Media has inherent bias for spiritual gurus: Sri Sri

Bhubaneswar: Acclaimed spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar today blamed media for covering issues related to people from his fraternity in a “biased manner”.

He was speaking on “Bringing the trust deficit between disciple and spiritual leaders: Do we need a code of ethics for spiritual gurus” at OTV’s annual convention, Foresight 2014, here.

“When Kanchi Sankaracharya Sri Jayendra Sarasvati was arrested in 2004 for allegedly conspiring murder of one disciple, media covered the episode for over 2500 hours. But when he was acquitted of the charges by a court recently, the media coverage span was less than 30 minutes,” Ravi Shankar said.

When the founder of Art of Living was asked whether the media is inherently biased towards spiritual gurus, he said, “I think, yes.”

He, however, conceded that many people, proclaiming themselves as pontiffs, have misused the tradition of faith and the faith-based institutions.

“The institution has taken a biting in the last decade due to the misdeeds of a few (spiritual gurus),” said Sri Sri.

Terming spirituality as the fifth pillar of Indian democracy, Ravi Shankar said spiritual leaders have to execute high standards in every sphere of their lives.

Urging disciples to stay away from wrong persons disguised as gurus, he said, “Adhere to the scriptures, take benefit from genuine spiritual gurus if possible and move on.”