There are traditional gurus, modern day gurus and then there are just gurus. A modern day guru is one who has large regular and social media presence and has many interactions with the local, national and global audience. The traditional gurus have limited interactions, presence on media and have a long history and tradition to uphold. Then there are gurus who are created out of thin air and highlighted by media for a variety of reasons. All the three types of gurus exist simultaneously and operate among the different sections of the society. For each section, their guru is the Supreme, Know it All and others are considered ignorant and must learn at the feet of their guru. While some individuals do not be jealously guarding their Guru’s supremacy but many others worship their guru for a number of reasons.
Too many things have been happening to our gurus. Some of them are locked up in jails using fake or alleged rape cases. Others are endlessly harassed using judicial methods over encroachment of elephant corridors or polluting a non-flowing river. There are others who are insulted and mocked using their purvashram name. Some gurus are picked up over fake murder issues before an important Hindu festival. Some gurus are filled with bullets as they try to prevent the expansion of missionaries. Some other gurus are lynched and the video becomes public. Some gurus are kicked out of their properties which are then taken over by the government and some have to plead the government for the resources which are supposed to be under their control. Too many bad things happen to our gurus and the Hindu society and their intellectual elite does not bat an eyelid over the events.
One thing the people belonging to Hindu religion believe is that that they will be benefited by the advice and guidance from the guru. By pure statistics and probability, the advice given will work in the individual’s favour and some solace or wisdom will get imparted and the guru shishya bond gets stronger. There is a joke saying that a enlightened one and mad man appear the same to an ordinary individual. The actions of Rama are questioned by an alleged Dhobi or the people of his city which led to Sita being sent into forests because the conduct of King must be so perfect because the people simply follow the king or the leader. It is here some actions and inactions of Hindu Nationalist Modi have helped to keep the tempers very low and make people believe in the 5D chess being played when there seems to be no plan. The plan is to bide time and in many cases it is the only solution. Explaining to people that there is no plan will be difficult and thus strategic silence is the most strategic solution.
If the strategic silence is well thought out, then it is not an issue but a wilful inaction knowing the adverse long term effects will be a crime against society. Be it any individual, everyone’s actions will be scrutinized and thus if an individual exposes oneself to public, then the scrutiny will be that much more and it must be accepted as such. Now, Sadhguru gave a lecture and an edited or unedited portion of the video is making rounds and had gone viral. In common language without the context and nuances, the word lovers is not used for the affection between mother and child. This is very same as telling that a woman must be dressed in an appropriate manner. At an individual level, each institute, home will tell their younger ones the appropriate dress to be worn according to the place, but when a political leader says in any context it becomes a huge issue. The same goes with Sadhguru, at an individual level among his devotees the nuances may be understood but for the general public it is not ok.
The issue is the questioning of Sadhguru has opened the dams against the traditional interpreters of the language. Even this issue will pass and the alleged modern liberal elite Hindus will pick up another issue to beat the traditional Hindus, the debate for correctness will continue. The issue has arisen because the traditional Hindus have been fighting the battle of kicking out the government from the temple, a place of traditions while the elite wanted to have a liberal outlook and use this opportunity to bash the traditional temple management structures. The desire to polish their liberal medals among the peers must stop. The liberals will ask how many people have a traditional Hindu turned towards Hindu religion, how many people were helped or saved? The liberal Hindus must realize, that people would not publicize their acts and a small effort done by a million traditionalists has been the reason for the resources in the temple which the governments is usurping.
If you are a leader for a particular section, then your actions, words, etc must be much more refined and one must be more careful otherwise, the followers and elites have a big task of whitewashing. The traditionalists have faced the Birtish, Mughals, secular state and yet have been able to retain their culture and traditions and will hopefully retain their ideals. The liberals much like a chameleon will change colours according to the global standards to polish themselves. It is not that the traditionalists will not change, a lot of change has happened but it will be after proper thoughts and based on the needs of the time without changing the basic structure of Dharma. Hence the Liberal Hindus must chill down and not to do one-upmanship with the traditional Hindus in every matter. This Guru controversy will pass and there will be plenty of other opportunities to bash traditionalists.
Traditionalists will continue to remain the bedrock, and the problem of the liberal Hindus is that they want to become the new gate keepers and not allowed to do so. The space is still with the traditionalists. In the way the liberal elites gate keep the narrative, the Hindu liberals want to be the powerful gate keepers and the failure at not achieving the goals seem to be creating this friction with the traditionalists over every matter. The same ways of secular liberals mocking the Hindus are employed by the Hindu liberals when they treat the Traditionalists, but the power resides with the traditionalists and this is becoming a thorn in their flesh. I hope my interpretation is wrong, but as a Hindu who supports the traditionalists in many matters, this is my personal view.
Author: Vijendra Bhat can be reached on Twitter
Twitter: @SPHEREHEADSAYS
