Swami Vishwananda
Swami Vishwananda or Paramahamsa Sri Swami Vishwananda (born in 1978 in Mauritius as Visham Komalram)[1] is the leader of a particular brand of Hinduism personality cult marketed as Bhakti Marga. His business concept seems to be a carbon-copy of Sathya Sai Baba, namely spitting out golden eggs and giving out pendants to his devotees that he hid somewhere in his wide cloths before and pretends to 'materialize' for them.
Sometimes, he acquires these artifacts by stealing them from Catholic churches. A Swiss judge found in 2007 that he had done so in at least 23 churches, mostly around 2001.[1] His followers see him as a personification of God. He allegedly took advantage of this devotion by secretly sexually molesting underage male followers[2] while preaching celibacy to all his devotees and amassing a fortune.
Religious practice[edit]
Vishwananda is celebrated as an Avatar, an incarnation of God, and advertised as effectively "the new Jesus". Sometimes, his disciples claim that Vishwananda is the only way to find enlightenment, other times they are a bit more humble and simply claim that it's the easiest, most feasible path to find it through him.
Meditative practice often consists of chanting songs in Hindi that more or less all go "Oh Vishwananda you are our savior, please guide us".
Luring in[edit]
In newcomer events where new followers are supposed to be attracted, it's claimed that Vishwananda has supernatural abilities, like spitting out golden eggs and 'manifesting' vibhuti (holy ash) on food and religious objects. In newcomer event presentations, quantum woo is used in what might be the most amateurish form. A video of the Chladni plate experiment
is shown. It is then claimed, "as you can see, all matter consists of and is affected by vibrations, and therefore, by chanting 'OMM', we can create vibrations and transform the negative energy of the Holocaust into positive one."[3]
Documentary about alleged rapes published on German TV[edit]
In March 2022, a documentary and podcast was published on the German TV station, Hessischer Rundfunk.[4]
The documentary contains allegations of the rape of young men and the story of how Vishwananda was once sent to prison for stealing Catholic Church relics. These relics continue to reside in a room at their German headquarters.
However at present, the cult has paid for a Canadian lawyer to invoke certain German laws which currently prevent Germans from being able to see the documentary in their country. At present a legal case continues.
External links[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.ezw-berlin.de/downloads/Materialdienst_08_2013.pdf
- ↑ https://www.cultnews101.com/2015/03/swami-to-be-probed-over-claims-of-abuse.html
- ↑ Newspaper article in German, "Rheingau-Taunus: Om-Singen für die Opfer des Holocaust" Wiesbadener Kurier
- ↑ Bhakti Sāhasikyam, Bhakti Marga, Just Love Documentary - Coercive Rape and Abuse by Vishwananda Cult. rumble.com, 29 March 2022.