Dear Mr. Gautier, I must thank you for the fervour with which you defend Hinduism, but cannot accept the zeal with which you give a clean chit to all these 'gurus' that you have mentioned. Many of these godmen have had little to do with the religion except as purveyors of influence. If a Guru was truly great, s/he would not have to rope in people to go in for 'specialised courses'. The thing is that our celebs have a need to be fashionably spiritual, in addition ot be able to network with the other 'disciples'. This is the source of the Guru's power. The brutal fact is that unless a 'guru' as in a lama, a pope or a Shankaracharya is passed the mantle through tradition, the others like OSHO, or Dhirendra Brahmachari are deeply flawed in annointing themselves as one. It would be beyond ordinary comprehension to even come to terms with the immense political power, cash resources and even access to political and defence deals that some of these men are privy to. Guru Ramdev has a full fledged pharmacy, with striking workers as proof of his need for worldly resources. Hindus can do without any edicts and even any religious authority, the beauty of the religion is its openness.
