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Part X : 1987-1990 Poona-Two : Controversy
with: Jainas
Just now one of the most organized Jaina sects, terapanth, is
bombarded—particularly the head of the sect, Acharya Tulsi—with
exposures upon exposures, almost in a chain.
Two disciples of Acharya Tulsi left the fold and exposed all
the perversion, the sexual exploitation in the name of religion.
Acharya Tulsi has more than seventeen hundred monks and double
that number of nuns. It is a vast community of monks and nuns,
and the exposures from these two—and since then others have
joined—reveal all kinds of perverted practices, homosexuality,
heterosexuality, and the nuns are being treated almost like prostitutes.
The monks are either heterosexual, exploiting the nuns, or many
of them are homosexual. And they all have taken the vow of celibacy!
Acharya Tulsi tried, through the government, to have the book
banned. But the publisher was very insistent, and he was ready
to go to the court against the government. Seeing the situation,
that to be in the court would mean more exposures, more dirt,
Acharya Tulsi stopped the action. The books have been released.
One of these monks, Satish Kumar, had come to me when he left
Acharya Tulsi's camp, thinking that I have been always against
Acharya Tulsi and his whole philosophy. But I told him, "It
does not matter, I will not exploit the situation, because to
me it is not a question of Acharya Tulsi. That's how for centuries
we have been treating symptoms, and we never go deep to the roots."
Acharya Tulsi is not at fault. Neither are his monks and nuns
at fault. The fault is centuries old—as long as celibacy
has been preached there has been sexual perversion.
I would like Acharya Tulsi to gather courage and come into the
open, rather than trying to hide. It is not his fault, it is the
fault of the society that imposes on their monks and nuns unnatural
things like celibacy.
I will support Acharya Tulsi. I am always ready for any unpopular
challenge! But he has to gather courage. Of course he will lose
his respect, but it is better to lose your respect than to lose
the truth….
It is good that Acharya Tulsi is exposed, but I don't think
it is his fault. He was ordained when he was only fourteen years
old. Now what does a fourteen-year-old understand about celibacy?…
I want to challenge on this occasion the medical association
of India to investigate the case of Tulsi and his followers. And
that will be very definitive—because it will be the same
with your shankaracharyas, your bishops and your popes.
Once and for all it has to be decided that fighting with sex
is self-destructive. Use the sexual energy in a multi-dimensional
way. Everything is created by the same energy. It is not only
for reproduction, it is also for the creation of music, painting,
poetry….
I am absolutely with Acharya Tulsi. He should come out and expose
the whole tradition: "It is not our fault. We have been forced
to be unnatural, and the outcome is perversion." Rather than
taking it personally, he should make it a point to indicate to
the whole of humanity that being unnatural is almost equal to
being unreligious. The only way to religion is to be more and
more natural. nomind06
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