Gurus Wear Different Garb

February 14, 2012 by Ramesh Rao

Continued from Page 1

Whatever he wears, and wherever he is guiding his students, Jaggi Vasudev seems to be in his element. His students remark about his zest for life. That is all well and good when most of us—whether successful or not—are burdened by anxieties. To unburden those anxieties and to learn about our bodies and minds, the Isha Foundation has a beautiful retreat and ashram in Tennessee. Just as at the Indian retreat, students get to learn yoga, and are helped by trained teachers to work through one's physical and other ailments. But Jaggi Vasudev, while helping one student at a time, has also set his sights on transforming the world, realizing however that even a Godman is limited in his abilities to will change. When he was asked recently in India about what he needed to change the world, he said that he would want the attention of heads of the twenty-four most powerful nations in the world for five days, and that if he transformed them they would be able to, in turn, navigate the world into safer waters. Let us keep our fingers crossed!

What would he tell them and show them? What are Jaggi Vasudev's special/unique lessons that enable his students to go back home happier than when they first went to meet him? One facility that he has is that he speaks well the language of modern, educated citizens of the world.

He has traveled around the world, met with business leaders, politicians, and academics. Business schools have sent their students to learn from him. However, there is nothing new that he says because there cannot be anything new in human travails and what can be said about them! He does believe, however, that there is a change in guard from military leaders to politicians, and soon power will be shifted into the hands of those who hold and have economic power. And how should they wield power then? He says: "Power is a privilege that some human beings get. So when such a privilege and responsibility is placed in your hands, every action and every thought that it generates, every emotion that you can form, can touch and transform millions of lives. I think the kind of thought you generate, the action that comes out of you, has to be looked at from that perspective."

Hmmm.... I continue to be a skeptic about such global transformation. Sometimes, one doubts if there can be even an individual transformation, as the maverick Indian guru, U.G. Krishnamurti went around proclaiming for almost as long as J. Krishnamurti went around proclaiming the opposite!

Page: 2 of 2

2/14/2012 5:00:00 AM

Hindu

God in the Age of Kali

Enlightenment

Gurus

India

Jaggi Vasudev

Hinduism

more at patheos

Invocation of Dead Saints: 100 Biblical Arguments

Dave Armstrong

Our Ancestors Can Help Us Through This

Emily Guenther

GM Food Studies: Health Risks and How to Protect Yourself

Udit Shah

The Persistent Widow: Why Jesus Says to Pester God

Beverly R. Green

About Ramesh Rao

Ramesh Rao, Professor and Chair, DN3 Program, Columbus State University, Columbus, GA, is the author of two books on Indian politics and society and has written numerous op-eds for newspapers and magazines in India, the U.S., and the U.K. Ramesh served as Human Rights Coordinator and Executive Council member at the Hindu American Foundation between 2004-2013. He spent the first twenty-eight years of his life in India where he worked as a bank officer, a school teacher, and a copy editor. He received his MS in Mass Communication from the University of Southern Mississippi, and his PhD in Communication from Michigan State University. He taught at Truman State University in Kirksville, MO, and Longwood University in Farmville, VA, before he joined Columbus State University. He lives with wife Sujaya, and son Sudhanva in Columbus, GA.

Patheos Logo Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Subscription Support Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In

Follow Patheos