In any field no matter what it is there is always going to be those that fake who they are. For whatever the reason, it could be for money, for fame, for attention or just to feel like they have more control. To me this is something that I do not admire.
I find it hard to deal with people that trick people into feeling that they are something of worth when in reality all they are doing is conceiving against another. Probably one of the lowest aspects of what one can do. There are ways to detect the real deal from the fakes. It really is not that hard when you go over all the weaknesses of the fake Guru and what they are trying to get. Not all of these attributes below should determine they are who they for that reason only, but it sure does help in an assessment.
Signs of a Fake Guru
- Asking for money. That is the most obvious sign, a real Guru will except money as a donation but will never ask for money. They run there lives based on what others give to them out of kindness not out of forcing people into giving what they do not have. If any form of monetary gain is asked then this is a big indicator. This goes for all types or Guru’s or monks. When i traveled to Thailand and Laos or Vietnam this was the easiest way of determining between a real monk or not. A real monk never asked for money ever. Unfortunately fake monks in Asia is very common in Tourist areas.
- Asking for people to follow them. A real Guru will only give advise, will never ask for you to follow. In fact a real Guru should say the opposite. They should teach, give time, but not ask this of anyone.
- Creating Rules that Benefit Them as a Guru. This one is a big one, if you visit me you must do this, or must do that, if you follow me then you must another thing as well. This is all a big sign of a scam in action, a real Guru will teach, give lessons and at the end of the day say thank you for visiting and that is all. They should have no attachments or signs of ego and certainly do not want to miss lead someone somewhere that may put that individual off there own spiritual journey.
- Not Teach Spiritual Advise. If a Guru is mostly focused mainly on being a leader or collecting money or so forth then what are they really, more so a business rather than a real Teacher of spiritual knowledge. A real authentic Guru will always speak truth, because that is there reason for being here on earth to remind us of this aspect of life. If they go off that path they really are not the real deal.
- All of the above and combined. Each one has it’s own place and should be thought about fully.
Okay so overall it is about spotting the aspects that make them more human, greedy, selfish or similar. None of these should ever be involved.
What is Real?
The real deal are people that you straight away admire, people that help put us on our own spiritual path where no money is involved. In fact help in anyway needed at that time. It maybe knowledge or it maybe something else. They always put others first and them second. They always will give, give and give and share and share there knowledge until they can almost not stand anymore because they are so tired. The point is these attributes reveal the real deal.
Kumare – Journey of a Fake Guru
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKnyG1J3Jh8
In light of all this Guru talk, one man took this as far in video trailer above by actually acting like a Guru ( pretending ) and seeing what would happen. Interestingly people start following him and people are touched by his influence in there life. However unfortunately he is a fake and he has to reveal himself eventually. If you have not seen the movie length documentary it is worth a watch. Both sad, amazing and surprising.
Image source above in post is from the Comedy movie starring the funny actor Mike Myers called “The Love Guru”.