The downside of guru bhakti

Devotion, or “bhakti” in Sanskrit, is admirable. But it can be taken to extremes. It seems to me that when a human being is worshipped as God, this is taking bhakti too far.

I appreciate the thoughtful comments I’ve gotten on my previous post, “God-man or Asshole? The guru conundrum.” My wife also has thrown in her two cents on the subject via some conversations we’ve had. When Laurel was a practicing psychotherapist she had quite a bit of experience with domestic abuse.

The man often wants to be treated like a god. His woman is supposed to do whatever he desires, or reap the nasty consequences. Any resemblances to guru bhakti are not coincidental.

Now, I’m certainly not equating devotion to a supposed God-man with domestic abuse, but the psychological state of mind of a worshipful disciple and a fearful wife is pretty much the same. Each has narrowed down her focus of concern to “What does he want from me?” and “What will happen if I fail to please him?”

This doesn’t seem healthy to me, even if guru bhakti is more about love than fear. Isn’t spirituality supposed to broaden our horizon, expand our sphere of concern, widen our perspective?

And, help us to become less filled with a sense of our own self-importance. I’ve observed that when people consider that their guru is God-incarnate, not surprisingly this leads to a attitude of “I’m the chosen of God.” Which means, other unfortunates who aren’t disciples of the God-man are the non-chosen.

Humility isn’t going to thrive under these circumstances. Like a snobbish high school, humanity is going to be divided into two camps: the “cool kids” who form the in-crowd, and the “nerds” who are on the outside looking in.

This is, of course, from the perspective of a particular chosen one. The strange thing about religion is that many different groups consider that they are God’s favorite, so the same person will be a religious “cool kid” or a “nerd” depending on whether the judgment is made from within or without his own tradition.

Here’s another problem with excessive guru bhakti: it short-circuits the spiritual impulse. There seems to be something within many people that desires to know and love the ultimate reality termed “God.” I don’t know what this something is. I don’t know whether it is divine or mundane. All I know is that I feel it, and over the years I’ve met many other people with the same drive to unravel the deepest mysteries of the cosmos.

A quixotic impulse, perhaps, yet undeniably noble. It needs to be given free rein. To circumscribe the quest for God-realization is to limit a search that should have no boundaries. Yet when God is considered to be embodied within a particular person, the divine shrinks down to the confines of a single human being.

Can this be spiritual progress?

I read through the January 2006 issue of “Spiritual Link,” a publication of Radha Soami Satsang Beas that reflects the group’s core theological tenet: the guru is to be equated with God. Even more: as in other Indian traditions, the guru is to be considered greater than God.

Here are some quotes from the issue that show the guru, or master, is the goal for the disciple—not God.

Meditation then becomes yet another time when everything can be left here, and when the flight to the presence of the Master becomes swift.

If we truly had thirst for communion with our Master how much less sleep would we need?

What is the mystery of the holy bond which makes men and women even in the hour of death utterly forget all earthly ties and cling to the Master alone?

Well, each to his own. I’ve never resonated with the belief that the ineffable mystery of God can be brought down to an understandable human level. Yet I can appreciate the appeal that this has for devotees of either a dead or living God-man. Jesus or a contemporary guru can be related to as a person. You can’t do that with formless mystery.

However, as the years have passed I’ve grown increasingly comfortable with not-knowing. Not-knowing the nature of God. Not-knowing what will happen after I die. Not-knowing whether any man or woman ever has attained a state of God-realization. This not-knowing seems completely natural to me. To others, it is heresy.

Here’s one way of looking at it.

I just got back from seeing a play (“Inherit the Wind”) about creationism and evolution that is based on the Scopes trial. Some lines from the end of the first act stick in my mind. The two attorneys in the play are old friends, though one is a fervent Christian and the other is a committed agnostic. Now they have opposing theological views.

The Christian says, “How is it that you’ve moved so far away from me? We used to be so close.”

The agnostic replies, “All motion is relative. Perhaps you are the one who has moved away by standing still.”

Comments

[Edward]

As an former stupa venerator, I talk with others about their "reformations": ex-priests and nuns, ex-smokers, etc. One thing that is common to such renewal is the epistolic urge, somewhat just after the so-called "aha moment."

My wife has referred to this phase of growth as the Paul Revere cycle. We get the urge to jump out of bed and start yelling that the British are coming. This is an honorable urge, and should be respected.

One cannot however continue to give into the urge when the shots are finally being fired: we are all aware of the British position when we are being fired upon.
Paul Revere did not only ride and shout, he fought and built.

If in my life my bhakti is correct, your blasphemy will not budge me. On the other hand, if your good news is available to me, I probably already know that my bhakti is incomplete.

So, in the spirit of getting past the Red Coats and the unfair taxation they bring, what are the alternatives that are available to you beyond the sangha? You don't want to pay the wage of the intermediary, by having a "personal relationship" with your own Jesus. What will suffice? What will surpass?

Another important element for the reformer is not to pile on too much "new life." Bill W. advised one day at a time. You found a guru in a bike shop, but is there a stele you can see today? A graven image that catches your spiritual eye?

Not-knowing is the actual condition of this plane, as fascinating and necessary as the blinking reflex. Scepticism is a wonderful trait. Be aware of worshipping it - the British have come and gone.

[Bob]

A great book that many of you have probably read is The Guru Papers - Masks of Authoritarian Power.

In it the authors ask a pertinent question with regards to the guru system.

"Do disciples ever "graduate" and become self-defining adults, or do they remain obedient and tied to the gurus?"

In all of the guru groups I have ever encountered, (5 total, including 23 years in RSSB), I have observed a trend for disciples to remain as young children in relationship to the guru. There seems to be a lack of personal or grounded spiritual maturity because the whole spiritual trip rides on appeasing or gaining favor from the guru. The guru is the giver and the taker. Any spiritual progress one may achieve is at the mercy of the guru, and essentially does not belong to the disciple. It can be given or withheld at the guru's discretion.

How can a person take full ownership for their own personal spiritual development in such a system, when complete reliance and power are with the guru alone?

[Nick]

Brian, Bob and Edward
Some great points.
Bob, I've got a copy of the guru papers. I appreciate the general thrust of the book, but an overwhelming sensation that I got from it is that the authors themselves could so easily end up being guru figures themselves. People end up quoting them as an authority and saying, 'the authors of guru papers say...'
This is the problem with speaking and thinking from anything less than ones own deeply felt and experienced sense of gnosis and understanding. With that safeguard in place one can perform the spiritual experiment and explore the wares of guru's and their offerings.

[Nicole]

Love this! I am a yoga teacher and so many (most) of my colleagues believe they need a guru to follow. I've never felt that. In fact I think it goes against the whole philosophy of yoga. No one else I know in my community seems to see it that way. Your words really resonated with me. Thank you.