Sceptic challenges guru to kill him live on TV

[Rrose Selavy]

EDIT: Found an earlier thread here, didn't know this was a few years ago. Some speculation that it was a "hoax" or publicity stunt.
http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=109737&highlight=Edamaruku



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.




When the guru’s initial efforts failed, he accused Mr Edamaruku of praying to gods to protect him. “No, I’m an atheist,” came the response. The holy man then said he needed to conduct a ritual that could only be done at night, outdoors, and after he had slept with a woman, drunk alcohol and rubbed himself in ash.
The men agreed to go to an outdoor studio that night — all to no avail. At midnight, the anchor declared the contest over. Reason had prevailed


Much more here:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article7067989.ece

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bmo1a-bimAM

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7762886029172858139&ei=NnqjS5_nBoqN-AaU0sGkDQ&q=Sanal+Edamaruku&hl=en

[LandR]

at night, outdoors, and after he had slept with a woman, drunk alcohol and rubbed himself in ash.


I'll be honest, it's not the best pickup line.

I'm going to kill a man so I need to :

sleep with you
get blind drunk
then rub myself in ash.

so how about it babe, outside you and me ?

[NoZed Avenger]

I'll be honest, it's not the best pickup line.

I'm going to kill a man so I need to :

sleep with you
get blind drunk
then rub myself in ash.

so how about it babe, outside you and me ?

If only I had seen this before St. Patrick's Day.

[Senex]

The holy man then said he needed to conduct a ritual that could only be done at night, outdoors, and after he had slept with a woman, drunk alcohol and rubbed himself in ash.


You call that a ritual?! (What a piker :rolleyes:)

Did the TV studio pay for the woman and booze? (I can afford my own ash).

[learner]

I'll be honest, it's not the best pickup line.

I'm going to kill a man so I need to :

sleep with you
get blind drunk
then rub myself in ash.

so how about it babe, outside you and me ?

Been there, done it, doesnt work.

[TraneWreck]

sleep with you
get blind drunk
then rub myself in ash.


Speaking from experience, I think the guru got those out of order...

[readme.txt]

I'll be honest, it's not the best pickup line.

I'm going to kill a man so I need to :

sleep with you
get blind drunk
then rub myself in ash.

so how about it babe, outside you and me ?

haha.

[sadhatter]

Well nice to know that i am not the only one who finds it funny to taunt people who say they can hurt me with spookyness. I am still waiting to get herpes ( supernaturally) via a spooky ex g/f 'magik' powers, lol. for about.....4 years now actually.

[Senex]

Well nice to know that i am not the only one who finds it funny to taunt people who say they can hurt me with spookyness. I am still waiting to get herpes ( supernaturally) via a spooky ex g/f 'magik' powers, lol. for about.....4 years now actually.

It seems she missed her chance.

You need to date less evil/creepy/psychopathic/unhygienic women.

[Mirrorglass]

Well nice to know that i am not the only one who finds it funny to taunt people who say they can hurt me with spookyness. I am still waiting to get herpes ( supernaturally) via a spooky ex g/f 'magik' powers, lol. for about.....4 years now actually.

Well, herpes likes to lurk, so you can't really prove she didn't succeed. :D Better hang on to your immune system just in case.

[Trent Wray]

I think everyone is missing that "ash" is misspelled ...

[readme.txt]

I think everyone is missing that "ash" is misspelled ...

He's badash

[sadhatter]

It seems she missed her chance.

You need to date less evil/creepy/psychopathic/unhygienic women.

Oh trust me, i know. I am still dreading the day that the doctor says " well sir, you have a case of magik herpes, did you p*** off any spooky women in the past few years?"

Though i am not holding my breath.

[Deetee]

Guru fails to kill Indian Rationalists leader (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article7067989.ece).
Great stuff!

Seems from reading the article, that there is a resurgence of rationality in India, with membership of the organisation rising to over 100,000.

Is there any official link with them (I don't wish to call them the "IRA") and JREF? Do we support them in anyway, even just givine moral support? Does anyone know?

[MattusMaximus]

I heard about this a couple of years back on the SGU podcast - hilarious!

Reminded me of the time when I was in high-school where I visited a supposedly "haunted" graveyard despite the dire warnings of the high-school psychic guru that I'd die, lose my soul, and be dragged off into Hell in the process :)

[Safe-Keeper]

What a... no, really, I'm at a loss for words.

Here's a man who thinks he had the ability to kill people. Someone doubts him and asks him to actually do it, and his first inclination is to actually try?

For crying out loud, if I had a machine gun and someone doubted it could kill people, I wouldn't shoot the poor guy to prove him wrong!

[Wildy]

From the article in the OP:

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.

Why didn't he just stab him?

[Rrose Selavy]

From the article in the OP:



Why didn't he just stab him?

Maybe he wanted to scare him to death.

[TraneWreck]

What a... no, really, I'm at a loss for words.

Here's a man who thinks he had the ability to kill people. Someone doubts him and asks him to actually do it, and his first inclination is to actually try?

For crying out loud, if I had a machine gun and someone doubted it could kill people, I wouldn't shoot the poor guy to prove him wrong!

It certainly shows bad morals, but if he really succeeded in magically killing that guy, do you want to be the one that tries to put him in prison?

I just think it's funny that Indian mystics have gone so long without anyone challenging their BS that they're that sloppy. Uri Geller or Peter Popov would have made up some nonsense about cloud cover and bad energy restricting their powers. I've never seen an American charlatan actually try a stunt like that.

[Staropeace]

If I were the skeptic,I would watch my back in dark alleys for awhile. If the guru is as nutty as I think,he may hire someone to whack him just to prove his point. lol

[Andrew Wiggin]

I'll be honest, it's not the best pickup line.

I'm going to kill a man so I need to :

sleep with you
get blind drunk
then rub myself in ash.

so how about it babe, outside you and me ?

The only version I've seen of this is more like:

Proposition every woman in the camp without success
Get blind drunk
Roll into the campfire while blind drunk, then run across camp screaming while your hair is on fire till the rest of us knock you down and roll you in a mud puddle.

It wasn't pretty.

A

[Brainache]

Guru fails to kill Indian Rationalists leader (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article7067989.ece).
Great stuff!

Seems from reading the article, that there is a resurgence of rationality in India, with membership of the organisation rising to over 100,000.

Is there any official link with them (I don't wish to call them the "IRA") and JREF? Do we support them in anyway, even just givine moral support? Does anyone know?

I work with an Indian guy who hasn't been in Australia very long. He is in his mid-twenties. He told us that when he was at school in India they had people coming to their school and performing simple stage magic to show the kids how sleight of hand worked so that they wouldn't be fooled by people pretending to have magic powers bending spoons etc.

It worked for him, but then he started telling me how the Americans put bombs in the World Trade Center... Oh my aching brain.

[satakas]

but then he started telling me how the Americans put bombs in the World Trade Center... Oh my aching brain.

well, but this isn't that impossible? right?

i mean, there's a big difference, if you believe into magic or into dark manipulations behind political/economical scenery. moreover - we know, that sometimes there really are conspiracies.

[Brainache]

well, but this isn't that impossible? right?

i mean, there's a big difference, if you believe into magic or into dark manipulations behind political/economical scenery. moreover - we know, that sometimes there really are conspiracies.

This is the wrong forum for this, but yes it is just as impossible as magic.

[satakas]

i think, you're quite wrong. not that i believe in this but it sure isn't impossible in the whole meaning of this word.

[CriticalSock]

well, but this isn't that impossible? right?

i mean, there's a big difference, if you believe into magic or into dark manipulations behind political/economical scenery. moreover - we know, that sometimes there really are conspiracies.

It's not impossible that I'll catch a bus to London, go to London Zoo, cut off my own genitalia with a bread knife and throw them to the crocodiles either.

[satakas]

yes, this IS pretty possible and similar things have been done in history repeatedly :-D

[Brainache]

yes, this IS pretty possible and similar things have been done in history repeatedly :-D

The conspiracy Theory forum has several gazillion posts on this topic. Why not start a thread in there on this....

[satakas]

there's certainly no need to start it over here but also there isn't certainly no need to try to prove, that this sort of things are as impossible as absolutely-out-of-question-impossible. i'm a pretty straight skeptic, but in the name of common and clear sense i still don't like so categorical propositions.

[Elizabeth I]

This is too funny:

TANTRIC TANTRUM: On a live TV show in India, tantric guru master Pandit Surender Sharma wowed viewers by saying his powers are so great, he could kill a man just with his "mystical powers". Another guest on the show was Sanal Edamaruku, 55, president of the Indian Rationalists' Association. Edamaruku, far from being wowed, urged, "Go on then -- kill me." After being convinced that Edamaruku was serious, Sharma started chanting, "ruffled the skeptic's hair," and touched his temples, none of which bothered Edamaruku in the least. The show stayed on the air, preempting other shows, while the "furious" mystic continued to try to kill the rationalist. "He was over, finished, completely destroyed!" Edamaruku laughed later, saying fakirs are preventing an "Indian Enlightenment", and people "should not be guided by ignorance, but by knowledge." (London Times) ...When you're done, can you come to America?

If you don't subscribe to This is True, it's worth signing up. There's both a free and a paid version.

[Trent Wray]

Actually, I saw that also, but did you see the follow up story? Something like three hours later Edamaruku sufferred a massive heart attack and they're trying to decide whether he was poisoned, the whole thing was staged, or whether true "mystical powers" were involved. *












* I made all that up :)

[George152]

That's why they're called fakers.
It's all in the spelling

[Paul W]

When was this supposed to have happened? The Wiki entry seems to imply it was a couple of years ago.

ETA: further investigation suggests that it did happen a couple of years ago - March 2008, to be precise. I can't find a link to Edamaruku having a heart attack though - could someone post one, please.

[Mirrorglass]

When was this supposed to have happened? The Wiki entry seems to imply it was a couple of years ago.

ETA: further investigation suggests that it did happen a couple of years ago - March 2008, to be precise. I can't find a link to Edamaruku having a heart attack though - could someone post one, please.

Trent was joking. It didn't really happen.

[icerat]

Trent was joking. It didn't really happen.

Damn *s :D

Caught me out too!

[Safe-Keeper]

Already been discussed here.
Frankly, the most outrageous part is that he has the sincere belief that he can kill, and proceeds to try to prove it by attempting to killing another human being. As I said in another thread, if I had a machine gun and some native didn't believe me when I said it could kill, I wouldn't prove him wrong by gunning him down!

[Trent Wray]

Paul Bethke.

[Skeptical Greg]

Discussed recently here:

http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=170422

[Robo Sapien]

His powers are nothing compared to mine... I can ANNOY PEOPLE WITH MY THOUGHTS! Muhahaha... but only if I speak them out loud.

:degrin:

[Elizabeth I]

Discussed recently here:

http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?t=170422

Well, dang it - I did a search. Apparently my skills on Forum search are not that great - this is the second time I've missed something.

Oh, well...

[sadhatter]

Already been discussed here.
Frankly, the most outrageous part is that he has the sincere belief that he can kill, and proceeds to try to prove it by attempting to killing another human being. As I said in another thread, if I had a machine gun and some native didn't believe me when I said it could kill, I wouldn't prove him wrong by gunning him down!

You know i don't agree that the guru shouldn't have tried, i have trouble putting it into words, but i will try.

Lets say i am in a position of influence, a celebrity , or whatnot. And i am using this to state that a ufc fighter could not beat me in a fair fight, to the death.

The only way for the fighter to prove that i am lying ( let's say i am a darn good liar, and people are believing me. ) is to fight me in a way that will end up in my own death. But this is the scenario i set up, and i am attempting to use said scenario to damage the reputation of the ufc fighter ( possibly causing him to lose sponsorship, etc. ) , it is only proper of me to allow him to rebut my claim.

Of course in this situation, the person is right, while in mine the person is wrong. But if someone is willing to say " you can't kill me" , you can't then blame someone for attempting to prove them wrong. If they didn't want to take the chance of being killed, they could have kept their mouth shut.

I mean i would feel fully at fault if i walked up to someone holding an ak-47 and started taunting them that they couldn't kill me with it.

All this being said, i have to say, i love what this guy did. Woosters that claim what i refer to as D and D powers ( the ablity to kill, fly, or any other common fantasy theme not relating to cold reading. ) are rare but they annoy me the most. And i love seeing them fail and try to argue their way out of failure.

What use is an offensive power that

A) is not reliable at all.

B) Takes longer than a traditional killing method. ( someone already pointed out, Mf had a knife . If it was really a combat situation a stab would probably be easier. )