Take 10: The Guru Effect
Spirituality Based on Patriarchy?
It’s maasu bhaat day, oops we mean election day in Nepal. Today we exercised our civic duty and then headed to the nearest bhoj khuaawney tent to enjoy one of the many facets of our democratic tradition.
In a multi-party democracy, cross-party alliances are fraught with conflicts, but there is one thing, that time and again, has brought Nepali politicians who often don’t see eye to eye, together in a room.
When a certain Sed Guru came to Nepal earlier this year, all our netas put aside their differences momentarily for a photo-op with the said Sed Guru.
We couldn’t agree more!
What is it about our political class cozying up to spiritual gurus spearheading dubious businesses and foundations?
There is no running away from Sed Guru and his video ads offering nuggets of wisdom about everything one can think of - from love to money management, and sexuality to leadership. Jaggi Vasudev, popularly known as Sadh Guru has aptly been described in a news story investigating his foundation’s blatant violation of laws, as ‘Anglophone India’s star godman’. And thanks to social media, he has found ardent devotees beyond India. He is a big hit among Nepal’s huncha ni young, urban crowd, as well as in the South Asian diaspora. Even Hollywood celebrities like Trevor Noah, Will Smith, and Gina Rodriguez from our favorite ‘Jane the Virgin’ seem smitten by this angrezbaaz guru, who drives fuel-guzzling ‘cool’ motorbikes and claims to ‘save soil’.
Like all other digital age spiritual gurus, who talk to their audience mostly through social media, Sadh Guru’s vaguely worded videos about ‘rationalized misogyny’ are cozily cushioned between narratives of humanism and environmentalism. To many, his highly problematic views on gender are but a minor inconvenience. To many, his critics should focus on the greater good and not get hung up on ‘smaller’ issues.
The mystique and influence of Jaggi Vasudev is such that there will always be someone defending him on social media. After all, it is their revered guru’s words. So any question or criticism of him, his ideas, and his business interests are met with nasty exchanges on social media, which makes in-person meetings with Sed Guru fans very awkward. #TrueStory
On Women
We all love it when someone confirms, affirms, or validates our view of the world. On questions of gender and women’s place in society, the current stream of spiritual gurus are espousing ideas that remind many of the ‘glorious’ past when a woman’s greatest virtue was motherhood, and a woman’s greatest achievement was standing in the shadow of men and pushing them towards the spotlight.
A month ago, a video was gaining a lot of traction on social media.
In this video, a guru shares his thoughts on the etymological construction of the three words used to describe a woman in Khas Nepali language: महिला, नारी, आईमाई।
When we had just started our podcast, we got a few comments about our preference for the word आईमाई which is considered to be less respectful than its counterparts. In this video, the guru sets out to defend the word by drawing on its root. Our Twitter folks across the gender spectrum loved it, including our nemesis Bhim Rawal.
What is there not to love, right? The guru declares his preference for a word over another because it privileges a woman’s agency and centres on her power or dominion over this world. And what is the source of this power? Her ability to give birth to and raise a great individual.
All three definitions in the video point to a woman’s identity as understood by the virtue of her being a mother or somebody’s wife. In trying to judge the suitability of a word to describe a woman, the guru forgets that women have been trying to break away from these very limits imposed on them by the patriarchal structure that has fathered language. But, people will take such a video as being deferential towards women.
But we need to be suspicious of anything that conflates the identity of a woman with motherhood and anyone who conflates a woman’s identity with that of a goddess. Because goddesses have no need to organise in order to demand equal citizenship rights. Get it, Bhim Rawal uncle?
The Gen Z phuchhey TikTok Guru
The Spiritual Guru effect is nothing new, but social media now allows individuals - anyone who is comfortable in front of a camera and can read from a script - to market themselves as the new age guru.
There are the less polished videos of phuchhey Nepali bros who have found fame as self-proclaimed gurus on TikTok. Shreeguru is one of them. Long flowing black hair, elaborate tikas on the forehead, and complete with a rudraksha necklace, Shreeguru comes across as a caricature of the gurus giving gyaan around Pashupati. Only he isn’t. He has the most ludicrous ideas about attaining success, whether it is in your relationship or that lok sewa exam you’ve been trying to crack.
In one video, he suggests couples should place a peacock feather and a photo of lord Radha Krishna in their bedroom to resolve fights and misunderstandings. Great, everyone’s going to save on couple therapy!
But between all those ludicrous videos, the chirpy phuchhey guru also manages to churn out plenty of content further pushing conventional beauty standards (thulo aankha and chuchcho naak) and the harmful ideas of how a ‘sanskari’ woman should look and behave.
In conclusion
While going through the contents of the spiritual visions on offer, it is clear that most of our gurus profess universally acceptable and appealing ideas - love and respect for nature and the environment, cultivating a conscious mind. All sounds pretty good, right? Therefore, it’s not a surprise then that a lot of young, educated-abroad Nepalis, find solace in these ideas that are not too far from their worldviews.
Even if the gurus have been accused of flouting laws to expand their empire, and have sexual abuse cases against them, that does not seem to dissuade their legions of followers from taking a pause and checking their blind allegiance.
But, behind the edifying structure of spiritual wellbeing, lies an uncomfortable truth: a lot of our sed gurus are products, protectors, and professors of patriarchy.
Our Reading List on the Guru Scam:
How Sadhguru built his Isha empire. Illegally, Newslaundy
Gurus Gone Bad in India, Al Jazeera
‘सद्गुरु’का असत् विचार, by Bibhu Luitel
सद्गुरुलाई कोही किन प्रश्न गर्दैन ? by Kunsaang
This Climate Guru Is a Celebrity in the US. In India, He’s Accused of Destroying a Forest, Vice