It Is Economy, Not Compassion; Moron!

For many years I had participated in committees organizing empowerment rituals for various masters, gurus and the like to come to Malaysia for various blessing and dharma sessions. However, I would shy away now days from organizing or involving in such activities as I am bored with dealing with money matters.

 

Do you really think that people come here to really spread the dharma free of charge like the MagicSEA? Well, think again! It is all about money matters that are what I can assure you; not great compassion as the good outsiders would like to think. Let me show you a classical example of how money talks (just ball park figures):

 

·         Inviting a guru with 5 disciples would cost MYR30,000 including air fares, transport and logging about a decade ago.

·         Preparing ritual items including making ‘torma’ or ritual cakes, other offering stuffs as with any standard fire sacrifice rituals and rental of location for the ritual may cost another MYR20,000.

·         Printing of advertisement materials and booklets would cost around MYR10,000 or so.

·         The guru would like some donation to bring back to support all his disciples back home and that would be another MYR40,000 excluding those donated by ceremony participants. The price goes up if the guru is a famous and much sought after ones.

 

So you see, about 10 years ago; an average guru would bag MYR100,000 home in one session! Bear in mind also that after paying such fees, the participants will not get the real deal without further involving in the Dharma Center to do voluntary works. I see families broke up just because the wives wanted to ‘create merit’ and stay in the Dharma Center to take care of the gurus. One may wonder why…

 

At one time there were so many dharma talks and empowerment sessions in Penang that people just throw out white flags and say they had enough. And I remembered to have sat in the fund raising committee with the guru in the center with a grimed face. He kept repeating: “We need more money! Our expenditure is too high! Think how we can raise more funds!”

 

I can assure you that that wasn’t an amicable guru during the compassionate dharma talk! Perhaps we are really getting poorer that large scale ritual sessions are getting lesser now days; or perhaps those rituals are still being held. Whatever case that may be; I am already out of the loops for good. For the rest, think twice before inviting a guru and so be warned.