The Not Boring Guru
File under: Blogs of Note
Once again, the comments on this blog are being graced by an unusual presence, a person who understands why big-time gurudom doesn't do what it is supposed to do. Meet the Bored Guru and his Gurucifixion:
A spiritual guru works most of the times like a psychiatrist, at least he is forced to be one. He should be strong in the dealing of the psyche more than dealings with consciousness. Many times such psychological detections will earn the 'all knowing insightful divine guru' title to the guru more easily.While his blog is a little thin on content for now, it's huge in understanding about gurudom, apparently from an inside perspective. It brings a lightness of being to know such people are out there, making small but important strides at exposing the authentic spiritual truth buried under the mountain of ignorance heaped there by tradition, superstition and the greed of your average big-time guru.
Labels: Blogs of Note
posted by guruphiliac @ 8:44 PM
45 Comments:
: ) - 1st thing that struck me, is how a position like this is filled with a certain anxiety and wariness. I have seen Sri Sri squirming at people who blatantly would stare at him, move close, "eat him up". How trapped mustn't he be. Won't he ever have any despiseful feelings towards his devotees? Treat him in a normal respectful way, and he follows you... The devotees run after him, sometimes with "ugly" ambitions and twisted ideas around him knowing your entire personal history. I believe he is utterly sick and tired of being a guru, but he would be at loss if he let people know his true feelings. How many more years of this delusional you-know-everything, please bless me kind of game? - pick a rose and bless yourself.. - I wish for the truth of the god-damned-guru-matter to enter the light.. thank you bored guru!!
while it is interesting to read the first hand narration of a guru's private life and thoughts, it would do a world of good, if he also described, what gave him the determination to stuck to his stand, than give in, than play along and become famous and rich like his counterparts. A unique attempt by some nameless guru to expose, the darker side of spiritual razzmatazz.
" it's huge in understanding about gurudom, apparently from an inside perspective.."
Absolutely Jody.
This guy could also be bored writer or just bored guy, period! Get down off the cross, someone needs the wood!
Aint this some paradox that a famous guru, who fake enlightenment is doing so, out in public (usually) and a guru who decry such a fame seeking has to do so through some blog anonymously unknown to the world? The price to pay for being honest in this world can be high.
>>>" ) - 1st thing that struck me, is how a position like this is filled with a certain anxiety and wariness."<<<
folks, what are we talking about here? someone supposedly "realized" in a state of "anxiety and wariness"? or "bored guru" sharing his "feelings" about the guru trade in a blog? "some nameless guru"...lol! a guru's "private thoughts and feelings"? Does "being honest" include admitting that you don't know any more than the ordinary schmuck on the street about "realization"? geez, everytime I think it's gotten as stupid as it can get....it just keeps on surprising me.
seen too much
What is enlightenment anyway? Too many supposedly enlightened gurus became corrupt and exploitive once they go big time. This is troubling to say the least.
Would someone who knows he/she is enlightened but not playing the guru game please give some clarification of what is like to become enlightened? Do you still have worldly problems like money and health issues? Or such concerns doesn't bother you any more? Do you still feel pain in your body when hurt or you can choose to be out of your body?
someone supposedly "realized" in a state of "anxiety and wariness"?
Why not? Realization is a recognition of an ongoing truth. That truth lives in us all, despite what's cooking in the neurons. Just because the ongoing revelation of self-realization has been recognized by a jiva doesn't mean that jiva's mind becomes instantly cleansed of less than pleasant emotions.
"bored guru" sharing his "feelings" about the guru trade in a blog?
Seems legit to me.
a guru's "private thoughts and feelings"?
When somebody presents themselves as a self-realized guru, you have three probable profiles. One, they are self-realized and do know what they are talking about; two, they are deluded about the state of their understanding; and three, they are trying to con you, either out of a sense of self-importance or a desire to get into your pants, or just your pants' pockets. I'm going with my gut that BG is a one, but can accept others might feel he's a two, although only because they hold erroneous ideas about the effects that self-realization has on a life. I'm fairly certain he's not a three.
everytime I think it's gotten as stupid as it can get....it just keeps on surprising me.
Methinks you are holding a few expectations about self-realization that are filtering the stupid to you.
Whether this guy is as down to earth and authentic as his writing "sounds" or just a very skilled writer animating a character, it's a fascinating glimpse at how it is (or may well be) behind the eyes of an honest person in the guru biz. Great find, Jodyji -- one that ratifies my own decision to undertake such an endeavor either with total dedication/commitment or not at all!
Realization is a recognition of an ongoing truth.
If truth is realized in a stroke, then that truth is so definite and probably can be purchased online. The only difference between the realized and non-realized is being with the ongoing flow of truth or not. It is being eternally now and being eternally forever.
If truth is realized in a stroke, then that truth is so definite and probably can be purchased online.
Not if it's a simple, initial witnessing of what has always been, yet until that point remained too subtle to notice, something that stays with one as an ongoing witness to the "flow," as you put it.
There is a point where one comes into a recognition of their nondual truth. Were this not the case, we'd either have no realizers, or everyone would be a realizer. I realize [wink] the inherent problems with making such a demarcation, that there is really no real difference between a realizer and yet-to-be-a-realizer with regards to the nondual truth of the Self. However, the whole idea of "guru" rests on this definition of realization, that at a point in one's life, a certain truth is seen, and it is seen to have always been seen, only we weren't noticing what we were seeing until we saw it.
This brings up another problem: who is seeing. That's tough to define. I characterize jnana as the ongoing revelation of one's nondual truth occurring within the context of one's consciousness. It may be that an individual can not "see" the Self, but the Self certainly "sees" or is aware of itself, creating a kind of reflection in awareness that can be picked up and noticed by the mind. Why we all aren't all seeing it already is another discussion. Being the overly-opinionated person I am, I have some thoughts on that as well, but we'll leave them for another time.
one that ratifies my own decision to undertake such an endeavor either with total dedication/commitment or not at all!
Please, sir! Begin this noble project post-haste!
...or just a very skilled writer animating a character...
'Encouraging' words indeed. Good to know that besides rattling on the mike endlessly about NOTHING, I can write well too. I hope i will do a lot better in the days to come. In the past two hectic days of thumping the key pad, I seem to have picked up the netiquette reasonably well.
>>"everytime I think it's gotten as stupid as it can get....it just keeps on surprising me.
Methinks you are holding a few expectations about self-realization that are filtering the stupid to you."
Possibly! Just following the old Hindu based "rules"...what's a "guru"? how to tell if one is "real"..blah blah blah! If someone calls himself a "guru" (bored or not), I tend to assume that he is presenting the context in which he wants to be viewed. Frankly, I personally prefer Adyashanti...who refuses to call himself a "guru" or to accept the projections of students...comparing his talks with the whining of "bored guru" is what prompted me to write.You can see Adyashanti very compassionately and with a great deal of humor and hummility, turning students back upon themselves whenever this projection thing comes up. I don't think that a "realized being" (whatever that might actually be) is beyond emotion or feeling. Nisargadatta discusses it pretty openly in his books and his words ring true to me. Not being fully "realized" myself , I can only speculate of course..but I know stinky cheese when I smell it...
seen too much and thought about it as well
Dear Bored, I've noticed that we get the clients , the students , the gurus we deserve, no need to crawl up on the cross , just get to work on yourself.
Offhand, I'd say our friend's blogging is part of the "work" that "yomomma" is recommending. I dunno about the "deserve" presumption, though -- if that's generally true, then old Krishnamurti must have had some heavy karma, because some of his observations/complaints about those who came to him are strikingly similar to Sri Boredji's!
If someone calls himself a "guru" (bored or not), I tend to assume that he is presenting the context in which he wants to be viewed
Its probably the need to tell the world that guru is neither a four letter dirty word nor that exclusive divinity it apparently brands itself in this world, as it has come to be these days.
who refuses to call himself a "guru"
only because he knows that it has become a dirty job. Besides, he also probably knows the behavioral patterns of a seeker, if he called himself a guru. the idea here is to clean up all the occluding ideas that surround a 'guru' at work and not get rid of the concept itself.
You can see Adyashanti very compassionately and with a great deal of humor and hummility, turning students back upon themselves whenever this projection thing comes up.
Because if he called himself as a guru, the seeker may not listen and end up behaving erroneously with him like how it happens with 'this' bored guru often. Infact 'this' bored guru too applies the similar strategy many times. It is easy to renounce what you cant handle, than to bring clarity to it.
seen too much and thought about it as well
sometimes that is a problem in itself
Dear Bored, I've noticed that we get the clients , the students , the gurus we deserve, no need to crawl up on the cross , just get to work on yourself.
Scream and shout as loud and lewd as you can, you are still not going to get the kind of attention you seek.
Offhand, I'd say our friend's blogging is part of the "work" that "yomomma" is recommending.
This is called clarity of thought and perception.
Why we all aren't all seeing it already is another discussion.
Why some see it so well and why some are almost seeing it and why some never see it constitutes what we may want to call as the world. The machinary of this world perhaps needs to spice it up or fuel itself only this way, to run longer and promisingly hopeful.
Scream and shout as loud and lewd as you can, you are still not going to get the kind of attention you seek.
methinks he doth protest too much. all i'm saying is that you appear to be complaining too much about others, and painting your self a victim. you provided the imagery, (guru on the cross!) if I'm pissing you off there is probably some truth to it. and talk about seeking attention.! If you don't want opinions , this seems an odd website to come to. how bout just going back to your flock where they think you know everything.
Yawn, I found "not boring guru" boring as hell! What a narcissist. Get a life, bored guru, and stop wailing about how terrible your life is with all these people chasing after you. Go live in a cave or something useful (at least as useful as it sounds your gurudham is at present).
how bout just going back to your flock where they think you know everything.
Actually Yomamma, the stock of 'my' flock is dwindling by the day. Strangely it makes me happy too. So soon I hope to crawl out of that cross, as you suggested and spare that piece of wood(to you).
I hope to crawl out of that cross
But please, please, please, please... PLEASE! Keep writing the blog.
>>"I hope to crawl out of that cross
But please, please, please, please... PLEASE! Keep writing the blog"<<<
Jody
Jody,
I guess I wonder why you are so enthusiastic about this guy? he reminds me somewhat of "Ozzie" (was that his name? the one who spoke in fake broken English? can't remember). And that's ok...no big deal except that you seem to be making him a big deal. And I wonder why is that? honestly, I wonder. Do you think this suffering guru blog is really giving insight into the workings of the guru trade? This is an honest question, no hidden agenda...just curious.
seen too much
>>"You can see Adyashanti very compassionately and with a great deal of humor and hummility, turning students back upon "themselves whenever this projection thing comes up"<<<
(seen too much).
Because if he called himself as a guru, the seeker may not listen and end up behaving erroneously with him like how it happens with 'this' bored guru often."<<
Dear BG,
No, actually, this is not the case at all which is why I brought up Adyashanti. Projection happens with virtually every spiritual teacher at one time or another. How they handle it is another matter. Adyashanti appears to have a very graceful,light, honest and compassionate way of dealing with projection. Instead of hiding his "feelings" from his students, he deals with the projection directly. This is what I was refering to. What is puzzling to me about your blog is your attitude towards your "followers"...it appears to be judgemental and a little contemptuous .
" Infact 'this' bored guru too applies the similar strategy many times. It is easy to renounce what you cant handle, than to bring clarity to it."
So, again, it doesn't feel like, for Adyashanti, this is a "strategy" or way of manipulating people more a directness about what is happening...as though you had turned to the woman who was "pranaaming" to you and said, "don't put me in the position of 'other' and pranaam to me...blah blah blah and etc."
There are so many "gurus" who are extremely mean-spirited, talking about their "devotees" behind their backs while presenting a "divine face" to the crowd (I'm thinking gurumayi, karunamayi, Chetananda, Gangaji, etc. etc.). Someone willing to address the whole guru thing or teacher thing directly , face to face, with the student, rather than behind the student's back, seems to be the exception. When you say "it's easy to renounce what you can't handle" are you talking about you or Adyashanti here? I think he does "bring clarity" to the situation by dealing with it directly..but perhaps I am misunderstanding you?
seen too much and thought about it as well
"sometimes that is a problem in itself"
Yes, sometimes it is a problem as is everything that the mind thinks it knows and "seeing too much" can create a level of mistrust after 40 years of seeing too many "gurus" at work. But, to me, it's not about intellectual jousting and hasn't been for a long time now. I am genuinely interested in knowing why it isn't possible for you, as a "guru", to address the problems of your "devotees" directly? To me, personally, this would be extremely interesting to hear about rather than "debunking" some lady's fantasy about seeing auras.
seen too much
I wonder why you are so enthusiastic about this guy?
Because he's confirming everything I've been talking about on this blog.
Do you think this suffering guru blog is really giving insight into the workings of the guru trade?
Absolutely. I have a good idea just what guru this Bored Guru is, but I shall never tell his secret, nor will I allow anyone else to expose him on my blog.
>>>"Do you think this suffering guru blog is really giving insight into the workings of the guru trade?
Absolutely. I have a good idea just what guru this Bored Guru is, but I shall never tell his secret, nor will I allow anyone else to expose him on my blog"<<
Well, ok, Jody; I respect your opinion on this. I'm just hopeful he will move on to examining the role that the "guru's" own stuff plays in all of this...and perhaps he will. It's easy to take potshots at credulous "middle aged" women (always a popular target, especially, I notice, with male "gurus") and gullible New Age "channelers", people looking for "healing" etc. What would be really invaluable (imho) is a deep examination of the teacher/student relationship from a really open and honest "guru" (one who accepts his/her part in the game). It would have helped in the 1970s and it would help in the present moment...imho only. But maybe this isn't the forum for that?
seen too much
why it isn't possible for you, as a "guru", to address the problems of your "devotees" directly?
What you still fail to see is the fact that the "devotee" is a matter of convenience and so is the devotee's "guru'. Its a conspiracy that supplement each other to keep each other's aspirations alive. I simply reject the convenience aspect in both. My positioning here is somewhat inconclusive or indefinite and I realize only a very few can probably see the bored guru's context in the right light.
blah blah blah and etc.
say that again anon !
but perhaps I am misunderstanding you?
Do I need to say that ?
Nice trolling, BG. Look, it's pretty obvious this is a con of a con, and not a very convincing one at that. Telling people want they want to hear always works, if one knows one's audience. The audience here is people skeptical of Gurus and devotees, so an "inside" story that "exposes" this con in exactly the way people expect it to come out is a con of the "hip", which is precisely what they deserve.
Nice trolling, BG. Look, it's pretty obvious this is a con of a con, and not a very convincing one at that. Telling people want they want to hear always works, if one knows one's audience. The audience here is people skeptical of Gurus and devotees, so an "inside" story that "exposes" this con in exactly the way people expect it to come out is a con of the "hip", which is precisely what they deserve. Good stunt.
The audience here is people skeptical of Gurus and devotees, so an "inside" story that "exposes" this con in exactly the way people expect it to come out is a con of the "hip", which is precisely what they deserve. Good stunt.
So cynical, BY!
I am aware of who the Bored Guru is, and he is indeed genuine, an up-and-comer in India. He isn't saying anything different than when he started, he just appears to have witnessed how guru-projection destroys spiritual truth, and as a result is sharing with the world that fact from a recipient's perspective.
The audience here is people skeptical of Gurus and devotees
rather I chose to leave comments here only because i thought this is a place matured seekers who are striving to realize the truth frequent, despite the faltering guru. The very first time i read jody's posts, I knew his thoughts were not very different from mine. Just that we have positioned ourselves differently, still fighting the same cause.
-------------
Telling people want they want to hear always works, if one knows one's audience.
Then I could have employed the same with my weekend gathering a few hours ago and gotten myself all the glories, than groping the keyboard now.
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so an "inside" story that "exposes" this con in exactly the way people expect it to come out
On the contrary, please read the commments and you will know that they are not so enviable but has taken the beating from some very angry and suspecting readers(including you).
In addition, my focus is not so much on the guru disciple relationship but the truth that has been blinded and trampeled upon by both. But I also see that this would be an opportunity for jody to understand the actual stand taken by most regular comment leavers here.
Come on, Jody, don't expect us to be so naive. Where's the proof this guy is anything but a fictional creation? If Gurus need to supply proof of their authenticity, then so does this guy.
Where's the proof this guy is anything but a fictional creation?
Where is the proof he isn't? It's basically yo vs. mo, and this blog is all about my mo.
If Gurus need to supply proof of their authenticity
Who said gurus need to supply proof of anything? I didn't, because I know there's not a shred of evidence available to any guru, real or false, that can prove his/her authenticity to anyone else.
>>>"What you still fail to see is the fact that the "devotee" is a matter of convenience and so is the devotee's "guru'. Its a conspiracy that supplement each other to keep each other's aspirations alive. I simply reject the convenience aspect in both."
Uh, I thought that was clearly what I was alluding to? I guess I it wasn't as obvious as I thought..that the guru and devotee form one whole "relationship", a kind of "spiritual contract". I don't "fail to see it"..it's what I was pointing out.
"My positioning here is somewhat inconclusive or indefinite and I realize only a very few can probably see the bored guru's context in the right light."
Bored Guru, I have to say, most people here have heard this "defense" more times than you can possibly imagine unless you have the siddhi of clairvoyance: "only a very few" (read "advanced") can possibly understand
"the guru" in the "right light". And then the ones who think they understand feel all "special and superior" (especially after their egos get inflated by being singled out and flattered) and the ones who "fail to see" must be jada and blind.
anyway, bored guru, good luck with your blog...perhaps you might address some of the other concerns eventually...If you're from India, as Jody suggests, then I'm sure you are more than aware of the problems inherent in the "guru system". It would be a great help if you'd address them from a "guru's" perspective...not just the problems with followers but both sides of the equation.
>>"blah blah blah and etc.
say that again anon !
but perhaps I am misunderstanding you?
Do I need to say that ?"<<<
Mean spirited, at best, Bored Guru...I am not a "guru", you are....I think I more than demonstated an honest interest in and curiosity about the deeper aspects of what the guru brings to the relationship. Since I am not a "guru", I have no way of knowing (except what I have heard from various teachers or observed through the years). My "experience" is as a student...why should I be anything but "bored" by what is so obvious: the world of the student..the projection, the sadness of the longing, the desperation, the credulity, the magical thinking...not only have I experienced it myself at one time or another, I have seen it played out on the spiritual stage for years...so what's so interesting about hearing a "guru" trashing the naivite of his/her students?: Here is a real opportunity to answer the questions: what motivates a guru/teacher? Why is the guru unable to speak frankly? Why does he/she teach if he/she can only communicate with "the very few"? Or, if that's the case, why not settle down in a small village in India and just teach those very few select and special people? Why set up this hierarchy of "those few" who can understand the depth of the guru's teaching in "the right light" and the other poor slobs who, somehow, aren't able to understand. This is a "strategy" (and in this case it really IS a "strategy") used by every hack guru coming down the pike...from gurumayi to afro sai baba. It effectively ends any kind of real communication..the "guru" retreats back into his/her position of infallibility and the questioner is left holding the bag.
Maybe you can break this cycle.
seen too much
Hi, isn't this just wonderfully cool. I think many of us are being faced with a strange kind of longing for guruhood and diciplehood to be revealed for what ever shortcomings and delusional games that lurks under those carpets.
To me it seems like Bored Guru has chosen to make a step towards the revealing of those matters. I think it is courageous and cool. How can he have the exact knowhow of what will come out of this experiment... no-one-two-three knows,(unless you are clairvoiant) simply because it is an ongoing prosess. The motivation is obviously not to gain more followers, but to try it out as a step unto something. Maybe it is just the time of man (and woman).
jody said...
I have a good idea just what guru this Bored Guru is, but I shall never tell his secret, nor will I allow anyone else to expose him on my blog.
I have a pretty good idea who BG is too =)
I applaud your efforts to be a guru. When people come back to you for advice, that is a sure sign you are a guru. Everybody should be a guru to eachother.
As you may have noticed, people have all different kinds of levels of enthusiasm, baggage and expectations. To be one to attract all these different kinds of people is a sign of a great master. There have been some discussion about this. They are a reflection of the master, but so is all anyways to any and all anyways, and everything has its place.
I wish your quest to uplift people around you all the best, and take care to not fall in the same trap as you believe others have fallen into. Mind is quite tricky that way..
Where is the proof he isn't? It's basically yo vs. mo, and this blog is all about my mo.
Jody, you're being highly disingenous, and narcissistic to boot. The burden of proof is upon BG and you to demonstrate some evidence that this guy is legit rather than fictional. You have always argued in that fashion - except now, when it's you and your fav who are being questioned. And btw, I didn't realize this blog was all about you. I thought it was all about exposing fake and exploitive Gurus. But thanks for clarifying.
Who said gurus need to supply proof of anything? I didn't, because I know there's not a shred of evidence available to any guru, real or false, that can prove his/her authenticity to anyone else.
You're being totally disingenuoius here. I'm not asking for proof that this guy is an "authentic Guru". I'm asking for proof that he exists at all, and isn't just someone's fictional creation. You may criticize Sri Sri a lot, but I don't think you question whether the guy exists and goes around teaching people. This guy might as well be "Babaji", some fantasy, made-up Guru no one can verify has ever existed. Until you supply actual evidence that this guy is a real teacher describing real experiences, I will assume either you or someone else just made him up and are enjoying a good con job.
Sri Boredji's effort is "interesting" to some on account of how unusual it is for someone in "the biz" to be the least bit forthcoming about the day-by-day, seeker-after-seeker experience of a typically rather secretive vocation-cum-lifestyle. As for the inferred segregation of honest seekers from what amount to fecklessly wishful guru groupies, keep in mind that Boredji is blogging anonymously and separately from his formal guru role behind a microphone -- when he disabuses a seeker of their preconception(s), he apparently does so quite directly and without personal rancor. This is also refreshing when compared to the typical guru practice of enigmatic smiles and generic hand/head/back-patting, which tends to tacitly encourage many of the occlusions that keep folks in a sycophantically hopeful chela mode ad infinitum et ad nauseum.
The irony and the built-in joke of the whole guru-chela dynamic is that the guru who is actually effective at dispelling darkness is engaged in a process of putting him/herself out of business, and that said business persists and prospers because effectiveness -- at pointing toward that which entirely transcends causality itself -- is both elusive and ultimately illusory. A good part of what makes following through on The Bodhisattva "Vow" (in quotes because there's really no choice involved) so arduous is that the seekers are much more certain of why they're participating than the guru, who can see in every moment that he is doing nothing more or other than pointing out (what is to realizers) the obvious, usually to no avail whatsoever.
Jody, you're being highly disingenous, and narcissistic to boot.
Because I've created my own blog to express my own opinion? You are welcome to please go away if that doesn't suit your purposes.
The burden of proof is upon BG and you to demonstrate some evidence that this guy is legit rather than fictional.
Again, my blog, my opinion, period. Take a hike if it doesn't meet your needs.
I'm asking for proof that he exists at all, and isn't just someone's fictional creation.
And I'm saying I have proof, but I'm not going to expose the identity.
I will assume either you or someone else just made him up and are enjoying a good con job.
Whatever floats your boat, BY. Maybe when you get yourself fixed you'll catch a clue.
Jody,
At least you're honest in admitting you have nothing to offer anyone but your own self-promotion. Kind of ironic, but what did we expect? I think I'll take you up on the offer of a hike.
What is a guru anyway..
To me, a true master is someone who will somehow spend time pointing/guiding people as to awaken their dormant master within their being. Dormant because knowledge, learning, supersticions, programming, religion, ideas, beliefs are clouding the clear sky of perception.
Because a true guru/master has been able to rid himelf of the delusional clouds, he is in a position to speak from experience and clearsightedness.
But any guru who has not realized themselves I would doubt..
you have nothing to offer anyone but your own self-promotion.
I find there to be at least a nominal difference between offering an honestly-labeled opinion and acts of self-promotion. But I understand how that subtlety might escape your mind.
I think I'll take you up on the offer of a hike.
Wonderful news! Don't let the door knock your ass. Have fun!
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