I've rapped before, from similar cafes as this one, about the various myths surrounding enlightenment (or whatever you choose to call it), and how those who claim enlightenment (or whatever they call it) often do not seem to walk the walk of that mythic talk. One of those myths is that they are by definition incapable of speaking anything that is not Truth. I've also rapped in the past about how those who expect to be listened to and revered as if everything they say is Truth react to someone treating them as Just Another Guy.
Today what I'm pondering is not so much what they do when their holy authority is challenged, but WHY they would want to be perceived as authoritative in the first place. That one just whizzes right over my head. I don't get it. I have a few friends who have gone into the guru business. Based on the few conversations we have had in recent years, they seem to want me to interact with them as if they are gurus, and with proper deference to their wisdom and presumed authority. Suffice it to say we don't talk much. If we did, I suspect that they'd say that the things they say as if they were Truth *are* Truth, and would be obvious *as* Truth to me if I just treated them as the selfless spokespersons for Truth they are. The first time this happened, I couldn't help remembering the night that the speaker, back before he went all guru and all, got all blissed up and confided in me that his deepest longing and need in life was to be adored. Not loved. Adored. Worshipped. In the context of that conversation, by a woman so in love with him that she could not even conceive of him having faults. Now he's a guru. You do the math. I still love these people as friends, but I'm just not wired to relate to them as gurus or as authorities, only as friends. Friends have faults. They're wrong about shit from time to time. That's what I expect of my current friends, and that is what they expect of me. I rarely disappoint them. :-) So I just don't get it. Can someone who feels not only that the guru or teacher is some kind of authority and that they should be related to as such please explain it to me? Based on the things written here, there are quite a few folks on this forum who believe this. I'm asking you to explain WHY, to someone who clearly doesn't get it.
