Hello,

My name is Kartik and I stay in Bangalore. This mail from my side is regarding the recent allegations against Swami Nithyananda which in my opinion has bought to light a lot of things that need addressing in this country. Before this, I would like to share one of my experiences that has inevitably led me to write in this mail....

It was in the summer of 2007 that I had paid visit to Swamiji's ashram near Bidadi along with a few friends. At that point in time, I did not even know who Swami Nithyananda was but I was very much into spiritual practices and so was looking forward to get to know more about Swamiji, about whom I had heard from my friends. We were not even sure that we would be able to meet or see swamiji, but the ashram inmates were very helpful in letting us know more about his mission and what we could look forward to through the various programs offerred at the ashram. It was later in the day when we were lucky enough to get a glimpse of Swamiji as he came out of the Meditation hall, having finished a discourse and he was right there, standing just a little distance away from us, smiling and holding up his hand in blessing...

Coming back to the present, it was no doubt very shocking and surprising to me when I heard of the allegations that had been laid against swamiji and for some time I wasn't ready to believe it. The news channels wasted no time in showing the tapes that had damaged the whole reputation of swamiji and his organisation & I'll have to say here that had it not been for that brief encounter with swamiji, I would have been one of many people who believe that spiritual gurus in this country are just cheaters and manipulators. I do not know much and do not want to speculate about the recent events, as only time will tell what the truth is. I just want to go with my experience and that is that Yes, me and my friends had felt what it was like to be in the presence of a master... There was no doubt something very good and positive in Swamiji's presence that is still very powerful after all these years, to have won over any allegations that have been made on his character.

And this is the whole point... I would urge people to not just believe something on the surface and that they at least make some efforts to 'experience' what the truth is. I personally have not had the chance to attend any programs conducted by Swamiji and his ashrams, neither am I a full time devotee or a follower of his, but I'm merely bringing forward my experience with him which tells me that there is something good and higher about swamiji & his mission. His programs have helped many people and there still might be people who have not benefited much from the programs, but that is just the way things are. I guess the biggest mistake on our part is that we allow ourselves to be manipulated by various agencies including the media and it is our duty to first get to the facts when we are shown or told about something like this, it is our responsibility to first establish the truth and then if there is something wrong, action can be taken against those who were wrong. But merely resorting to destroying an established image on the basis of some video footage is uncalled for and it simply shows that we are nothing but puppets in the hands of the media & other agencies.

I would like to conclude this mail by saying that I'm not taking sides here by showing support for either the media or swamiji, but I merely support my experience that I had with him, & that experience was one of purity, goodness, peace and I choose to stick with goodness and peace. I wish swamiji all the best and urge people to show some responsibility on their parts before jumping to conclusions and judgements.

Thanks,

--
E.Kartik