I believe I am just plain too westernized to have a guru. The thought of a guru makes me cringe…even after practicing yoga thirty years now.
When I think of guru I think of some dazed out student with glassy eyes blindly believing everything The Guru says. Of course I would, I’m American.
I also think of some famously guru-student relationships gone bad – these very painful-to-this-day experiences just supported my thinking. Guru is widely revered and trusted by the community. Guru then embezzles, has sex with minors in the community, or some other untrustworthy action.
Hey – what did these people expect? You put your blind faith in someone and sometimes, they will take advantage of it.
And yet, recently, I’ve made some observations to break my guru-disdaining armor. One of my teachers, while not expecting to be called a guru, is shaman, a healer. My relationship with her is part teacher, part friend, part parental-like. I have another teacher that has had a long term guru- and again the way she describes the relationship is in part a deep friendship, mutual respect, student-teacher, parent-child.
And finally, I just reread Biography of a Yogi which describes in detail the authors relationship with his guru. Again I see the mutual respect and symbiotic relationship this can be.
So will I ever have a guru? Maybe I do already with my yoga teachers but my western mind just can’t acknowledge it…yet!
Comments