Good Guru, Bad Guru
Gurus have been given a hard time in the past decades and this isn’t for no reason at all. I mean, there have been quite a decent amount cases of gurus taking advantage of their students over the past… well… known history of humanity: taking advantage of their students’ wealth, status, taking advantage of them sexually… you get the deal. There is a saying, “For as long as you can be fooled, you are liable to be fooled” and it’s nobody’s fault but yours. While I do see some truth in this saying, I still believe that we should take some sort of measures to protect the most gullible of us. However, who will we pick as the authority? Who amongst us is capable enough, knowledgable enough, awake enough to make these sorts of judgements? I’ll leave this one here, we’ll — maybe — pick it up at some other time.
When you’re seeking a mentor in one of the crafts, one of the professions, arts, etc., you can look for tangible evidence such as degrees, portfolios, previous jobs. However, when it comes to spiritual matters, how are you going to tell the wheat from the chaff? How are you going to know if a guru or spiritual guide is capable of helping you to find God, or become Enlightened, or get into Heaven, or whatever you may be looking for? All you have is what he tells you and what others tell you about him. Well, actually, you also have your feelings. Often, when you encounter something or someone new, if you really pay attention, your body tells you, you get a feeling or you simply get a knowing whether that particular encounter is for you a favourable one or not. However, a lot of the times, your emotions are not so trustworthy as they get mixed up with your thoughts and insecurities.
But going back to how you pick your spiritual guide. If you’re going to rely on what they tell you… well… really… anybody can tell you anything, I guess you knew that already. If you’re going to rely of what their disciples tell you? Then you’re only taken advice from people that might have already been fooled. So then, what are you to do? How are you going to differentiate between a true, real, legitimate spiritual master who is actually going to help you and a fake who only seeks to take advantage of you, or one who has no bad intentions but is merely confused and fooling himself and, thus, everybody who listens to him?
Jesus, when faced with this question himself, replied that you will recognise true masters or gurus by their fruit (Matthew chapter 7:15–19); that is, by their results. Have they actually helped anyone in finding God, achieving Enlightenment, getting into Heaven, becoming a saint, etc.? Or, do you see the same people there every day? Do they ever let people go? Do they encourage people to leave? Do they assist people in growth, or do they just trim the outgrowth? Do they empower the individual or do they insist to be his permanent crutches? Are they dedicated to see you advance, or are they just selling subscriptions?
I remember when I went to see Mooji in London in 2015. He hosted a 5-day Silent Retreat. In one of the last sessions he held there he said something along the lines of: When you leave here, go to where spirit takes you and if you feel like the words of another master speak to you, then go follow him. I am yet to hear a preacher advise this.
