INDIA MAY have more than its
share of godmen but for now it is the turn of a “White Guru” from
abroad. That’s Swami Sri Padma Ananda. The Guru, who’s British and
stays in Bristol along with his wife and six children, is currently
on a visit to the Capital.
His followers revere him as Kalki (the tenth incarnation of Lord
Vishnu as per the Hindu faith). “I don’t know whether it’s my heart,
skin or clothes but that’s what I’m referred to by my followers,”
says Swami Padma Ananda. “Does it matter what I’m called. People
refer to me in the way in which they respond to their culture,” he
adds.
“I have the ability to transform energy into a solid form,”
claimed the Swami. “If I can channelise the energy into solid forms
to help or bless someone, what’s wrong with that?” he queried.
“However, I’m not a circus performer. I can’t do this on request. It
happens only when I feel the vibrations amid a spiritual
experience,” he added. Swami’s followers say that “miracles” should
not be the sole criteria of accepting divinity. “He has made a
difference to our lives. Isn’t that enough,” they ask.
But then there’s that inevitable question. What about the
sceptics who regard such “miracles” as mere magic practised by
frauds to fool people? “I don’t have to prove anything to anyone.
They can say whatever they want to,” he maintains. “My philosophy is
based on Tantra which believes that sexual energy is the most
powerful energy which created the cosmos,” he philosophises.
Another interesting aspect about Swami Padma Ananda is that he
was taken to Tibet at the age of five by his grandfather, a believer
in Tibetan Buddhism. At the age of 17, Swami Padma Ananda fled Tibet
along with the Dalai Lama and other monks in 1959 to escape the
brutal crackdown by the Chinese Red Guard.
“A few years after reaching India, I meditated in a cave in the
Himalayas and attained realisation. Whatever I am today is after
years of hardship and suffering,” the Swami adds.