In part 1 of this thread “Regulating the Spiritual field” I argued how there is simply too much nonsense, irrational and uncritical thinking in the spiritual field which corrupts it, spoils it and undermines its credibility, naming in particular the pseudoscience that passes of for spirituality in the field such as Reiki and crystals, DNA activation, EFT, NLP, channeling, spirit guides and ascended masters, astrology and other such bogus new age nonsense. Not surprisingly, I was met with firm resistance and apathy that we need to do anything at all. Unfortunately, it is these kind of ignorant and irresponsible attitudes, that allow this nonsense to perpetuate and damages the reputation of the spiritual field.
In part 2 of this thread I want to highlight more cases which clearly show how much nonsense, ignorance and delusion the spiritual field is filled with and highlight the common characteristics of people who participate in this.
The following documentary by Louis Theroux who went to India to investigate the guru phenomenon in India is particularly notesworthy and will give you a taste of what I experienced first-hand in India myself, and why that turned me off from the whole guru thing and made me strongly question and ultimately override my previous loyalties and affiliations. It also clearly highlights the common characteristics of the majority of so-called spiritual people.
Hare Krishna Cult:
See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxkSIa8e8a0&feature=related
At the risk of offending our fellow Hare Krishna’s folks on this forum, I must say very frankly that the Hare Krishna brand of spirituality is one of the most shallow, childish, corrupt and irrational I have seen.(An old HK monk actually robbed me in India!) The reasons become obvious in this documentary.
Lazy spirituality: Simply, singing and dancing “Hare Krishna Hare Rama” mantra is seen as sufficient to bring about ones liberation. This is effectively all this group does. Blind and silly worship of the Hindu god Krishna is seen as real spirituality - At 3:00 min. Singing and dancing done among the HK group is no different to singing and dancing done anywhere else, it’s for ones own entertainment and for group bonding.
Obedience to the guru: The guru shown here is a joke, a deluded white man formerly from America, who has climbed up the ranks and now enjoys guru status. Watch how those lower down in the ranks literally worship him, throng to his feet, shield him with an umbrella from the sun, and hang of every word he speaks thinking it to be nectar. Louis is obviously not impressed and actually mocks the man in front of him, without him realizing - At 4:50 min
Pseudoscience: The talk about good and bad vibrations, the hallmark of any new ager. The guru here talks about how bathing in the Ganga gives good vibrations, but actually the reality is the Ganga is one of the most toxic rivers in the world and is responsible for all kinds of disease and kills many people in India - At 6:40 min and at 8:50 min(this bit is hilarious).
Having attended a few HK meets in the past I can personally vouch for how corrupt, silly and dogmatic it is. The HK temples in India are highly commercialized, built in such a way that devotees coming in must pass several stalls and shops to buy things(including tickets to attend different parts of the temple) and finally there is huge commercial area to buy expensive merchandise. At meeting any kind of critical thinking is discouraged and the punishment for asking any critical questions leads to alienation and ostracization from the group. This includes topics like questioning their cosmological beliefs that the Earth rests on a giant cosmic turtle and the solar system is fixed to the pole star rotating like a chandelier!
The founder of the HK cult Srila Prabupada is no enlightened master, but a highly religious and dogmatic man, who has some very backwards views, especially on women and gay people.
Another Swami and Guru, with loads of Western followers
See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FK4gq9dvr0U&feature=related
In this rather surreal video we see a Swami whose USP is that he heals people by playing music on an electronic keyboard! He heals diseases and even cures diseases. At least this is what his gullible disciples believe. It is heart breaking to see the naivety of Mike in this video, but Mike is a classic example of a new-ager and demonstrates so many of the usual characteristics
No critical thinking: Although Mike is by profession a scientist he has suspended all critical and scientific thinking to believe that the guru ‘jamming’ on the keyboard is affecting directly human physiology and curing people of ailments, not realizing that the guru obviously has not cured his eye problem. It is clear from the tone of his voice he does not really believe the guru can do this, but he really wants to believe it. He even believes in the nonsense that the swami materialized his cheap necklace for him, and swami materializing money and other items(cheap conjouring tricks) is proof he is a cosmic being. At 1:05 min.
Escapism: For many so-called spiritual people spirituality is mainly an escape from the mundane life. The real world of pain and suffering, hard work and success and failure, and impersonal nature is seen as undesirabe, so they instead opt for a make-believe world of the imagination. In this case Mike clearly is somebody who is out of touch with reality and disturbed, that he wants to believe in his guru despite evidence to the contrary. At 5:20 min
Exaggeration: Exaggerating either ones own merits or the merits of another. In this case it is very clear the swami has no extraordinary qualities, he’s a very ordinary Indian man, who struggles to speak English and shows nothing exceptional in intelligence and understanding, but Mike has elevated him so highly that he feels like crying when this man changes his name. In his mind he has elevated this man to some godly status, though clearly this man does not deserve it. At 6:20 min.
Beware of these gurus and swamis, the vast majority of them are fakes. Just because they wear an orange/red/white robe does not mean they are any more spiritually developed than you are. Nor are they are more developed than you because they can spout Yoga or Vedic philosophy.
Why am I saying all of this and what is my agenda in starting all these threads criticizing religion, superstition and irrationality recently? The reason I am doing this is to expose this fake spirituality because it is detrimental to ones actual spiritual growth, it retards ones intellect and understanding leading to spiritual regression as opposed to spiritual evolution. My aim is to educate people about the real spirituality which has been taught by the masters from ancient times, the real gnosis or jnana, the self-knowledge and knowledge of beingness and reality which will bring one to self-realization. The pure scientific spirituality of Yoga which will unlock the infinite potential in everybody, so that they will truly become autonomous, free and actualized individuals. Stop being slaves to gods, traditions, gurus, leaders, societies, beliefs and ideologies and your own mind. Be free 
