testing - Is Acharya Prashant Building a Cult Around Himself?

Questioner: Greetings, Acharya Ji. My question is that wherever I look on social media platforms, whether it is YouTube, Instagram, or Twitter, when I read the comment sections under the content posted there, I repeatedly see an allegation being made against the Foundation and against you, that you too are building a kind of "cult".

And the logic they give is this, for example, recently at the Pune Literature Festival, there were queues stretching for kilometers. You were giving autographs. People were standing in line just to shake hands with you. They present such things as proof that this itself is a kind of "cult".

Acharya Prashant: The things needed to run a "cult", I simply do not have them. In the field of religion, a cult is built through miracles, through siddhis, through the fulfillment of wishes. In politics it is built through power. In business it is built through money.

I have neither enlightenment, nor siddhi, nor miracles, nor are your wishes being fulfilled here. So where will a "cult" come from? There isn’t so much money here that your eyes would be dazzled or that you would gain any real benefit. So where will a "cult" come from?

This is not called a "cult". This is called gratitude. What is it called? Gratitude. This is simply the natural condition of being a human child.

If you have received something, you will express gratitude, won’t you? A kilometer-long queue in Pune was not there because I was distributing money. It was not there because I am a film star, that I look very good, have a tremendous body, and perform action that causes a dopamine spike and gives pleasure.