The Guru is Dead. Long Live the Guru

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The Guru is Dead. Long Live the Guru

 

" After significant study of the relationship between

spiritual seeker and guide, I have come to believe that

genuine teachers are still essential. "

 

by John Kain

Whole Life Times

October, 2007

 

There is a scene in the recent documentary Jonestown:

The Life and Death of Peoples Temple in which one of

the few surviving members recounts a story of a woman

commanded to strip naked and stand in front of Jim

Jones and the board as punishment for doing something

out of turn. The tale is chilling enough on its own, but

made even more so in light of the horror (built upon the

sordid accumulation of such abuses) to come - the

massacre of 913 people on a warm Guyanese Saturday

in November of 1978. Looking back at Jonestown over

the span of nearly 30 years, the same questions arise:

How could it happen? How could such a large number

of people subjugate themselves so totally to one

" spiritual " leader? Why were most blind to the obvious

abuses? And finally, how could they give up their lives

(and in many cases the lives of their children) for such a

madman?

 

The mentor-student relationship is, in many ways, the

cornerstone of every spiritual discipline. But in a time of

Jim Jones and David Koresh, Ted Haggard and the

Catholic Church scandals, with hard science and

psychology continually unlocking the secrets of the

universe and our inner selves, it's easy to wonder if

spiritual tutelage is possible, desirable or even

necessary.

 

After significant study of the relationship between

spiritual seeker and guide, I have come to believe that

genuine teachers are still essential. As Thomas Merton

- that most eloquent and literary Trappist monk -

wrote, " We've become marvelous at self-delusion. " His

words ring as true today. In fact, judging from the

present state of the world, we appear to have perfected a

most magnanimous relationship with self-deceit. Those

of us who desire to " dither among the dark roots of

existence " (as one poet described the spiritual quest), are

often better served by finding a guide who has long

traveled the path - who speaks the local language and

can navigate the ups, downs and bumps in the road.

 

For the past two years, I have interviewed scores of

spiritual teachers and their students in an effort to find

what works, what doesn't and how we can appreciate,

within this subtle exchange of knowledge and power, the

difference between the two. The relationship between

teacher and student is a dynamic, complex and delicate

union requiring from both parties a healthy combination

of ethical vigilance, transparency, trust and the ability

(or courage) to accept one's own personality flaws.

[The] Jonestown [massacre] is, most obviously, an

extreme example of a guru-disciple relationship gone

bad, but many of the themes of abuse - suppression of

individual personalities, systematic humiliation, threats

and isolation from the mainstream, to name a few -

exist in lesser degrees in many current factions (spiritual

and otherwise) at work in the world today. [....] [T]rue

spiritual guidance may be the key to our very survival.

 

How do we know a healthy relationship when we see

one? When I asked Sharron Allen - longtime disciple

of and aid to Sufi master Murat Yagan - what she

expected from her teacher and her spiritual practice in

general, she told me, " I don't trust a teaching that makes

me feel good inside. I want to be broken down and built

up again. " In the context of Jonestown, this statement

might seem eerily horrifying, yet Sharron's relationship

with her teacher, Murat - as well as her interchange

with her spiritual community - is one of the most

nourishing and healthy I have seen.

 

Unfortunately (or fortunately) there is no one template

of protection that we can cast over these relationships to

ensure a safe, healthy, successful union. As Joan

Chittister, the compassionately articulate and insightful

Benedictine sister, told me, " People don't fit into molds.

Make your molds if it will make you feel better, but just

about nobody is going to go there. " Ultimately the

spiritual teacher-student exchange is about breaking

molds - not creating them. Still there are guidelines to

hold in mind as we negotiate this process. [....]

 

Before being absorbed into pop culture and attached to

words like " fitness, " " software, " and " investment, " the

word " guru " (Sanskrit for " weighty one " or " the

destroyer of darkness " ) originally referred to a teacher in

the Hindu Yoga tradition. The guru-disciple relationship

is characterized by an intense bond and is thought, in its

traditional form, to extend beyond this lifetime. Though

there are many permutations of the spiritual teacher-

student exchange, we often believe the guru-disciple

union to be the quintessential example of such a

relationship. And because it is inherently devotional, it

has, over time, often been a showcase for the best and

the worst that the spiritual quest has to offer. This is

nothing new, however. The Kula-Arnava-Tantra, a

medieval text, warns the wary spiritual traveler, " Many

are the gurus who rob the disciple of his wealth, but rare

is the guru who removes the disciple's afflictions. " And

so it goes.

 

Here's the rub: we often assume that a spiritual teacher

is somehow more of a complete human than we are. As

the late Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, the insightful

Tibetan teacher said, " When you hear of someone that

possesses remarkable qualities, you regard them as

significant beings and yourself as insignificant. " This is

the paradox of the spiritual teacher-student relationship.

Our perceived inadequacy or our burden of suffering -

that feeling that often got us looking for a teacher in the

first place - is reinforced when we look upon someone

or something as " more advanced, " " wiser, " " more

enlightened, " " pain free, " etc. We want what we think

they " have. " This is why it is so important to find - if

we are even interested in doing so - a gifted teacher,

one who recognizes the traps where students get stuck

and the heights from which teachers fall.

 

The wise and world-tested Tibetan lama Gehlek

Rimpoche plainly told me, " When someone advertises

this guru is great and did this and that or some

organization says 'this is our fantastic teacher, blah,

blah, blah' - personally, I think that is not so good. "

It's dangerous when a teacher believes that their

personality is the essence that must be worshipped. As

my teacher, Zen Master John Daido Loori, points out,

" There is only one person who can grant spiritual

authority, new or old, and that is the student. Most

students, when they begin to study with a teacher, don't

realize they're granting spiritual authority. But it is

critically important to know when you are extending

such authority. " [....]

 

I asked Reverend Mother Sudha Puri (teacher in the

renowned Hindu lineage of Ramikrishna, of the Bhakti

Yoga sect, which is very devotional) how she handled

her student's intense emotions. " I find I have to reduce a

student's devotional attitude so they are not dependent

on me in that way, " she told me. " The teachings state

that God-Guru-Vedas (the scriptures) are all one, but for

a student to have me as their ishta (ideal) is, I think,

awful for them and for me too. So I try to be very honest

and clear with them, to accept their love and their gifts

and their appreciation. But the fact of the matter is that if

they get caught up in personality, it's very damaging for

them. I really don't encourage that kind of devotion. "

 

Adyashanti, the dynamic Advaita Vedanta teacher,

explained a similar method. " I tell people I'm not in a

babysitting program. I'm not here to crush your ego. I

don't do that. Life's going to do it for you. I'm not here

to correct you. I can understand the value of it for some

people at some time and why teachers play that role and

all that, but I'm just not interested, " he told me. Sister

Joan Chittister writes, " The role of the spiritual leader...

is not to make martinets out of people; it is to lead them

to spiritual adulthood where they themselves make the

kind of choices that give life depth and quality. " Amen!

[....]

 

A true teacher guides us to self-trust, that's the

foundation of spiritual practice. This doesn't mean we

have to be completely clear; we can trust ourselves even

though we are " marvelous at self-delusion. " Self-trust

means not turning a blind eye to our own personal

quagmire and acknowledging at the same time that there

is often more to us than we perceive. When Sharron told

me she wanted to be " broken down and built up again "

by the teachings, she was saying it with a sure

confidence in her own ability to be vulnerable without

losing her sense of self. This is the difference between

subjugation and freedom. [....]

 

Be aware that the spiritual journey can be serious

business. " People think that spirituality is safe - that

it's warm and cuddly. It does have that side, but it's also

dangerous, and there are casualties along the way like

anything else in life, " cautions Adyashanti. But for

every one teacher gone astray there are ten good ones

and even a few great ones - so, seeker, take heart.

 

John Kain (johnkain.net) has written for numerous

publications including the Shambhla Sun, Spirituality

and Health and Yoga Journal. He is a former associate

publisher of Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. His book,

A Rare and Precious Thing: The Possibilities and

Pitfalls of Studying with a Spiritual Teacher, was

recently published by Bell Tower/Random House.

 

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