Do We Still Need Gurus?

Q: Many believe that the guru has become an archaic relic of the past, no longer required for our spiritual life. Do we still need gurus?

A: Well, at this point, I'd say yes. Having a guru/teacher/mentor/guide is essential if we truly aspire to evolve to a higher level of development. Without the kind of positive evolutionary tension created by an authentic living example of a higher level, transformation is unlikely to happen, because most of us simply don't want to change that much. With my own students, so far, these powerful surges of evolutionary enlightenment have only occurred as a result of my putting a lot of pressure on the individuals involved, continuously exerting a living demand to evolve now. Without this kind of demand most human beings simply won't remain awake to the evolutionary context for very long. It's just not in our nature to consistently push the edge of our own individual and collective potential. So at this point I see the role of the teacher as an essential part of the movement of evolution itself. But eventually, I believe we will get to a point where that role would no longer be necessary. If enough individuals reach a level of maturity where they're able to consistently remain beyond ego as the authentic self, this higher consciousness or enlightened mind will actually emerge as the foundation of their relationships. When such a point is reached, then the role of the individual teacher is going to become a thing of the past. When this new potential becomes stable, I feel that the traditional function of the guru is going to work through the collective in a miraculous way that has never happened before. But until that point, having a living teacher is essential.

Q: What about all the corruption so prevalent in spiritual authority today?

A: Well, obviously integrity in the spiritual teacher is absolutely crucial. But we've got to face the fact that unfortunately, the failure of so many gurus, priests, lamas, and monks over the last thirty or forty years may have become an easy excuse for us all to let ourselves off the hook. They have made it all too easy for us to become cynical, to arrogantly conclude that we know better and don't require any help from anyone. You see, the problem is that when we lost our faith, we also lost our humility.

It's also important to understand that the main reason that the concept of a guru is such a tough one in our culture is that we postmodern narcissists just hate hierarchy. We don't like anyone to be higher than us! It's often hard for even very intelligent people to admit that higher levels of development actually exist. Why? Because if they do exist, then that could mean that we may have some evolving to do ourselves, and that we may have something to learn, God forbid, from people who've actually reached those levels. So if a spiritual revolution is to happen, I think the biggest challenge is for us to cultivate humility—enough humility to enable us to recognize those who have genuinely reached a higher stage of development, and enough courage to aspire to meet them where they are. You see, if a teacher is authentic they will never finally be satisfied until the student either equals or surpasses them. A true teacher is someone who doesn't want followers, but rather wants authentic partners in this great task of evolutionary transformation.