New Age Swami says Corruption is OK

On 21^st April Swami Bhodananda addressed the members of the Madras Management Association at Hotel Deccan Plaza. The swami spoke quite well with a lot of polish and sophistication. He justified the need for modernization and decried any call to go back to contentment amidst dirt, squalor and disease.

He proceeded to suggest that Indians should strike a middle path between the “blind worship of Mammon in a hedonistic search for pleasure” and “total apathy under the pretext of renunciation and sacrifice.”

Somewhere deep down the swami came across as a guy who has hit on a formula to hold educated moneyed audiences by mouthing platitudes plausibly and spouting Sanskrit when confused. He quotes well from the Gita and the Upanisads. But he appears to be no more than a well-oiled pulpit orator from amongst the new breed of career swamijis. This is not meant to be derogatory at all, especially in a country that takes pride in respecting sadhus. As far back in Indian history as during the mauryan era, there were a class of itinerant mendicants who relied on society to feed, clothe and shelter them. This is part of the Hindu culture. It is only when these renounced souls expect to be driven around in luxury cars and treated like celebrities that their credibility is questioned. There will be a class of Sadhus so long as there are people eager to fall at their feet.

One thing I missed with Sw. Bhodananda was the systematic pattern of delivery and reverence to Guru Parampara that is a hallmark of established organization like the Rama Krishna Mission or the Chinmaya Mission or Sw. Dayananda Saraswathi’s Mission. In fact I was a bit surprised when the Swami began his “discourse” directly without a brief Salutation to God and his Guru! OK! He is a new age swami who embraces change for it’s own sake!

Like a seasoned stand up comedian he threw in a few well-delivered jokes. I liked these:

· The Swamiji goes to a hotel and orders food. After the meal the swamiji is charged $18. He pays with a $20 bill. The hotel owner who had been part of the audience at the discourse of the swami did not give back the change. The Swmiji asks him why. The guy says, “Swamiji, it was you who said Change should come from within. So search within”. (A bit corny, nio doubt but it has a flavor of Zen in it.)

· A visitor meets two men in a Lunatic asylum. He asks the first the reason for his being there. The man says, “I am here because I loved a woman and I couldn’t marry her.” The second man in reply to a similar enquiry says, “I am here because I married her!”

The swamiji went a bit too far in his attempts to appease the predominantly busuness audience when he openly declared that we should a cast a blind eye on rampant corruption because “that is the way it is with the world”. He said corruption is inevitable in a country that is moving from Developing to middle income status. I question the logic of Swami Bhodananda’s view because development and corruption have no correlation whatsoever. There are numerous countries in the EU which have developed economically without encouraging corruption. On the other hand countries where the corruption quotient is high tend to be poor and under developed. He went on to “justify” corruption by naming other countries like Israel which are even worse in corruption. It is apparent that Israel cannot be on the swamiji’s itinerary during his next world tour! Unless of course he has been permitted by the US to make these comments!

An argument is support of accepting corruption as a way of life doesn’t sit well on a monk who shold either be above these mundane matters or willing to condemn every type of unrighteous behavior that demeans the individual and society.