Irmeli: > Why would criticizing a guru, even your own guru be a bad thing?
Obviously, I don't think it is. I believe that a spiritual teacher -- any spiritual teacher -- should be even more open to close scrutiny than anyone else. > If the guru > is firmly established in Self , he can tolerate and receive > criticism. His self-esteem isn't threatened by it. When the guru is > responding to the criticism, the student gets clarifications to his > doubts and new insights. Yup. I've been fortunate enough to interact with a few folks like that; it's always an education. > If the guru is not totally established in Self, his self-esteem is > dependent of the adulation and adoration he receives. He is very much > afraid of his weaknesses being seen. All perceptive criticism is a > serious threat to him and to his loyal followers as well. The guru > represents for them a idealized dream of themselves. And they cannot > allow this dream to collapse. > > For this kind of guru-disciple relationship to persist, the guru has > to be distant. In a close daily contact the idealization would > collapse rather fast. Thus the Disappearing Skinboy Phenomenon. And lest anyone think that this is Maharishi-bashing, it's not. The same phenomenon exists in many spiritual trips. And interestingly enough, so does the corollary. Many of the strongest True Believers have purpose- fully maintained their distance from the teacher *so that* they can preserve the idealized vision of him or her that they have in their minds. They don't *want* to get close, because they might see something that interferes with that vision. Unc To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
