Educated and sensible people still fall for godmen and are trapped in situations that are difficult to get out of.

Chitra Ramkrishna former Managing Director and CEO of India’s National Stock Exchange (NSE) is in trouble as SEBI, the Securities and Exchange Board of India alleges that she was running the institution under the influence of an unknown ‘yogi’ or spiritual guru.

The weakness that these self-styled Godmen use to trap people is by gaining trust which is then manipulated to their advantage. Godmen in India are more commonplace than you would think. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi followed Dhirendra Bhramachari and Narasimha Rao’s  spiritual advisor was Chandra Swami. A not-so-recent case involved Tamil actress Ranjitha who was with controversial self-styled godman Nithyananda Paramahamsa who disappeared five days after charges of rape and were levelled against him. As per the last news, Ranjitha has agreed to be a witness in the case. Gullible people fall into the trap of godmen and regret later.

Many people that turn to godmen or yogis are looking for clarity, needing emotional support or are feeling stuck in certain situations. Instead of seeing a therapist for the guidance needed they turn to godmen or yogis, which tends to be more of a cultural norm.

The power of someone else telling you how to live your life can be dangerous as the negative consequences of doing so are manifold. When we give our power away, we then no longer learn how to cope with the hurdles and setbacks we are facing.

Trusting someone else to know how to resolve your problem without knowing the full picture, is something you must be cautious about.

Read the full story that first appeared in Deccan Chronicle dated Feb 25, 2022 here: