Have you noticed how the marketing of a God or Guru happens? You wonder whether a Guru is like a marketable commodity or what? He is a human being with special qualities and far beyond the vagaries of desires and wants, so why would he want himself to be marketed, you wonder!Way back in time, Guru’s like Saibaba or Shri Ramakrishna Paramhamsa were also promoted and given a big splash of publicity. There is Dasganu who was instructed by Saibaba to go from big town to tiny villages singing peans about Baba. He did his job diligently bringing Saibaba to every individual wherever he went.
On the other hand the leader of the Brahmosamaj, Shri Keshub Sen also met Shri Ramakrishna Paramhamsa and wrote about it in his journal or paper. His fame spread through the writings of the great leader. Thereafter there was no looking back. From Narendra to Mahendranath, every other person spoke highly about him. M wrote his great works called the Gospel of Ramakrishna Paramhamsa and people read it. Swami Vivekananda went to USA and spread the word further.
Shivaji was the patron of Shri Swami Samarth Ramdas and a great devotee also. He used to run to His Master wherever his spies located Him. He used to rule his kingdom by keeping the padukas or the sandals of his Guru on the throne.
Whether it is Meerabai or Kabirdas or any other great spiritual persona the word is spread by various means. Word of mouth or news traveling through various medias and point of sales.
Prabhupada, the founder of ISKCON also went to USA and sang in the great many place about Krsna. The Beatles and various other famous personas visited the sage and thereafter it was just success.
Even later day saints like Swami Chinmayananda or Sivananda were written about. Chinmayananda, himself a newspaper reporter for the Free Press Journal got the Fourth Estate to speak about other sages too. He wrote about Swami Sivananda, the founder of Divine Life Society.
Today it is mayhem on the media front. Whether it is advertising about yoga or tantra classes or selling spiritual stuff including precious gems, amulets, rudraksha or whatever else media goes a long way in fulfilling the demands of creating a hype in the marketplace.
There are modern Gurus who come on television peddling stuff which wasn’t the case a few years ago. Then there is Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to boost ones image or kill it. Many Gurus have a fan page and activity page too. The various methodologies used to reach the target audience are phenomenal.
Last that we heard of, the billion plus disciples’ Guru conducted a jamboree and millions attended. Then there are others who love to get into controversies and get publicized. Millions of Dollars are spent trying to get people to subscribe to such programs and melas. Yoga camps, meditation and self help camps, big yagnas and prayer meetings compound the reach of these Gurus.
Now that we have seen media and publicity played a great role in the life of the Gurus, isn’t it important to consider all these as good as any marketing product or services?
When we see from the other side holy books are also responsible for pushing the word about these great further. Look at the Gideon’s bible or Bhagvad Gita kept in hotel rooms or distributed freely. Doesn’t it count for publicizing the divine? You may say God doesn’t need publicity since he is perfect and pristine. He doesn’t need your cheap publicity. But hold it! God has made the media himself so what’s wrong in that when he uses it for himself? He does right by using his own machinery to gain the space in your mind.
So don’t stop people from publicizing or promoting their Guru or God. They should do it so that more people come to know about them. Media is a tool everyone is entitled for. Doing SEO or getting more eyeballs too should not be condemned for the knowers of truth. The sages should be known by all. More words should be written about them. Let’s do it for all the holy people and help them get popularized. God and Guru should be known to everyone. Goodness should be spread to one and all.
Lastly, there will be opponents to what I said but let me put it this way- without those important people(opposers) being there, the world will not become a better place. The maxim in the advertising world is any publicity is a good publicity. There is no bad or good publicity. Amen!
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