Pro-service, anti-ritualism; pro-poor, anti-elitism; pro-women; anti-patriarchalism; pro-freedom, anti-orthodoxy; Yeshu Baba's career as a godman would have ended before it began.
The
first time I heard the term ‘Yeshu baba’ was in Tihar jail.
I
was not a prisoner – I was visiting along with a group of
school-children who were performing a Christmas
programme for about a thousand women inmates in Jail No. 6, Central
Prison.
The
children sang Christmas carols and the prisoners sang along.
Afterwards, one of the inmates came up to the microphone and thanked
the kids for their programme on the birth of ‘Yeshu Baba’.
The
name struck me and stuck with me. I had heard Jesus
Christ referred to as ‘Isa Masih’ or ‘Ishu Masih’ in
Hindi before, of course. ‘Yeshu Baba’ sounded a lot more human
and definitely a lot more familiar.
If
you were to put a picture of (a non-crucified) Jesus next to one of a
contemporary Indian baba, like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar or Sadhguru Jaggi
Vasudev, a casual observer might see little or no difference (except
in height, in the case of Sri Sri, and hair colour in the case of
Jaggi Vasudev.)
As
I rode back from the jail that Christmas afternoon with a bus full of
school kids, a question struck me and then lodged itself in my brain:
How
would Yeshu Baba have fared in contemporary India, the very land of
babas?
As
someone constantly fascinated with the psychology of new religious
movements, cults, godmen and their followers, I decided to read
through the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the New
Testament which document the life of Jesus to try and find an answer
to my question.
The
conclusion I reached was that by contemporary standards, Yeshu Baba
would have been a disaster as a contemporary Indian godman. In the
following paragraphs I literally quote chapter and verse to undergird
my hypothesis.
Relationship
with the rich
Patronage
by the wealthy is essential for any baba’s career, which is why
most successful babas cultivate the rich assiduously. One should not
hold it against them when they spend the majority of their time
ministering to those with the means to fund their operations. It is
good business sense to minister spiritually to those who can support
you, and not waste too much time and energy on the poor masses. (The
poor can find spiritual sustenance at large satsangs.)
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