An article called A Rationalist's Dilemma posted on Indian Currents have attracted our attention. Written by Sujit Saraf, an artistic director based in San Francisco, it tells about the concerns of a rationalist who tries to stay away from the gurus and their delusional brainwashing propaganda.
"any liberal will tell you that people are free to worship whom they want in a free society: Ammachi or armadillos. Besides, you never have to hear of the hullabaloo in Castro Valley if you don’t want to, so the foolishness around you does not exist unless you look for it"But as year go by, the godmen become more and more invading. Sujit Saraf finds it harder and harder to live peacefully, far away from their grip.
"The empires of our godmen have grown and are growing yet larger, harnessing the internet to such effect that it has become impossible to escape their benevolence, bestowed on you through posters and postings wherever you are, whatever you may be doing."
"An innocent lunch at Bhavika’s in Sunnyvale is now an Amma experience: she beams at you from a dozen posters, hugging, force-feeding bliss. Now, what is a person of scientific temper to do?"As an artist he found his own original solution by writting and directing a play called Mataji. It seems like he has never been a devotee, he doesn't know any disturbing secret about Amritanandamayi or her organization. Yet he assumes that she is a fraudster and tries to question her human side.
"There is no suggestion of wrongdoing, embezzlement, or tax evasion. Indeed, there is nothing wrong with Mataji’s operation at all, and we are repeatedly reminded that her activities “support many good causes.” This is the type of guru the play chooses to demonize, and it does so not by painting her as a charlatan—that she is—but by letting her be as decent as fraudulence will allow."The play was performed in English on July and August 2008 in Cubberley Theatre, NOHspace and Front Row Theatre by the Naatak company. It was also staged in India in 2007. No doubt, the pictures remind of Amritanandamayi's world. It would be interesting to know a little bit more about the piece's plot.
Ex-devotees are sometimes wrongly accused of seeking revenge to release their anger, but what to think about the fact that this men cannot freely enjoy the isolation that he wishes? How come that spirituality has become as pervasive as mere aggressive material commercial advertisements?