TV AND PREACHERS-1

Many people who come to me asked me not once but many times why I tell them to listen to the excellent preachings of some of the best religiously trained Hindu preachers who now appear in the religious channels of Indian television with lot of pomp and show.

How these religious channels have come into existence is not a very pleasant story which I will not narrate here. I personally know of many stories of many so called astrologers appearing in these channels and exploiting the ever greedy clients of their and claiming to be “fate repairers” which they do it at a cost--huge cost in many cases.

Other television channels which show astrological programs which are daily predictions and tarot cards do not bring in these preachers except when they have something sensational to “reveal” against them which they can do now because there are some private sting operators making huge money through such programs.

In 2001, one of these sting operators had come out with sensational disclosure about a case of serious political corruption which ruined the careers of some politicians. After that, none dared to enter into this area which would have been good for Indian democracy. If these sting operators had moral courage, they could have exposed big political corruption and other sordid stories of crime.

Like Italy, in India we could have started a healthy campaign against corruption in democracy which we know is there at all levels. But the sting operators proved to be moral cowards and turned their operation in an area which is least desirable and is full of religious ignorance.

Those among us who have met great saints and religious preachers know the distinction between them, not the average listener or the sting operator who himself is known as a corrupt man.

Religious preachers

Instead these sting operators started going into sex scandals of some religious preachers which has done lot of damage to the faith of their followers.

WHAT I TELL THEM 

I tell people who ask me to remember:

1) These preachers are well read in religious scriptures, some of them well trained and married with families and children. As parents these preachers have the worry of providing also for their children because of which they begin to accumulate money. Then their greed increases and they grow rich, become millionaires and multi-millionaires. For this they need rich donors, not YOU and ME. You will find these preachers surrounded always by rich men and you cannot even get an audience with them. You can hope to meet the President of India more easily than these preachers.

These preachers are religiously trained and tell you the gist of scriptures excellently, so excellently that even persons who have read these scriptures treat these preaching’s as excellent refresher course. But listen to them on the television channel and do not go near. NEVER GO NEAR is my invariable warning based on my more than fifty years experience of knowing many of them personally in many different places in India.

Women

2)Women as usual flock round them as they flock round astrologers and fall into some traps which women never succeed in avoiding after three or four visits. The only way these women get checked is when other women become their rivals and want to cut them off from the “guru” which the preacher is mistaken for by them. Then at some stage, some of these women think they can “capture” the preacher by granting him sexual favors whether demanded or not. May be the preacher also demands. Some of them are known to demand it. It is a familiar story. 

So remember what RamaKrishna Paramhamsa warned people in spiritual path of KAMINI and KANCHAN meaning money and women. 

I am therefore not surprised if during the last one year particularly in the last two or three months of 2007, religious preachers have been “exposed” by non-religious television channels on flimsy, unconvincing, lopsided, even distorted evidence which can be challenged in courts of law, if Indian courts get out of their habit of dragging these cases for many years instead of giving quick decisions.

But such sting operations have become a trend because the Hindi channels, which are dangerous idiot boxes competing with each other for higher TRP ratings, must follow the formula of bringing in a half baked astrologer, sex scandals, people from glamour world and give them maximum coverage not hard news.

For instance, Pakistan is burning, Lebanon, Hamas, Israel are facing missile attacks, Iran is racing with its manufacture of nuclear weapons, USA has stationed its ships in the sea around Iran. There are fears of dangerous conflagrations and violent change of regimes in many places in the world, particularly West Asia and Pakistan. 

In a television programs I had said last year of the year becoming a year of sex scandals. I did not see it then and did not warn people that it could involve religious people as has become a big trend with the Hindi channels now.

I will explain it astrologically later.

(24 May 2007)