Shiva Bala Yogi Virtual^* Darshan
* (Virtual: non physical, but being such in essence or in having the power or practical effect)

Shivabalayogi: SPIRITUAL LEADERS

Ego and Spiritual Leaders

Is the ego different with a spiritual leader than a yogi? Does the ego eventually no longer exist when you are a yogi?

“The difference is that a yogi loves people of all religions, people of all lines. The yogi brings people of all religions together. The spiritual leader does not allow people of other religions to come to him. He asks them to get out. The spiritual leader only takes care of his devotees. He will start criticizing and abusing all the others. He will tell you that if you look at his face then you will get a sin. Do you understand now?”

“After Swamiji, all of you will become spiritual leaders. You will start your own ashrams and your own lines.”

So ego did not leave the spiritual leader but did leave the yogi?

“If the ego leaves the spiritual leader, how can he develop his religion? He should have an ego. Unless he accuses and criticizes the other paths, how can he attract followers to his way? So he has to criticize them and say that the other ways are all bad.”

“Swamiji has already observed this over the last few years since he has been traveling in the West. If people belonging to any group come and take initiation into meditation from Swamiji, then that group discards them. Such people come and report to Swamiji that their group has discarded them. Swamiji tells them, you do not have to care about it. Just believe in God and do your meditation, that is all. That is the difference between the yogi and the spiritual leader.”

“These religions are creating a lot of trouble. They affect the people. Let us say a fellow is born in a particular religion in this lifetime. In his next lifetime he might be born in a house that follows a different religion. His next religion would not allow him to practice his earlier religion. However, he carries the effect of the earlier religion in his mind, so his mind is troubled because he is not given the freedom to do what he likes. Even if his parents let him do what he wants, his spiritual leaders would not allow it. Then he gets in trouble. Understand now?”

Large Followings

Why is it that so many spiritual leaders have so many followers yet relatively few people seem to be drawn to Swamiji who is far more evolved?

“Whatever spiritual power such leaders have to draw people to themselves comes not from themselves. It is the blessings they received from their gurus.”

“People are foolish. Let us say we get these two people here who are editors of a magazine and we want to do some business. Swamiji could ask them to do advertising and publicity for him. In turn, Swamiji would charge admission to his programs and he would give these two a share of the profits. The three of us would become partners in business. Swamiji would get a lot of publicity and many people would come to his programs. We could make a lot of money which we could distribute among the three of us. That is the way it is done.”

“The first time Swamiji went to England, some large publishers came to him and offered to book big halls for Swamiji’s programs. They wanted to sell tickets for the programs. Swamiji told them that he did not give money to his guru to learn what he taught, so Swamiji will not charge anyone to teach the same thing.”

Money & Spirituality

I have always felt in my heart that some of these gurus are good business people, but not spiritual.

“Everyone knows this but they knowingly buy the tickets anyway. In the Western countries people think that the more the money they pay, the sooner they reach God. They pay money to go to their guru. You cannot see God with money. You can only see God through practice.”

“Swamiji gives you a guarantee that you will never reach God through buying or selling tickets. Never.”

What are the spiritual repercussions of charging money for spiritual teaching?

“The effect is that people have lost faith and devotion. You can see what has happened to such spiritual leaders. They get arrested, or they can no longer enter this country, or they are sued for damages, or their organizations suffer from politics and dissention.”

Would you say that the gurus who charge a lot of money for their spiritual expertise are on the wrong path?

“That is business. It is not yoga. The people who do business cannot reach God. There is no need to pay money to reach God. There is an idea that if one spends a lot of money, one can come towards God, but it is a fallacy. If one wants to reach God one has to do sadhana [spiritual practice], practical training. The real guru is one who trains people. One must practice. Money is not required. The guru can get his food any way. There is no need to charge money for that. When Swamiji came you offered water. A real guru gets food in the same way. No trouble.”

Some of these teachers gain great power. What happens to them when they fall?

“It is not power. It is what you people have done. It is you who gave them that power. They themselves are ordinary people who cater to whatever people want.”

Disciples of Yogis

Some spiritual leaders claim to be empowered by their gurus who were yogis. How can we know whether the yogi transferred power to the disciple to become a leader? We were not there. Should we believe their claims to be a true teacher?

“Yogis do bless their disciples and they get spiritual powers from that. They train some disciples to be followers. Some come to this country to teach what they learned from their guru, the yogi. There may be many more of such disciples than are publicized in this country. Such disciples teach meditation, just like the yogi taught. Their followers gradually drop the emphasis on meditation and practice and soon all they are doing is reading and studying books.”

Does Swamiji say that all spiritual leaders are misguided or misguide us, or are some true agents for their yogi gurus?

“You have to look and study carefully.”