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Opinion | There is proof that Nithyananda’s Kailaasa does exist
The spiritual guru’s idea of a special homeland for the persecuted is not entirely outlandish
About three years ago, a man who was once a techie proposed a startup idea to a large audience: Indians who had insights into the afterlife should approach billionaires, “like Bill Gates”, and ask them to put billions in a trust for safekeeping that Indians would then return in the next birth of the depositors, “when we find you”. There was applause. On stage with the man was the chief dignitary of the event, Nithyananda, who was then, as he is today, considered a spiritual being by thousands of Indians. He nodded with a slow blink, exactly what Tamilians do when they want to express calm, honest certainty about something they are not certain about. “If we do a bit more research and establish the authority,” he said, “it is possible.” They were serious, these are very serious men.
Usually, Nithyananda does not share a stage; he says such things sitting on a throne, alone. Once he said that he was developing “a software” that can make animals talk. He even said, “Yesterday, I casually tested the software, it was perfectly working.”
Like several spiritual gurus, Nithyananda faces rape charges. It appears that he has fled India. A few days ago, he declared the birth of a new nation called Kailaasa for pure Hindus who will follow “agamic” traditions. By “agamic”, he was referring to its Sanskrit meaning, “that which has come down”, and not the English meaning, which means “asexual”. He said he was now spiritually ready “to initiate people into levitation”.
He makes many Indians laugh. The role of Nithyananda, like some entertainers, is to make you feel you are better.
But the truth is that his Kailaasa exists. Not merely in Ecuadorian territory, as some claim, but in more familiar places. Like here in India. Everything he said Kailaasa will be already exists as an Indian reality in some form or another.
The simplest level of Kailaasa is its politics. Every persecuted Hindu who wants to practise Hinduism will be admitted into Kailaasa. This, coincidentally, resembles a strand from a piece of legislation the Indian government expects to pass that will grant citizenship to Hindus (among others) who have fled other countries. If you follow the undercurrent of Nithyananda’s declaration, Kailaasa is actually a refuge for Hindus who feel victimized in and by India. This powerful notion of victimhood among Hindus in the country is not new.
For years, activists milked the monopoly that minorities had over this rich political resource that victimhood is. Now, across the world, the socially dominant, which include racial majorities and men, have adopted the techniques of the weak.
That is Kailaasa.
In Nithyananda’s Kailaasa, as envisioned by him, there will be an awakening of “the third eye”, an awakening of the “kundalini”, which is a reality or a rumour depending on your personality type. It could be an “inner awakening”of the solitary kind, or the reward for participating in “satsangs”, which are devotional gatherings and thus a collective exercise. All these awakenings can be pursued in my 2 sq. km colony in Gurgaon, Haryana. I live in Kailaasa.
In the real world, madmen who are known as mad are not influential; madmen who are not known as mad are the only kind of people who are influential. And they believe that the others are delusional. And they often substantiate their arguments by invoking our most sacred religion, science. All this is common between our world and Kailaasa.
In fact, when a Tamilian says, “It can been scientifically proved”, he usually means something that he knows is true but cannot prove.
About two years ago, a retired cricketer of nationwide fame and acclaim told a few people in a room where I was present, “I can scientifically prove in 15 minutes that India is a Hindu country.”
Then the former cricketer said, “I can prove it in 5 minutes, actually.”
Upon some thought, he added, “Or at least you will not be able to scientifically disprove it.” This was in the authors’ lounge of a literature festival. It could have been held in Kailaasa.
Nithyananda’s central proposition is that ancient Hinduism had explained the meaning of life and why there is something instead of nothing, but the transmission of this explanation had been substandard in modern times until his arrival.
Nithyananda once said the “crooked non-vegetarian brain” came up with the equation “E=mc2”. He also said there was no difference between “energy” and “matter” (which strangely is what Albert Einstein too was trying to say in his famous equation).
Nithyananda challenges scientific conventions, but he does not disrespect the idea of science itself. In fact, he appears to venerate science. He conveys the abstract through scientific language, like most scholars in the real world do. He said his nation of Kailaasa would permit entry to life emerging from “all 11 dimensions”. How is this any more absurd than the most revered scientists today talking confidently about multi-dimensions?
If you think scientists have proof, beyond mathematical proof, you must read more. Theoretical physics is one deep Kailaasa.
A world where mystery is glorified, the paranormal is accepted, and everybody talks about meditation as though they know what it means, and “belief” is a virtue and not just another word for “delusion”, which it is.
Is this your residential colony or Kailaasa? Can you tell the difference?
Manu Joseph is a journalist, and a novelist, most recently of ‘Miss Laila, Armed And Dangerous’
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First Published:8 Dec 2019, 09:07 PM IST
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