Do clothes really put holiness in a person or do they talk of fraudulent means of attracting innocent people to their fold?
I have often met gurus who are wearing orange clothes and sporting some weird kind of ornaments and body smearing.
Recently I went to the holy temple of Pashupatinath in Kathmandu and was appalled to see sadhus smeared with ash and asking people to take photographs for few notes.
These are called photo babas and are found in almost all temple vicinities.
When we look at true sages we find them to be simply dressed.
Take the case of Saibaba of Shirdi, Ramakrishna Paramhamsa of Bengal, Ramanna Maharishi, Meerabai, Kabir, Guru Nanak, all the old Sufi saints, Christian saints and so on.
Do you see them wearing some garment which advertises them to be some sages?
I have met some strange babas who produced ash from the air, amulets too! They wore some strange garbs and walked in strange ways too. A coterie followed them around and finally when they passed away they were found to be fake. Now no one visits their palaces any more.
Then there are some more who wear white to hide their stained inners.
Again why do we have to attend any classes or get some talisman for our own good?
Does wearing some sort of malas or talisman change anything at all?
I often wonder if God has already written my future then what use is the talisman or some magic potion to me?
The shroud of Turin may or may not be a fake but if those were the clothes of Jesus then I really feel nice about Him. Atleast He never cheated anyone with His garments.
I once visited a high brow group who slammed the door on my face and when I called out to them from my cellphone and they came outside to receive me. The President of the group looked me up and down and said he expected a dignified person with long flowing beard and strange vestments coming for the lecture. He asked me where is my car and group of cohorts?
Then one day one of my disciples introduced me to his parents and they were aghast to note their son getting conned by some weird looking person who was not wearing orange clothes!
Even though he explained to them, they refused to believe me in any way.

Photo Baba in Pashupatinath temple at Kathmandu

Such is our conditioning and we are ready for getting conned by these dressed folks. So let us learn to recognize true spirituality and not go after ostentation's and fake clothes.