Sai Baba's BBC Perv Doc: "The Secret Swami"

The Babaster is one of the biggest. BBC News produced an excellent documentary exposé, yet he still has millions of sadly deluded devotees. He also has a cadre of internet attack specialists, a number of whom have gone to substantial lengths to discredit yours truly.



Miracle-faking and twink-diddling, along with rumors of massive government corruption and a few murders, are only a few of this man's sins. But all that said, I'm still entirely convinced that the man functions as a perfectly adequate image upon which to project the idea of God, making him more a stand in than incarnation, something that is true of every guru who has millions of followers.

--jodyr, Guruphiliac Forum

You Never Gave Me Your Money

While we're going broke by the minute, the amount of money NewAgers blow on charlatans - people who do, and will do, absolutely nothing but rip others off - is amazing. I was over at Jody Radzik's outstanding Guruphiliac and, after reading this (and a few others just like it) almost fell out of my chair:

"The [public interest litigation] was filed in the Madras High Court in November 2002 and apart from the ‘godman’ and his wife, several relatives including his son, NKV Krishna and his daugher-in-law Preetha were made respondents…

The report goes on to say that of this sum, Preetha had invested Rs 1.38 crore in the acquisition of shares. The report states that in a list that Krishna gave the Income Tax department, he has admitted that he, his wife and their companies and trusts owned as many as 33 vehicles. Giri also stated in the report that he had received gifts worth [over $1,000,000] and that they were mostly from abroad and 'that he could not say exactly that they were for the movement'. The donations were further given as gifts to various persons, as loans to various companies and he had also used a major part."

Meanwhile, people come here and give me mega-shit for requesting donations so I can get back to making music that will inspire my countrymen. Incredible.

Seriously, y'all have created a sick fucking world.

Everything Comes From Within (But You're Out)

"Among the set of concerns (let's call them) that led me to start Mystic Bourgeoisie, was the question of why certain New Age types -- especially those who most vehemently deny that's what they are -- seem to believe that the answers to all life's most profound questions are to be found, you know...

{{{ WITHIN }}}

Even if your literary masochism amounts to but a fraction of my own, you can't avoid running into this bizarre concept if you read anything in this genre. Look within, my child, and your questions shall be answered!

I strongly suspect that heading the FAQ Hit Parade in this regard would be:

'Who's the fairest of them all?'

And the #1 most popular corresponding answer:

'Why, you are, Queenie!'

I got thinking about this again today because a reader kindly sent me a link to an interesting post titled Folk Theories Of Guru-Based Spirituality, which included such items as...

• The folk theory of everything being connected
• The folk theory of ancient wisdom
• The folk theory that only the heart knows what is true
• The folk theory that the mind is an enemy of the spirit

In the comments, someone added one of my all-time favorites...

• The folk theory that the Universe has a plan for Your Life"

-- Chris Locke, pondering those really-big-things-to-ponder (as always) and giving TMR a chance to link to him and Guruphiliac at once - which counts as an anti-cult triple play - on the Mystic Bourgeoisie.

Why I Tend To Scream (I'm Not Bullshitting You)

"The [Transcendental Meditation] doctrine brings some zany ideas into one's mind without them having been properly screened for their value. TM philosophy is a non-too-suble form of indoctrination into a style of thinking which, quite frankly, is the armchair philosophy of it's propounder, Mr Mahesh (above, the self-styled 'maharishi', who poses as a guru). And because the stuff is said gently, softly, peacefully, it just slips in and becomes a part of one's own arsenal of ideas. However, some of the stuff is just make-believe and wishful thinking."

-- From the TMfree Blog's comments section - it's one of my favorite blogs, along with Guruphiliac - on the (very popular) Fairy Tales That Harm Us.