Judgement of a Guru
As gurus are meant to be existing on a higher plane of consciousness and existence than normal humans the
question arises as to how we can judge the authenticity or legitimacy of a guru. These
judgements are required for anyone at all interested in what a guru may have to offer as at
any time there are numerous gurus claiming they have the capacity to enlighten their followers.
If all gurus acknowledged all other gurus as equally authentic then whichever we first came
into contact with or most appealed to us would be the one but this is not the case. There are
two types of gurus - the inclusivists and the exclusionists. The first type do not claim they
are exclusive carriers of the truth but acknowledge the power of others though they may state
that their path is the best. The other type claim that they are the exclusive carriers of truth
and that all others have at best a partial truth.
Historically the relationship between guru and disciple was one of complete humility and obedience
on the part of the follower. This relationship is still the basic criterion required of those
following a guru in modern society though it's outward forms have changed to a greater or
lesser extent. Even a very naive person would recognise the possibility of abuse of this
relationship where all power is concentrated in one person. For a more extensive discourse
on this topic see the 'The Assault on Reason'.
Ordinarily an 'ad hominem' attack upon the character and actions of a person is not considered
a valid rebuttal of their arguments or statements, however in this field I believe it is a very
useful approach when allied with an examination of their effects upon their followers and a comparison
of those effects with the claims made by the guru as to the proposed effects. I believe that the
following quotes point in the right direction.
'By their fruits ye shall know them.'
- The Gospel According to St. Matthew 7:20
'It is true that you may fool all the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all the time; but you can't fool all of the people all the time.' - Abraham Lincoln
Real life gurus in the "West" require organisations, finances and modern technology if they are
to spread their message. If their message appeals to enough people they may gather thousands
of followers and become successful enough to be acknowledged by mainstream society as a "cult".
This word has become a pejorative due to the actions of some cult leaders eg Jim Jones of the Peoples
Temple, David Koresh and the Branch Davidians. It may not
be a coincidence that the most notorious of these involving large scale murder were pseudo
Christian cults led by people born in the USA. While these organisations have individual histories
they also bear many similarities. For a more extensive background on this topic see the 'Stages of Cults'.
I believe that the great majority of people who involve themselves with gurus do so for
a wide variety of reasons and have positive experiences and at a certain stage when they no longer
consider the relationship is beneficial they leave. This leaving process can be distressing
especially for those who have invested a large amount of time, energy and committment.
A small percentage retain their involvement as the major focus of their lives for decades.
There are many gurus and cult leaders who have attracted more than a handful of followers in the West over the past 50 years. Someone may well comaplain that I have only included famous ones and that there may be many unsung gurus doing powerful and wonderful work amongst their small number of followers. But in that case the chances of anybody looking at this page finding them is infinitesemal. People in the West who have come to gurus in search of transendance have nearly all come to the above men and women. They appear to have widely varying standards of behaviour and effects on their followers.
However there are obvious differences in their ethical standards and I do not wish to tar them all with the same pejorative brush.
Last Updated December 21, 1998 by Tom Gubler
