It is so easy to make moey by saying the religion names here and the whoe country also ruled under the same tactics since we got independence.
That is true in any country and not just India. Associating with religion helps you enrich yourself. Things have definitely gone down a steep slope since the last few years though. In India, its not religion per se that makes money though. Its this new age spirituality which has attracted people from the west for a long time. To be completely unbiased, the Indian way of life, philosophy and the various sects that exist in pursuit of spirituality in their own way are a great cultural asset.
Most of these gurus make their money from Ashrams and their programs of spiritual guidance. It is basically just imparting the way of life that is bereft of running behind material accomplishments but just being in the moment and enjoying yourself. That is a big pull for anybody who has already had their share of material accomplishments and have good money to spend on a few weeks or months of immersive experience.
Certain people talk about spirituality giving you eternal happiness of life but truth is that it's merely about forgetting problems of life and surrounding yourself in an aura that you are free from all attachments and responsibilities of life. Even drugs give such sort of enlightenment for a shorter time to forget the whole world. but this cannot be said the true motive of life. If god wanted everyone to overcome materiality why would he plant something like materiality inside us in the very first place?
Problem is that people even after seeing tons of such instances in form of this nityananda, rampal, ram rahim are still following such people blindly. They still think that they are honest and have been framed in case due to political vengeance. Moreover those who have realized that these are con man are now searching for some new con man. This circle is just not coming to an end. I don't know when will people realize the truth. Problem is that these gurus act like saints at the beginning of their career associating themselves to Indian culture and defaming modern science and later when they rise to power they show their real faces.
PS: There's now a whole series on it on mxplayer starring Bobby Deol