Grow your best life
Westerners got the "guru" wrong
We think we know what a guru is but we got it wrong. Here's how.
CLZúñiga
6/23/20264 min read
During a recent live-stream yoga class for the Summer Solstice, my kundalini yoga teacher (Jai Dev Singh of Life Force Academy) shared something important, and I quote:
Nowadays we're a little confused about the guru because there's all these documentaries about teachers that have become abusive and things like this. This is not the guru. The guru is not a person.
It may surprise you to learn that the guru is not a person. It's not a teacher, a leader, a healer or even a master. It's so much more. Consider that our idea of the guru got distorted on its journey from the ancient wisdom and practices of the east to the cultural conditioning and fresh perspectives of the west.
Most of us have heard about widely trusted spiritual leaders being exposed for abusive or perverted behavior. It's quite common. Consider these examples, for instance. Over the years many priests of differing religions have been exposed for being sexually abusive with children. In certain exclusive communities, leaders have been called out for manipulating and sexually abusing children and underage girls. Some years ago the leader of a popular spiritual temple here in Texas was accused of sexual misconduct and removed. A few years ago in the kundalini tradition, it came to be that Yogi Bhajan was accused of being emotionally or sexually inappropriate with some women who were a part of his institute. And recently there was upheaval around the possibility of well-respected spiritual mentor Deepak Chopra being mentioned in the Epstein files.
Of course people go crazy over such news. It's especially disorienting to learn that someone we respect and admire spiritually, maybe even idolize, is flawed or abusive in some way. Not only is it counterintuitive, it doesn't fit our narrative about who a spiritual teacher or leader is supposed be or what they're supposed to do. They are supposed to walk the talk! It's a massive betrayal of our faith and trust in them to learn that they haven't, at least not the 100% we expect.
But let's consider that even powerful spiritual leaders are human beings. They are not immune to ego temptations. No one is unless they are a fully enlightened being, which is so rare, I can't think of an example. There are people who may serve as conduits through which we begin to understand and know the guru better, but they are not the guru. For instance, Yeshua who many consider the greatest and most wise—perhaps even enlightened—spiritual leader, was not flawless. He lost his temper, questioned his path, and some say even strayed into ego desires.
Of course I do not condone abusive behavior of any kind from anyone, yet it's even more disturbing when it comes from those in positions of spiritual leadership. They are the ones we trust and assume we are safe with, the ones we look to for spiritual wisdom and guidance, and the ones we perceive as having mastered their ego drives and assume are practicing what they preach. To learn that they are not who we thought they were is a huge betrayal of our faith. It is a disturbing discovery that can be wholly disorienting and emotionally traumatizing.
That said, I also believe that it may not be helpful or necessary to 'throw out the baby with the bathwater.' While we may reject some of what a spiritual leader says or does, we can still learn and grow from the gems that did flow through them to touch our hearts in an empowering way. We can discern what resonates and what does not with our personal wisdom. We can accept what speaks to us and leave what doesn't for further contemplation as we continue to evolve. We can live in the space between extremes. It doesn't have to be all or nothing.
If the gurus we create fail to meet our expectations we reject them, turning against them in distrust, disgust, outrage, anger or entitlement. We shame, blame or feel victimized by them. We don't realize that the guru we created didn't betray us; we betrayed ourselves the moment we created it.
Yet for too many years and through our human limitations we have distorted the guru. We have externalized, anthropomorphised and idolized it, perhaps turning it into something or someone we can more easily relate to or aspire to. This is not to say that our endeavors are useless but to say they may be misguided and misleading if we fail to recognize our error. In my view, creating a distorted external version of the guru moves us further away from it instead of closer to it...except, perhaps, in the case of mythology.
The thing is, the spiritual leaders we identify with are not the guru. Not even Yeshua was the guru. He spoke of surrendering pride and relinquishing arrogance. He brought things to a measure of equanimity without entitlement. And he emulated a level of unconditional, unequivocal love that few understood or understand still. We might say that he embraced his humanity with humility while endeavoring to embody the guru. He, like the rest, may be a powerful example of someone allowing the guru to shine through their person despite imperfection, controversy, fear or punishment. But none of them are the guru.
So if they are not the guru, who or what is?
Here's the rest of Jai Dev's quote from the Summer Solstice class: The guru is the living love force of wisdom that opens us up into supreme reality. The guru is the most majestic thing. It is only through the guru that prosperity comes alive. This is shown. It opens us up to our true nature—sat nam.
That is one way to communicate about the guru that may get us closer to it. Some people describe the guru as the teacher within or the inner master. This too may get us closer. The thing to consider is that the guru may be a pure stream, frequency or quality of energy, a majestic ray of ultimate wisdom...rather than a tangible thing we can see or point to. Or perhaps it is the undistorted essence of who we are, our true nature, the force of unadulterated love intelligence or wisdom that created this reality shining brilliantly as Life on Earth. And perhaps the guru exists beyond human language or description.
Through powerful practices like shamanic ceremony, sweat lodges, deep contemplation or kundalini meditation, we can begin to clear the debris within ourselves that blocks our connection to the guru. We can bring a higher level of compassion to ourselves and others. And we can get closer to living in alignment with the guru. A girl can dream...
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