The son of a former top US Army commander, working in the IT sector has joined the ‘akhara’ claiming seers during Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Tom, now known as Vyasanand Giri blends in as just another ‘Mahamandaleshwar’ among the 13 akharas at the event. He was initiated as a ‘Mahamandaleshwar’ on Sunday, wearing saffron robes after going through the Niranjani Akhara.
Vyasanand Giri did not comment on this, but the president of the Panchayati Akhara, Shri Niranjani Mahant Ravindra Puri, confirmed the information.”That is right. He is Tom, the son of a former senior US Army Commander and who was having a good job in the IT sector. But then, driven by an irresistible urge of spirituality, he decided to give it all up,” Mahant Ravindra Puri, the head of Akhara Parishad, told news agency PTI.
Puri elaborated on Tom’s spiritual journey to becoming Mahamandaleshwar Vyasanand Giri, stating, “Mr Tom used to work in the IT sector. Sometime later, he was driven by the pull of spiritualism and decided to embrace Hinduism. Subsequently, he took sanyas. He started doing yoga and meditation, researched a lot on Hinduism and Sanatani culture, and often visited Rishikesh over the last couple of years and met me.”
About the criteria for appointing someone as a Mahamandaleshwar, an important position in the akhara order, Puri, said, “It means someone who has become an awakened soul, one who has mastered meditation, yoga and learned to control the senses. The position also means that as a priest of the Hindu order, one would be ready to sacrifice even one’s life for the protection of Sanatan Dharma and once we were sure that Mr Tom was ready for his spiritual journey, we inducted him.”
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Clarifying that any foreigners who could become priests and follow Hindu rituals, he stated, “There is nothing like that. Many of them (foreigners) are better than many of us. When they meditate, they are lost, immersed in that divine, spiritual consciousness.
“I have seen many Indians who get distracted by mosquito bites, begin to yawn, cough or start feeling sleepy while meditating. In the case of Mr Tom, we found that he had the strength and the composure to meditate long hours. He has great conviction in his belief,” Puri claimed.
When asked how many Mahamandaleshwars Niranjani Akhara has created since the 2019 Kumbh, Puri, also the president of the Mansa Devi Mandir Trust in Haridwar, replied, “I think we have made 30 Mahamandaleshwars so far. Tom is among the five-six foreigners belonging to countries like the USA, Malaysia, and Scandinavia.”
Puri emphasised that many foreigners, despite being from different faiths, are drawn to the Sanatani worldview, leading them to embrace Hinduism. He said that many express a sense of returning to their roots after doing so. Adding to the concept of temporary sanyas, he stated that several Muslims around 100 of them have contacted him, expressing their willingness to become sanyasi after embracing Hinduism. “This is meant to test whether attraction towards Hinduism is real or temporary. We want to check the patience of such people,” he said.
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