Greed Lust Addiction

by Ravi Dabral

  I feel spiritual inclination improves our personality by imbibing attributes like discipline, patience, focused approach, positive attitude, humbleness, and kindness, which eventually help in achieving the material goals of life.”

  Guruji said, “Society needs kind-hearted wealthy people like you who don’t believe in the accumulation of wealth, but the distribution of it through development projects.”

  Liang Lee, thirty-five years old from China, said, “For the last ten years, I have been working in a mobile manufacturing unit. Our factory runs round the clock in two 12-hour shifts. I feel that I am also a machine in the factory, the only difference being that I go home daily and come back the next day, but the machines remain fixed at a particular place.

  My life was colourless. Wife and kids bring colour to life. One day I decided to get married, but no suitable match was available. Hope you are aware the ‘male-female ratio’ is badly skewed in China because of its one-child policy, thus making it difficult to find a suitable life partner. I approached a marriage broker, who brings girls from neighbouring countries, but his service fee was too high, and there was no guarantee of such a marriage being successful because of cultural differences and language issues. Because of a routine machine-like lifestyle, I started going through depression. Then one of my friends suggested reading books on philosophy and spiritualism, especially about Gautam Buddha who renounced his married life in search of enlightenment. He also told me about ashrams in India, and here I am to understand the goal and purpose of my life.”

  Guruji said, “Liang, I agree with you that a lonely life causes depression. The best way to counter depression is a positive attitude in life; get involved in social welfare projects and develop hobbies which will add colour to your life.”

  Tomo Nomura (forty years, from Tokyo, Japan) began saying, “I have read about billionaires like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg coming to the hills of Uttarakhand for spiritual learning. After their visits, they have achieved remarkable success. I come from a business family having multiple retail stores, but we were not able to compete with the international giant retail stores like Takashimaya, Aeon, Ikea, Isetan, Walmart, etc. We tried to do different new businesses but could not succeed in any of them. So here I am to learn how to get material success.”

  Guruji told Tomo that there was no readymade formula for getting success in business. It is only by working on one’s soft skills to improve the overall personality, and by being a more focused and goal-oriented person that one can achieve material success.

  Finally, it was my turn in our batch to introduce myself. I said, “My background is from the journalism profession. In my opinion, the root cause of social, economic, environmental, religious and political degradation is the lack of virtues, values, and morals inside us. Desires are limitless, and we need to understand the basic meaning and difference between need, want, luxury and addiction to live a stress-free life. I feel that the existing corrupt system can be cured through self and social reforms.”

  Guruji thanked me for presenting my views. He then said, “Let me clarify to all of you that although Suraj is a part of this group he has been entrusted with some extra responsibilities. He is a volunteer at the ashram and will be coordinating with you and the ashram staff for basic requirements during your period of stay.”

  Guruji finally summed up the introduction session and said, “At the ashram, we believe that ‘healthy mind lives in a healthy body’ and ‘we become what we think’. During this self-reform course, we will concentrate on the purity of body and soul by learning yoga and meditation techniques.”

  I thought again of the introduction I had given, and a few words such as ‘vices as the root cause of degradation’ and ‘cure through reforms’ were popping up into my mind.

  I only had access to the experiences of my batchmates, but there must have been similar exciting stories in other batches too.

  22

  ‘True Meaning of Happiness’

  T he first week of the ‘self-reform’ course was utilised in learning yoga. The slogan given to us was a ‘healthy mind lives in a healthy body’. We were on a liquid diet for the first two days, next two days only on fruits and salads, and the final three days of the week on an organic and natural diet. This was to cleanse the internal organs of all toxic elements to make them energetic and fit for yoga and to cleanse the pineal gland as well which is considered the seat of soul or third eye, to make it fit for the meditation.

  Guruji told us, “The holistic definition of health as given by Ayurveda and World Health Organisation (WHO) is that health is a combination of physical, mental, social and spiritual health.

  ‘Physical health’ refers to ‘balanced dietary habits’ to keep health parameters under control.

  ‘Mental health’ relates to ‘self-control’, ability to accept criticism, empathy, not being driven by lust or greed; no jealousy, no expectation from others, no comparison with others - to live a stress-free life; ability to face challenges and solve these using intellect and reasoning power.

  ‘Social health’ means having ‘healthy relationships’ with family members, relatives, friends, neighbours and colleagues, a sense of brotherhood, respect for all religions, and social welfare approach.

  ‘Spiritual health’ is leading a ‘virtuous life,’ working towards purity of soul through service to mankind and awareness of self as a soul.”

  Guruji said, “We need to understand that food is the fuel required to run the internal machinery of our body. Taste should be of secondary concern. Unfortunately, human beings spend a lot of time discussing politics, economics, media, cinema, sports, and so on. But, ironically, pay less attention to the type of food or ingredients we need to consume. Maintaining a healthy body is the first stage of the ‘self-reform’ process.”

  Roberto felt that it was not easy to change old die-hard habits.

  Guruji said, “Coincidentally and unfortunately, most modern people believe in ‘Charvaka philosophy of materialism’ that is ‘eat, drink, and be merry’ focusing on sensual and bodily pleasures. Body is the means through which the soul of an individual expresses itself and experiences the world around. Once we understand this, it is easy to get rid of die-hard habits.”

  Liang Lee wanted to know the right way of living a quality life and how an individual could come out of this confused state of mind driven by market forces and consumerism.

  Guruji said, “Let us talk about three important aspects of a person’s life, ‘Tan-Man-Dhan’ or ‘Body-Mind-Money.’

  The first aspect is Tan (body health). Nowadays, some of the doctors have become commission agents of hospitals and pharmaceutical companies. They are taking advantage of our confused state of mind and prescribe medicines that temporarily improve our condition. For a healthy body, a person should follow three simple rules.

  The first rule is to have a ‘balanced diet’ keeping in mind the calorie intake in proportion to physical work.

  The second is to ‘give up bad habits’ such as smoking, drinking hard drinks, excessive consumption of junk food and soft drinks propagated by MNCs through paid media and celebrities.

  The third is to have some sort of regime for a ‘physical workout.’ I would suggest yoga as the best option, but other alternatives are a brisk walk and stretching exercises which would keep your internal organs healthy and active.

  The second aspect is Man (peace of mind). Here the advantage of the confused state of mind is being taken by religious preachers, satsang gurus, fake babas , personality motivators, counsellor, and so on. To lead a peaceful and stress-free life, we need to follow three main principles.

  The first is to avoid jealousy, anger, hatred, selfishness, gossip, expectation from others, comparison with others, and criticism in our approach to life. These vices are the root cause of at least 50 percent of the stress in our life.

  The second is to have a ‘clear career vision’ in life plus developing a hobby, and then trying to achieve these by bel
ieving in the ‘best efforts theory.’ Always remember, the only difference between an ‘ordinary person’ and an ‘extraordinary person’ is the word ‘extra’ which means extra sincere efforts, smart work and practice to become a champion in life.

  The third most important principle to have peace of mind is to believe in ‘humanism’ and empathy with a sense of ‘brotherhood’ to live in harmony with Mother Earth.

  The third aspect is ‘Dhan’ (money or financial freedom). The greed in human beings for wealth is insatiable which ends up in the accumulation of assets instead of its enjoyment. To live a financially secure life, one needs to follow three golden rules.

  First is ‘financial literacy’; one must develop an understanding of basic concepts such as need, want, luxury and addiction.

  ‘Need’ means fulfilling basic necessities of life for survival such as food, shelter, clothes, healthcare, education, and the like.

  ‘Want’ is catering to your comforts, convenience, hobbies, vacations, and entertainment - fulfilling which could lead to living a comfortable, relaxed, stress-free and happy life.

  ‘Luxury’ means the desire for branded, expensive products to show off your wealth or to maintain high status among friends, colleagues and the business community.

  ‘Addiction’, when instead of the individual deciding what he or she wants - it is the product, such as tobacco, cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, greed for money, and so on, which takes the form of the devil and controls our body, mind, and soul, and thus we become its slave.

  Second is ‘saving’; each individual must save at least 30 percent of his or her income for difficult days. In case your income and expenses do not allow you to save the required amount, then instead of expecting from others and blaming others, you should increase your qualifications or develop skills and capabilities to increase your earning capacity.

  The third golden rule is ‘financial freedom’; our savings must be invested in ‘income generating assets.’ This is to have a ‘passive regular income.’ This could help in planning an early retirement or becoming a financially self-sufficient and self-reliant person.”

  As per Guruji ‘happiness’ could be achieved in two way, ‘contentment’ (spiritual way) and ‘fulfilment of desires’ (materialistic way).

  Each one of us has enormous power within us like a ‘musk deer’ that has musk (Kasturi) or fragrance inside it but searches here and there in the forest for it. This is a thumb rule to live a ‘self-driven’ contented life than a ‘market-driven’ stressed life.

  Mr. Chatwal thanked Guruji for sharing the thought-provoking basic concepts which people have forgotten in today’s hectic materialistic world.

  Guruji smiled and said, “What I have shared with you is nothing new. There are many books written on these basic concepts, which I have summarised after adding my life experiences and interactions with learners like you.”

  After today’s self-reform session, I learned how simple life is if we just focus on simple principles and follow the basic steps. To live a happy life, we need to understand and follow basic concepts such as the comprehensive definition of health which includes physical, mental, social and spiritual health, true happiness through contentment or spiritual way, the true meaning of body-mind-money, self-driven life, developing hobbies and so on. Sadly, we have made our lives complicated with complex thinking and by following market-driven, consumerism and materialistic lifestyle thus living a stressed life.

  23

  Honey Trap

  A t midnight around 1:00 a.m., I received a call from Guruji on my intercom. He said, “Suraj, sorry to disturb you at this hour of the night but please come to my room immediately.”

  I asked him, “Hope everything is alright?” He replied in the affirmative but still asked me to come to his room.

  When I entered Guruji’s room, he was sitting on a chair. Looking at him, I could realise that he was very tensed and disturbed.

  I asked, “Guruji, what happened?”

  Guruji said, “Around 12:30 a.m. I woke up feeling thirsty. At that time, there was someone in the room and when the person saw me getting up to drink water, immediately ran out. Even in the darkness, I could not see the person clearly, as far as I could make out it was a female, and from the overall body structure I feel she was Suman Kulkarni.”

  I was surprised and said, “What was Suman doing in your room at this time of the night?”

  Guruji said, “I don’t know the reason for her coming here. I can only deduce there was some bad intention because otherwise, she would not have run away like this.”

  Being an investigative journalist, I suspected that the motivation behind it was ‘honey trap’; maybe by one of Guruji’s rivals or old enemies wanted to spoil his image.

  Guruji said to me, “You are an investigative journalist, please use your skills to ascertain the truth.”

  I said, “Guruji, for the time being, better lock the door of your room from inside. Tomorrow morning, I shall start my investigation. Meanwhile, I suggest you get a CCTV camera installed tomorrow at the entry point of your room so that an eye can be kept on any suspicious entries into your room.” Guruji thanked me for my suggestions and insisted I should begin my investigation from the next day.

  Next day morning, during breakfast I approached Suman and after wishing her, enquired if everything was fine and she was enjoying her stay at the ashram. Suman replied positively.

  I decided to take a direct approach and said, “Without wasting any time, let’s come to the point. Are you here for spiritual upliftment and purification of the soul, or with some mala fide intentions to harm Guruji?”

  Suman aggressively countered me, “What do you mean by mala fide intentions?”

  I said, “It is better if you come out in the open and acknowledge what your purpose of joining the ashram is? Else I will have no option but to involve the police which will harm your reputation as a celebrity.”

  Suman angrily said, “Suraj, mind your language! I am here for spiritual learning and to recover from my depression.”

  Though I was not sure, I confidently and aggressively said, “No problem, as you don’t want to come out clean, we will call the police and hand over the evidence we have against you. Very soon the scandal will be the talking point in media. Later on, don’t blame me for taking such hard steps because I gave you a chance and you are not ready to take it.”

  I then mellowed down, used psychological way of inquiry and said, “Suman, I know you maybe innocent and not part of any dirty game. But someone is trying to misuse you for their ill motives and to spoil Guruji’s image. I can assure you that no harm will come to you during police investigation or media trial. In fact, if you tell me the truth, then your involvement in the whole episode will be known only to Guruji and me. For this, you will have to co-operate with me. If you do so, then I will be the first person to protect you.”

  Suman was thoughtful for some time and then said, “I will tell you everything, but you will have to ensure my safety as well as that of my family members. Let’s go outside in the garden.”

  Suman began by saying, “A prominent politician, whose name I don’t know, sent me here as part of a ‘honey trap.’ The tout told me that he is a very high-profile dangerous person and is connected to the mafia in Dubai. He wants me to spoil Guruji’s image. He arranged to give me ₹ 10 lakh as an advance, and the balance will be paid after the completion of this assignment.”

  I asked her the purpose and modus operandi of doing such a honey trap.

  Suman said, “I have no idea about the motive or purpose behind this plot. My role is similar to that of a sharpshooter where he never knows why he is killing a particular person. I never question the motive nor do they tell me their reason. I can only give you an insight into the modus operandi which is a standardised procedure.

  My role is to enter the room of the target past midnight when in most cases the target is fast asleep. I carry some chloroform or some other anaesthetic in my h
andbag. Once I succeed in making the target unconscious, I call the team which consists of four or five persons and is generally waiting nearby at a handy place. They come to the room with still and video cameras. The ideal place to carry out such assignments is hotel rooms. At times the security and staff of the hotel co-operate with us and provide us with a skeleton key for some monetary incentives. Here at the ashram, as there is hardly any security, there was no risk.

  Once the team enters, they denude the targets who are mainly politicians from opposite parties, businessmen, judges, bureaucrats, CEOs, religious gurus, sportspersons, or other such prominent persons. The assignment is sponsored by a rival or people who want to use the power of these people for their own benefit. Objectionable photographs of the target are taken in compromising positions and videos are also made. They are then blackmailed and used for bringing down a government, extorting funds, releasing tenders, getting judgements in one’s favour, match-fixing, insider trading information, as the case may be. The list of victims and assignments is endless.”

  Suman continued saying, “It is common to use film actresses, high-profile models, and call girls for such assignments mostly by high-profile agents, fixers, lobbyists and touts active in Lutyens’ Zone Delhi - who are actually running this country by blackmailing, threatening, corrupting, and many other ways beyond the comprehension of laypersons - they are the real wheeler-dealer behind corrupt politicians, bureaucrats and greedy businesspersons. Hope you are aware, in ancient time; Chanakya used poison girls popularly known as ‘Vish Kanyas’ to remove the enemies of the rulers in this manner and also to expand their empires and political interests. Honey trap is the modern version of that.”