From: Anya Bernstein
Subject: Fieldnotes on the go
   Date: August 8, 2005 1:22:04 PM CEST
     To: Undisclosed recipients

Living in the early twentieth century, he rejected caste and organized religion (Hinduism), his teaching being closer to
early Indian Buddhism. He rejected Hindu image worship and claimed the "god within," proposing to istall mirrors instead of temple idols.
While these radical ideas did not take off with the locals, he
became very popular with the lower castes, who deified him. As we spoke, several big buses drove to the gates and women and children dressed in lively bright yellow robes poured out into the gates.
The ashram, conspicuously lacking any recognizable Hindu
deities, nevertheless housed many life-size statues and portraits of the guru peppered throughout its vast premises. "They worship him as god," Swami continued, pointing to the yellow-clad devotees. "They
pray for American comforts."
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