Kalki Bhagavan

Sri Bhagavan
Born	Vijay Kumar (1949-03-07) March 7, 1949 Natham Village, Gudiyatham Town, Tamil Nadu, India
Nationality	Indian
Philosophy	"Oneness"

Sri Bhagavan^{[1] [2] [3] [4]} (born Vijay Kumar, March 7,1949) also known by the title Kalki Bhagavan is an Indian spiritual guru and founder of Oneness University, a spiritual school located in South India. ^[5] The title 'Kalki Bhagavan' is derived from traditional Hindu beliefs.^[5]Kalki is the name given to the tenth incarnation of Vishnu, who will appear on a white horse, wielding a sword.^[6] Bhagavan is a respectful form used to address spiritual teachers or guides.^[7] Vijay Kumar proclaimed himself as Kalki (the 10th incarnation of Lord Vishnu) in 1989,^[8] although he is now reluctant to use that title.^[5]

Early years (1949 - 1983)

Family background

Sri Bhagavan was born on 7 March 1949^[1] as Vijay Kumar, in Natham Village, Gudiyatham Town, Vellore district, Tamil Nadu, to Smt. Vaidarbhi Amma and Sri Varadarajulu. Sri Bhagvan’s father was the head of the accounts department of Indian Railways ^[9] and his mother was a simple village woman. ^[1] In 1955, when Sri Bhagavan was 6 years of age, the family moved to Chennai.

Education

Sri Bhagavan attended Don Bosco School in Chennai.^[9] Later, he graduated from DG Vaishnav College (also in Chennai), majoring in mathematics. ^[10]

Marriage

Sri Bhagavan married Smt. Padmavathi on June 9, 1977. This was an arranged marriage following the prevalent customary practice in India for marriages decided by elders in the family.^[9] Padmavathi, who is addressed as Amma by their students, is also a spiritual person and takes an active interest and participation in building the spiritual organization Oneness.^[9]

Jeevashram School (1984 - 1994)

Jeevashram School located in Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh was founded by Sri Bhagavan, in July 1984 to provide an alternative form of education. The land for the school was taken on a lease, with the support provided by Mr. Hari Khoday, an Indian philanthropist. As director of the school, Sri Bhagawan's focus was to develop an environment for children to truly flower and discover themselves. The school had 180 residential students and 200 day students from nearby villages. ^[9] It was at this school that his spiritual work would begin. In the summer of 1989, one of the students reported a mystical experience of divine silence. Soon, many other students reported similar experiences, and they were also able to pass their experiences to one another. During these experiences, children had vision of various Gods and would converse with them. Sri Bhagavan explained that the children had got in touch with Antaryamin, the inner guide who dwells in your heart that guides all beings towards greater truth .^[9] In 1991, Sri Bhagawan decided to close the school and start the spiritual work for the larger community. The school was closed a few years later in 1994, after the senior students had all graduated from high school and the remaining students were moved to other schools. ^[9]

Spiritual programs for public (1991 to present)

Once the decision was made to close Jeevashram School, work started in developing the spiritual programs for the public.^[9] The principal of the Jeevashram School with a small group of teachers started the spiritual programs for public. The workshops were conducted as residential retreat programs conducted over 7 days or 21 days. The workshop focused on helping the participant accept themselves as they are^[11] and connect with their own inner divine self the Antaryamin^[12]

A second campus was set up in 1992 near Chennai city a place called Somangalam. In 1994, the campus of Jeevashram School was renamed as Satyaloka. Advance retreat programs for public were conducted at this campus. By 1995, Sri Bhagwan's workshops were being conducted in all major cities in India, including the capital New Delhi. In 1995, the first major public event was held at Chennai city, drawing more than 100,000 students from across India. In 1999, the work on building the Oneness University^[9] at Varadaiahpalem, Chittoor district Andhra Pradesh India started. Oneness University, located 70 km from Chennai, is accessible by the National Highway 5 and is on Tirupati Road leading to the ancient temple town of Kalahasthi. In 2000, the first campus was completed and Sri Bhagawan and his team of teachers moved to the campus. Over the next few years, various campuses, including the Oneness Temple in 2008^[13] were built. In 2004, the first international program was started. ^[9]

Ervin Laszlo of the Budapest Club, avers that the 'Oneness experience' are as real as any human sense perceptions of light, colour and sound, but conveyed via different neural process within the brain ^[14]

In 2009, about 600 delegates from India and 36 foreign countries including a contingent of Mathadipathi, Peetadhipathi and sadhus from all over India, converged at Sri Bhagavan's ashram for the international convention of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. This program was attended by VHP leaders including well-known figures, such as Ashok Singhal, Praveen Togadia, Giriraj Kishore, Omkar Bhave and Vendantam.^[15][16]

Well-known visitors to his ashram include Bollywood stars Shilpa Shetty,^[17] Manisha Koirala,^[18] Hrithik Roshan,^[19] Rakesh Roshan^[20] designer Donna Karan, Deff Leppard musician Rick Allen and NBA coach Pat Riley. ^[21]

In 2011 he was included in Watkins Mind Body Spirit list of influential spiritual leaders for that year.^[22]

Oneness Movement

Sri Bhagavan's movement has used various names,^[5] such as Golden Age Foundation, Bhagavad Dharma, Kalki Dharma and the Oneness Organisation.^[5] It has also been referred to in the Indian press as the 'Kalki Cult'.^[8][23]

The movement started in the early 1980s and by 2008 was reported to have more than 14 million followers worldwide.^[24] Its stated mission is to "create oneness for all for lasting spiritual transformation".^[24] Its rites include the practice of deeksha.^[5]

The headquarters and main ashram for the movement is in Varadaiahpalem, Andhra Pradesh, India.^[5] Within ashram is the Oneness Temple. Built at an estimated cost of $75 million, it is claimed to contain the largest pillar-less meditation hall in Asia.^[5] At its opening ceremony in 2008, several people died in a stampede.^[25] In the week following the stampede, irate crowds led by members of the local Communist Party of India (Marxist) protested against the alleged callous attitude of the Kalki Bhagavan Trust, which resulted in the stampede.^[23]

In 2002^[26] the Madras High Court took up a public interest litigation alleging misuse of public funds by various Kalki trusts, and allegations of unaccounted wealth of Sri Bhagavan and his family members.^[8] The Madras High Court then rejected this plea for a probe. Later, when the petitioner approached the Supreme Court of India, the Supreme Court upheld the judgement of the Madras High Court and dismissed the petition at the admission level.^[27]

In 2007, the Chittoor district Collector retrieved land found to be occupied by Sri Bhagavan's ashram without authorization.^[28]

In 2010, the Madras high court restrained private TV channels in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu from telecasting clippings pertaining to "Kalki Bhagavan" ashram. According to the High Court, the television channels projected persons in a manner that violated the human rights of the persons shown.^[29] Then, by the court´s decision - directed to N. K. V. Krishna and some ashram personnel^[29] - the party was demanded to file separate affidavits highlighting, explaining, expounding and clarifying the scenes found in the video clippings.^[29] Then, the ashram filed an affidavit confirming that the Dasajis never consumed narcotics or any other of that kind of material.^[30] It stated that the clips from a video material (pertained to 2003), were stolen and transmitted without verifying their veracity from the organization, where the Dasajis reached various conscious levels while on the occasion they also had forgot their physical presence and danced in bliss while listening to devotional songs..^[30] The affidavit also stated that Mr. Krishna was in no way connected with the spiritual activities of the movement.^[30]

See also

• Diksha

References