stripping the gurus - Brahma Kumaris Info

GURUS AND PRISONERS 395
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No amount of flaws shown by the spiritual teacher will dissuade
the truly sincere seeker from becoming involved and deferential.
Not, at least, if he places enlightenment/salvation as a high
enough goal in his own life, and believes that the holy figure in
question can help him get to that state faster than any other route.
Thus, as Butterfield (1994) noted in the context of his own initiation
into Trungpa’s path, with the latter having given that Vajrayana
transmission via a rambling, nearly nonsensical, stream-ofconsciousness
delivery:
He could have said very little to dissuade me, as long as I
remained convinced that he knew what I wanted to learn.
Ponder that point deeply, for it means that the utilization of
“deceptive recruiting” as a means of defining what a potentially
destructive group is, is far less relevant than one might imagine it
to be. For, even without such deception, one may well truly believe
(on the basis of “genius” recommendations and the like) that one or
another guru-figure is a “great Realizer,” and that he can lead you
to the same exalted state if you just “surrender completely” to him.
And in that case, you will put up with any amount of “Rude Boy”
mistreatment in that relationship, and consider it to be for your
own benefit, even if you have been warned about it beforehand.
Even just in normal human relationships, if someone has
something we want—sex, money, etc.—we will tolerate a great
deal of grief and mistreatment in order to get it. And being told upfront
that the other person is “trouble,” or that we will be asked to
compromise our principles in the process, won’t stop us from going
willing into that, if we just want the “prize” badly enough.
So, how badly do you want enlightenment?
The guru claimed to offer access to profoundly ecstatic spiritual
realization, and the only way to gain access to that experience
was by playing his game. The better you played the
game, by showing your devotion and obedience, the greater
your contact with the guru and the more frequent your opportunities
for grace (Lowe, 1996).
Interestingly, the Daists have reportedly (Lowe, 1996) attempted
to get the “disappointingly” tame Garbage and the Goddess
out of circulation. Likewise, Trungpa’s followers, when an ex-