Vishwananda
Swami Vishwananda (born Mahadeosingh 'Visham' Komalram on June 13, 1978 in Beau Bassin-Rose Hill, Mauritius) is a controversial Hindu guru and 'godman' from Mauritius. He is the founder of Bhakti Marga, a neo-Hindu organization that has ashrams and temples in many countries. He lives in Germany, where his main ashram is in the small village of Springen (Heidenrod) in the Taunus.
Life
Vishwananda was born into a Brahmin Hindu family on the island of Mauritius. Allegedly he had an apparition of Mahavatar Babaji as a child and claims to have been initiated by him into the swami order later on. Yet Babaji is a mythical religious figure, therefore there is no evidence of him belonging to a particular swami tradition. According to other reports, he became a disciple of the controversial Sathya Sai Baba. Like Sai Baba, he is also a 'miracle-worker'[1]. In 1998 he visited Europe for the first time, initially England and Switzerland, later also other countries, e.g. Germany, where in July 2005 he established his first ashram and Bhakti Marga.[2]
He also claims to be an acharya of Sri Vaishnava founded by Ramanuja, which is disputed by leading representatives (see controversies). According to the Times of India he was the first from outside of India to be granted the title Mahamandaleshwara by Nirmohi Akhada.[3] Critics however claim that he bought the title for 30,000 dollars.[4]
Bhakti Marga Activities
Lineage
Bhakti Marga views itself as standing in the tradition of Sri Vaishnava, into which Vishwananda has been initiated. It represents vishishtadvaita as philosophy, translated as qualified monism. According to it, all souls are a part of God and can reflect him, but are not identical with him. The aim of the teaching is to purify the soul through devotion to God. This is done by repeating mantras (e.g. the ashtakshara mantra), singing bhajans, rituals (pujas and yajnas) and karma yoga.
Apart from that, Vishwananda claims to be a master of kriya yoga in the tradition of Babaji, teaching his own version of the technique, called Atma Kriya Yoga.
Ashrams
Every Bhakti Marga Ashram has at least one temple, which in turn often contains several idols representing deities. In addition to various Hindu deities, Vaishnava and non-vaishnava, Babaji and Ramanuja are worshipped as gurus in the main temple in Springen. Building of the temple has cost more than one million Euros. The movement claims to have between 30 to 50 centres or temples worldwide, some of them admittedly rather small.[2]
In November 2020 it became known that Bhakti Marga in Kirchheim in the Hersfeld-Rotenburg district of Hesse wants to set up its Hindu Germany center in the area of the Seepark Kirchheim holiday complex.[5][6]
Controversies
Theft of relics in Switzerland
Various newspapers in Switzerland (Tagesanzeiger, Basellandschaftliche Zeitung) reported that Guru Vishwananda stole relics from 25 churches and monasteries with two women who were his disciples.[7] According to the managing director of Bhakti Marga, Swami Vishwananda has a previous conviction in Switzerland for disturbing the peace of the dead.[8]
Allegations of sexual abuse
There are known allegations of abuse by previous followers of the guru’s homosexual activities with disciples, including Brahmacharis of his organization. Sect representatives of the Evangelical Church in Germany Institute for Research on Religious and Ideological Issues are aware of this[4] and have reported sexual assault, ranging from voluntary consent and forced obedience to rape.[4][9] This led to the temporal dissolution of his organization’s national branches in the US and UK in 2008.
Vishwananda refers to various traditions that he claims to represent. He claims to be in the tradition of Sri Vaishnava Sampradaya and to carry out initiations in their name. Officials of the Sri Vaishnava, however, state that he is not authorized to teach in the name of this tradition.[10]
Excommunication by the Russian Orthodox Church
Vishwananda also pretended to be the bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church. Bhakti Marga maintains a Russian Orthodox style chapel in Springen, which also contains a box with relics. In fact, Vishwananda was originally ordained as Priest Michael by the Apostolic Orthodox Church (AOC). In the meantime, however, he has been excommunicated from the mother church, the Catholic Orthodox Apostolic Church (COAC).[11]
Om chanting at concentration camps
On March 17, 2018, Bhakti Marga carried out a group chanting at the Buchenwald concentration camp, which led to protests from politics in advance. Corresponding om-chanting sessions were also held in other locations of former concentration camps, for example on December 10, 2016 at the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria. Critics accused Bhakti Marga of exploiting and relativizing the holocaust. [12][13]
References
- ↑ Rational Wiki: Swami Vishwananda
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ashram in Taunus (German) Article by the Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung
- ↑ Swami Vishwananda becomes first Mahamandaleshwar from outside the country. Times of India article.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Critical Article by the Evangelical Church in Germany
- ↑ German newspaper announcing the purchase of the property for the new ashram
- ↑ Religious community opens headquaters in Kirchheim (German) Video of German state sponsored TV station hessenschau
- ↑ Archived page of Tagesanzeiger Switzerland - Stealing of bones (German)
- ↑ Love guru buys Seepark Kirchheim (German) Newspaper website Lokalo24.de.
- ↑ Cult news website - Swami to be probed over claims of abuse
- ↑ Spotting fake Āchāryas Kōyil Germany
- ↑ Excommunication statement by the Catholic Orthodox Apostolic Church of Russia
- ↑ Spiritual group wants to heal concentration camp. (German) In newspaper: Die Welt.
- ↑ Concentration camp Buchenwald/Chanting against guilt (German) Report in state-owned Deutschlandfunk
Category:1978 births Category:Hindu religious leaders Category:Living people Category:21st-century Hindu religious leaders Category:Advaitin philosophers Category:Spiritual teachers Category:Hindus Category:Hindu revivalists
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