January 6th, 2024

 Kakkar says that the Indian orientation is fundamentally at odds with the Western orientation in that the former believes in some form of spiritual energy that is overarching, pervasive and immanent. This is not all explained by the cold logic that is the mainstay of Western thinking- or rather Western Enlightened thinking, powered as it is by Logic, Rationality and Ideology.  This is why, he believes, that the Western thinkers tend to diss the Guru-Subject relationship within the Hindu tradition with a lot of malevolence. They mock the submissiveness of the subject, although the subject may be wealthy he is always in subservience to this Guru- a mysterious and hairy exhibit that seems to have a charisma- which in the Western thinker's mind, can be compared to the likes of a Rasputin. In general, the subject is mocked at and the object or Guru is vilified. 

There are numerous Gurus who turn out to be somewhat Rasputinesque figures, and in remote villages in India, they are also known to exploit in numerous ways their often hapless subjects.  I remember one Guru Ram Rahim- curiously named quack presumably catering to people of both Hindu and Muslim persuasion, who turned out to be a  robber and sex criminal. There is also Sadhguru who is very vocal and very visible- and he has been called a quack by more than one person of repute- most of them being hindu by the way. In case of Sadhguru, I personally keep vacillating between thinking of him as a sensible and wise man and a self-indulgent charlatan who plays golf and rides bikes. I am sure I am not the only one. Of the many curious aspects of India- and the many complicated reasons that are ascribed to why it still exists and has not imploded already- is this Guru-Subject motif. In my close circles, it seems to be prevalent amongst wealthy and elite, whereas in rural India it is prevalent amongst the poorest of the poor as well. It is only the middling that don't seem to follow it much. But I really don't know - I could be mistaken. I only know India through the eyes of my relatives and closest of friends. 

It does seem an intriguing idea when you describe the Guru as a second parent. The original parent(s) were purported to deliver you from infancy to adulthood. But becoming an adult is hardly enough preparation for the travails of the resist of your life. A guide within adulthood, that provides direction and also heals emotionally and keeps your sense of self intact as a cohesive mass-spirit. Failing which the self-object may potentially shattered to a million pieces. How interesting psychology is- and how little progress we seem to have made to understand the workings of the inner world. Infact I think if more is revealed about the inner world, the progress of the outer world may well decline. Maybe we would not have electric vehicles to data centers or whatever. Personally, I think that would be just fine. We had life before it. In any case, as I have mentioned in of my rare tweets of yore, I honestly believe progress, particularly scientific or technological progress should slow down or even stop for a decade or two. And in this period there should be  collective effort to homogenize humanity- to bring the vanguard closer to the leader, to bridge this wealth gap between the two camps, to bridge the knowledge gap between the working of the outer and inner world.  To rebalance a bit based on ethical, moral and humanitarian grounds- leave the profit motive aside for a moment. This will slow down evolution too. and that is no problem either.  

The question is, in my kind of Indian sub-culture I have had little exposure to God men. My maternal grandfather was a devotee of Sri Baba of Puttaputti. This was a mass guru with millions of followers. But today I see people have very private gurus who only guide a very small number of chosen people. And then I wonder, these guys must be paying the gurus well for it. As mentioned the two instances of this I have seen are both remarkably wealthy. So while there may well be time-tested tradition of seeking gurus, today it must run on a profit motive. And fairly so- it is a job like any other. And the value it can provide is  supposedly incalculable.

For me personally, it makes me very uncomfortable to think that I would need someone else to guide me- that I could not guide myself. It is ego- and vague notion that I am enough and don't need anyone else. Submission, is the main tenet of this relationship. I will submit to you that getting me to submit to a guru will not be easy. Having said that, it is something for me to consider for the future.