Thoughts on Swami Nithyananda

[Aupmanyav]

Oh, I did not mean the earlier Swami Nithyananda. I meant this fraud.

 

[Shantanu]

I do not know, but have left a message in their website Chat facility asking if Swami Nityananda believes God to be sattvic, rajasic or tamasic Deity. They may reply to me at my email address. If a conversation develops I will let you know.

As regards powers, thoughts given by God to help one live in dignity can be very powerful indeed.

The organisation never bothered to return the call, which speaks for itself.

 

[Terese]

I do not know, but have left a message in their website Chat facility asking if Swami Nityananda believes God to be sattvic, rajasic or tamasic Deity. They may reply to me at my email address. If a conversation develops I will let you know.

As regards powers, thoughts given by God to help one live in dignity can be very powerful indeed.

In my opinion, God Sri Krishna transcends the gunas and does His own thing which cannot be neatly put into the sattvic, tamasic or rajasic guna categories. He does various things as Lord of the Universe which would lead one to think that he has a combination of these three attributes as He deals with humanity and the functioning of the universe. For example he is a creator as well as a destroyer and a preserver. If Swami Nithayanda gives me a different answer he would become a fake guru in my eyes.

If Lord Krsna transcends the gunas (which he does) why ask if he is put into the sattvic, tamasic or rajasic guna categories? The Lord employs the use of the devas to assist him in this universe, Lord Brahma (rajas) for creation, Lord Siva for destruction (tamas). They are predominantly those gunas, but can create action that is of the other gunas, etc Brahma lusting after his daughter (tamas). While Lord Krsna is not tainted by the gunas in any conceivable and inconceivable way, but the idea that he is anything but sattvic (promotes and manifests transcendental goodness through his will) is in my opinion, absurd. I understand you may not care about my opinion

 

[Shantanu]

If Lord Krsna transcends the gunas (which he does) why ask if he is put into the sattvic, tamasic or rajasic guna categories? The Lord employs the use of the devas to assist him in this universe, Lord Brahma (rajas) for creation, Lord Siva for destruction (tamas). They are predominantly those gunas, but can create action that is of the other gunas, etc Brahma lusting after his daughter (tamas). While Lord Krsna is not tainted by the gunas in any conceivable and inconceivable way, but the idea that he is anything but sattvic (promotes and manifests transcendental goodness through his will) is in my opinion, absurd. I understand you may not care about my opinion

Lord Krishna led me to smash evil just like in the Mahabharatta: was that sattvic of Him?

 

[Terese]

Lord Krishna led me to smash evil just like in the Mahabharatta: was that sattvic of Him?

Hopefully He told you what evil you'd be smashing. The ego perhaps?

 

[Shantanu]

Hopefully He told you what evil you'd be smashing. The ego perhaps?

It is not a matter of ego but of truth and justice. If one has been wronged and that wrong continues unabated, one has a duty (righteous) to smash the entity that is responsible for that wrong that is being done. Religion is not about doing anything else like self improvement or worshipping God if this simple fact is ignored and one does not perform ones dharma to smash the evil that is preventing one from having a dignified life.

 

[SomeRandom]

"A lot of woo" seems to sum him up pretty well. I mean, your choice is your choice, follow whomever you please. But I mean, it's one thing to perform some sort of magic trick for lack of a better phrase, to entice followers, but to claim to give your followers "powers" is a bit out there.

 

[DeviChaaya]

"A lot of woo" seems to sum him up pretty well. I mean, your choice is your choice, follow whomever you please. But I mean, it's one thing to perform some sort of magic trick for lack of a better phrase, to entice followers, but to claim to give your followers "powers" is a bit out there.

That's exactly what I thought, tbh.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Leelas, Sattva and Tamas both.

 

[ajay0]

Religion is not about doing anything else like self improvement or worshipping God if this simple fact is ignored and one does not perform ones dharma to smash the evil that is preventing one from having a dignified life.

Bin Laden and Hitler also talked about 'smashing the evil ' and stuff very passionately that many people fell for it and still do , and ended up as retards themselves. Bin Laden and Hitler believed vehemently that what they were doing was in the right interests of justice and righteousness to the very end.

Why would you feel that your 'smashing the evil' is not about the same as their perspective. Are you flexible enough to entertain the suggestion that you might be actually wrong !

This 'smashing the evil' seems more like a reactionary attitude to me and not a non-reactive positive attitude.

 

[sayak83]

I have to come to a shaky conclusion that it's perhaps not real. He charges $10000 for a 25 day yogic retreat. That's $400 a day. That alone makes it prohibitively expensive and just makes me think of paying for enlightenment which is a thing I do not believe in

But, you know, I probably could have handled all that if it wasn't for the members of his sangha constantly pressuring me to buy my place in his Inner Awakening course (the prohibitively expensive one). It's skeevy and I don't appreciate constantly being told to book my place and everything will fall in place.

There's also the issue that he is a living avatar of Sadashiva which I find... absolutely preposterous. Everything I have read and experiences about Shiva is at pains to impress upon people that Shiva does NOT take birth, ever. Yes, He may take form, but He is eternal and without mother or father; the eternal, uncreated consciousness.

Paramahamsa Nithyananda claims to be an incarnation of Sadashiva and it just smacks of hubris. While I agree with him that we do not pour oblation on the lingam to lubricate it and prevent it from cracking (as the guru of Isha Foundation said) I find worshipping a person as Sadashiva to just... I don't know. I can't let go of my misgivings.

Honour and worship are two different things and I do not believe what is happening here is honour but a cult of personality. I wish I could better articulate my misgivings.

Wow, what a scam! $10,000 yoga retreat!

 

[Aupmanyav]

I would term it as a 'monumental scam'.

 

[Vinayaka]

One of the ways some yoga groups or organisations transfer money from the rich to the poor is by charging the rich fees they can afford, and then do massive charity work with it, while all the time giving free classes to the impoverished.

Of course each organisation is unique, and one would have to know a lot more of the facts like how much luxury the teachers or staff are living in, in order to make any kind of judgement.

Still, many of these large mass-market Gurus run huge charities. In a small way, it helps counter the adharmic wealth distribution problem on this planet.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Charities! Today the police under the direction of a judge is going to search the ashram of Sadguru Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, one of the most popular gurus with affiliation of some 50 million people in India and Nepal. The Guru is presently serving a twenty-year jail sentence for two rapes, though there are cases of murder also against him. A tunnel from his underground palace led straight to the charity's girl's school. Eleven girl students are reported missing from the school. One has to look behind the benign smile and the hand raised in 'abhaya mudra' of the guru. As they say, 'the elephant has one type of teeth for show and other type for eating'.

 

[Vinayaka]

A problem arises from generalising. There is a wide range of ethical behaviour, varying from organisation to organisation. Fortunately, there are still some who are ethical. It's sad to me how a few rotten apples spoil the bunch.

 

[Aupmanyav]

It is more like 50-50.

 

[Vinayaka]

It is more like 50-50.

I hope not. Just based on how the press works, (they love to report on the negative, we don't hear about all the positive ones) I don't think so. Many organisations are a mixed bag ... some scandal, but also a lot of charity, etc.

 

[Aupmanyav]

All India Akhara Parishad, a body of 13 orders of Hindu Sadhus has named the following 14 gurus as fakes:

Asharam Bpu, Radhe Maa, Sacchidananda Giri aka Om Baba, Gurmeet Ram Rahim, Nirmal baba, Icchadhari Bhimananda, Aseemnanda, Narayan Sai, Rampal, Acharya Kushmuni, Brihaspati Giri and Malkhan Singh. Most of these are active in India only (as far as I know).

 

[Shantanu]

Bin Laden and Hitler also talked about 'smashing the evil ' and stuff very passionately that many people fell for it and still do , and ended up as retards themselves. Bin Laden and Hitler believed vehemently that what they were doing was in the right interests of justice and righteousness to the very end.

Why would you feel that your 'smashing the evil' is not about the same as their perspective. Are you flexible enough to entertain the suggestion that you might be actually wrong !

This 'smashing the evil' seems more like a reactionary attitude to me and not a non-reactive positive attitude.

I consult God constantly to determine the truth about what constitutes good and evil, and what to do about evil. One either succumbs to evil or one fights it. Giving in to evil is living a moronic life and one subsequently becomes as a pawn of evil. I prefer independence and act to preserve my dignity of being a good person in every way.

In the United Kingdom, an immigrant has to cope with racist persecution at all levels of society. If you live here, you have a choice. Live in seclusion and exist just to fill your belly or fight the racists whereever you meet them at an individual level and institutionally using whatever intelligence, strength and resources God has given you. You must always survive in the process. For that you need to be careful that you do not exceed the normal way of smashing evil. For this one needs God to be on one's side.

You keep mentioning Hitler and Bin Laden. They got their just rewards in the end for violence is not on the noble path. There was war of immense proportions to weed out those evil. A similar war is going on in the Middle East. Evil was smashed by the actions of very good human beings. As for myself I deal with the issues that come up in my life. I am Hindu but cannot tolerate the unnecessary suffering of the Rohingya Muslims persecuted out of Myanmar into Bangladesh by a regime that is led by a Nobel Prize winning woman Aung San Suu Kyi. That is what I call evil. Those watching and supporting that regime are themselves evil. A person of religion cannot turn a blind eye to such injustices. This evil has got to be smashed. What better use to put one's life to?

The entire humanity is locked in a perennial state of war between good and evil. Ignoring this shows total disregard of the reality that is to be confronted.

 

[Nyingjé Tso]

Vanakkam

I consult God constantly to determine the truth about what constitutes good and evil, and what to do about evil. One either succumbs to evil or one fights it.

Get off your high horse, Kalki boy.
There are a lot more shades of grey in this world than you think.

Aum namah Shivaya