The Clay Feet on Godmen: "First Believe that I'm Greater than All of You!"
My dad was watching Sanskar channel, and the voices from his television triggered a thought within me. I recognized what it is about godmen or saints that irks me... that has always irked me, and prevented me from reverentially approaching a person. What irritates is that one is required to believe that this person is a "great man", and that his thoughts are somehow a lot more profound than yours or mine... even before one listens to the substance of his talk, let alone know him by his actions! Don't get me wrong... I have respectfully heard a few pravachans in my childhood and youth, and I have learned much from Swami Chinmayananda especially. Ever so often, a pravachan by someone like Bandhu Triputhi or Osho Rajneesh on television captivates me, and forces me to rethink my whole life. But I hear these people as one person hears another. I regard their words with as much reverence as I might accord to, say, the words of a knowledgeable fellow ...