In my childhood I was an implicit follower of Radhasoami sect like my parents. However as I grew up, my questions became more incisive. So much so that around the year 1979 or so I requested some answer from the Head of said org. However the only reply I got was that I should not be analytical. That was shear opposite to what they were preaching in their Satsang. Even otherwise the sheer hypocrisy of the followers was all too apparent.
The greatest shock came to me when a friend informed me that they are robbing old people of their assets and no books of accounts exist or are maintained or are freely available about the cult. More so organization’s management is also shrouded in mystery. He also threw me a few links which I have shared.
Any way if I have to criticize I would only say Radhsoami or for that matter all religious groups/cults do not practice what they preach especially in terms of money. Guru will accumulate wealth (See here) but will preach that money is worthless and it is the karma which matters.
What they rob from Peter they share a small sum with Paul i.e. poor people in freebies like Lungar (food) etc. and attract crowds. Actually all collective organizations represent that we are GREEDY. Rich provide money and poor provide crowds. Rich sit in the front, in VIP Gallary, poor rot in open sun.
We are greedy and we care for nothing else but we spend our time proving to the contrary. We want to be associated with a stamp called Religion and show that we are better and superior.
This is the reason I stay away from any form of organized religion. Some posts about hypocrisy of Religions are here. I quote following excerpts from great ascetic Swami Vivekanand:
“The only God to worship is the human soul in the human body.
Of course, all animals are temples too,
but man is the highest, the Taj Mahal of temples.
If I cannot worship in that, no other temple will be of any advantage.”
As regards above poem, the disputes are about form of worship when the real worship is to live and experience so that the Universe/Nature/God may experience the Leela through us.
Similarly the cases of manipulation of people or the people who have personally cheated me like Puliani Brothers of Bharat Law House or exploitation of science and technology to the detriment of public good and examples of extreme greed or callousness are also placed in this category. More such disappointing events are logged here.
I hope you would write more on GM crops.
I have found many problems with BT Cotton in India including deaths of animals on large scale.
I, too, was raised in a hyper-conservative sect in Arkansas, a Baptist splinter group. It sure left its mark on me….is probably the reason I can’t shake this “monkey mind.”! I plan on blogging about it sometime.
Do not blame everything on church. They merely plant ideas. As regard the mind, every person has it and it is a monkey most of the time.