stripping the gurus - Brahma Kumaris Info

SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE A GOD 165
If Andrew has now surpassed Poonja, that presumably places
him too above Maharshi, and second in line to the Buddha himself.
Freely casting aside any remaining sense of perspective, then,
in experiencing unexpected resistance to his humble “revolution,”
Cohen (1992) wrote that it was only the “hypocrisy and self-deception”
of others in the face of his “truth” that caused them to be
afraid of him.
More recently, following the publication of Tarlo’s exposé of
her claimed experiences in Cohen’s spiritual community, significant
concerns were publicly raised about the health of that environment.
In response, Andrew (1999) gave his explanation as to
the origin of the controversies then swirling around him, as being
the product only of his own uncompromising integrity.
Unfortunately, integrity enforced from within the context of
an allegedly “fiercely controlling” perspective, coupled with absolute
authority in that same position, is still a chilling concept,
bound to result in disaster. “Being true to their ideals” in such a
context is, indeed, probably something which the leaders of any
totalitarian regime could claim just as validly.
Sociologist Hannah Arendt, who covered [Nazi] Adolf Eichmann’s
trial, made the telling statement: “The sad and very
uncomfortable truth of the matter was that it was not his fanaticism
but his very conscience that prompted [him] to
adopt his uncompromising attitude.” Eichmann had said
himself that he would have sent his own father to the gas
chamber if ordered to (Winn, 2000; italics added).
* * *
It was not so long ago that Cohen was reportedly teaching that
“there are no accidents” (in Tarlo, 1997). Conversely, he was (2000)
emphasizing the need for all individuals to “take responsibility for
their entire karmic predicament”:
The reason that The Law of Volitionality [the second of the
“five tenets” of Cohen’s formalized path] is such a challenging
teaching is that we live in a world where most of us are
convinced that we couldn’t possibly be responsible for everything
that we do. And the reason that we believe we couldn’t
possibly be responsible for everything that we do is simply
because we are convinced that we are victims....