Nirvana through the Net
The bond between online seekers and their gurus is getting deeper with every new leap in social media innovation, discovers Rishi Rathod
A familiar ting from his android phone brings a smile on the face of the head of social media of a prominent spiritual organisation. He is pleased that the phone has been communicating intense activity on his Facebook page all morning. He is not alone in his willingness to embrace the potential of social media to connect, educate, and enlighten seekers separated by geographical boundaries and barriers of language, race, and religion. 36-year-old Rupali Mane, a team leader with J P Morgan, Mumbai, is among those on the other side of social media who are consuming spiritual knowledge available through books, periodicals, and videos on various online platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram. “I am grateful for those who upload meaningful content, which brings sadhu sangha (the company of noble souls) to my mobile phone every day,” says Rupali.
Millions of working-class people all over the world, battling life’s pressures compounded by the increasing paucity of time, find solace in reading, connecting, and interacting with like-minded spiritual people online. The boundaries of the online New Age sangha (community) are expanding even as you read these lines, and people across confines of caste, creed, and nationality are coming to discuss their life’s pains and pleasures, to find solutions, mentors, and teachers who are providing that much-needed clarity to deal with life. The World Wide Web is neutral.
Technology content creators
We found out from a few mentors, teachers, and gurus what their digital media strategies are. The answers are varied. There is no one right formula but a consistent urge of all teachers to speak the truth, to engage with people and support them, and to teach and spread love.
I found out from Maria Wirth, 69, an author and blogger on Sanatana Dharma, how she managed to get almost 72,000 followers on Twitter and 23,000 followers on Quora, who look for the answers she provides. She has an amazing grip over the tenets of Sanatana Dharma, that lets her write on the subject with immense clarity.
“I was not tech-savvy. A gentleman got impressed with one of my articles and created a blogging site for me. I kept writing and, gradually, hundreds of people started visiting my blogs and appreciating what I wrote,” she says. Then came in the new Twitter trend. She was not sure how to cope with this new format. She mentions, “Some years back, I asked one of my friends who had 600 people following her on Twitter: ‘How do you manage to get so many people to read what you write?’ Soon, I too started writing my thoughts on Twitter, and today, I have almost 72,000 people read and retweet what I tweet, and the numbers are only increasing.”
For her, it is not about the numbers but something else. She adds, “Social Media technology has given me a voice. Otherwise, I don’t know how so many people would enhance their knowledge of culture and faith in today’s times.” Interestingly, she doesn’t spend hours on Twitter or other platforms—just about 40 minutes a day of writing and reading. However, she dedicates a whole day to writing articles. She feels satisfied that social media platforms have helped her spread the knowledge of Sanatana Dharma and the message of peace to thousands of people across the globe from her home in Dehradun.
Swami Swatmananda, who is the head of the national youth wing, Chinmaya Mission, has a different perspective and experience to share on the use of the internet as a place of spiritual assembly or satsang. He says, “Social media platforms help us to keep the seekers or followers engaged. For today’s generation, there are too many distractions that can get them swayed easily. These technology platforms have helped us give them direction and keep them engaged on the path. It also helps us to converse with different age groups simultaneously.” Now they even have online courses to teach young children as well as leadership programs for teenagers and adults.
Technology platforms have benefited followers so much that it has become their mainstream activity now. Besides this, he informed me that for a spiritual organisation like theirs where funds are scarce, it is super cost-effective, considering the present-day cost of marketing and publicity. He adds “Technology platforms have provided us with a window to see what is going on in the minds of our current generation and also what is trending with them. Based on this understanding, we curate spiritual programmes, messages, and courses to support them and connect with them. This gives us a great sense of flexibility and freedom.”
There are other spiritual organisations using social media to reach out in this manner. One of the finest examples of this seva (service) is presented by the Art of Living Foundation volunteers. They are a 30,000-strong army of seekers who volunteer to perform seva. The entire organisation and coordination of programmes are done by using social media platforms.
Prasanna Prabhu, Trustee, Art of Living, Bangalore, says, “Whether it is teaching Art Of Living courses or managing our 563 free schools and 80,000 students, we do it with the support of social media technology. In fact, we mobilise our team of volunteers during emergency situations like floods and other calamities.”
Ignorance is not bliss anymore; it is rather more of an incessant pain. People are seeking clarity. They are seeking knowledge that will equip them to deal with life. At the Art Of Living, just by following this simple principle of dissemination of knowledge through their social media channels, they have managed to garner the interest of about 13 million followers combined on the Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram accounts of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ji and Art Of Living foundation combined.
Prasanna says, “In my experience, when the knowledge is passed on to millions of devotees and seekers, it never lets them sit on it. It enables them to take positive actions for their spiritual journey as well as others’, with some kind of seva or sadhana. ” He adds, “The most beautiful part of social media for millions of devotees is that whichever part of the world our Gurudev is in, he takes time out every evening to come online and answer the questions of seekers. Not only that; wherever in the world he is conducting a satang, we turn it into a live webinar for his devotees globally. Millions come online to listen to him, and I think this is the most beautiful part of using technology.”
However, not everyone on the spiritual path is looking to dive headlong into a guru-shishya (teacher-student) relationship. Many seekers prefer to look for opportunities to connect with like-minded people. Such seekers often look for spiritual clarity outside institutional frameworks, on subjects like rituals, traditions, and culture. Such netizens seek fellow beings who can mentor them as equals. Many young and dynamic people have come to the forefront to educate the new breed of tech-savvy individuals. Be it creating the Bible app, Koran app, a yoga app, Wicca app, or deciphering Vedic knowledge, there are New Age dynamic leaders who have started mobilising their followers positively. One such young leader is Sanjeev Newar, Data Scientist, IIT-IIM, who is the founder of Agniveer Organisation. His whole effort is to educate people through books, lectures, tweets, posts, and YouTube videos about Vedic knowledge. Doing this for almost the past 10 years, he and his committed team have now managed to impact the lives of at least a million people. Collectively, their social media has 320 thousand followers across India. They have over a million weekly impressions, which is considered to be a great achievement in terms of technological reach.
They are also engaged in grass-roots level problem-solving activities, inspiring young minds to act rather than just speak. On an everyday basis, they post on their site a message or tweet, or upload a picture of what they are doing for dharmic renaissance. Sanjeev says, “Our social media policy is simple and clear. We post one real action we have taken at the ground level to help someone in need every day. Besides this, we regularly post Vedic perspectives on various issues.” This two-pronged approach of using digital technology has created lakhs of followers, who look up to them. Sanjeev further adds, “Thanks to technology, we are reaching places where we wouldn’t have reached physically. For example, we got a call from some interior part of Kerala where they have started a gurukul (traditional residential school for students) and are now looking for students who would be interested in learning the Vedas.”
Sanjeev narrates an important story: “In 2011, Sumit Dhariwal (name changed to safeguard identity), 21 years old, had decided to commit suicide as he was unable to deal with his life issues. Just before he was going to finish himself, he was browsing the Internet for the last time and came across the Agniveer website. He was so touched by the message that he changed his decision and became a volunteer, now leading a satisfying life.”
“Shubham Rajput from Fatehpur, UP, came across us through social media and decided to start a chapter in his area. He goes to surrounding areas and preaches the tenets of Vedic knowledge, irrespective of caste and creed.”
Another innovative use of technology has turned around how Christians read the Bible. Technocrats have come up with a Bible app called YouVersion, which has been installed more than 260 million times worldwide since its launch in 2008. It speaks a lot about how technology is impacting Christians and Christianity—the largest religion in the world. Clearly, the ‘mobile phone Bible’ is now replacing the ‘book Bible.’ (http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20170222-how-smartphones-and-social-media-are-changing-religion) Similarly, popular apps exist for the Torah and the Koran.
Pete Phillip, who is the director of the Codec Research Centre for Digital Theology at Durham University in the UK, says, “A new kind of mutated Christianity for a digital age is appearing. Not only is this shaping religious people themselves but also changing their behaviour for good.”
Christians reading the Bible on their smartphone and sharing verses on social media frequently are those who are secular and inclusive in nature rather than dogmatic. They connect more with the verses which help them deal with personal struggles or with anxiety rather than those which only talk about the glory of God. Sharing verses on social media lets worshippers find their own readings of the Bible rather than sitting through the ones chosen by a priest every Sunday.
Technology content users
We have seen how mentors, teachers, and gurus are making optimal use of technology to serve and help millions. It is relevant to see how those who are using such messages are impacted. We know that a number of followers are stacking up every passing day. But what are their personal growth stories or experiences of using social media?
Manish, 32, a teacher in a school from Mumbai, who mostly follows Gopal Gaur Das of ISKCON on YouTube and Twitter, says, “The spiritual path, at times, becomes very arduous. I follow him because I get a continuous source of inspiration to remain on the path. It keeps me in check if I am on the right track all the time.” He adds, “There is a bombardment of information and knowledge that, instead of solving my problems, makes me even more confused. This way, I remain motivated and centred in my dharma.”
Preeti Khare, 36, a travel entrepreneur from Pune, is a follower of Hingoriji. Her consumption of social media is frugal. Hingoriji never gives darshan or does a live satsang but still has a great number of disciples. He is available only through social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and Instagram. She says, “Social media has changed my spiritual journey for good. I get to know the happenings or sacred wisdom now from the comfort of my home. The spiritual seekers of past have travelled miles to just have a glimpse of their guru, but today, I can connect with mine from the comfort of my home.”
She further says, “Besides this, I get to know other seekers on the path who are as confused as I am. It gives me tremendous confidence that I am not alone on this journey, making mistakes.” Preeti notices that there are times when she is unclear about something, that thoughts are lingering at the edge of her consciousness. It sounds uncanny, but quite often, she receives from her guru a sudden message which completely resolves her confusion.
Dr Been B. Chandora, who regularly reads from the Angiveer website, says, “It has really opened my eyes. I can see clearly and think openly for years to come. I want to really thank Sanjeev ji for providing this much-needed clarity of mind and removing the distracted thinking patterns forever.”
Numbers speak
Until 2009, only 25.6 per cent of the world’s population was using the Internet, whereas, in 2019, it is 57 per cent (https://www.internetworldstats.com/emarketing.htm). More than half of the world’s population is engaged online in some activities of buying-selling, teaching-learning, or chatting-connecting with like-minded people. For our purpose, we only talk about how significantly a large number of teachers, mentors, influencers, and gurus are using this innovation to connect and impact their followers.
The much-deserved credit goes to the tech visionaries who have facilitated this coming together of humanity across the world and have given impetus to the New Age movement.
To Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Bill Gates (Microsoft), the founders of Twitter, the founders of Instagram, the founders of YouTube, Evan Thomas Spiegel (Snapchat) and to many who are unknown and unnamed, we offer our respectful obeisance.
Campaign starting period |
Guru/Foundation |
|
YouTube |
|
|
2008 |
Sadguru |
4.8 million |
3.2 million |
2.1 million |
1.8 million |
2008 |
Isha Foundation |
1.17 million |
763 thousand |
229.4 thousand |
328 thousand |
2010 |
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar |
4.5 million |
630 thousand |
4.1 million |
443 thousand |
2010 |
Art of living |
2.28 million |
400 thousand |
117 thousand |
166 thousand |
2009 |
Swami Ramdev |
10 million |
2.7 million |
1.9 million |
726 thousand |
2014 |
Patanjali Ayurveda |
788 thousand |
386 thousand |
12.7 thousand |
385 thousand |
2014 |
Brahma Kumaris |
2.7 million |
110 thousand |
20.7 thousand |
|
2017 |
BK Shivani |
2.7 million |
1.5 million |
4,858 |
379 thousand |
2009 |
Mata Amritanandamayi |
1.6 million |
500 thousand |
21,700 |
6,390 |
2010 |
Transcendental Meditation |
630 thousand |
850 thousand |
73.5 thousand |
75.6 thousand |
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