Yoga Guru Ramdev's business workshops
A recent, visit to UK by Yoga guru Baba Ramdev, led to a certain amount of controversy and after complaints were made about the excessive charges of his Yoga workshops.
Baba Ramdev went to the UK for number of reasons, to hold a meeting with one of Britain's richest individuals, the steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal. The Swami also went to a garden party at Buckingham Palace, held an assortment of yoga workshops and was honoured with a special award, along with Lord Swraj Paul, at the House of Commons.
Ramdev yoga workshops has caused the controversy when a campaign group called Hindu Human Rights (HHR) maintained that there had been "forced donations" to attend them.
Arjun Malik, a spokesman for the group, said that: "Swamiji has famously brought yoga to the masses in its traditional and authentic form and we warmly welcome his visit as a chance to experience the spiritual power of yoga at first-hand. But, unfortunately, ramdev ji organisers have decided that the only way to attend his discourses is by making a donation. Worse, how close you get to the Swami is dependent on the size of your donation. We got hundreds of emails asking if this commercial farce is going on with Swamiji's knowledge".
Surprisingly , entry to the workshops was costed thus: 500 pounds - VIP, 300 pounds - Diamond, 140 pounds - Gold, and 70 pounds - Silver. Proximity to the Baba was indeed dependent on what category of donation had been made just may be in business workshops or rock concert.
When Baba Ramdev was asked about all this by Britain's Eastern Eye newspaper, he replied: "I have heard a number of reports that claim this may be going on without my knowledge, which is not true. baba ramdev said that the money is aimed at my charity, Patanjali Yog Peeth UK, to raise funds for a university in India and for the general welfare of people.But the point is baba ramdev ji charges huge money from poor people as well in India from his yoga shows which seems more of business approach.
Baba Ramdev ji said those who cannot afford even the 70 pound passes can get in touch with the organisers who will try and organise free passes for them".
But the organisers, Aastha TV, have their say: "Entrance to the venue is by donor passholders only. A charge needs to be levied to cover costs...and also included are several intangibles like the cost of advertising and promoting the spiritual art and science of Yog as practised by Pujya Swami Ramdevji Maharaj".
It seems the Hindu Human Rights group did make the point clear about the Yoga show as was more of forced donation.
Baba Ramdev went to the UK for number of reasons, to hold a meeting with one of Britain's richest individuals, the steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal. The Swami also went to a garden party at Buckingham Palace, held an assortment of yoga workshops and was honoured with a special award, along with Lord Swraj Paul, at the House of Commons.
Ramdev yoga workshops has caused the controversy when a campaign group called Hindu Human Rights (HHR) maintained that there had been "forced donations" to attend them.
Arjun Malik, a spokesman for the group, said that: "Swamiji has famously brought yoga to the masses in its traditional and authentic form and we warmly welcome his visit as a chance to experience the spiritual power of yoga at first-hand. But, unfortunately, ramdev ji organisers have decided that the only way to attend his discourses is by making a donation. Worse, how close you get to the Swami is dependent on the size of your donation. We got hundreds of emails asking if this commercial farce is going on with Swamiji's knowledge".
Surprisingly , entry to the workshops was costed thus: 500 pounds - VIP, 300 pounds - Diamond, 140 pounds - Gold, and 70 pounds - Silver. Proximity to the Baba was indeed dependent on what category of donation had been made just may be in business workshops or rock concert.
When Baba Ramdev was asked about all this by Britain's Eastern Eye newspaper, he replied: "I have heard a number of reports that claim this may be going on without my knowledge, which is not true. baba ramdev said that the money is aimed at my charity, Patanjali Yog Peeth UK, to raise funds for a university in India and for the general welfare of people.But the point is baba ramdev ji charges huge money from poor people as well in India from his yoga shows which seems more of business approach.
Baba Ramdev ji said those who cannot afford even the 70 pound passes can get in touch with the organisers who will try and organise free passes for them".
But the organisers, Aastha TV, have their say: "Entrance to the venue is by donor passholders only. A charge needs to be levied to cover costs...and also included are several intangibles like the cost of advertising and promoting the spiritual art and science of Yog as practised by Pujya Swami Ramdevji Maharaj".
It seems the Hindu Human Rights group did make the point clear about the Yoga show as was more of forced donation.
posted by Yoga News at 2:47 AM
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