Miscellaneous Topics discussion

[Guest]

<b>Teaching the rich how to breathe is not enough’</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->NEW DELHI, FEBRUARY 26: At the India Today conclave on Saturday, lyricist Javed Akhtar locked horns with Art of Living proponent Sri Sri Ravishankar in a battle of wits, each debating on the central theme ‘Spiritualism — a halo or hoax?’

<b>Ravishankar said: ‘‘To say that spiritualism is hoax would not be right. Similarly, to claim that the over two lakh religious gurus in this country have attained halo will be equally erroneous.’’ </b>

Drawing the lines between fanaticism and spiritualism, the proponent of the patented sudarshan kriya said: ‘‘Studies have shown violence is highest where spirituality is the lowest.’’

Akhtar drew laughter from the audience when he said: ‘‘The difference between us in the make-believe world of film industry and the gurus is at the end of the film we put up the card ‘The End’ for the audiences to come back to reality, which the spiritualists don’t.’’

Akhtar added, ‘‘Simply teaching the rich how to breathe is not enough,’’ a veiled dig at Ravishankar, to which he replied that there was nothing wrong in including the rich in popular spiritual practices.

Suggesting that a spiritual leader needs to do more than ‘‘teach cosmic consciousness’’, Akhtar asked: ‘‘Where are the spiritualists when there are communal tensions?”

<b>Ravishankar said he would not accept anything that is irrational: “Indian spiritualism, which goes back as long as time, is based on science.”</b> <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->