The original pronouncement read as “no pain no gain,” but times have changed, as has the meaning of gain. Earlier on rishis and munis would perform rigorous tapa and endure great pain, to achieve what they wanted…today, people want it quick and easy, so they go for quick fix solutions, off the shelf remedies, mantras, yantras and totkas to get what they want. The favoured mechanism being that of a vending machine – insert a coin, and pop comes the goodie! The nature of ‘goodies’ or wants, too, have changed. Our ancestors would ask for an exit route from the rut of the physical world, to back to where they have come from, men of today look for an entry…to further immerse themselves in the physical and the unreal.
Result? The market is full of businessmen selling innovative techniques and solutions to all of life’s problems who call themselves Gurus, while the actual Guru who can show you the reality is in short supply, almost out of stock…because hardly anyone wants what he has to offer. These business Gurus are people who are intelligent enough to know that there is this vast, wide audience waiting to be tapped into, who would be willing to do anything, sorry, spend anything to get rid of their problems. To cater to the ever growing demand for solutions to problems, they sell rings, books, bracelets, potlis, tantra, yantra, herbal juices, rooms in their palatial ashrams and also courses in yoga – hot yoga, cold yoga, naked yoga, erotic yoga, yoga with your partner, yoga with your dog – since needs of every individual are different. You might think this as funny, but this is serious business. Majority of these business Gurus have so much money that they have their own towns and some even their own small islands and their income is all tax-free.
The people, of course, are more miserable than ever. Their problems increasing with every passing day and every new remedy they buy. A gentleman, I know bought a specifc yantra from a television Guru to gain in his business…few months later his business crashed, his house was mortgaged and his body host to a plethora of diseases. His faith however is intact, and today he is looking for more yantras and mantras to rid him of these. Thus the market is ever growing, as is the business of yoga. The fault is not of those selling the sciences, the fault is our own. For we go looking for a Guru and for yoga not to find an exit route but to further tie us down. And one only gets what he/she is looking for…
Yogi Ashwini has time and time again reiterated that yog and Guru are not magic keys that would solve your day to day problems, not that they do not have the ability to, if the Guru so wishes they can solve each and every problem of their shishya,but a true Guru knows better than that. Yog is not for problem solving or for sale, it is not jumping around or setting up huge temple trusts…if I was the person going to a business Guru for any of the above, I would be really worried…
