stripping the gurus - Brahma Kumaris Info

DA AVATAR, DA BOMB, DA BUM 143
sight which one might have been tempted to credit him from 1996,
and explicitly stating that he had not renounced his view of (or
love for, or devotion toward) Da as Realizer. Rather, he argued
simply that Da’s “World Teacher” status enjoindered upon him the
maintaining of a presence in the world, and the initiation of an
“even more aggressive outreach program” by the community, as
opposed to his ongoing seclusion.
An “even more aggressive outreach program.” To put a positive
spin on a “problematic” situation, and “spread the word” to more
people, thereby doing more harm? Or perhaps simply to warn potential
devotees as to “what they’re getting themselves into,” as if
that would then clear up all of the reported problems with the
community? (Would “Jim Jones with a warning label” have been
the solution to his “problematic” craziness?)
Again, as posters in Bob (2000)—themselves making no claim
to genius, but clearly adept in common sense—have insightfully
(and independently) pointed out:
I find it absurd that Wilber seems to attach more importance
to criticizing Da’s failure to appear in public forums than he
does to examining the very serious [alleged] abuses of trust
and misuse of power that have [reportedly] been perpetrated
by Da under the guise of spiritual teaching. In light of the
well-documented [reported] problems that Da has created in
his own life and his follower’s [sic] lives, it is completely irrelevant
to any evaluation of Da whether or not he accepts
Ken’s challenge to go out into the world at large. Who cares!
Why would anyone want to see Da broaden his influence by
speaking to a larger audience?
Precisely.
The full text of Wilber’s aforementioned (1998a) open letter to
the Daist Community is eminently worth reading, toward one’s
own disillusion regarding the caliber of advice given by even the
“brightest lights” in the spiritual marketplace. To summarize its
contents: Wilber states that he neither regrets nor retracts his past
endorsements of Adi Da; that it is only for cultural and legal considerations
(i.e., for evident protection when “Da Shit hits Da Fan”)
that he can no longer publicly give a blanket recommendation for
people to follow Da; that he is pleased that his own writings have
brought people to Da Avatar and hopes that they will continue to