Thoughts and Quotes

Power of a Guru

 

I took out 3 hours on a working day to stand in the sun, next to a busy traffic junction, covered in cardboard. I am sure you must be wondering why a sane, educated, professional like me, would do something like this? I did it because I have faith in a single person and his message to save the rivers of our land. Along with a couple thousand more people, I believed in the importance of the cause and the urgency to stand behind it. But even more important than the cause, it is my faith in my Guru that called me to stand up for the cause. I was not the only one standing in the sun. I was joined by more than 6000 other volunteers, in my city, who believed that we need to support this cause. This is the power of Sadhguru.

India has witnessed the Power of a Guru twice, recently. Once this power had the ability to kill 28 innocent citizens and burn down property worth crores. In the second instance, where I joined the movement, this power could raise the nation towards taking action to save our rivers. This power is immense and is vested in the Guru by his/her followers. Since the power is based on faith and trust, it is entirely up to the Guru on how to leverage the power – either for destruction or for creation.

On 1st September, I felt extremely proud and happy to put my two cents of time towards saving our rivers. However, all along the day, there was a nagging feeling in the background. I constantly questioned how the followers of Ram Rahim felt after their actions. Did they feel pride? Did their Guru feel pride in them? Did they sleep peacefully knowing they had done their part? I was sure the answer was, “No”. No one can sleep peacefully after trying to burn their country down.

Since I am a follower myself, I understand the emotions a Guru can trigger. But being a follower, are we so blinded by our love and faith that we place one Human (or God) over the lives and well-being of so many other humans? Which God or Guru would ever preach such form of aggression? Unfortunately, our human mind fueled by information shared on news and social media tends to only remember the atrocities inflicted because of faith. People easily forget the Good triggered by faith. They will, however, always remember and talk about the violence triggered by faith. While my adult, educated mind has the ability to filter information and form my own opinions, I fear for the naive minds of our next generation which are constantly recording the opinions of the (social) media. Incidents like the one in Panchkula will make them question Faith, Religion and above all, the Power of a Guru for a very long time to come.

Along with saving rivers, I request all adult followers to also save their own free thinking.  Please do not be blinded by faith so much that you place one human above others, in any form. No faith will ever preach that.

I am an ex-Management Consultant and a successful entrepreneur having close to twenty years of corporate experience. I am currently focusing full time on being a homeschooling parent while researching on the future of education and alternate methods of education. I am also a Vedic Math Trainer, an Operations Manager at a business run by her children and a philanthropist working with tens of other under privileged children. I bring all my past and current experiences together in the form of writing blogs. Using these blogs I wish to create awareness in parents, caregivers and educators about parenting, education and holistic living.