Will Smith

The West's obsession with gurus has made him a regular on podcasts and panels. Critics say he's "a neoliberal guru for neoliberal times."

The fact that he is a persona that has appeared in the US time and again makes him familiar enough to be acceptable, yet different enough to be alluring. Following in the rhetoric of nationalists, Vasudev similarly rejects the concept of “Hinduism” and uses the words Hindutva and Hinduism interchangeably. But what we can control is which sort of voices and narratives we’re uplifting when the media is catering to that.” “You sort of take eyes off of what is needed to do environmental regulations under the present circumstances, especially in large and complex societies such as India and many other Global South countries,” he says. His proclamation that a Hindu festival was not religious but coincided with the “astronomical phase of the planet,” for example, attracted the ire of the Astronomical Society of India, which said such a thing didn’t even exist and warned its followers on Twitter not to believe Vasudev’s pseudoscience. According to a recent article in Vice, however, Indian records indicate that from 2015 to 2018, “Isha Education” received $1.74 million from Tamil Nadu’s education department, and that from 2014 to 2017 “Isha outreach” received over $38,000 from Tamil Nadu’s department of agriculture. He previously ran a campaign to save the 500-mile endangered Kaveri (also sometimes spelled Cauvery) river between the southern Indian states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, which is a frequent source of water disputes. Between 2016 to 2018, Isha outreach also received over $16,000 from UNICEF. The Isha volunteer who responded to Vox’s questions says “small donations from a large number of individuals who have benefited from the programs” account for much of its revenue. Critics also accuse Vasudev of misogyny for his commentary on gender roles, such as saying that women are “unfortunately” trying to be like men in the name of feminism, and for promoting pseudoscience and superstitions. “ I thought this madness lasted for five to 10 minutes but when I came back to my normal way of being, four and a half hours had passed.” Never much of a crier, he started weeping. Looking at Vasudev from a historical context, though, it’s clear that he has brought guruship into the 21st century, says Tulasi Srinivas, a professor of anthropology, religion, and transnational studies at Emerson College and the author of Winged Faith, a book on how gurus go global. His critics argue that Vasudev is merely pulling publicity stunts for his own self-promotion, and, as an ally of Modi, who has endorsed highly controversial policies against Muslims, peddling Hindu nationalism under the guise of a Western Orientalist fantasy.