Wednesday, April 24, 2013
A Tale of Two Swamijis
I was a bit reluctant to publish this post as I have done my best to avoid negative comments. Yet, the sentiments expressed here are meant to promote thought rather than provoke comment.
There
was a swamiji. He was the local head of a spiritual organization. The swamiji
was a great orator. People loved to hear his fiery discourses. Some even felt
he was almost like the founder of the organization.
The
organization was a registered society. To increase the number of members the
organization forced the parents of children joining their schools to become
life members. A life member is someone who will be your member till he dies.
But these parents lost their interest once their children finished school and
went to college and then abroad and so on; some stayed connected. Most did not.
So
although there were thousands of LMs on the record only a very few helped the
organization. These were people who admired the founder and loved his teachings
But the monthly News-letter had to be
sent to ALL the LMs. That was the rule! This cost money!
Now,
the swamiji was upset. But as he was a brilliant swamij and he got this idea. So
he called a meeting of the LMs. A few attended. At that meeting the swamiji
made them pass a resolution that any LM who did not attend two General meetings
will cease to be a life member (No! The swamiji will not kill them! But they
cannot be life members! How? I don’t know! Luckily I am not a swamiji. ;-)
Then
the swamiji called another meeting. The swamiji did not call the meeting. He
has to be detached. Someone else did it. In the invitation to that meeting it
was stated that any LM who did not come will cease to be one! The LMs who were
connected to the organization and who admired the founder came to that meeting.
They
came because they valued their membership.
But
many LMs did not come. May be they were parents of children who had left the
school and had gone to college and then abroad and so on.(I don’t know).
The
swamiji was upset. He started haranguing the LMs who had come. He was upset
with the people who had not come. But he gave a severe lecture to the people
who had come! The swamiji was quite upset. A few people mildly pointed out that
some of the things the swamiji was proposing to do were not correct. The
swamiji lost his cool then! He pounced on these blasphemers and started
accusing them of disloyalty and arrogance,
The
swamiji became an Angry Man.
Huh!
An
angry man can become a swamiji by
conquering anger,
How
can a swamiji become an angry man?
But
this is what happened. Forget it.
There
was another swamiji. He was a brilliant writer of spiritual essays and books. These
essays were published in popular magazines. The swamiji was famous all over the
world. He had many rich devotees. These devotees gave him lot of money so that
the swamiji could lead a luxurious life. They themselves preferred to live like
beggars.
The
swamiji liked to have young girls near him. It is good for a young girl to be
near a swamiji. But, is it good for the swamiji?
Hinduism
says it is better to enjoy life and then become a sanyasi. But many swamijis is
think it is better to become swamiji and then enjoy life.
Why
can’t we all enjoy our life and allow others to enjoy theirs? You don’t have to
be swamiji to be spiritual. Just be a good human being.
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