June 8th, 2011 - A Yogi in Politics
Below a TV screen perched high in the corner at Mumbai Intl. airport Gate 34 a crowd stood, necks strained, watching a news broadcast intently. Most of the men stood with their arms crossed looking very gruff. Two women in bright and shimmering saris chattered loudly; seemingly they were having a disagreement but then began giggling with a bit of mischief. The screen was filled with Hindi script that I could not read but the images were clear. An extremely dynamic yogi is causing trouble in Indian politics.
His name is Baba Ramdev and I have taken a small obsession with him. It is similar to the feeling one would have about Sara Palin - a fascination for a person so sick with power and arrogance that they are bound to make stupid mistakes. Yet, his very existence has challenged my world view. He is a tele-yoga guru, with an equivalent Indian following of the infamous Jim Bakker or Ted Haggard...or am I thinking of Jimmy Swaggart? I joke. But Baba Ramdev unquestionably reminds me of televised so-called spiritual leaders with a massive devotee following. I imagine those who benefit on the working person's income and experience remarkable success at the expense of honesty and moral turpitude. And to do it in the name of some divine purpose or knowledge makes me rigid. But I digress.
I experience yoga as a practice devoid of the power struggle or even further, a remarkable way to find humility and purge the filthy film that power can leave on the soul. So, as I watch and learn about Baba Ramdev, my analytical self begins a conversation with my spirit. He has interesting politics. He has taught tens of thousands to follow a breathing exercise each morning and there is no shortage of testimony about the benefits. He owns a massive albeit immaculate compound that includes an ayurvetic medicine factory and apartment complexes that will hold as many as 10,000 practitioners. He was raised by poor illiterate parents in a small village and seems to be representing the voice of many in India. He has launched his political career on the anti-corruption platform.
On the other hand, he is teaching his followers that yoga alone can treat cancer and HIV/AIDS; but more astonishingly, that yoga can "cure" homosexuality. Sound familiar? He owns an island, personally. He has encouraged violent protests. He adheres to a strict nationalism that argues English should not be spoken. He claims that India should have a higher GDP than Great Brittian-which may be true - but he reveals that his measurements for success adhere to western standards of wealth. His hypocrisy is rich.
Baba Ramdev is many days into a political fast. When I think of hunger strikes I think of the self-sacrificing and non-violent work of Gandhi and feel a deep sense of respect. But this particular yogi in politics has called for the hanging and corpse burning of corrupt politicians from his widely broadcast hunger bed. I wonder, is Baba Ramdev corrupting the peaceful movements that yoga is meant to represent? Is he bastardizing a practice that is meant to heal and unite? Is he symbolic of the unique abuse of power that interacts with faith?
Baba Ramdev is undoubtedly an extremely right winged spiritual leader with charisma strong enough to over-power the logic of thousands. In my opinion, he is bastardizing yoga like his peers in the west have done with Christianity. These are lessons we as a global society should have learned by now. My humble prediction is that he is very dangerous. His lopsided smile irritates my intuition.
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