By Heidi Zhou
News 8 Austin
May 5, 2008
http://www.news8austin.com/content/your_news/default.asp?ArID=207561
[with video]
Prakashanand Saraswati's temple shows no sign of the trouble its founder faces.
"The human body is very precious," Saraswati told worshippers during a teaching last Saturday. "You can find the best thing—all that is great in this lifetime—if you properly understand and follow the path."
Saraswati, or "Shree Swamiji" as his devotees call him, gave the teaching just hours after his followers paid $1 million to bail him out of the Hays County jail.
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| Prakashanand Saraswati faces child molestation charges. |
The 79-year-old Saraswati teaches seminars in New York, but in Austin, 20 counts of child sexual abuse await his return.
"We are deeply saddened by these accusations. They are completely not true," Barsana Dham spokesperson Prabhakari Devi said after learning of Saraswati's arrest.
Such loyalty to the spiritual teacher, or guru, is not a surprise according to Hinduism expert Jagannath Vedula.
"Guru is worshiped, in the sense they bow to the guru," he said.
Vedula is Vice President of the Austin Hindu Temple. Unlike Barsana Dham, Vedula's temple doesn't follow a guru.
"It's a personal preference," Vedula said. "Different people do it differently."
While some question whether it's blind faith, Saraswati's followers said he is not at the center of a personality cult. But they do refer to him as "his divinity," and they said he has "impeccable behavior."
"He's dedicated his whole life to uplifting humanity," Devi said. "Anyone who knows him could never think he could ever harm anyone."
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| Prakashanand Saraswati's temple shows no sign of the trouble its founder faces. |
Not harming anyone by thought, word or deed is Hinduism's basic tenant. Now it's up to the law to decide whether Saraswati remains the example to follow.
Saraswati was born in India and came to Central Texas to build his dream temple, Barsana Dham. The two-hundred-acre complex was founded in 1990.
According to its Web site, www.barsanadham.org, Barsana Dham is home to about 50 adult residents.
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