Guru Trap
 

You can see it here on this forum so I thought would point something out which I call the Guru Trap.

They use abstract concepts to lift themselves above others.

Here are some:

Unconditional Love
Cosmic Unity
enlightement
Karma
lack of ego
complete surrender
free of judgement
and of course.....true self

They will try to disarm anyone who questions these abstract concepts by telling them that A) they come from ego and B) they will only understand it when they experience it.

"what is unconditional love?" someone may ask.
"That I love you despite asking such an ego bound question." could be their reply.

They are very clever in just referring to ego or your lack of wisdom, understanding and knowledge if you disagree, challenge, or ask questions. They avoid answering the question which more questions and avoid answering altogether. They promote ways of living which our minds are not designed to and will often say they have reached these levels yet their behaviours will suggest otherwise. Its also a way of them being able to look down upon you and for you to try and raise yourself up by trying to be an abstract concept which of course....ain't going to happen which keeps the guru nicely above you and you still spending your energy trying to reach levels that cannot be reached.

The scary part is that they will use the abstract concepts to justify what happens in the world and will label you as egoic, caught up in the illusion, not enlightened enough to understand.

Be the observer and not the student or believer of people like this and watch their behaviour as they will show their true colours.

I hear ya but for me personally, it is not an issue to become trapped by anyones words. It just isn't.
Not because I am beyond such a thing but because I don't believe the situation exists.
I believe that when/if we get sucked in, we usually needed to and we usually find our way out with the added benefit of not ever being sucked into a particular trap again.
In other words we are drawn to what we need, even if it is to see that we don't need it.
That is a description of how my life has gone anyways.
just my thoughts..............james

So it seems ...

If that's what worked for you then fabulous. The thread just draws attention to people who may be caught up in something they don't need to be part of. It just provides another perspective to explore or not.

Hiya Shepherd and all

The above in bold used to have me stomping around the house tearing my hair out when I read it. I was so frustrated and angry.

Now I tend to smile and roll my eyes a little. As I see it, these 'gurus' have their heads stuck so far up their own backsides, they are blinded by their own excrement.

Squatch

...hee hee :D

Love the Opening Post Shepherd...you state many reasons why I really don't talk about things anymore here...or on any spiritual board/group, etc.

I understand. The thread is a good one IMO. :smile:

I don't often laugh out loud but this made me roar!

(Cracking up! :D )

For what it is worth, I don't think people do and say these things to be or sound superior, in general, consciously.
That understanding allows me to be somewhat understanding.

Yeah I can dig that ... and I guess what also needs to be highlighted is that in the process of drawing attention to what 'seems to be so' that folk don't actually reinforce what is being questioned ... it seems like there is more occurring than what there actually is and what is occurring for one is often occurring for most others ... we are all constantly making realizations however large or small ... how challenging a thread would be if stipulated that we only use the word 'I' to describe our experience ...