The psychology of why people flock to ‘godmen’
People are subconsciously seeking a figure who can shelter them from the devastation of disenfranchisement
Confronted in the world by our own helplessness, we find ourselves pining to belong somewhere we feel safer, less vulnerable. The family is the most basic group we have imagined this comfort in. Groups promise us something bigger than ourselves. There is a safety in numbers and the leader (imaginary or real, elected or selfstyled) comes to be reposed with the often unconscious wishes of the group.
In return, the group demands our loyalty. Buddhism may offer us the serenity of surrendering to suffering, while other cults offer omnipotent leaders who hold up an unconscious promise to combat it on our behalf; a system of religious veneration and devotion directed towards a particular figure or object.
It is clear is that groups have an identity which demands that all members subjugate themselves to it. Freud observed that larger groups tend to regress more than smaller units. This may be because the commonality of the assumptions that bind them tend shrink with the size of the group. Leaders of large groups often exert a dramatic effect on members; Hitler being the most notorious. Often impulsivity and violence run high, as some mass cleansing is delusionally promised.
The Dera Sacha Sauda is one such sect – a deadly combination of magic and ruthlessness – that has existed for nearly 60 years. It is believed that 400 members of this sect have been castrated to bring them closer to god. Its leader, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh aka Baba Love Charger was accused of murder and has been convicted of rape. Leaders of such groups may seize for themselves what other group members are forced to renounce and this is a part of what is expunged from the group’s consciousness. The hostility we witness today is to a judgement that threatens the fragile fabric of a group built on perversions and lies.
It is impossible to fathom the appeal of this cartoonish figure who can incite such hysteria and violence . Dressed in silken robes, the filmic version of him flying like superman and killing imaginary enemies; what could he possibly represent to his followers? It is important to see groups as a retreat to a mass of people who are unconsciously seeking a figure who can shelter them from the devastation of being disenfranchised.
Ram Rahim (only pseudonyms proliferate) changed his clothes frequently and was seen waving to bands of followers who were often in coordinated attire. While he seemed quite removed from anything sacred or reverential, it is perhaps a sign of the disturbing times we live in – where Superman meets Hanuman waving the national flag – is no longer a scene from a slapstick movie but a figure of a religious leader. Perhaps old religions are losing out to neon lights and Bollywood gimmickry.