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| ==The character of gurus and assessing them== | ==The character of gurus and assessing them== | ||
| The British psychiatry professor Anthony Storr argues in his book 'Feet of clay - A Study of gurus' that gurus share common character traits (e.g. being loners without friends) and that some suffer from a mild form of ]. He also wrote in the book that the gurus who are eloquent are the ones who are more likely to be unreliable and dangerous. The scholar ] wrote that a charlatan who cons people is not as dangerous as a guru who really believes in his ]. The 'bigger' the claims a guru makes, the bigger the chance that he is a charlatan or deluded. | The British psychiatry professor Anthony Storr argues in his book 'Feet of clay - A Study of gurus' that gurus share common character traits (e.g. being loners without friends) and that some suffer from a mild form of ]. He also wrote in the book that the gurus who are ] are the ones who are more likely to be unreliable and dangerous. The scholar ] wrote that a charlatan who cons people is not as dangerous as a guru who really believes in his ]. The 'bigger' the claims a guru makes, the bigger the chance that he is a charlatan or deluded. | ||
| '''Guru''' is also the ] name of the planet ], which in ] is believed to exert teaching influences. | '''Guru''' is also the ] name of the planet ], which in ] is believed to exert teaching influences. | ||
Revision as of 19:59, 16 February 2004
Original and literal meaning
The word guru means teacher in Sanskrit and other Sanskrit-derived languages like Hindi, Bengali and Gujurati but literally comes from the aksharas "gu" and "ru" where "gu" means darkness and "ru" means the act of removal so it is used for a teacher, someone who dispels darkness (ignorance) of the mind (person) and is a title of reverance used to address spiritual teachers or personal mentors in Hinduism. In this sense, guru is used more or less interchangeably with satguru (literally: teacher of truth). Compare also Swami.
Current usage
Sometimes, in more recent usage of the word guru, it means anyone who makes philosophical or religious statements independent of an established school of philosophy or religion and attracts and accepts followers because of this. Sometimes Christians use the word guru as a pejorative label. On the other hand, some Christian scholars like the Dutch theologian Reendert Kranenborg accept the word guru for Jesus. Often, dependent on the teachings of the guru, the followers will see the guru as a prophet, saint or avatar.
The word has acquired a negative connotation in western countries, likely due to the prominence of several self-proclaimed "gurus" in the US during the 1960s and 1970s "New Age" movement (see e.g. Osho), who used Hindu terminology without having much else in common with mainstream Hinduism. But also due to more traditional gurus who didn’t practise what they preached especially with regards to celibacy and luxury. Some gurus are charlatans, self deceived or cult leaders or a combination of this.
The character of gurus and assessing them
The British psychiatry professor Anthony Storr argues in his book 'Feet of clay - A Study of gurus' that gurus share common character traits (e.g. being loners without friends) and that some suffer from a mild form of schizophrenia. He also wrote in the book that the gurus who are eloquent are the ones who are more likely to be unreliable and dangerous. The scholar David C. Lane wrote that a charlatan who cons people is not as dangerous as a guru who really believes in his delusions. The 'bigger' the claims a guru makes, the bigger the chance that he is a charlatan or deluded.
Guru is also the Sanskrit name of the planet Jupiter, which in vedic astrology is believed to exert teaching influences.
See also Contemporary Hindu Movements.
Incomplete list of gurus
- Ram Dass or Richard Alpert
- Mata Amritanandamayi or Ammachi
- Marshall Applewhite leader of Heaven's Gate
- Shoko Asahara former guru of Aum Shinrikyo
- Aurobindo
- Madame Blavatsky founder of Theosophy
- Chinmayananda
- Aleister Crowley
- Dayananda Saraswati
- Sri Chinmoy
- Swami Dayananda
- G. I. Gurdjieff
- J._Krishnamurti
- U.G.Krishnamurti
- Caitanya Mahaprabhu
- Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
- Ramana Maharshi
- Meher Baba
- Prabhupada A.C. Bhaktivedanta founder of the ISKCON/Hare Krishna movement
- Muktananda
- Narayana Guru
- Neem Karoli Baba
- Swami Ramatirtha
- Shirdi Sai Baba
- Sathya Sai Baba
- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
- Sivananda
- Swami Vivekananda
- Paramahansa Yogananda
- Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh or Osho
- Ramakrishna_Paramhansa
- Sri Yukteswar Giri
External Links
The term guru has since passed into wider metaphorical use. In hacker culture, Guru is an expert. Implies not only wizard but also a history of being a knowledge resource for others. Less often, used (with a qualifer) for other experts on other systems, as in VMS guru. (The definition is from Jargon file.)
There is also a 1990s alternative rapper named Guru.