When a famous tantric guru boasted on television that he could kill another man using only his mystical powers, most viewers either gasped in awe or merely nodded unquestioningly. Sanal Edamaruku’s response was different. “Go on then — kill me,” he said.
Mr Edamaruku had been invited to the same talk show as head of the Indian Rationalists’ Association — the country’s self-appointed sceptic-in-chief. At first the holy man, Pandit Surender Sharma, was reluctant, but eventually he agreed to perform a series of rituals designed to kill Mr Edamaruku live on television. Millions tuned in as the channel cancelled scheduled programming to continue broadcasting the showdown, which can still be viewed on YouTube.
First, the master chanted mantras, then he sprinkled water on his intended victim. He brandished a knife, ruffled the sceptic’s hair and pressed his temples. But after several hours of similar antics, Mr Edamaruku was still very much alive — smiling for the cameras and taunting the furious holy man.
“He was over, finished, completely destroyed!” Mr Edamaruku chuckles triumphantly as he concludes the tale in the Rationalist Centre, his second-floor office in the town of Noida, just outside Delhi.
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Brilliant, we need more people to be showing up the frauds, I’d volunteer.
Genius. If that had gone wrong….
Why did the guru even try to kill him unless he truly believed his own hype ? . Makes me remember the million dollar challenge to psychics from james randi , still unclaimed by the way ! . Nice post , great find ! .
Blatent proof that Sanal Edamaruku is in fact a soulless demon posessing human form; I am amazed that the guru did not spot this instantly.
Perhaps he was preoccupied with the earlier theft of his clothing that forced him to appear in public clad in a bedsheet.
I bet Mr Edamaruku will get killed by some nutter who believe’s in Mr Sharma’s ability and will want revenge for embarrassing him.
When he eventually does dies, even if it’s thirty years from now, that guru will claim he has succeeded !
What if that had gone wrong?
This is fantastic! I wish i could have been there to see him exposed!
hilarious! if only other charlatan organisations were stupid enough to make ridiculous claims which could be so easily shown up for what they are.
Ah, but you just wait… I guarantee that sometime in the next 100 years or so, THAT MAN WILL DIE!
Wonderful! Unfortunately, you just know that the day this man dies — no matter what the cause — it will be attributed to the guru, either saying so himself or by his followers.
The tantric response might be: “But Tantra can only be used for good not evil, that’s why it didn’t work”
Simply wonderful!
Imagine that had gone wrong and he actually killed the guy? :O
However he got lucky and the guy was proved to be a fake. Luckily for Edamaruku.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeJVUbpF8Mg&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeJVUbpF8Mg&feature=related
Here’s a great speaded up vid, with delightful music, aptly titled “Atheist vs. Black Magic”. I can’t seem to find any subtittled videos which is a shame because I would love to know what the man was saying in response to his attempted murder. He looks like he is having a great laugh anyways.
And heres an after thought? What would the law classify this as? Our law or theirs… Oh well, tis not to worry, he lived
And people say the worst time to have a heart attack is during charades… I think not.
what a stupid thing fer sharma to say. like that was something he should be proud of.
Brings to mind the late George Carlin’s standup routine in which he took a skeptical view of religion “I’ll put it this way, if there is a god… if there is a god, may he strike this audience dead!”
I wouldn’t be surprised if the Guru pays a contract killer to take Mr Edamaruku out, and then claims it was his powers at work all along.
And anyway, is being able to kill a man with nothing more than the mind really a power a religious (or any) person should boast about?
Only Jedi’s can kill someone with mystical powers.
Very clever claim to make, because no one would ask for proof ( “And now for the demonstration…Who wants me to kill them? Come on, don’t be shy…”
)
Brilliant (and rather brave,) test by this guy. Not just one of those irritating sceptics, who goes around saying, “This is bull, that is bull, it’s all obviously bull!” but never actually goes to the seance/voodoo ceremony/reiki healing ritual/whatever to see if they’re right, because it’s ‘not worth their time’.
fantastic
what if that had gone wrong?
What if a magic elf from the land of the spirits appeared and killed them all?
What if they accidental summoned voldemort!
the risks these people take…
*rolls eyes*
Poor guru, he’s obviously become a delusional victim of his own success, I wonder how he’s going to cope. Small chance he’ll flip out and lose what’s left of his tenuous grasp on reality. He obviously likes the life-style his self-delusions afford him, so most probably he’ll just delete or distort the memory of failure carry on like nothing ever happened like the slave to pleasure that he is.
But please remember not to act too smug and condescending, because after all, we ALL have irrational beliefs that are FAR worse than this – if we care to look…
Every single one of us. All our minds all work in exactly the same way. We are all exactly the same, making the best decisions we can given the beliefs and understanding we hold true at the time.
This is just hilarious.
And how could it have gone wrong? Instead of just brandishing a knife, he could have given up and just stabbed the guy?
If it had gone wrong then we’d have some evidence for the paranormal. But it didn’t, did it?
Seeing the video was hilarious. They guy just couldn’t stop laughing as the guru tried all manner of ridiculous stuff on him. To be honest I’m glad these people exist because they’re so funny.
Everyone one saying ‘What if it had gone wrong..?’ It _went_ wrong. If it had gone right, the challenger would be pushing up daisies. Remember, when D-Beard does his crazy tricks, they are deemed to have gone right when he’s walking off with someones wallet, for eg
I just love to read comments. You people are crazy funny!!!
The guy could have literally dropped dead of a heart attack the very moment this guru person put his hands on him and I wouldn’t have been convinced at all. It is unfortunate that more people can’t see through this kind of thing, but it isn’t easy to find that balance of emotion/instincts and logic/reason.
This behavior can’t be encouraged, that’s for sure. Why would someone claim to have such a magical power and even go as far as to demonstrate on someone? Whether he actually believed he could do it or not he is using a scare tactic, trying to scare people into respecting or looking up to him in some capacity, which gives him a kind of power over anyone who might fall for it. This is a truly bad kind of person as far as I’m concerned, or at least an ignorant person doing a bad thing.
Clearly this is a feat that only Derren could achieve