The Guru syndrome...

This article in Huffington Post on a new guru visiting the US inspired me to actually post a reply:

"Long time lurker of HP, posting for the first time... I felt I should certainly say something about this post.. Philosophical ideas that have been around for over thousand or so years. While I am not going to argue about the ideas themselves (all philosophical ideas have some merit, whether its Taoism, Hinduism, Sufism or western philosophies of Kant, Locke etc). We have been debating for centuries on the meaning of life and that's what philosophy is all about..

But, if you are familiar with India, (I was born there so I do) you will know that such swamis are dime a dozen (no offense to the real ones) who mix and match old philosophies with some 'Grace' and 'Mind coming together' messages to create some mumbo-jumbo that really is just fluff..

Experiencing some sort of transcendental feeling is fine.. Any new cultural phenomenon can be transformational.. That doesn't make these people Gods :)

I am sure some of these swamis are delusional and actually believe they themselves are the incarnations of God like this guy in the video, but I am quite surprised to see such a meaningless post on HP and that someone actually takes them seriously.
How different is this guy from Pat Robinson or Jerry Falwell other than looking exotic? :)
I see HP quite enthusiastically bashing evangelical b.s but falling for this.. Is it because its cool?

For eg. if you read Celestine Prophecy, its the same idea but in a different culture.. Yes, that book is fiction.
Mariska Hargitay!! :)"

Later on, someone replied to my post and rightly said:

Look, I dont know this guy, but the difference between him and "Jerry" or "pat" seems clear. This guy does not appear to be a hater.

Here was my response:

"While I agree, the comparisons I will make with Pat Roberston's and these swamis are these: Both are out to make money and both give their respective religions a bad name.. using bad propaganda
Most Christians won't associate themselves with Falwell in the same way most Hindus don't associate themselves with these swamis

Its ok to go and explore other religions etc as someone posted.. I do too and we all should honestly, but not like this.. Spending money on some fake swami who will like someone put it... 'Bottle the goodness message for you on that particular day, so do pay $500 for it'

Capitalistic attitude to religion is what this is.. Spend a few hours and loads of money on a guru and I will be spiritually cleansed"

Really??... another travel blog?

Yes, that had always been my reaction whenever I used think of writing down my travel experiences or any thoughts for that matter. The reason is, while traveling, whenever a neat thought pops into my head, I say to myself, 'Well I should write that down lest I forget', my cynical side pooh-poohs the idea on how original that sounds. "sure, start a blog.. why not? its never been done before..." "but, but.. this is brazil, a real carnaval in salvador, surely not like a trip to the Niagara?" "right, you must jot this down.. you are the first one to witness a carnaval.." "you cynical sob! how about this? its the amazon? don't you see?" and so on to the point where I just get tired arguing with myself and the neat idea which was the root cause, is lost in space or mind. Also usually the next morning after I am sober, the idea doesn't sound that neat anyway. (no offense to Niagara or to people who blog about their experiences visiting it)

This certainly has been the reason for my trepidation over diving into the blogosphere during my previous travels, but, this time around, I doggedly jotted down on a notebook I bought in Vienna, some of the trip's experiences, since there was a part of me that strongly fought against the metaphorical cynical current, battling all odds, the forces of nature, like a phoenix from the ashes....
What I mean is, I spent about ten minutes writing down, "twice" during the whole month long trip, not any neat ideas, but salient experiences from the trip, just so I could come back and say to my cynical side.. 'ha, in your face...'
No, I do not have multiple personality disorder.
Also, my friend coaxed me into writing saying that I would at least have one fan reading it if I made the effort, so here I am...

The whole idea started sometime back in April, when I felt like a new trip was in order, everything else be damned. A bold plan was hatched and it was to be a trip around the world for two-three months as in travel really round the globe before reaching home. Slowly, we (myself and Cole) then narrowed the scope down to just Europe and time frame to 45 days, and finally reality brought the trip-time to a month. Magellan had a few practical things to consider like the amount of vacation available at work and how much bank account he was really willing to deplete, since this time around, there was no Queen financing his voyage. Also, it had already been proven that the world was round, in like the 16th century, so there was not much incentive left in a round the world tour.

So, off we start our voyage on a brand new September day (20th really, so it wasn't that new for a day in September, but I need the hyperbole dammit) from Austin to Houston( we started late in the night), to Frankfurt. Like Agamemnon sacrificing his daughter Iphigeneia so the gods would create favorable winds for his fleet heading to Troy, we were excited and ready to sacrifice a few virgins if necessary for favorable travel conditions, but honestly, it was around 1.00am in Austin and there were no virgins in sight around my place. And, if by some ridiculous stroke of luck there were some lurking around in the vicinity, I wonder if they would have remained the same to be worthy of a sacrifice. Like Izzard's Cake or Death, 'Sacrifice or Sex' but I digress. Another friend of mine kindly lent us his spare place in Houston for the night to crash-in, since our flight was not until 11.30am the next morning and driving in the same day as the flight felt like cutting it too close. Anyway, the intrepid voyagers reach the airport and the terminal with a few hours to kill and ready to cross the mighty Atlantic.. The winds were in favorable condition, we checked.