I don't judge Believers but those who play with the Belief of others

Now that the website is back up I also would like to tell you about a surprise visitor I had last week. It was Sanjeev, an old friend of mine, one of my first real good friends in the west. He is of Indian origin, was born and grew up in London where I met him and stayed with his family and recently they all moved to Dubai. He called one evening, told us that he had some business in India, was in Delhi and would have time to come by the next day if it was fine with us. What a nice surprise! Of course it was fine with us!

I had not met Sanjeev for three or four years, when he had been to the Ashram the last time, and it was good to hug him at the Ashram. We sat and had a long talk, told each other what we had been doing in the past years, how our families were and what was moving us at this moment. I showed him what was new at the Ashram and of course told about our website problem. Once the basic questions of health and news were covered we moved to a topic that was a bit more sensitive: our religious views.

To understand the following, you need to know that I met Sanjeev in the year 2001, a time when I had just come out of the cave and was on my second journey in the west. I had made the decision to leave the traditional role of a guru in India but was still very religious. I was in the process of making a lot of changes in my life, many of which I had not consciously initiated. I had got to know my friend and his family as a deeply religious family and knew that this had not changed the way that I had changed over years.

So when we were sitting there together, at a quiet place in the Ashram, our talk also came to these changes in me. It was nothing entirely new for my friend, as we are still connected, have been in touch online and from time to time over phone. He mentioned ‘I knew where your thoughts were going and I think very differently. But then I thought, you are my friend and you won’t judge me because of my belief’.

My answer was something like ‘I don’t judge you but of course I do judge those people who play with the belief of others.’

It is true. I do not actually judge people who have a belief. I know of their reasons for having their belief. It is a different story however for those who use their knowledge of what others are looking for just to have their own profit. I do judge all those priests and gurus who consciously fool others in order to get their money. It is wrong, it is dishonest and it brings pain to many people. No, that is not right.

It is however not any problem for me to be friends with someone who believes in any religion. One of my blog entries is already about the fact that a true friendship does not finish with a change of belief. I am truly free and not bound to making friends only of one certain religion or not at all of any religion. If you are my friend and I turned away from religion, it does not mean you have to change, too, for us to stay friends. Accept me as I am and I will accept you the way you are.

I thus had a wonderful afternoon with Sanjeev and in the evening he left to go back to Delhi. Thank you, my friend, for coming by spontaneously and for your love without conditions and boundaries.