Hi, gang - I'm not receiving FFL emails anymore but am still officially signed in to this forum, and I ran across something today too good not to share with everybody. You can google this book and order it if you like what you read. I, for one, plan to get it. Best to all, Bronte The Guru Papers: Masks of Authoritarian Power
by Joel Kramer and Diana Alstad [The following quotes are taken from Part One of the Guru Papers and are deemed by ex-members to be strikingly accurate in describing the dynamics of a cult guru.] "If an authority not only expects to be obeyed without question, but either punishes or refuses to deal with those who do not, that authority is authoritarian." (p.15) "Gurus can arouse intense emotions as there is extraordinary passion in surrendering to what one perceives as a living God." (p.33) "In âspiritualâ realms fear and desire can become as extreme as they get. When a living person becomes the focus of such emotions, the possibility of manipulation is correspondingly extreme." (p.41) "In the East a guru is more than a teacher. He is a doorway that supposedly allows one to enter into a more profound relationship with the spiritual. A necessary step becomes acknowledging the guruâs specialness and mastery over that which one wishes to attain. The message is that to be a really serious student, spiritual realization must be the primary concern. Therefore, oneâs relationship with the guru must, in time, become oneâs prime emotional bond, with all others viewed as secondary. In fact, typically other relationships are pejoratively referred to as âattachments.â" (p.49) "So although most gurus preach detachment, disciples become attached to having the guru as their center, whereas the guru becomes attached to having the power of being othersâ center." (p.50) "The ways people deny and justify are similar: Since supposedly no one who is not enlightened can truly understand the motives of one who is, any criticism can be discounted as a limited perspective. Also, any behavior on the part of the guru, no matter how base, can be imputed to be some secret teaching or message that needs deciphering." By holding gurus as perfect and thus beyond ordinary explanations, their presumed specialness can be used to justify anything. Some deeper, occult reason can always be ascribed to anything a guru does: The guru is said to take on the karma of others, and that is why his body has whatever problems it has. The guru is obese or unhealthy because he is too kind to turn down offerings: besides, he gives so much that a little excess is understandable. He punishes those who disobey him not out of anger but out of necessity, as a good father would. He uses sex to teach about energy and detachment. He lives an opulent life to break peopleâs simplistic preconceptions of what ego-loss should look like; it also shows how detached and unconcerned he is about what others think. For after all, âOnce enlightened, one can do anything.â Believing this dictum makes any action justifiable. People justify and rationalize in gurus what in others would be considered unacceptable because they have a huge emotional investment in believing their guru is both pure and right." (p.52) "That interest in oneâs own salvation is totally self-centered is a conundrum rarely explored." (p.54) "So disciples believe they are loved unconditionally, even though this love is conditional on continued surrender. Disciples in the throes of surrender feel they have given up their past, and do not, consciously at least, fear the future. . . Feeling totally cared for and accepted, at the universeâs center, powerful, and seemingly unafraid of the future are all achieved at the price of giving oneâs power to another, thus remaining essentially a child." (p56) "It is not at all unusual to be in an authoritarian relationship and not know it. In fact, knowing it can interfere with surrender. Any of the following are strong indications of belonging to an authoritarian group: 1. No deviation from the party line is allowed. Anyone who has thoughts or feelings contrary to the accepted perspective is made to feel wrong or bad for having them. 2. Whatever the authority does is regarded as perfect or right. Thus behaviors that would be questioned in others are made to seem different and proper. 3. One trusts that the leader or others in the group know whatâs best. 4. It is difficult to communicate with anyone not in the group. 5. One finds oneself defending actions of the leader (or other members) without having firsthand knowledge of what occurred. 6. At times one is confused and fearful without knowing why. This is a sign that doubts are being repressed." (p.57) "The power of conversion experiences lies in the psychological shift from confusion to certainty." (p.65) "People whose power is based on the surrender of others develop a repertoire of techniques for deflecting and undermining anything that questions or challenges their status, behavior, or beliefs. They ridicule or try to confuse people who ask challenging questions." (p.66) "Is experiencing intense energy a sign of spirituality, or is the experience in the same vein as young ladies who swoon in the presence of rock stars?" (p.68) "To be thought enlightened, one must appear not only certain that one is, but certain about most everything else, too." (p.70) "Gurus undercut reason as a path to understanding. When they do allow discursive inquiry, they often place the highest value on paradox. Paradox easily lends itself to mental manipulation. No matter what position you take, you are always shown to be missing the point; the point being that the guru knows something you do not." (p.74) "Their stance toward outsiders is of benign superiority." (p77) "As long as the guru still sees the possibility of realizing his ambitions, the way he exercises power is through rewarding the enthusiasms of his followers with praise and positions in his hierarchy. He also whets and manipulates desire by offering âcarrots,â and promising that through him the disciplesâ desires will be realized, possibly even in this lifetime. The group itself becomes an echo of the guru, with the members filling each otherâs needs. Within the community there is a sense of both intimacy and potency, and a celebratory, party-like atmosphere often reigns. Everything seems perfect; everyone is moving along the appropriate spiritual path. The guru is relatively accessible, charming, even fun. All dreams are realizable-even wonderful possibilities beyond oneâs ken." (p.78) "People are especially vulnerable to charismatic leaders during times of crisis or major life change." (p.87) "People donât want a second-rate guru; they want the one who seems the best. Since purity is the standard measurement â" the gold or Greenwich meridian time of the guru world â" each guru has to claim the most superlative traits. This is naturally a breeding ground for hypocrisy, lies, and the cultivation of false images of purity. Gurus are thus forced to assume the role of the highest, best, the most enlightened, the most loving, the most selfless, the purest representative of the most profound truths; for if they did not, people would go to one who does. Consequently, it is largely impossible for a guru to permit himself real intimacy, which in adults requires a context of equality. All his relationships must be hierarchical, since that is the foundation of his attraction and power." (p.88) "Since adulation from any one person eventually becomes boring, gurus do not need any specific disciple â" they need lots of them. Gurus do give special attention to those with wealth and power." (p.89) "Gurus likewise do many things to ensure that their disciplesâ prime emotional allegiance is toward them. In the realm of sexuality, the two prevalent ways control is exerted are through promulgating either celibacy or promiscuity. Although seemingly opposite, both serve the same function: they minimize the possibilities of people bonding deeply with each other, thus reducing factors that compete with the guru for attention." (p.92) "Many gurus and spiritual authorities negate, make light of, or even ridicule the use and value of Western psychotherapy because its concepts of the unconscious undermine their authority and power. To acknowledge that unconscious factors may be operative in oneself means that one cannot be totally sure one is selfless." (p.102) "A primary goal in therapy is to free clients from their need to transfer unresolved issues onto others. This need makes people particularly susceptible to authoritarian control. Good therapists aim at being very conscious of how they deal with transference." Because of the nature of the relationship which demands total surrender, gurus do exactly the opposite. They cultivate and reward transference, for a parental type of authority is at the very core of the guruâs power over disciples. The power to name, arrange marriages, and dictate duties and behavior are ultimates in parental authority, especially in traditional societies like the East. To give someone the power to name or marry you is to profoundly accept their parental role in defining who you are. The ostensible motivation behind this has to do with an attempt to break the ties of the past so the person can become ânew.â A deeper reason is that this aids the guru in becoming the center of the personâs emotional life, which facilitates surrender." (p.105) "Successful gurus, rock stars, charismatic leaders of any sort, experience the intensity of adulation amplified beyond most peopleâs ken. This can make ordinary relationships pale by comparison. Being the recipient of such adulation and devotion is exceedingly addictive. Here addiction is used in its loose sense to mean mechanically needing an on-going âfixâ of adulation to where it becomes the central focus of oneâs life. Adulation has powerful emotions for the sender as well, and can be easily mistaken for love. It is likewise addicting for the sender, as it is an easy route to feelings of passion. Since adulation is totally a function of image, should the images crack, adulation disappears, demonstrating that it is essentially empty of real care." (p.112) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
