Betrayal of Trust-1

Betrayal of Trust-1

Often I get asked questions around guru, the role of guru, surrendering to your guru, how much should you trust your guru and so on. A lovely reader who has been following my blog for a while, and has already read my memoir, wrote to me recently. She wrote:

After marinating about this issue for sometime, and after I read your memoir, I have some conclusions:

Guru is still human and not all of them are free from samskara. Hence the many cases of abusive gurus. Guru is a position of absolute power and like George Orwell said “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. True guru, clear of bondage, does not abuse this power.
Separate the teachings from the guru (emphasis mine). Despite of this issue I still think the yoga knowledge they passed on is good. So take the good, leave the bad alone. If Guru cannot give anything good anymore – move on. Like you moved on from Baba. Like Buddha moved on from his teachers Alara & Udaka.
I wish it was that easy — to separate the teachings from the guru. It’s certainly not impossible, but it ain’t a breeze either. I am not sure if I can give you a satisfactory answer, nevertheless, let me share my views on this important subject.

I’ve written in the past (here) that the relationship between a guru and a disciple is like no other because it’s free from the usual give and take. But, an important question to be asked is who is a guru or what makes a person guru? Wearing the robe, completing a certain course, being able to meditate, or to be able to give a discourse, or having disciples does not make one a guru.

Anyone can don a robe — white, black, ocher or any other, it doesn’t matter. Just like people study physics or English literature, they can study Vedic or yogic literature too; there’s practically no difference — one exposes you to one school of thought and the other, another. Anyone who isn’t afraid of putting in the effort can be a meditator or an orator, for instance. Insofar as having disciples is concerned, you can find ample takers for any philosophy in this world. Even the most absurd philosophies, the dumbest teachers or preachers can garner huge followings. A large following has absolutely no connection with the quality of a guru. It simply means the guru is appealing to the masses. Even a potato or a pumpkin has mass appeal, for that matter.

Look at the most successful meditation, yoga or spiritual movements of all time where followers have devoted their entire lives to the guru, sect or the movement but how many have actually reached a state of enlightenment? None. (At least, I haven’t met any). Ever wonder why? Let me tell you honestly, my first guiding principle: no one has ever gained enlightenment in an ashram, temple or a monastery. When a guru tells you to follow his or her system for realization or heaven, they are fooling you. You deserve better. They can call it this meditation or that meditation, this kriya or that kriya, it doesn’t matter. These are merely frameworks and systems and they work because when it comes to spirituality, a lot of people are happy with very little.

If you are going to put someone on a pedestal because they deliver a good sermon or because they are charming or knowledgeable, your chances of getting hurt go up exponentially. You may be mistaking a competent performer or a good marketer for guru. They will turn you into puppets, they will utilize you to further their cause and they will exercise control because you are letting them. And this leads me to give you my second guiding principle: Don’t accept someone as your guru just because they have bowled you over. Follow them only if you would like to be like them.

Om Namah Shivay