Tabulated list and overview of some Eastern and Western Gurus and Masters
(incomplete listing)
|
|
|
|
|
Websites |
note (and disclaimer): I cannot emphasise too strongly that what is said here regarding the spiritual status of each guru is either my own personal (and perhaps arrogant) opinion or else the opinion of others. This listing should not be taken as a definitive statement or absolute truth. The judging of whether another teacher is genuine or not is a hazardous undertaking, and one can too easily come to the wrong conclusion, whether through personal bias or inclination or ignorance or simply insufficient information. And what one person judges to be enlightened another will not.
It is often said that you have to be enlightened yourself to be able to recognise this Quality in (and hence truly judge) others. Personally I do not think this is so, in fact this oft-repeated statement is is just a bit too pat for me - a bit too neat! As long as there is a deep and central sincerity, a receptivity to one's Divine Center, then one may have a valid intimation and insight and be able to judge whether another is worth following or not. Conversely, one may be enlightened in some or even many ways and still not be a valid judge of others, or judge them on a totally different level.
Especially wherever there are instances of abuse, manipulation, and coercian, one should be very wary about accepting any claims of authentic enlightenment on the part of a spiritual teacher. Hence the importance of research and carefully examining allegations, rather than dismissing them out of hand or, even worse, attacking and slandering those who make such allegations, often at great personal emotional cost and after much soul searching.
So this is an area where everyone has their own opinions, and their own opportunity for personal inquiry. Ultimately it is upto you yourself to come to your own opinion!
| Guru or Master | Organisation | Teaching | Abuse? | Category | Short summary, influence and present status |
| Adi Da
(Da Free John) |
Laughing Man Institute, Adidam | Eastern | Criticism, Problems with Adi Da, The Cult of Adi-Da?, re: Adi Da | A controversial guru, former disciple of Muktananda. Has changed his name many times. Some devotees have been traumatised by him, others benefitted. Claims to be first the avatar of this age and for that matter the only 7th Stage Realiser of all time. His material is very well written. I would interpret him as having powerful experiences of enlightenment but whose personality/vehicle is not strong enough to cope with the downflux of higher light. A lot of lower Affective power, ego inflation and intermediate zone perspective. Large following in the West - chiefly in America. Large literary production. | |
| Sri Aurobindo | Sri Aurobindo Society | Hindu | None | A visionary philosopher, a poet, a meta-enlightened being, an avatar, attained the Manifest Absolute, and worked towards establishing it on Earth. After his death his work was carried on by his spiritual co-worker Mirra Alfassa ("The Mother"). Some limited influence among certain intellectuals, a small but dedicated following worldwide | |
| H. B. Blavatsky | Theosophy | Occult | None | Avidya?/Astral | Almost single-handedly initiated the Western occult/esoteric revival. Not an enlightened being, but still enormously significant. |
| Andrew Cohen | No formal organisation | Integral movement | Extensive psychological manipulation and financial exploitation of followers, under the guise of "breaking down the ego". See What Enlightenment? blog for more. | IZ-a but may be only sporadic | Small following in America, mostly on Ken Wilber's recommendation. His magazine  What Is Enlightenment? is distributed widely |
| Aleister Crowley | O.T.O. | Occult | No | IZ-a Subtle | Occultist, prankster, hedonist, poet, writer, considered an avatar of the new aeon by his followers; heavy astral consciousness, the single most influential figure in 20th century Hermeticism; influenced Wicca and (indirectly) L.R. Hubbard. |
| G. I Gurdjieff | "The Work", "Fouth Way" etc | Occult | Guru: A master manipulator
Organisation: No |
IZ-a Gross? | Tremendous physical and psychic consciousness, power and will, not enlightened, a manipulator, his ideas have been subtly influential throughout much of western esotericism, even reappearing in New Age form. |
| Lord Hamsah Manarah. | Aumist religion ['Aumisme'] | New Age | need to research | IZ-a/IZ-b subtle | Claimed to be the reincarnation of Christ, Buddha, Napoleon and Pythagoras. Teaches he is to save humanity from self-destruction. Such inflated claims indicate he has been fooled by impressions from the from the Affective worlds or Intermediate Zone. About 40 monks/nuns and about 100 lay followers, 1,000 worldwide. |
| L. Ron Hubbard; | Scientology | a little of everything! | abuses galore! | Avidya | A former science fiction writer (I once read one of his early stories - quite clever!), he realised the best way to make a million was start his own religion. The greatest con-artist of our age. Thanks to courting movie stars who are given preferential treatment and in return provide oodles of good publicity, The Church of Scientology is as powerful as ever |
| C. J. Jung | Analytical Psychology | Psychology | None | IZ-a Subtle? | A brilliant analyst of human nature, student of mythic symbols, insightful but not enlightened, treated the women in his life badly. Enormous influence outside psychology, one of the great figures of the 20th century |
| Prem Rawat; formerly Guru Maharaji | Divine Light Mission, Elan Vital | "The Knowledge" is from Sant Mat | Avidya | Made millions from his devotees from the 60s onwards, even his own Boeing. I have been told by someone who seems to me respectable that his followers still resort to thuggery and so warned against criticising him publically (I cannot confirm this).  Criticism on Wikipedia |
Started out as the ice-cream eating boy guru hailed as an avatar or "The Lord Of The Universe"; basically an average Joe, his status as a master is luducrious. I heard him talk when he came to Melbourne. In no way an enlightened being. Formerly big following in the West |
| Mahareshi Mahesh Yogi | TM | Hindu | The movement sells fake mantras and spiritual techniques at progressively very high prices. |
Avidya | Basically took advantage of his connections with the Beatles to set himself up in the West. Too much money element for my liking, but has not abused his position sexually. Not an enlightened being. T.M. is a big organisation, that is making lots and lots of money. Their so-called "Sidha program" involves contracting certain buttock muscles allowing you to "bounce". The Tibetans did that ages ago (Read Alexandra David Neel's "Magic and Mystery in Tibet"). The practice can be harmful for one's psychological well-being, probably also physically harmful. |
| Shri Mataji Nirmala Devi Shri Mataji | Sahaja yoga | Hindu | Yes | IZ-a Subtle? | Seems to me she started out as a basically decent even if self-deluded lady, got caught up in the guru power trip. Seriosly inflated ego resulting in her (& her followers) belief that she is the avatar of this age. Not an enlightened being. Possibly traces of Intermediate zone to draw in the followers, although when I heard her talk she seemed like an ordinary person. Some following in the West |
| Meher Baba | -- | Hindu/Sufi | None | An interesting one. Clearly sincere, despite certain ridiculous themes in his teachings. Never abused his position. I would say a genuine avatar, but his personality was not strong enough to hold the Force, hence erratic behaviour. Decent following world-wide | |
| Swami Muktananda | Siddha Yoga | Hindu | Guru: Seems to have fallen in later years - sex with female devotees under guise of "Tantric Initiation". Also there was physical violence (or at least threats thereof) against those who spoke out
Organisation: Followuing his death the movement schismed; the main faction following the sister, another the brother; need to research more |
IZ-a or IZ-b | A sincere and decent teacher, although it seems in later years he fell prey to the guru power trip, started taking sexual advantage of young female followers (all in the name of "Tantric initiation"). Because of this, not an enlightened being, but nevertheless attained a high spiritual status (read his bio Play of Consciousness). Most certainly Intermediate zone Siddha Yoga still going in the West , despite it's incredibly amaturish approach to yoga and it's lack of enlightened leadership. A church for middle class people who have gone beyond exoteric religion but are not able to stand by their own light. |
| Patrizia Norelli-Bachelet | Aeon Centre of Cosmology | Integral Yoga | None towards followers | IZ-a | Inflated claims of avatarhood, and asserts that her son is a reincarnation of Sri Aurobindo. Very small following, a number of weighty books and several websites |
| Yoshikazu Okada | Mahikari | Japanese | None? (need to research) | Japanese nationalistic religious movement - through initiation you are able to give healing light from your hands. The founder has been accused of association in Japenese war crimes. Small following in Japan and in the West | |
| Osho Rajneesh | Orange People | Syncretic | Guru: Yes; Fled the US with over 100 federal charges, leaving behind 84 Rolls Royces.
Organisation: Under Ma Sheela things were pretty nasty; the following now is non-harmful |
IZ-b | Basically a mixture of sincerity and fake. Presented himself as the guru for the rich. There is no denying his affection for his followers, nor his love of all the money, rolls royces, and (from his Western female followers) sexual favours his office gave him. Not a true enlightened being, a good example of an Intermediate zone guru. Tremendously influential in the New Age movement, mainly because of the appeal to the infantile western attitude of being spiritual but keeping your materialistic ego and selfish attitude at the same time. His 'Zorba-Rajneesh' discoteks were all over Europe at one period; Zorba is the symbol of the ultimate worldly male chauvinist |
| A.C. Bhaktivedanta Prabupad | International Society for Krishna Consciousness ("Hare Krishnas" | Hindu | Guru: Prabupad himself was a decent guy
Organisation: Some serious abuses, including sexual abuse of children - apparently these concerns are now being addressed |
A sincere and decent teacher, never bused his position in any way. His teachings however are nothing but fundamentalist Vaishvanism. Not an enlightened being. Hare Krishna sect remains a viable "New Religion" (albeit a fundamentalistic one). Respected among hippy/alternative people because of strong Vegetarian stance. After Prabhupad's death there were some nasty goings on in the leadership of his organsiation. At least one of his personally appointed successors was chaged with racketeering and conspiracy to murder. | |
| Swami Rajeshwaranand Giriji Maharaj | need to research | Hindu | was arrested in September '95 as a party to the murder of his lover's husband. The 26-year old Manoj Girothra, husband of Savita who was having an affair with the 'godman', was murdered on December 3rd, 1994, some two months after his marriage. Two professional hitmen had been hired by the 'godman' |
A 'popular godman' in India, but clearly from activities lacking in spiritual consciousness. Large following in India and abroad, | |
| Bala Sai Baba | need to research | Hindu | need to research | The Palghat (Kerala) born Bala Sai Baba (the Child Sai Baba), now 35 years old. He claims to be the real Sai avatar, has set up an ashram in Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh and resembles Sathya Sai Baba trait for trait. | |
| Sathya Sai Baba | Sai organisation | Hindu | Guru: Serious allegations of sexual abuse
Organisation: The main organisation is either covering up the abuses or is in denial; ex-devotees who have tried to bring this to light have been defamed by slanderous devotees - one example; another example, - My experience with all this . |
IZ-a Subtle | A real controversial fellow. People have had many psychic expereinces, and some of the vibhuti materialisation on photos etc may be authentic (like the weeping virgin mary statues, probably a similar principle), but most of the so-called materialisations (of baubles for devotees) are sleight of hand. I have been to his ashram. He has been called everything from con-artist to paedophile and homosexual (and even anti-christ and devil) to avatar. Faked his birthdate to be considered an avatar. I would say gets his power from the Affective worlds. Huge following in India (many millions), where his high status has prevented legal inquiry into the allegations against him. Somewheat smaller following in the West |
| Swami Shyam | Advaita | Hindu | accused of seducing the wives of his followers (Robert Priddy knows followers, and informs me that some agree it is so. website |
a current advaitin guru, at Kulu in the Himalayas. Popular with Westerners (esp. Scandinavians) | |
| Sri Swami Sivananda | The Divine Life Society | Hindu | None (need to research) | Seems to be basically a decent guy; Small following in India and the West | |
| Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche | none as such? | Tibetan Buddhist | Sex with female devotees, emotionally distant | IZ-a | The original "crazy wizdom" adept in the West, alcoholic, Well respected and widely read in the alternative movement |
| Ken Wilber | Integral Institute | Integral | Minor cultic tendencies, not abusive; my critique. |
IZ-a | Extremely charismatic, very influential due to his voluminous literary output. One of the main intellectuals in the New Age/ New Paradigm movement today. |
 |
 |
 |
