stripping the gurus - Brahma Kumaris Info

164 STRIPPING THE GURUS
never been the Self-realized “meditation masters” of this world
who have stood at the front line of any battles, environmental or
otherwise. Rather, it has always been the looked-down-upon and
“less spiritually advanced” activists who have taken the risks and
effected those changes. (Rare exception: Zen roshi Robert Aitken,
whose efforts have at times “depart[ed] radically from the Japanese
Zen tradition in which opposition to political authority has
been negligible and civil disobedience unknown” [Tworkov, 1994].
In his demonstrations against nuclear testing and sexual inequality,
however, he has surely stood side-by-side with many others for
whom Zen and the like were little more than distant curiosities.
Yet, they were every bit as able to see “how to proceed” as he was.
Still, both Aitken and Cohen are arguably doing better than the
enlightened Wilber himself, if one considers his black leather furniture
[Horgan, 2003a] and Thanksgiving turkey dinners [Wilber,
2000a] from an animal rights perspective. One need not even agree
with that often-judgmental alternative view in order to see that
Wilber is in absolutely no position to lecture ecologists or the like
on how to create a better world by becoming “more like him.”)
Cohen’s books themselves are all published by Moksha Press,
which is again simply the self-publishing vehicle for his own teachings.
In any such situation, one would confidently expect not merely
the text but the promotional materials for any publication to be
at least vetted, if not actually written, by the author-publisher
himself. Thus, the inflated “About the Author” description of
Cohen’s greatness which opened this chapter could not reasonably
have been put into print without his own full approval.
* * *
Cohen eventually split from his own guru, Poonja, upon learning of
various indiscretions in the master’s conduct, including his having
reportedly fathered a child via a blond, Belgian disciple. He explained
that communication breakdown simply in terms of himself
having “surpassed [his] own Teacher” (Cohen, 1992).
Of course, all humility aside, Poonja obviously considered himself
to have accomplished the same “surpassing the Teacher” feat.
For he regarded only the Buddha as being above him, in spite of
claiming Ramana Maharshi as his own guru and teaching lineage.
That is, Poonja could not have been “second” to the Buddha if he
had not, in his own mind, surpassed his teacher, Maharshi.