If You Only Look for the Bad Parts...

Today was my first experience with a visitor who really spent his entire time at Akshardham looking for the things he didn't like about it. Even my speech at the beginning on how our goal is merely to share our culture, religion, and values, not to force them upon anyone didn't work.

After explaining about Pramukh Swami, BAPS, its social service focus, Lord Swaminarayan, and the basic purpose of Akshardham, this guest folded his arms, sat back in the chair and asked his first question: Does your guru support the caste system? I was completely taken off guard. It took me a second or two to regain my footing to answer his question. I was amazed that he came all the way to India and was willing to write off his entire visit to Akshardham if my answer didn't fit his sense of social justice. Because clearly, the caste system is TRULY representative of India. Just like the Crusades are of Christianity and Jihad is of Islam. After I gave him the answer to his question ('No, he has never supported a class system based on birth'), he seemed to calm a little an open up.

Turns out though, that was only the beginning. After the first exhibition, he emerges, again withdrawn, arms folded across his chest. I ask the group what they thought of the exhibition. Everyone gushes about how the values are so simple yet so universal and how the exhibition is done so tastefully. He says, I didn't really like the exhibition.

Me: Well, what did you find unsatisfactory about it?
Him: I was disappointed by that scene where Swaminarayan is appointed as head of the fellowship and makes the wish that any pain that his followers may suffer come onto him.
Okay. What was disappointing about it?
It's sort of a shallow statement. It's not physically possible to feel someone else's pain, so it's kind of a dumb thing to say. It's like saying 'if I win the lottery I will give you half'. It doesn't really mean anything.
Sir, has your son ever broken his arm?
Yes. But I don't wish that his pain came to me.
But you do wish that he wouldn't have to suffer?
Of course.
But he still suffers pain, right?
Yes. There's nothing I can do about that.
Yet your wish is sincere. You make it because you care, whether or not it can come true. And if it COULD come true, you WOULD want it to. It's NOT a shallow wish! Such is the compassion of God, sir, that He wishes the whole world's pain upon himself, and if he could in this world, he would.

Met with silence, I prayed that was the last of it for the evening. That wasn't the end of it, however. After coming out of the last exhibition on the Vedic culture of India, the group is again fascinated by the history, the depth of knowledge in ancient India, and technological advancements. He says, Your exhibition misrepresents Buddha. I replay the exhibition in my head, trying to recall where Buddha is. His sculpted image is depicted in the Guru Tradition hall, alongside the other well-known great gurus of the Hindu belief system. He is seated in the traditional posture found in Buddhist monasteries (a Buddhist crafted the sculpture!), and the exhibition says about him, "The tradition of following a spiritual master originated in India, who gave the world the great Buddha, Mahavir, Adi Shankaracharya..."

Me: What do you believe is misrepresented about him?
Well he's included in a hall with a bunch of other gurus, none of whom were as important as he was.
I respectfully submit to you that his importance among the other gurus depends on who you ask, but there is no doubt that to leave him out would definitely be a horrible misrepresentation.
But he has a billion followers.
Yes, but that's not the point of the exhibition. This exhibition was about Vedic culture and civilization. The Guru Tradition was an integral part of that culture and so all the major gurus of the time are acknowledged. The emphasis is not on any one of their individual teachings, just that India has spawned all these great religious traditions preaching peace, harmony, and humility.
I see...

Shortly thereafter, our visit to Akshardham ended, and he left. For the first time, I felt really bad that despite my best efforts, a visitor had left not feeling even a little more optimistic that there really are people fighting hard to bring peace and order to the world.

There's an old parable about a worm and bee and about how the bee visits the worms house and it is full of dung and smells like faeces. The bee invites the worm to visit his rose garden, but the worm is reluctant. He thinks that his dung house is the best there could be. After some coaxing though, he relents. But he rolls two small balls of dung and stuffs them up his nostrils. When he arrives in the rose garden, the bee asks what he thinks. It's quite colorful, but it still smells like shit. Puzzled, the bee noticed the two balls of dung. So he picks up the worm and dunks him into a puddle. The dung comes out and the worm is amazed how beautiful the roses smell...

I guess we can't change everyone.