u/lifeisstrange44

Ever since I was a child, I went to the same Swaminarayan Mandir for almost more than a decade. I sat in an immeasurable amount of kathas and sabhas hearing the same narrative get regurgitated over and over again which is making Swami raaji (happy) in order to go to Akshardham. I’ve also read the satsang diksha over and over again and questioned some verses and wondered if they might’ve possibly gotten lost in translation somewhere along the process because of how contradictory they were. I’ll also share my experience with the people at the Swaminarayan Mandir who I’ve also known for a really long time. Please don’t try saying that individual inconsistency has nothing to do with God because if you are going to mandir every single weekend and associating yourself with what is known as a sacred place, you should be a well rounded person but I suppose that’s rare to find nowadays.

I’ll give you one example. In the satsang diksha, it states that we must detach from worldly objects and possess vairagya. So, if it’s so important for us to detach from worldly objects then why ask for donations every Mandir visit to try reap as much profit as possible? Is money not one of the most artificial and worldly objects available in this world? The financial greed and brainwashing is simply out of this world. BAPS is basically like any other corporation now trying to exploit people to earn as much profit as possible instead of being a religious organization striving to do good for others.

Also, regarding the people I’ve met at mandir, you would assume that they’re good people with strong morals and values but the reality is otherwise. I’ve encountered some of the coldest people there who also relentlessly harassed me which eventually demotivated me into even stepping foot in that mandir because I knew I wasn’t welcome and I knew I wouldn’t ever be. Keep in mind, these people making the nasty and insensitive comments were people who sat in my sabhas and heard any moral lessons that were being taught if any and still turned out to be cold hearted and uninviting people. They’ll use God’s scriptures when it benefits their cause and turn a blind eye towards their treatment of people even if they know better. I’m an atheist now and when I’m kind and loving towards people, I do it out of the goodness of my heart, not because a scripture told me to act a certain way.