Guru Totally Explained

Everything about Guru totally explained

Guru is a term teacher or guide in the religious or spiritual sense, and is commonly used in Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism, as well as in some new religious movements. The guru is seen in these religions as a sacred conduit for wisdom and guidance, and finding a true guru is often held to be a prerequisite for attaining self-realization.
"Guru" also refers in Sanskrit to Brihaspati, a Hindu divine figure. In Vedic astrology, Guru or Brihaspati is believed to exert teaching influences. Indeed, in many Indian languages such as Hindi, the occidental Thursday is called either Brihaspativaar or Guruvaar (vaar meaning day of the week).
In contemporary India and Indonesia, the word "guru" is widely used with the general meaning of "teacher", including by the pupils at school. In Western usage, the meaning of guru has been extended to cover anyone who acquires followers, though not necessarily in an established school of philosophy or religion. In a further Western metaphorical extension, guru is used to refer to a person who has authority because of his or her perceived secular knowledge or skills.

Etymology

The word, a noun, means "teacher" or Spiritual Master in Sanskrit and in other languages derived from Sanskrit, such as Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati and Nepali, or influenced by Sanskrit, such as Indonesian.
   As a noun, the word holds a special place in Hinduism, signifying both the sacred place of knowledge (jnana) and the imparter of knowledge. As an adjective, it means "heavy," or "weighty," in the sense of "heavy with knowledge," "heavy with spiritual wisdom," "heavy with spiritual weight," "heavy with the good qualities of scriptures and realization," or "heavy with a wealth of knowledge." The word has it roots in the Sanskrit gri ("to invoke", or "to praise"), and may have a connection to the word gur, meaning "to raise, "to lift up", or "to make an effort." Barnhart's "Dictionary of Etymology" compares gravis (Latin: grave, weighty, serious) as cognate with the Sanskrit "guru."
   A traditional etymology of the term "guru" is based on the interplay between darkness and light. The Guru is seen as the one who "dispels the darkness of ignorance." In some texts it's described that the syllables gu and ru stand for darkness and light, respectively.
   According to the Advaya-Tãraka Upanishad (verse 16), guru is composed of the syllables 'gu' and 'ru', the former signifying 'darkness', and the latter signifying 'the destroyer of that [darkness]', hence a guru is one characterized as someone who dispels spiritual ignorance (darkness), with spiritual illumination (light).

The syllable gu means shadows
The syllable ru, he who disperses them,
Because of the power to disperse darkness
the guru is thus named.

Reender Kranenborg disagrees, stating that darkness and light have nothing to do with the word guru. He describes this as a "peoples' etymology."
Another etymology of the word "guru" found in the Guru Gita, includes gu as "beyond the qualities" and ru as "devoid of form", stating that "He who bestows that nature which transcend the qualities is said to be guru". The meanings of "gu" and "ru" can also be traced to the Sutras indicating concealment and its annulment.

The Guru in Hinduism

The importance of finding a guru who can impart transcendental knowledge (vidyā) is emphasised in Hinduism. One of the main Hindu texts, the Bhagavad Gita, is a dialogue between God in the form of Krishna and his friend Arjuna, a Kshatriya prince who accepts Krishna as his guru on the battlefield, prior to a large battle. Not only does this dialogue outline many of the ideals of Hinduism, but their relationship is considered an ideal one of Guru-Shishya. In the Gita, Krishna speaks to Arjuna of the importance of finding a guru:

Acquire the transcendental knowledge from a Self-realized master by humble reverence, by sincere inquiry, and by service. The wise ones who have realized the Truth will impart the Knowledge to you.

In the sense mentioned above, guru is used more or less interchangeably with satguru (literally: true teacher) and satpurusha. Compare also Swami. The disciple of a guru is called a śiṣya or chela. Often a guru lives in an ashram or in a gurukula (the guru's household), together with his disciples. The lineage of a guru, spread by disciples who carry on the guru's message, is known as the guru parampara, or disciplic succession.
   Some Hindu denominations like BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha hold that a personal relationship with a living guru, revered as the embodiment of God, is essential in seeking moksha. The guru is the one who guides his or her disciple to become jivanmukta, the liberated soul able to achieve salvation in his or her lifetime.
   The role of the guru continues in the original sense of the word in such Hindu traditions as the Vedānta, yoga, tantra and bhakti schools. Indeed, it's now a standard part of Hinduism that a guru is one's spiritual guide on earth. In some more mystical traditions it's believed that the guru could awaken dormant spiritual knowledge within the pupil. The act of doing this is known as shaktipat.
   In Hinduism, the guru is considered a respected person with saintly qualities who enlightens the mind of his or her disciple, an educator from whom one receives the initiatory mantra, and one who instructs in rituals and religious ceremonies. The Vishnu Smriti and Manu Smriti regard the teacher and the mother and father as the most venerable influences on an individual.
   Some influential gurus in the Hindu tradition were Adi Shankaracharya, Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and Shri Ramakrishna. Other gurus who continued the yogic tradition into the 20th century include: Shri Aurobindo Ghosh, Shri Ramana Maharshi, Sathya Sai Baba, Sri Chandrashekarendra Saraswati (The Sage of Kanchi), Swami Sivananda, Paramahansa Yogananda, Swami Chinmayananda, Swami Vivekananda and A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. See also the list of Hindu gurus.
   In Indian culture, a person without a guru or a teacher (acharya) was once looked down on as an orphan or unfortunate one. The word anatha in Sanskrit means "the one without a teacher." An acharya is the giver of gyan (knowledge) in the form of shiksha (instruction). A guru also gives diksha initiation which is the spiritual awakening of the disciple by the grace of the guru. Diksha is also considered to be the procedure of bestowing the divine powers of a guru upon the disciple, through which the disciple progresses continuously along the path to divinity.
   The concept of the "guru" can be traced as far back as the early Upanishads, where the idea of the Divine Teacher on earth first manifested from its early Brahmin associations.

Guru and God

Gurus don't appeal to scriptures for their authority, nor are they prophets who declare the will of God. Indeed, there's an understanding in some forms of Hinduism that if the devotee were presented with the guru and God, first he'd pay respect to the guru, since the guru had been instrumental in leading him to God. Some traditions claim "Guru, God and Self" (Self meaning soul, not personality) are one and the same. Saints and poets in India have expressed the following views about the relationship between Guru and God:
Kabir

Guru and God both appear before me. To whom should I prostrate?
I bow before Guru who introduced God to me.

Brahmanand

It is my great fortune that I found Satguru, all my doubts are removed.
I bow before Guru. Guru's glory is greater than God's.

Brahmanda Purana

Guru is Shiva sans his three eyes,
Vishnu sans his four arms
Brahma sans his four heads.
He is parama Shiva himself in human form

Adi Shankara begins his Gurustotram or Verses to the Guru with the following Sanskrit Sloka, that has become a widely sung Bhajan:

Guru Brahma, Guru Vishnu, Guru Devo Maheshwara. Guru Sakshath Parambrahma, Tasmai Shri Gurave Namaha. (tr: Guru is the creator Brahma, Guru is the preserver Vishnu, Guru is the destroyer Siva. Guru is directly the supreme spirit — I offer my salutations to this Guru.)

Guru Granth Sahib

Guru and God are one and the divine Guru is contained amongst all.

Guru Granth Sahib

If a hundred moons were to rise, and a thousand suns appeared
even with such light, there would still be pitch darkness without the Guru.

Sai Baba

15th March 2008 -
When you see a plane flying in the sky, would you refuse to believe that it's flown by a pilot, just because you don't see him from where you are? You must go into the plane to see the pilot; you can't deny his existence, standing on the ground below. You have to guess that the plane must have a pilot. So too seeing the Universe, you've to guess the existence of God, not deny Him because you're not able to see him. To see your own eyes, you need a mirror; to see yourself in your native spiritual grandeur, you need a Guru (preceptor). - BABA

The guru-shishya tradition

The guru-shishya tradition is the transmission of teachings from a guru (teacher, ) to a '' (disciple, ). In this relationship, subtle and advanced knowledge is conveyed and received through the student's respect, commitment, devotion and obedience. The student eventually masters the knowledge that the guru embodies.
   The dialogue between guru and disciple is a fundamental component of Hinduism, established in the oral traditions of the Upanishads (c. 2000 BC). The term Upanishad derives from the Sanskrit words upa (near), ni (down) and şad (to sit) — "sitting down near" a spiritual teacher to receive instruction. Examples include the relationship between Krishna and Arjuna in the Mahabharata (Bhagavad Gita), and between Rama and Hanuman in the Ramayana. In the Upanishads, the guru-disciple relationship appears in many settings (a husband answers a wife's questions about immortality; a teenage boy is taught by Yama, who is Death personified, etc.) Sometimes the sages are female, and sometimes the instruction is sought by kings.
   In the Vedas, the brahmavidya or knowledge of Brahman is communicated from guru to shishya orally.
   The word Sikh is derived from the Sanskrit shishya.

Classification of gurus

According to the Deval Smriti there can be eleven kinds of gurus and according to Nama Chintamani there are ten types.
In his book about neo-Hindu movements in the Netherlands, Kranenborg distinguishes four types of gurus in India:
The Shiva Samhita, a late medieval text on Hatha yoga, enshrines the figure of the guru as essential for liberation, and asserts that the disciple should give all his or her property and livestock to the guru upon diksha (initiation).

Mirinalini Mata, a direct disciple of Yogananda, said that a true guru should be humble (Self-Realization Fellowship 1978, Cassette No 2402)

Sathya Sai Baba said in a discourse (Sathya Sai Speaks, vol I, p. 197) that the hunt for rich disciples who can be fleeced has become a tragicomedy, and said in the booklet Sandeha Nivarini that the seeker should test the guru by assessing whether his words are full of wisdom, and whether he puts into practice what he preaches.

Saibaba The Master

by Acharya Ekkirala Bharadwaja an in depth study of Shirdi Sai as a guru insists that one must follow the way of reading life histories of saints and it's the saints which will show us the correct guru when we're ready and capable of serving a guru. In Sufi-ism which revolves around Aulias(Saints), a disciple prays a Sufi-saint at his tomb, until the saint appears in a dream to the disciple and shows him the correct and living guru to go and serve. This is claimed as the Most secure way of entering a Guru-Shishya Parampara. Guru Charitra

by Acharya Ekkirala Bharadwaja explains it in more detail.

Rituals

Guru Purnima is the day when the disciple wakes up and expresses gratitude. The purpose of the Guru Purnima (or Poornima) celebration is to review the preceding year to see how much one has progressed in life, to renew one's determination, and to focus on one's progress on the spiritual path. Guru Puja (literally "worship of the guru") the practice of worshiping the guru through the making of offerings and requesting inspiration from the guru. Vows and commitments made by the disciple or chela, which might have lost their strength, are renewed. Guru Bhakti (literally "devotion to the guru") is considered important in many schools and sects.

In modern Hinduism

The German Indologist Axel Michaels in his 1998 book on Hinduism, called "guruism" a form of modern Hinduism (arising since 1850). He described it as a Western-oriented and especially active proselytizing form of Hinduism founded by charismatic persons with a corpus of esoteric writings, predominantly in English. According to Michaels the best known representatives include Krishnamurti, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (Transcendental Meditation), Sai Baba, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, Balyogeshwar (also known as "Guru Maharaj Ji", "Maharaji", and "Prem Rawat") (Divine Light Mission), and Rajneesh (Sannyasis).

Guru in Buddhism

In the Theravada Buddhist tradition, the teacher is a valued and honoured mentor worthy of great respect, and is a source of inspiration on the path to Enlightenment.
   Blessed by the guru, whom the disciple regards as a Bodhisattva, or the embodiment of Buddha, the disciple can continue on the way to experiencing the true nature of reality. The disciple shows great appreciation and devotion for the guru, whose blessing is the last of the four foundations of Vajrayana Buddhism.
   In the Tibetan tradition, the guru is seen as the Buddha, the very root of spiritual realization and the basis of the path. Without the teacher, it's asserted, there can be no experience or insight. In Tibetan texts, great emphasis is placed upon praising the virtues of the guru.
   The Dalai Lama, speaking of the importance of the guru, said: "Rely on the teachings to evaluate a guru: Do not have blind faith, but also no blind criticism." He also observed that the term 'living Buddha' is a translation of the Chinese words huo fuo. In Tibetan, he said, the operative word is lama which means 'guru'. A guru is someone who isn't necessarily a Buddha, but is heavy with knowledge. The term vajra is also used, meaning 'master'. Tantric teachings include visualizing the guru and making offerings praising the guru. The guru is known as the vajra (literally "diamond") guru. Initiations or ritual empowerments are necessary before the student is permitted to practise a particular tantra. The guru doesn't perform initiation as an individual, but as the person's own Buddha-nature reflected in the personality of the guru. The disciple is asked to make vows and commitments which preserve the spiritual link to the guru, and is told that to break this link is a serious downfall.

Guru in Sikhism

The title Guru (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰੂ) is fundamental to the Sikh religion. Indeed, the Sikhs have carried the word to an even greater abstraction, while retaining the original usage, and use it to relate to an understanding or knowledge imparted through any medium. Sikhism is derived from the Sanskrit word shishya, or disciple. The core beliefs of Sikhism are of belief in one God and in the teachings of the Ten Gurus, enshrined in Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy book. Guru Nanak, the first guru of Sikhism, was opposed to the caste system prevalent in India in his time, and he accepted Hindus, Muslims and people from other religions as disciples. His followers referred to him as the Guru (teacher). Before his death he designated a new Guru to be his successor and to lead the Sikh community. This procedure was continued, and the tenth and last Guru, Guru Gobind Singh (AD 1666–1708) initiated the Sikh ceremony in AD 1699.
For Sikhs, the Gurus were not in the Christian sense “Sons of God”. Sikhism says we're all the children of God and by deduction, God is our mother/father.
On the importance of guru, Nanak says: Let no man in the world live in delusion. Without a Guru none can cross over to the other shore. the Ten Gurus of Sikhism, the Guru Granth Sahib, their holy book, was made the eleventh perpetual guru of the Sikhs. Together they make up the Eleven Gurus of Sikhism. And today Sikh children are sometimes named Guru (Guru Darshan, Guru Mundir, etc)

Succession and lineage (parampara)

The word parampara (Sanskrit परमपरा) denotes a long succession of teachers and disciples in traditional Indian culture. The Hinduism Dictionary defines parampara is "the line of spiritual gurus in authentic succession of initiation; the chain of mystical power and authorized continuity, passed from guru to guru." In Sanskrit, the word literally means: Uninterrupted series of succession.
The Guru (teacher) Shishya (disciple) parampara or guru parampara, occurs where the knowledge (in any field) is passed down undiluted through the succeeding generations. It is the traditional, residential form of education, where the Shishya remains and learns with his Guru as a family member. The domains may include spiritual, artistic (kala कला such as music or dance) or educational. David C. Lane, a professor of sociology, and, since 2005, an ex-member and critic of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, argued in 1997 that based on his research of the Radha Soami movement that few gurus have a flawless and well-documented lineage, and that there's quite often conflict between different disciples claiming to be the only legitimate successor of their guru.(External Link

) Views on gurus from a Western cultural perspective As an alternative to established religions, some people in Europe and the USA who were not of East Indian extraction have looked up to spiritual guides and gurus from India, seeking them to provide them answers to the meaning of life, and to achieve a more direct experience free from intellectualism and philosophy. Gurus from many denominations traveled to Western Europe and the USA and established followings. One of the first to do so was Swami Vivekananda who addressed the World Parliament of Religions assembled in Chicago, Illinois in 1893.
In particular during the 1960s and 1970s many gurus acquired groups of young followers in Western Europe and the USA. According to the American sociologist David G. Bromley this was partially due to the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act (United States) in 1965 which permitted Asian gurus entrance to the USA. According to the Dutch Indologist Albertina Nugteren, the repeal was only one of several factors and a minor one compared with the two most important causes for the surge of all things 'Eastern': the post-war cross-cultural mobility and the general dissatisfaction with established Western values. According to the professor in sociology Stephen A. Kent at the University of Alberta and Kranenborg (1974), one of the reasons why in 1970s young people including hippies turned to gurus was because they found that drugs had opened for them the existence of the transcendental or because they wanted to get high without drugs. According to Kent, another reason why this happened so often in the USA then, was because some anti-Vietnam war protesters and political activists became worn out or disillusioned of the possibilities to change society through political means, and as an alternative turned to religious means.
In his book about neo-Hindu movements in the Netherlands, Kranenborg distinguishes four types of gurus:
Gurus in the West
Gurus who established a discipleship or who are/were spiritual leaders of notable organizations in Western countries include:

Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama

Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche a lama (Tibetan Buddhist religious teacher)

Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo the first western woman to be recognized and enthroned as a tulku in Tibetan Buddhism

Jiddu Krishnamurti groomed to be a world spiritual teacher by the Theosophical Society Adyar but publicly renounced this role in 1929

Maharishi Mahesh Yogi spent the latter years of his life in the Netherlands

Meher Baba who travelled to the west numerous times in the 1930s and 1950's and had many western followers

Muktananda

Paramahansa Yogananda settled in the USA and wrote the book

A.C Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada who founded the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (the 'Hare Krishnas') in New York in 1965, an organization following the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition of Hinduism.

Tirtha Maharaj, the president of World Vaishnava Association.

Srila Bhaktivedanta Narayana Goswami Maharaja, Acarya of Pure Bhakti, an organization based on the Gaudiya Vaishnavism sect of Hinduism

Bhakti Vaibhav Puri Goswami Maharaj; physician of ayurveda and Indian freedom fighter who became a devoted disciple of Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur and founder-acharya of Sri Krishna Caitanya Mission.

Prem Rawat was known as Guru Maharaj Ji until he dropped the title "guru" from his name in 1980.

Bhagwan/Osho/Rajneesh settled temporarily in the USA

Sathya Sai Baba never went to Europe or the USA but acquired a substantial number of followers there

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev founder of Isha Foundation and the Isha Yoga Centre has a strong volunteer force in India, US and Lebanon

Sant Sri Asaramji Bapu founder of Sri Yog Vedanta Sewa Samithi.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar founder of the Art of Living Foundation.

Sri Aurobindo

Paramahamsa Sri Nithyananda has a temporary ashram in Los Angeles, California and many followers outside of India as well.

Ruchira Adi Da Samraj Born in the US founded the new Tradition of Adidam, based on Guru Devotee Relationship

Muhammad Raheem Bawa Muhaiyaddeen was a revered Sufi saint from the island of Sri Lanka who shared his knowledge and experience with people of every race and religion and from all parts of the world.

Shree Maa founder of Devi Mandir in USA with followers in US, Europe and India.

Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi founder of Sahaja Yoga, lived in the United Kingdom for many years.

Rudrabhayananda founder of Soul Searchers and the Atma Sadhana Kendra

Mahamandaleshwar Paramhans Swami Maheshwarananda founder of the system Yoga in Daily Life

Reginald Ray, vajracarya of Dharmaocean, senior student of Chögyam Trungpa

Yogiraj Sri Swami Satchidananda Invited to the West in 1966 by artist Peter Max. Coaxed to stay on, founded Yogaville and Integral Yoga International with senior disciples in solid worldwide network. U Thant Peace Award, B'nai B'rith Antidefamation League's award, and many more championing interfaith and world peace.
Viewpoints
Gurus and the Guru-shishya tradition have been criticized and assessed in the West by secular scholars, theologians, anti-cultists and skeptics.

Dr. David C. Lane proposes a checklist consisting of seven points to assess gurus in his book, Exposing Cults: When the Skeptical Mind Confronts the Mystical. One of his points is that spiritual teachers should have high standards of moral conduct and that followers of gurus should interpret the behavior of a spiritual teacher by following Ockham's razor and by using common sense, and, shouldn't naively use mystical explanations unnecessarily to explain immoral behavior. Another point Lane makes is that the bigger the claim a guru makes, such as the claim to be God, the bigger the chance is that the guru is unreliable. Dr. Lane's fifth point is that self-proclaimed gurus are likely to be more unreliable than gurus with a legitimate lineage.

Highlighting what he sees as the difficulty in understanding the guru from Eastern tradition in Western society, Dr. Georg Feuerstein, a well-known German-American Indologist, writes in the article Understanding the Guru from his book The Deeper Dimension of Yoga: Theory and practice:"The traditional role of the guru, or spiritual teacher, isn't widely understood in the West, even by those professing to practice Yoga or some other Eastern tradition entailing discipleship. [...] Spiritual teachers, by their very nature, swim against the stream of conventional values and pursuits. They are not interested in acquiring and accumulating material wealth or in competing in the marketplace, or in pleasing egos. They are not even about morality. Typically, their message is of a radical nature, asking that we live consciously, inspect our motives, transcend our egoic passions, overcome our intellectual blindness, live peacefully with our fellow humans, and, finally, realize the deepest core of human nature, the Spirit. For those wishing to devote their time and energy to the pursuit of conventional life, this kind of message is revolutionary, subversive, and profoundly disturbing.". In his Encyclopedic Dictionary of Yoga (1990), Dr. Feuerstein writes that the importation of yoga to the West has raised questions as to the appropriateness of spiritual discipleship and the legitimacy of spiritual authority. The Belgian Indologist Koenraad Elst criticized Storr's book for its avoidance of the term prophet instead of guru for several people. Elst asserts that this is possibly due to Storr's pro-Western, pro-Christian cultural bias.

Rob Preece, a psychotherapist and a practicing Buddhist, writes in The Noble Imperfection that while the teacher/disciple relationship can be an invaluable and fruitful experience, the process of relating to spiritual teachers also has its hazards. He writes that these potential hazards are the result of naiveté amongst Westerners as to the nature of the guru/devotee relationship, as well as a consequence of a lack of understanding on the part of Eastern teachers as to the nature of Western psychology. Preece introduces the notion of transference to explain the manner in which the guru/disciple relationship develops from a more Western psychological perspective. He writes: "In its simplest sense transference occurs when unconsciously a person endows another with an attribute that actually is projected from within themselves." In developing this concept, Preece writes that, when we transfer an inner quality onto another person, we may be giving that person a power over us as a consequence of the projection, carrying the potential for great insight and inspiration, but also the potential for great danger: "In giving this power over to someone else they've a certain hold and influence over us it's hard to resist, while we become enthralled or spellbound by the power of the archetype".

According to a professor of religious studies at Dawson College in Quebec, Susan J. Palmer, the word guru has acquired very negative connotations in France.

The psychiatrist Alexander Deutsch performed a long-term observation of a small cult, called The Family (not to be confused with The Family/Children of God), founded by an American guru called Baba or Jeff in New York in 1972, who showed increasingly schizophrenic behavior. Deutsch observed that this man's mostly Jewish followers interpreted the guru's pathological mood swings as expressions of different Hindu deities and interpreted his behavior as holy madness, and his cruel deeds as punishments that they'd earned. After the guru dissolved the cult in 1976, his mental condition was confirmed by Jeff's retrospective accounts to an author.

Jan van der Lans (1933-2002), a professor of the psychology of religion at the Catholic University of Nijmegen, wrote, in a book commissioned by the Netherlands based Catholic Study Center for Mental Health, about followers of gurus and the potential dangers that exist when personal contact between the guru and the disciple is absent, such as an increased chance of idealization of the guru by the student (myth making and deification), and an increase of the chance of false mysticism. He further argues that the deification of a guru is a traditional element of Eastern spirituality, but, when detached from the Eastern cultural element and copied by Westerners, the distinction between the person who is the guru and that which he symbolizes is often lost, resulting in the relationship between the guru and disciple degenerating into a boundless, uncritical personality cult.

In their 1993 book, The Guru Papers, authors Diana Alstadt and Joel Kramer reject the guru-disciple tradition because of what they see as its structural defects. These defects include the authoritarian control of the guru over the disciple, which is in their view increased by the guru's encouragement of surrender to him. Alstadt and Kramer assert that gurus are likely to be hypocrites because, in order to attract and maintain followers, gurus must present themselves as purer than and superior to ordinary people and other gurus.

According to the journalist Sacha Kester, in a 2003 article in the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant, finding a guru is a precarious matter, pointing to the many holy men in India and the case of Sathya Sai Baba whom Kester considers a swindler. In this article he also quotes the book Karma Cola describing that in this book a German economist tells author Gita Mehta, “It is my opinion that quality control has to be introduced for gurus. Many of my friends have become crazy in India”. She describes a comment by Suranya Chakraverti who said that some Westerners don't believe in spirituality and ridicule a true guru. Other westerners, Chakraverti said, on the other hand believe in spirituality but tend to put faith in a guru who is a swindler.
Notable scandals and controversies
Some notable scandals and controversies regarding gurus or the groups that they founded are:

The lifestyle of Osho/Bhagwan/Rajneesh with his 93 Rolls Royces at his disposal (though as a gift from his followers), a bioterrorist attack at The Dalles, Oregon by some of his followers, the group's successful effort to take control of the city of Antelope, Oregon, his unusual teachings that contradicted both traditional morality and Hindu norms, the group therapy sessions with little restraints, and the liberal sexual freedom that he promoted.

The Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway by Aum Shinrikyo founded by the guru Shoko Asahara in Japan.

Accusations of sexual abuse and false miracles performed by Sathya Sai Baba that resulted in a front page article in the magazine India Today, questions in the British parliament and European parliament, critical TV documentaries produced by the BBC and Danish Radio that were aired in the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark and Australia.

The lifestyle of Buddhist guru Chogyam Trungpa who in his later years raised controversy surrounding his open and active sex life with his students and his heavy drinking.

The recognition of the 17th Karmapa of Tibetan Buddhism is mired in controversy, with two candidates having been proposed by different authorities, and there's deep division among followers all over the world, with each side accusing the other of lying and wrongdoing. (see Karmapa controversy).Further Information
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