Guru as Santa Claus
Here in Los Angeles, we practice competitive spirituality. It is now a fashion statement to have a guru. It is important to be seen having a connection with a guru or Tibetan Lama. People select gurus by the buzz factor and the way their name rolls off the tongue when you are chatting with friends at parties. It is important that the person wear robes, and have a glitter of spirituality. If you have both plastic surgery and a guru, then you are really fashionable. If you have a guru, plastic surgery and are somehow rich, then you are a star. And if you don't have a guru - how pathetic. What a loser. If you are rich, plasticized, have a guru, and he hangs with you at the most fashionable cafe - then eat your heart out with envy, everyone else!
Paris Hilton and Maxie Santillian showing up at Urth cafe, my favorite coffee shop, whose Manhattan Mudd is my current favorite coffee and I like a cup at dawn. Photo credit WENN.
Anyway, back to the topic of gurus. People are abuzz about gurus these days, more than ever. The guru is marketed to be everything: he is your cell-phone company; if you want to talk to your soul, you purchase one of his patented mantras and buy into a 2-year service contract. He is your internet service provider: if you want to be connected to the universe, you sign up with him and pay a monthly fee. He will also, as needed, inject Botox into your spirit to do away with those karmic wrinkles. And maybe use the knife to trim away your basic ugliness with a nip here and a tuck there, turning you into a beautiful spiritual being.
By the way, Paris and Maxie Santillian are punking the media. Maxie's Myspace. Maxie in Pirates of the Caribbean 2.
Individuality
Check out this conversation between Michael Toms and Joseph Campbell:
TOMS: What about the desire to follow a guru? We see religions
and cults based on the teacher-disciple relationship flourishing
everywhere.
CAMPBELL: I think that is bad news. I really do think you can take
clues from teachers – I know you can. But, you see, the traditional
Oriental idea is that the student should submit absolutely to the
teacher. The guru actually assumes responsibility for the student’s
moral life, and this is total giving. I don’t think that’s quite proper
for a Western person. One of the big spiritual truths for the West is
that each of us is a unique creature, and consequently has a unique
path.
There’s one quotation I ran into in La Queste del Saint Graal which
hit me as being the essence of what I’d call the European or Western
spirituality. The knights of King Arthur’s court were seated at table
and Arthur would not let the meal be served until an adventure had
occurred. And, indeed, an adventure did occur. The Grail itself
appeared, carried by angelic miracle, covered, however, by a cloth.
Everyone was in rapture and then it withdrew. Arthur’s nephew
Gawain stood up and said, "I propose a vow. I propose that we should
all go in pursuit of this Grail to behold it unveiled." And it was
determined that that was what they would do. And then occur these
lines which seem to me so wonderful: "They thought it would be a
disgrace to go forth in a group. Each entered the forest that he had
chosen where there was no path and where it was darkest." Now, if
there’s a way or path, it’s someone else’s way; and the guru has a
path for you. He knows where you are on it. He knows where he is
on it, namely, way ahead. And all you can do is get to be as great as
he is. This is a continuation of the dependency of childhood; maturity
consists in outgrowing that and becoming your own authority for your
life. And this quest for the unknown seems so romantic to Oriental
people. What is unknown is the fulfillment of your own unique life,
the likes of which has never existed on the earth. And you are the
only one who can do it. People can give you clues how to fall down
and how to stand up; but when to fall and when to stand, and when
you are falling, and when you are standing, this only you can know.
And in the way of your own talents is the only way to do it.
TOMS: Isn’t it important to respect our own uniqueness?
CAMPBELL: I think that’s the most important thing of all. That’s why,
as l said, you really can’t follow a guru. You can’t ask somebody to
give The Reason, but you can find one for yourself; you decide what
the meaning of your life is to be. People talk about the meaning of
life; there is no meaning of life – there are lots of meanings of
different lives, and you must decide what you want your own to be.
link to Derek Parrott's site.
link to Wikipedia on Lancelot.
I Love Gurus
Don't get me wrong – I love gurus. I was trained intensely by gurus from the time I was a teenager throughout my twenties. I am still in relationship with several gurus from a lineage in India, so that’s 42 years, most of my life. My job is to adapt the teachings and techniques of meditation to fit the needs of modern Americans. I think it is a betrayal of the essence of meditation, to ask Americans to convert to Hinduism or Buddhism in order to meditate. That is not what Buddha would have done.
It is strange that the idea of gurus is associated with meditation because they are usually opposite. The guru is an outer authority to obey. Over time, as you become more and more dependent upon the guru, your basic individuality and ego strength are damaged and weakened, perhaps permanently. Meditation is process of getting in touch with your inner authority and learning to sense the electricity of your own soul. This is the opposite of following a herd.
If you meditate in a way that is unnatural to you, then you may find that your inner and outer life are reshaped to be more distant, disconnected and detached from heart's desire. You may wind up, as the Dalai Lama says, "homeless inside yourself."
At best you could say that the guru is a Santa Claus figure for adults – he knows when you have been naughty, and he knows when you have been nice, and it is sort of comforting to think that there is this person who flies around and bestows spiritual presents on the good children. It seems to work fine from within the culture of India, for many reasons. And it probably works OK for whatever percentage f the American population are freshly reincarnated Hindus (I'm one).
continued . . .
*By the way, Paris and Maxie are punking the media in this appearance at Urth. Maxie (link to his myspace profile) is an actor who has appeared in "Pirates of the Caribbean" and other movies. I love that they did this. Apparently Ashton Kutcher is behind it – he has a new show on E! called Pop Fiction.