Have you ever wondered how it is possible for one
charismatic individual to develop a following and become a cult leader? Many of
us believe that we are immune to falling prey to a cult leader but it would be
an exercise in arrogance to believe that we are above being led by a false
teacher.
We live in a world that is littered with falsehoods; it is
spread via the mass media or just general misinformation and
misinterpretations. It can be quiet difficult to decipher between what is truth
and what is lie. I recently watched a movie called Kumaré, which is a documentary
about a man named Vikram Gandhi who did an experiment to see if he could pose
as a guru from India and develop a following. What was astonishing about this
experiment was that it literally took no time for this man from New Jersey to develop
a devoted following. As cruel as this
may sound, Vikram did teach his “students” some truth despite misleading these
unsuspecting truth seekers into doing some weird and absurd things. He taught
them what he would want a guru to teach him, which is that the true guru was found
within the self.
We humans have a tendency to project out into the world what
we wish to see. This can be in many ways our greatest ability when attracting desirable
circumstances to ourselves. This is what makes us mini gods and goddesses and
enhances our ability to co-create along with the greater creator. Unfortunately,
when we misuse our innate creative abilities by giving our power away to
another, what we are doing is affirming a negative to the universe, such as “I
am powerless” or “I need someone to save me from myself.” When we put such negative and limiting
qualifiers out into the universe, we can then quickly fall into a trap set by false
cult leaders or gurus who are not only in it for the money, but for control
over your mind and a group of adoring followers who will continually genuflect
before them. False gurus and cult
leaders prey on innocent truth seekers to feed off of their spiritual energy
and light.
The role of a false teacher is simple; create a teaching
that has a sliver of truth to draw a follower in. Moreover, that truth must be
absolute while vague enough to keep followers coming back for more. Further, these false spiritual leaders have
no shame in twisting their own teaching, if they are challenged, just to prove
themselves right. This tactic reminds me of Orwellian “doublespeak” and the
pigs in Animal Farm changing the commandment: “all animals are equal” to “all
animals are equal, but some are more equal than others,” when the farm animals
challenged them. But the most important and easiest aspect of being a false
teacher is just to simply allow the eager student to project upon the guru what
they wish to see, and all the guru has to do is not refute that projection and
serve as a reflection of a student’s own innate spiritual light.
Even those who are not on a spiritual path fall for this
trap by idolizing celebrities and political leaders by hanging on to their
every word, and trying to look and dress like them. In reality, all this is, is a projection of
what they want to see or to become. We have no idea who that person truly is in
their day to day life. In fact, Politicians
and celebrities must keep up an image that properly reflects what their fans
and followers want to see. Notice that anytime a celebrity or a political
leader deviates from that image, there is major back lash from the public that
ends up causing them to lose fans and/or popularity.
It is time for all of use to recognize our own holiness, our
own inner guru. One can simplify the search
for one’s inner guru by simply associating it with one’s own intuition.
Intuition is a gift given to all of us in order to navigate and discern truth
from falsehood on this dualistic and treacherous planet called Earth. The greater guru or our creator has never
left us hanging without a compass to help us find our way home, and that
compass is our hearts. Kim Michaels, the
resident, spiritual expert on CRN’s Divine Love talk with Dr. Parthenia Grant,
explains that if you pay attention to your energy when someone says something
to you, note whether your energy feels uplifted or suppressed by that person’s
presence or words. This type of discernment can be honed and developed, like
any a skill, through the practice of meditation and sooner or later no outer
guru can be a substitute for the guru within.
So, by now, you may be thinking, what is a true guru? Someone whom I would consider my guru, Dr.
Parthenia Grant, told me that “a guru is someone who brings you out of darkness
into the light. They are light workers from a higher octave who volunteered to
come here to raise the vibration of earth out of the 3rd dimension
of fear and into the 5th dimension of love.” She also said that
there “are a few real gurus on earth and that you can recognize them by their
light, humility, compassion and integrity.” My experience has been that a real
guru or truly enlightened spiritual teacher has the ultimate goal of leading
you to your own guru within. Moreover,
such an individual takes joy in encouraging you to seek spiritual independence
by becoming your own teacher.
