Super-Rich Spiritual Gurus of India

Bangalore: In today’s profane world the Indian gurus or in other words “miracle workers”  who are often referred as “godmen,” have more of a celebrity image with their savvy, powerful figures who control vast business empires and own enormous wealth they also dabble in politics and manipulate the media.

These modern day Gurus are not only renowned but they also possess a lot of wealth through NGO and private funds. Some prominent ones who have passed away cannot be missed, like Sathya Sai Baba who died recently could count more followers than any other Indian guru, and the financial worth of his spiritual empire is several times bigger. Sai Baba reportedly had wealth of over more than Rs 40,000 crore.

Here are 5 super-rich Indian gurus who own vast business empire.

Baba Ramdev

  

Yoga Guru’ Baba Ramdev gained popularity through ventures in yoga, alternative medicine and agriculture, as well as his advocacy on Indian political issues. His life is no less than a typical bollywood movie. He was born in a poor farmer's family in Haryana and until 15 years back Ramdev was a struggling man who was often seen on the streets of Haridwar, peddling his bicycle as he went to temples and people's homes to teach them yajnas. Later through his knowledge of yoga asanas Baba Ramdev went on to build an enviable Rs 1,100 crore empire.

He was also among the first to raise the issue of black money publicly in 2008 and before the assembly elections of 2009 it was during this time he officially announced his wealth of Rs 1,100 crore but according to tehelka.com t is said he controls over Rs 11,000 crore

Wealthy Assests: Patanjali Yogpeeth and Divya Yogi Mandir trusts and other branches, Patanjali Ayurved College, Patanjali Chikitsalaya, Yog Gram, Goshala, Patanjali Food And Herbal Park, etc.  His empire today consists of over three dozen companies.

Mata Amritanandamayi

Sudhamani Idamannel, also known as Mata Amritanandamayi Devi and Amma ("Mother"), the Hindu spiritual leader and teacher, who is revered as a saint by her followers. Amritanandamayi spontaneously embraces people to comfort them in their sorrow and therefore is also referred to as "The Hugging Saint." She has hugged close to 30 million people to date, she is widely respected for her humanitarian activities and is probably by far the richest godwoman in the country.

Main Source of Income: Amrita Viswa Vidyapeetham colleges, Amrita Institute of Medical Science (Kochi), Amrita Schools, TV channel. Amrita Schools are located across Kerala where students are charged the same fee as topnotch private schools. Adding to it are the contributions from her millions of Indian and foreign devotees.

Even by modest estimates, the Amritanandamayi Trust, which presides over, is said to have assets worth over Rs 1,500 crore. Today, her ashram at her native Vallikavu, a small island off Kollam, is a posh five-storey building.

Sri Sri Ravishankar

Sri Sri Ravishankar is a renowned spiritual leader, known worldwide. He is the founder of the very famous Art of Living foundation that has an estimated 300 million followers in 151 countries who donate millions to this foundation. He was born in Tamil Nadu and took up Vedic studies when he was just six years old and by the age of 17, he had completed studies in Vedic literature and science according to indiatoday.in

Main Source of Income: Art of Living Centre (Bangalore), Sri Sri Shankar Vidya Mandir Trust, PU College (Bangalore), Sri Sri Centre for Media Studies (Bangalore), Sri Sri University, Art of Living Health & Educational Trust (US), etc.

It is estimated that, he has built an empire with that has total turnover of approximately Rs 1,000 crore that includes his Art of Living (AOL) institutes, pharmacy and health centres, and a hill 40 km from Bangalore on lease from the Karnataka government for 99 years.

Asaram Bapu

Sant Shri Asharam Ji Bapu is endearingly known as Bapu among all the godmen and self proclaimed saints mentioned above Asaram Bapu is one of the most controversial. He is accused of land grabbing in Gujarat and various other cities and is busy settling the string of cases charged against him. There have also been rumors of "sinister activities" at his ashrams, after four children were found dead at his ashrams a couple of months ago and though it turned out that a student had killed them, it was bad publicity for the Godman nonetheless.

His most popular and well established asharam Motera in  Ahmedabad, is also said to be built on land acquired illegally. The trust headed by the controversial godman owns more than 350 ashrams in the country and abroad, besides 17,000 Bal Sanskar Kendras.

Asaram Bapu’s trust is said to have turnover Rs 350 crore according to official announcement (figures may vary) which includes the multicrore controversial ashram in Delhi’s Ridge area.

Gurmeet Ram Rahim

Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insaan is the current leader of an organization called Dera Sacha Sauda. Since becoming the head of this sect, he has often been involved in controversy, even having criminal cases filed against him. The Dera Sacha Sauda was established by Shah Mastana Ji from Baluchistan in 1948, as a centre for spiritual learning.

Assets: Over 700 acres of agriculture land in Sirsa, a 175- bed hospital in Ganganagar, Rajasthan, gas stations, market complexes and over 250 ashrams across the globe. Although his income isn’t revealed officially but he considered to be one among the richest gurus
 

Ram Rahim the Dera chief is accused of murder, rape and sexual harassment The most damaging allegation as yet on Baba Ram Rahim is of a female follower's letter anonymously sent to Prime Minister, President which claimed that Baba Ram Rahim had allegedly raped her and at least 50 more female followers in the Dera Sacha Sauda premises. This Baba is currently out on bail, he is being investigated by the CBI and trial is on before a special CBI court at Ambala.

Source : Sillicon India

Spiritual guru blames rupee symbol for currency woes

New Delhi: Businessmen may blame global troubles or inept governance, but a Hindu guru has an alternative theory for the historic weakness of Rupee: the newly adopted symbol for the currency is inauspicious.

Rajkumar Jhanjhari, an expert in the ancient Hindu doctrine of vastu shastra, has called for a new design, arguing that a line on the symbol has "slit the throat" of the rupee and sparked the country's financial gloom.

The rupee symbol, unveiled in 2010 during happier times for the economy, is inspired by the letter "R" in the Roman alphabet and "Ra" from the ancient Devanagari script used in Hindi.

"India managed to withstand a severe global slump in 2009, before the symbol came up. One must ask why our growth rate is taking a beating now before rubbishing pleas for changing the symbol," Mr Jhanjhari told the Hindustan Times.

Data on Thursday showed India's economy grew just 5.3 per cent in January-March, its slowest pace in almost a decade, pushing the rupee to its lowest ever rate against the dollar.

It has shed about a fifth of its value against the US currency in the last 12 months.

Mr Jhanjhari, based in Guwahati, has offered tweaks to the rupee design that he believes would boost the troubled economy, the newspaper reported.

The 50-year-old said that he wrote to the Prime Minister with his suggestions late last year and copies of the letter were also sent to the finance minister and the central bank.

Similar to Chinese Feng Shui, Vastu Shastra is a Hindu system of space design that aims to promote well-being, by auspiciously making buildings or other constructions align with natural forces.

The designer of the rupee's current symbol, student Udaya Kumar, said a change would be up to the government. "Frankly, I don't know what to say," he told the paper.

At the time of the launch of the rupee symbol, Information Minister Ambika Soni said it would establish the arrival of the Indian currency "as a robust currency." 

Source NDTV

Swami wanted in US escapes to India

Houston: An 83-year-old wheel-chair bound Indian spiritual guru, a fugitive after being convicted of groping two young girls, may have sneaked clandestinely into India, a US court has been told.

US Marshals, still looking for him, suspect that Prakashanand Saraswati, known to his devotees as Swamiji, may have fled America in connivance with his close associates.

Just days after a Hays County jury in Texas convicted him in March 2011 on 20 counts of indecency for molesting two teenagers, the self-styled guru has been missing.

A judge sentenced him in absentia to 14 years in prison on each count and the guru also forfeited US $ 1.2 million in bond and promissory notes.

Newly filed court documents reveal that Prakashanand, who moves around in a wheelchair apparently crossed over into Mexico two days after his conviction while being at large on bail and may have used a network of devotees to make his way to India.

Eighteen months later, federal officials are still unraveling the mystery of how he got out of the country and who helped him.

Deputy US Marshal Robert Marcum, who is leading the investigation to track the guru down, called his flight with the help of his religious adherents in Texas, Pennsylvania, California and Florida as "the most sophisticated scheme I've seen as far as fugitive investigations go. They were very smart about what they did."

Mr Marcum added it is likely some of the guru's devotees will be charged with harbouring a fugitive, aiding and abetting escape or making false statements to a government agent.

The information, as well as detailed accounts of how the guru's followers moved him around the country while evading law enforcement, is part of the documents filed recently in court.

One of the girls, who was kissed and groped by the guru, said his escape to India effectively ends the case against him. "I feel the door is closed on it," she said.

"There's nothing more to be done." She added: "I'm sure we'd all sleep better if he were locked up. But he's in his own little prison."

Karen Jonson, who this year published "Sex, Lies, and Two Hindu Gurus," a book about her life at the ashram, said: "While a measure of justice was served by his conviction, it would still be the right thing for Prakashanand to have to endure the result of his crimes against children, to serve his punishment as determined by the courts of this country."

Still, she added, "as long as he is alive, there will always be hope for his capture and return to Texas."

According to US Customs and Border Protection records, the suspicions that fugitive Swami may have used the Mexico route was strengthened by the fact that his Radha Madhav Dham ashram employees frequently crossed the Texas-Mexico border throughout 2011.

When contacted by marshals investigators, most either declined to be interviewed in detail, or "stated that they did not believe guru was guilty of the convicted offenses, and they hoped he would evade capture and never go to prison."

One of the devotees named in the affidavit, Jenifer Deutsch, also called Vrinda Devi, has been a spokeswoman for Radha Madhav Dham.

She travelled from Austin to Nuevo Laredo and Tijuana a half-dozen times between March and November 2011, according to the court filing.

Mr Deutsch didn't return a phone message left at the ashram. But Chirag Patel, the ashram's managing member, said, "We have no knowledge of anyone at the ashram supporting (Prakashanand's) escape."

Late last year, federal investigators began to receive hints that Prakashanand was no longer in Mexico, the court filing shows.

In December 2011, for example, marshals learned that his personal aide, Vishwambhari Devi, who seldom left his side, "had recently activated a life insurance policy in India," the affidavit said.

Six months later, Marcum said he heard from two confidential sources that Prakashanand had made it safely to India.

Over the following months, the affidavit said, two other sources confirmed that the spiritual leader had successfully fled Mexico sometime in November.

"We were about a week behind him" when he escaped, Marcum said. "We were pretty close."

Mexico and India both have extradition treaties with the US, but the US marshals don't have an office in India. However, Marshal Robert Marcum said the disappearance of wanted Swami would be actively probed.

Source : NDTV Updates,  Story first published:  September 26, 2012 15:00 IST

 

'Spiritual' Bali may be at risk as tourism booms

RAMPANT tourist development, crime, traffic, rubbish and water problems have not, and will not, kill Bali's identity as a spiritual place, according to the island's governor, I Made Pastika.

He was speaking as many visitors including the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott, and the former prime minister John Howard, prepare to commemorate tomorrow's 10th anniversary of the Bali bombings.

Mr Pastika acknowledged that the island's "development is very rapid and sometimes uncontrolled". He said tourism was increasing wealth, but also widening the gap between rich and poor in Bali, which could lead to social tension.

He apologised to a number of poor Balinese victims of the 2002 bombings who had been forgotten by the administration and left to fend for themselves, saying he felt personally guilty about their plight.

He also acknowledged that the rate of change brought other problems too.

"So many people come to earn their living, to get their wealth, to suck the money from Bali … Our people are getting more and more prosperous, but on the other side there are lots of problems - traffic jams, garbage, water problems, [shortage of] accommodation, [and] pollution.

"And also bad people come … They bring drugs, they teach crime here," he said, describing crime as the "shadow of society".

Bali has bounced back from the tourist depression caused by the Bali bombings, and now hosts more Australians than it did before the attacks.

In 2011, about 2.75 million foreign tourists came to Bali, 10 per cent more than the previous year, and more than five million tourists came from within Indonesia. But in July, Mr Pastika predicted that, by 2015, both figures would almost double, so that the island would host 15 million tourists a year.

To prepare for this rise, the skyline is dotted with cranes building new luxury hotels, resorts and malls. Kuta beach has little spare frontage, and development on the beachfront has spread rapidly away from its epicentre, to the far north and south.

Traffic now banks up for an hour or more at peak times along the narrow roads, and walking is dangerous due to un-maintained footpaths and motorcycles that mount the curb to seek a quicker route.

On the outskirts of towns and villages, rubbish is everywhere.

But, Mr Pastika denied that this rapid growth in tourism was in danger of killing the goose that laid the golden egg.

"We want Bali [to be] still Bali, with the unique culture, with the friendly people and beautiful landscapes, and living culture," he said.

Things that would ensure these aspects of the predominantly Hindu island are maintained include its unique ways of village management and worship.

Yoga is just not exercises, gives higher awareness

Yoga postures are very different from ordinary exercise. It is a mistake even to call the postures exercises, in the usual sense of the word.

Their purpose is not to strengthen the muscles. They emphasise relaxation quite as much as they do tension. Unlike most physical exercises, they do not excite; rather, they eliminate excitement from the system.

An important difference between these postures and other systems of exercise is that in yoga practice one must never strain. Relax, never force yourself, into the prescribed positions. Stretch only slightly, if at all, beyond the point of comfort. You will be astonished to see how many poses you can accomplish by progressively deeper relaxation.

The yogi should act always from a centre of poise and calmness, of mental and physical relaxation. When I first met my Guru, Paramhansa Yogananda, he told me that, while sitting in a chair giving interviews, he was not even aware of his body below the chest. To be able so completely to relax the body when not using it, it is necessary first to be in full control of it; to be able at will to be fully conscious of every muscle.

The yoga postures are not only a series of physical positions but exercises in mental awareness. The yogi must try to become conscious of the energy as it directs the muscular movements.

Between poses, he should calmly withdraw his energy from the periphery of his body; he should rest within himself. Savasana, the Corpse Pose, is particularly recommended for these peaceful interludes.

The yogi is enjoined to practise moderation in everything. He should avoid eating too much, or too little. He should not sleep too much, nor too little. (More than seven hours' sleep at night only drugs the nervous system.) He should be especially moderate in his sex life. Sexual over-indulgence causes tremendous drain on natural vitality. Continence, if it has the full consent of the mind, can be a tremendous factor in helping one to achieve full vigour, mentally and physically, and to attain deep spiritual insight.

Yoga practices help one to live in harmony with the forces of nature. The yoga postures should always, if possible, be practised out-of-doors, or by an open window.

They should be practised on an empty stomach or at least three hours after eating. It is preferable that the body be warm when performing them. But don't practise immediately after strenuous activity; or so long that the postures themselves result in over-exertion and fatigue.

Women should use caution if they wish to do yoga postures during the first day or two of the menstrual period.

The postures should not be practised, save with the greatest of caution, when the body is unwell. Any posture that gives rise to a feeling of pain (other than muscular) in the chest, abdomen or brain should be abandoned until the cause has been ascertained. People with high blood pressure should avoid all but the most gentle poses.

The duration of each posture must be increased gradually. People beginning these postures after middle age should be particularly careful to start slowly, with the easier poses, bit by bit working up to the more difficult ones.

(Swami Kriyananda is a direct disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda, founder of Ananda Sangha, and a known authority on Kriya Yoga.)

Source : TOI

 

Tibetan torch rally leaves Jodhpur for Jaipur

JODHPUR: Of the seven torch rallies travelling across the globe to muster support of the world community for Tibet, one arrived in Jodhpur on Thursday. It left for Jaipur on Saturday.

Having started its journey from Kochi on July 6 this year, the torch christened 'Flame of Truth' will meet two other similar torches travelling in India in New Delhi on December 10 to coincide with the World Human Rights Day.

Karma Yeshi, an MP of the Tibetan parliament in exile, who is travelling with a team along with the torch, said they will submit a petition to the United Nations Secretary General Ban ki Moon after it was signed by at least three lakh people from all walks of life from across the globe as a gesture of endorsement for their demands from the UN.

"This petition with the signatures will finally be submitted to Moon, UN Human Rights Council and UN Information Office, New Delhi," Yeshi said.

He said their demand from the UNO is to discuss the issue of Tibet in light of the resolutions passed in 1959, 1961 and 1965, to send an independent fact-finding international delegation to Tibet to investigate the ongoing crisis there and to ensure that the basic rights and aspirations of the Tibetans are protected.

Three torch rallies started in India on July 6, the birth day of the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama one each from Leh, Shillong and Kochi and since then, the torches have travelled through 100 towns of 24 states. The women's wing of Bharat-Tibet Maitri Sangh and the Tibetan Woolen Market Association received the torch on its arrival in Jodhpur. The event was also supported by former chief of army General V K Singh.

A month ago, Sherab Tsedor, who had set himself ablaze in November 2011 in New Delhi in front of the Chinese Embassy, had arrived in Jodhpur on an All India Tibet Awareness and Support Campaign as apart of his mission, "Messenger on Snowland", to get Tibet liberated from China's "intervention and atrocities".

Tsedor, who started his mission on 53rd Tibetan National Uprising day on March 10, 2012 from Dharamsala, said it is aimed at building a consensus and pressure on the world community to strongly urge China to respect the fundamental rights of the Tibetans who wanted to freely practice their religion and bring to an end the "so called Patriotic Re-Education Campaign", allow international independent fact-finding delegations and media to visit the affected areas and refrain from using repressive measures against the peaceful protesters and stop harassing the families of those Tibetan youths, who sacrificed their lives for Tibet.


Source- Times of India 

Baba prays for dev, stands on a bamboo stick

TST- BOKARO(India) : He calls himself Sri Sri 108 Govardhan Baba and his eccentric practices have made him the talk of the town. To appease the gods, he climbed upon a 30-feet long single bamboo stick and has been standing steady there for 36 hours now, singing prayers and bhajans.

His strange practice has drawn thousands of residents to Durga Temple in the Khairachatar area of Kasmar block. They believe that Baba has a divine power with which he has been able to stand on the bamboo stick for so many hours at a stretch.

Baba is a resident of Telo village under Nawadih block of the district. He is a priest in Mahadevgada temple there. The residents saw Baba arrive at 9 am on Friday and install a bamboo stick in front of the temple. He later climbed upon it and has been standing there since.

"Baba will not take any food during the prayers. He will smoke marijuana and take 25 grams of milk once in every hour," said Shibu Mahto, an associate of Baba. Last year Baba had buried himself in the ground while meditating at a village in Dhanbad.

Baba lives in a temple in Telo but he visits the temples situated in other places once a year for spiritual practices. "He has got divine powers. Without it, how can a person sing bhajan and dance standing on a bamboo stick? He never asks for money to do all this. Baba's only plea to the gods is to bring peace and development for the residents of the village concerned," said Mahto.

Spirituality Key to Chinese Medicine Success: Study Explores Why Chinese Medicine Has Stood the Test of Time

Are the longevity and vitality of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) due to its holistic approach? Indeed, Chinese medicine is not simply about treating illness, but rather about taking care of the whole person -- body, mind, and spirit. According to an analysis of TCM's origins and development by Lin Shi from Beijing Normal University and Chenguang Zhang from Southwest Minzu University in China, traditional Chinese medicine is profoundly influenced by Chinese philosophy and religion. To date, modern science has been unable to explain the mechanisms behind TCM's effects.

The study is published online in Springer's journal Pastoral Psychology, in a special issue² dedicated to the psychology of religion in China.

The essence of TCM lies in its foundation in spirituality, religion, and philosophy, making it quite different from Western medicine and leading it to be viewed by some as magical and mysterious. Chinese medicine is an ancient discipline with a long developmental history and is very much influenced by religion and spirituality. Shi and Zhang's paper examines in detail six aspects of traditional Chinese medicine: its history; its fundamental beliefs; spirituality in traditional Chinese healing rituals; spirituality in the traditional Chinese pharmacy; spirituality in health maintenance theories; and spirituality of master doctors of traditional Chinese medicine.

This analysis shows, among other things, that the underlying premise of Chinese medicine is that the mind and body of a person are inseparable. To be in good health, a person must have good spirit and pay attention to cultivating their spirit. Chinese doctors see "people" not "diseases" and equate "curing diseases" with "curing people."

According to the authors: "Good health and longevity are what we pursue. More and more people are concerned about ways to prevent disease and strengthen their bodies, which is the emphasis of traditional Chinese medicine. It pays attention to physical pains, and at the same time is also concerned with spiritual suffering. Therefore, TCM can teach people to be indifferent towards having or not having, to exist with few desires and feel at ease, to keep the body healthy and the mind quiet, and to achieve harmony between the body and the mind and then to achieve harmony with the world and nature."

The special October/December 2012 issue of Pastoral Psychology, guest-edited by Al Dueck from Fuller Theological Seminary, School of Psychology, Pasadena, CA, and Buxin Han from the Institute of Psychology, Beijing, brings together psychologists from China and the United States for an exploration of the psychology of religion. It discusses a wide range of topics on the psychology of religion in China including historical perspectives; religious traditions; religion, healing, and health; and spirituality and human development. This extensive special issue is a testament to the recent emergence and growth of psychology of religion as an academic field in China and to the growing dialogue between Chinese and Western academics and researchers in this field.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Springer Science+Business Media.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Lin Shi, Chenguang Zhang. Spirituality in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Pastoral Psychology, 2012; 61 (5-6): 959 DOI: 10.1007/s11089-012-0480-x

People Merge Supernatural and Scientific Beliefs When Reasoning With the Unknown, Study Shows

Reliance on supernatural explanations for major life events, such as death and illness, often increases rather than declines with age, according to a new psychology study from The University of Texas at Austin.

 

The study, published in the June issue of Child Development, offers new insight into developmental learning.

"As children assimilate cultural concepts into their intuitive belief systems -- from God to atoms to evolution -- they engage in coexistence thinking," said Cristine Legare, assistant professor of psychology and lead author of the study. "When they merge supernatural and scientific explanations, they integrate them in a variety of predictable and universal ways."

Legare and her colleagues reviewed more than 30 studies on how people (ages 5-75) from various countries reason with three major existential questions: the origin of life, illness and death. They also conducted a study with 366 respondents in South Africa, where biomedical and traditional healing practices are both widely available.

As part of the study, Legare presented the respondents with a variety of stories about people who had AIDS. They were then asked to endorse or reject several biological and supernatural explanations for why the characters in the stories contracted the virus.

According to the findings, participants of all age groups agreed with biological explanations for at least one event. Yet supernatural explanations such as witchcraft were also frequently supported among children (ages 5 and up) and universally among adults.

Among the adult participants, only 26 percent believed the illness could be caused by either biology or witchcraft. And 38 percent split biological and scientific explanations into one theory. For example: "Witchcraft, which is mixed with evil spirits, and unprotected sex caused AIDS." However, 57 percent combined both witchcraft and biological explanations. For example: "A witch can put an HIV-infected person in your path."

Legare said the findings contradict the common assumption that supernatural beliefs dissipate with age and knowledge.

"The findings show supernatural explanations for topics of core concern to humans are pervasive across cultures," Legare said. "If anything, in both industrialized and developing countries, supernatural explanations are frequently endorsed more often among adults than younger children."

The results provide evidence that reasoning about supernatural phenomena is a fundamental and enduring aspect of human thinking, Legare said.

"The standard assumption that scientific and religious explanations compete should be re-evaluated in light of substantial psychological evidence," Legare said. "The data, which spans diverse cultural contexts across the lifespan, shows supernatural reasoning is not necessarily replaced with scientific explanations following gains in knowledge, education or technology."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Texas at Austin.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Cristine H. Legare, E. Margaret Evans, Karl S. Rosengren, Paul L. Harris. The Coexistence of Natural and Supernatural Explanations Across Cultures and Development. Child Development, 2012; 83 (3): 779 DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01743.x

(Credit: © Nikki Zalewski / Fotolia)