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Kalki Bhagawan
Born
Vijay Kumar Naidu

(1949-03-07) 7 March 1949 (age 75)
Natham, Madras State, India (present-day Tamil Nadu)
NationalityIndian
Other namesSri Bhagavan, Amma Bhagavan (as a couple)
Alma materDG Vaishnav College, Chennai
Known forSpiritual teacher from India
Spouse
Padmavathi
​
(m. 1977)​

Kalki Bhagawan (born 7 March 1949 as Vijay Kumar Naidu), also known as Sri Bhagavan, is a spiritual teacher from India.[1][2] He is the founder of a spiritual organization called Oneness.[3][4] which has its headquarters in Varadaiahpalem, Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh.[5]

Early life

Kalki Bhagavan (front row center) with his son NKV Krishna (back row left) and wife Padmavathi (back row center). Circa 1990

Kalki Bhagavan was born as Vijay Kumar Naidu on 7 March 1949 in Natham village, Vellore district in Tamil Nadu, to Smt. Vaidarbhi Amma and Sri Varadarajulu. His father was the head of the accounts department of Indian Railways.

Education and Early Career

In 1955 his family moved to Chennai where he attended Don Bosco School. He graduated from DG Vaishnav College in Chennai, majoring in Mathematics.[6] After completing college, he worked as an office clerk for Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).[7] In his childhood he was introduced to the philosophy of Jiddu Krishnamurti by his friend R. Sankar. He was a visitor to the Theosophical Society in Chennai.[7] He worked in the Rishi Valley School by the Krishnamurthy foundation as an administrator with R. Shankar till 1983.[8]

Marriage

He married Smt. Padmavathi on 9 June 1977, following the customary practice in India where marriages are decided by elders in the family.[4] Padmavathi, also known as “Amma” by the followers, participated in building the Oneness spiritual organization.[4]

Work

In 1984, Kalki Bhagavan established a residential school called Jeevashram in Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh to provide an alternative form of education with the goal of “developing an environment for children to discover themselves and reach their full potential”.[9]

In 1994, the Jeevashram school campus was renamed to Satyaloka and spiritual programs for the public was started.[9] In 2000, he subsequently founded the Oneness organization with the stated mission to create “lasting spiritual transformation" and to alleviate human suffering “at its roots by awakening humanity into Oneness and transforming the world into a better place”.[10][11][9]

During the early stages of the movement, Bhagavan was regarded by his followers as Kalki, the tenth incarnation of Vishnu and his work was locally referred to as the “Kalki movement”.[10] Bhagavan has also stated that "although this is the time for Kalki’s emergence, Kalki is not one person but a collective awakening".[12]

The organization’s work includes the practice of giving and receiving the “Oneness Blessing” also known as the Deeksha, which is a technique of “energy transmission to usher the receiver into a state of higher consciousness.” The practice does not require initiation into following a new path.[12]

Bhagavan believes that when a critical mass of people have received the "Oneness Blessing", it would affect the "collective DNA" of humanity, resulting as an "Age of Enlightenment", which will take few decades to fully take effect.[13]Followers of the movement have reported psychosomatic ailments to have been healed by the "Oneness Blessing".[4][5]In 2004, Carl Johan Calleman (based on the Mayan calendar), collaborated with Kalki Bhagavan to initiate a festival called Oneness Celebration.[14] On 21st December 2012, worldwide events were conducted by the Oneness organization.[2]

In 2017, the Oneness organization was handed over to Bhagavan's son, NKV Krishna and daughter-in-law Preetha Krishna and was renamed to Ekam.[3] Over the years, the Oneness movement is known by various names including the Foundation for World Awakening, Golden Age Foundation, Bhagavad Dharma, Kalki Dharma, Oneness University and Oneness Organization.[5][9]

Teachings

Kalki Bhagavan's stated belief is that the cause for human suffering is the sense of a separate self that each individual experiences that gives each the feeling of "me and a not-me”, which is what causes conflicts in families, relationships and wars between nations.[1] According to him, enlightenment is a neurobiological process in which this sense of separate self ends.[13]

There are no required set of texts or doctrines in the Oneness movement.[2] Though the founder Bhagavan's writings or sayings are used as teachings, the movement’s emphasis is for followers to acquire direct personal experience.[2] It does not foretell the end of the world.[15] It seeks to bring about “alternative possibilities of peace and harmony”.[15] It does not dictate conversion.[1] It is open to people of all faiths and does not require any particular belief or belonging, example "Religion is personal. Choose your own religion"[15]

The Oneness movement sees its message as compatible with major religious traditions, and simultaneously allows cultural adaptation of the teachings.[12]

The moola mantra (Sanskrit chant of the organization - Om Sat Chit Ananda Parabrahma, Purushottama Paramatma) is chanted by adherents with the belief that it aids to "connect with the supreme power of the divine, the creator of the universe."[15][16]

Business Activities

Kalki Bhagavan founded the White Lotus Conglomerate[17] involved in various sectors like real estate, property development, energy, media and sports. It is now owned by his son N.K.V. Krishna.[17][18]

Kosmik Music,[19] is a music label producing titles ranging from traditional, spiritual and fusion tracks. "Sacred Chants" containing traditional Vedic hymns is one of its successful brands.[19] The Kalki trust is reported to have purchased "Studio N" in 2014 from Narne Srinivas Rao, father-in-law of film actor N. T. Rama Rao Jr.[20]

Criticisms

The Oneness movement has been described as a new religion, with Kalki as a "living god" served by the monastic order and with tales of miracles being performed. The monastic order has been upheld without coercion with freedom to leave at any time.[15]

R. Sankar, Bhagavan's first disciple and childhood friend, left in 1998, after alleging that the Oneness movement was controlling. However, he also asserts that Kalki Bhagavan did not harbour ambitions beyond the spiritual aspects. They continue to meet every year.[21]

Freddy Nielsen, his associate from Sweden, left him in 2005 after directing criticism against the Oneness movement.[10] In November 2009, 25 of the senior instructors, including NKV Krishna, Anandagiri and Vimalkirti, disengaged from the Oneness organization to form another named "One World Academy".[22]

In 2010, Arjuna Ardagh (Author of Awakening into Oneness) noted that more than 70 percent of the people he interviewed for the book had ceased their association with the Oneness organization due to disappointments and allegations. Example, Erwin Laslow (writer of the book's foreword) and Rani Kumra (ran the American movement). The "100 Village Project" (referred to in Chapter 10) was discontinued.[22][unreliable source?]

Issues

In 2002, a public interest litigation for income tax probe of the Kalki Trust was dismissed and rejected by the Madras High Court and subsequently by the Indian Supreme Court.[23]

In 2019, Income Tax department officials conducted raids on more than forty properties of the White Lotus Conglomerate owned by Bhagavan's son and seized cash and gold with total estimated seizure worth Rs 93 crore.[17]

Publications

Books

See also

Notes

References

  1. ^ a b c Nadkarni, Vithal C. (2008). "Oneness to the rescue of a world in peril". The Economic Times.
  2. ^ a b c d "Oneness Movement – WRSP".
  3. ^ a b Preethaji; Krishnaji (6 August 2019). The Four Sacred Secrets: For Love and Prosperity, A Guide to Living in a Beautiful State. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-5011-7379-0.
  4. ^ a b c d Ardagh, Arjuna (1 April 2009). "Chapter 1,2". Awakening into Oneness: The Power of Blessing in the Evolution of Consciousness. Sounds True. ISBN 978-1-59179-864-4.
  5. ^ a b c "India: a visit to the Oneness Temple of Amma-Bhagwan". Religioscope. 13 July 2008. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  6. ^ "Narayanan, Dr. Vasudha, "A 'White Paper' on Kalki Bhagavan, 29 September 2002", University of Florida, Gainesville, Montclair". msuweb.montclair.edu.
  7. ^ a b S, Jayaseelan K. (19 October 2019). "The rise of 'Kalki' Bhagwan: From an LIC agent to a self-proclaimed 'avatar'". The Federal. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  8. ^ site admin (17 June 2002). "Cult in crisis – RELIGION News – Issue Date: Jun 17, 2002". Indiatoday.in. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d "KALKI BHAGWAN-CREATOR OF SPIRITUAL MOVEMENT TO BRING ALL HUMANITY INTO GOLDEN AGE". www.speakingtree.in. Retrieved 10 January 2024.
  10. ^ a b c Thorsen, Elin. "Oneness of Different Kinds: A Comparative Study of Amma and Bhagavan's Oneness Movement in India and Sweden" (PDF). GUPEA. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  11. ^ Roth, Ron; Montgomery, Roger (2007). The Sacred Light of Healing: Teachings and Meditations on Divine Oneness. iUniverse. ISBN 978-0-595-44896-8.
  12. ^ a b c Thorsén, Elin (5 July 2016). "Unity Behind Diversity or the Reverse? The Language of Universality in Amma and Bhagavan's Oneness Movement". International Journal for the Study of New Religions. 7 (1): 69–90. doi:10.1558/ijsnr.v7i1.20123. ISSN 2041-952X.
  13. ^ a b Windrider, Kiara (2006). Deeksha: The Fire from Heaven. New World Library. ISBN 978-1-930722-70-5.
  14. ^ Calleman, Ph.D, Carl (16 July 2015). "The Mayan Calendar & The Transformation of Consciousness". A Better World. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  15. ^ a b c d e "Bhagwan Kalki | Life Positive". lifepositive.com. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  16. ^ Editorial, Insight State's (21 December 2023). "Moola Mantra (oneness) - Lyrics, Meaning, Benefits". Insight state. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  17. ^ a b c "Rs 44 cr cash, 90 kg gold, Rs 20 cr worth US dollars seized in I-T raids on properties linked to spiritual guru Kalki Bhagwan".
  18. ^ S, Mohamed Imranullah (21 November 2019). "'Kalki' Bhagavan's daughter-in-law moves HC against 'look out circular'". The Hindu.
  19. ^ a b "Sacred Chants". The New Indian Express. 15 May 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  20. ^ . Suares, Coreena (16 October 2019). "IT Sleuths search Kalki Bhagavan's properties in Hyderabad". NewsMeter. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  21. ^ "The Cult of Kalki Bhagavan". Open The Magazine. 1 November 2019. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  22. ^ a b Ardagh, Arjuna. (2010). Ontwaken in eenheid : de kracht van de oneness blessing in de evolutie van ons bewustzijn. Wel, Anna van der. Houten: Zwerk. ISBN 978-90-77478-32-5. OCLC 662568093.
  23. ^ "The Hindu : Plea for CBI probe against godman turned down". Archived from the original on 6 May 2004.

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