Will the gullible Indians learn a lesson from Asaram's conviction and life imprisonment?

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 01 February 2023 "I need no master, nor do I look for evolution, Evolved I'm already, none I hanker after" Omar Khayyam, translated by the author "I'm no one's spiritual guide. For, I'm an eternal seeker." From ' Divan-e-Shams-e-Tabrizi ' (Shams said this to Rumi when the latter asked for spiritual guidance) "Justajoo-e-irfaan mein aql-e-saleem ko hi peer-o-murshid samajh........." (In search of self-realization, consider your prudence as your guide) (Allama Iqbal, never had a master though he considered Rumi his Ruhani Ustaad, a spiritual master) "Your spiritual treasure is within you. It's immanent." -A Sufi saying "Be not a musk-deer You're already a seer" ... Self-styled godman Asaram Bapu has been sentenced to life term in a 2013 rape case (Photo: File) ------- An Indian court has sentenced a self-styled spiritual guru to life imprisonment for raping one of his devotees. Asaram was found guilty of assaulting the woman several times between 2001 and 2006 at his ashram in the western state of Gujarat. This puts a question mark on the genuineness of all spiritual masters because many of them do not have a spotless history. Nearly a millennium ago, Jalaluddin Rumi said so prophetically in Pahalavi, Nee ast ustaadam,tasawwuf ighlaaf, choon rast naazif mee nam darkaar — ‘We need no spiritual masters; we need spiritually evolved souls, who don’t teach and preach’. The last clause is of cardinal importance: ‘who don’t teach and preach’. The proliferation of spiritual masters with their teachings and preaching has made the entire shebang of spirituality somewhat shady and suspicious. Of course, there are real masters as well, among the fake ones. But they get eclipsed by a legion of phoney babas and fly-by-night operators. J Krishnamurti, when asked by someone in the audience, to show the light, the path, too benighted souls like himself, responded, “First of all, stop calling yourself a benighted soul and after that, stop calling me a guru. I’m not a guru and no one’s my follower.” With this, he ended the discourse for the day. There’s an Uzbeki adage that states: Taa sarf ul aadim,ul-fazim naavard — ‘Make no one your guru and you’ll never be disenchanted or duped’. We’re all basically spiritual beings and even those who are atheists and apatheists among us, are spiritual, because, to be spiritual, one needs no god or any other esoteric power. Even an atheist can be spiritually enlightened and highly evolved. The Buddha, Mahavira, Yagyvalakya, Lopamudra, and Descartes among others were atheists. But they were spiritually streets ahead of their theist peers. When we seek gurus, we tend to forget the very basic fact that we all carry the effulgence of spirituality in our individual existence. Apna hi but bana, apne hi but pe lot ja/Tere dil-o-dimagh pe dairo-haram ka baar kyon — ‘Make your own idol carved out of your inner Self and genuflect before that/ Why should you have the encumbrances of god, shrines and scriptures?’ The truly realised are never interested in becoming gurus. In the words of Rene Descartes, “To be a ‘spiritual’ master is to be doomed.” Osho, despite his great fan following, often felt that the tag of a master actually imprisoned him. His free spirit got incarcerated. Ramana Maharshi would politely tell all visitors not to call him a guru. “Even a guru is forever a disciple” was his classic refrain. Nowadays, we tend to be drawn to those who can play at the gallery and speak spiritual inanities couched in recondite language. This is not spirituality and neither are these people gurus or masters. In one of his Persian poems, Fariduddin Attar described the qualities of a spiritual guru: Ta vizdam (this word in archaic Persian gave the word ‘wisdom’ to English) fin-naaz ustif, il-abraa in mazeef /Ta queif ul-baatin inhaaz murzin — ‘A real spiritual master has an aura and you immediately recognise him with that sparkling glow. He doesn’t have to blow his own trumpet’. Finally, Sartre ended the debate so succinctly by saying, “A real master has no followers, no home, no property and no social accessories. His own life is a lesson in spirituality. He’s a living enlightenment.” Coming from a lifelong atheist and existentialist like Jean-Paul Sartre, these words have their own significance in today’s spiritually murky and dubious world. All said and done, the million-dollar question remains: Despite all this, will our credulous masses learn a lesson? I'm afraid it seems improbable. Note: A slightly different version of this article appeared in The Times of India's supplement Speaking Tree, now defunct, on Sept. 1, 2017. ---- URL: https://www.newageislam.com/hindi-section/animal-sacrifice-mankind-nepal-ghadimai/d/129005 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism