for me the term human god is to establish the claim that they are above humans and the laws that govern them financially and morally (some will cloth the name further in a more acceptable word ‘Guru’) ….it is not fully their fault…. it is to a great extend our fault where as a society we set the stage to get tied ourselves into the bondage……

If you say that one cannot disregard the concept of spirituality and have to write about it, I will try to explain in one sentence what I think it should be… “Spirituality should be the deep understanding of humanity and the acknowledgement of even the smallest aspect of nature in its magnificence and a constant quest of the unknown and never the attempt of getting closer to godliness….. Also to add to that Man has been duped by the concept of God since his intelligence created the concept…. and now we have a society who not only believes that it is true but also thinks that people like me and you can be manifested by it….

Our society needs to look at these religious structures in the same way they look at companies because they make money, they also get corrupt and they can also work a lot against the society we live in even when they claim to do charity…

We should accept that there is nothing wrong if there are strict rules in place when Religions, political parties, non profits and all such organizations that use money in a large volume are to be scrutinized just like a company because the bearers of many of these including temples, churches, trusts etc…. are people like me and you who waver in financial distress, greed and ego….. Coming to non profits and international humanitarian aid Please do read the book Crisis Caravan by Linda Polman

Now I know people will say that there are some who are beyond every bad element of human nature… that in my opinion is just a wishful thinking… if someone does not consider money as important they will find power important and if someone who is not interested in money and power he or she is driven by either ego or a wrong perception of human freedom and reading out from something written centuries ago, be it a political manifesto or a religious text…. The question is when does it turn that way…..

So we also need to accept the fact that it is not possible to attain perfection and people will be born and dying as humans for a long time with no attached divinity to save themselves….If you believe in a political party or a religion it is your responsibility to be on the forefront when your leader is in suspicion….not by defending them but by personally delving into the facts…..humankind is so easy to be blinded…. me….you….. everyone….

And finally the core of every issue, every establishment is corruption…. and here in Spiritual complexes the corruption is not just about Money but the corruption is in the understanding of humanity… the inability to see people equal….. the need to take sides that will force us look at the world with just one eye…. Finally if you want to look at some real problems people face other than spirituality you should read The Red Market by Scott Carney

We live in a world where if we open both eyes we will find there is a problem with every side…. and it becomes our responsibility to question… but we chose otherwise… Imagine our world with one eyed people who cannot or do not choose to open the other eye… And I mean people in and out of any system….. for and against any argument…. every damn person has one eye closed….. because we think there is a win and lose in everything we see…