Guru Phobia or Need for Guideposts
Yesterday there was an article in the Swiss newspaper Der Bund about an esoteric fair in Berne, which is going on at the moment. There was a quote about the organiser saying that “esoteric is slowly getting adult”: He had cleaned-up the kinds of exhibitors and didn’t want to have people who are trying to manipulate others: “I don’t want to have here all the guruism” – instead he wants to show that “spirituality can be rooted to the soil” and must not be aloof. So at the fair there is now a number of spiritual craftspeople, besides healers, channels, tantra-or Reiki teachers… Of course the article writer doesn’t miss to out herself as “sceptic”…
The commercialisation of esotericism results in funny products. When you consider that originally esotericism was a way to explore one’s higher self, it now is a field for all kinds of psycho-softy’s gadgets.
What the fair organiser, together with many others, dismisses as “guruism” is maybe the pivotal point on the path. Just like you need a teacher in school or when you study an instrument, you need a guide, a “guru” to be able to advance beyond a certain point. You need a role model for orientation, monitoring and correction. Of cause the number of pseudo-gurus and sectarianism have caused a phobia in our society. But what you fear is often where you have a sore point – the absence of reliable guideposts. This lack makes many people even doubt their existence.
In the East the guru or teacher is compared to a magnet, an his presence – not the physical – helps with meditation: “The presence of the teacher transforms the student, as a piece of iron is magnetised in the proximity of a magnet.” This presence is neither an external influence nor the personality or the physical presence of the teacher, but his inner realisation. You might like to read the Basics of Spiritual Life on The Teacher-Student Principle.
A guidepost in the Emmental, Switzerland, November 2007
December 9th, 2007 at 10:53 pm
I had written an article on Dec. 2 entitled “Signposts Along the Path of Spiritual Growth”
http://www.wholelivingtoday.com/blog/2007/12/02/signposts-along-the-path-of-spiritual-growth/
Thought you might find it as interesting as I found your post.
Blessings,
Tania