“Widows, bulls, slippery steps, and holy men. Avoid these, and liberation awaits.”
Quote from the movie “Water”
My mom, Dr. Judith Andrews, is always saying “you don’t need a guru.” She inherited my grandfather’s skepticism of holy men as swindlers. My years in southern California, a seeming epicenter for gurus, has only affirmed this for me.
As the quote above alludes, people who set themselves up as God’s middlemen have always been an issue. The stories are the same across time, cultures, and religious/spiritual orders. Sexual abuse of minors or adults. Taking money from the hands of the desperate. Narcissistic outbursts. Catholic priests, Megastar pastors, Tibetan monks, your local yoga instructor…. there is no safe place for you to hand over your spiritual power.
Most of us have been cut off from our personal connection to the divine within us at an early age. It can happen even before we are born out of the womb if the environment we incarnate into is too dense. The veil drops and we forget who we really are and our connection to the mystery around us.
This works in society’s favor, or at least societies built on hierarchical control. Having a bunch of self-aware, happy, empowered people around would be worse than trying to herd butterflies.
But one day we catch a glimpse. A hardship or abrupt change breaks through the illusion and we can no longer do things as we did before. We are scared. Like standing at the edge of a high cliff…. and there appears this person so full of confidence.
This person is also so confident in us and our greatness. This is all fine and good. We all need teachers and friends after all. There is one caveat, however, we must depend on this confidence man. We only retain this safe, special place as long as we are with him/her. We may not stray on our own.
This is where the grooming and usual mind control come into play to undermine individual identity and create dependency.
I want to add a less talked about aspect, because it holds the key to your empowerment and freedom from these wayward parasites. Something even more sinister may be happening. In many Eastern, African, and Western occult traditions the spiritual expert actually harnesses spiritual powers and gifts from their followers. The imagery and terms vary from tradition to tradition, but the gist is the same.
We all have a connection to the divine through the heart up to the crown and third eye chakras. The spiritual conman will hijack the inner sight and divert that crown connection to themselves. All the divine gifts and power go to the conman. The follower’s psyche has been rewired. It now makes a B-line to the conman when it tries to access spiritual connection. This is how some spiritual conmen are able to attain special powers. They often make great use of magic tricks.
In traditions across Eurasia that understand the power of sexual energy, conmen (and women) emerged who found it much faster to steal sexual energy from others rather than cultivate it themselves. This is known as sexual vampirism. This misuse and hijacking of the sexual-spiritual axis occurs in dark corners of Daoist, Tantric, and Tibetan Tantric traditions. It was smuggled into secret societies in the U.S. by Aleister Crawley. Rasputin was initiated into a sexual cult in Russia…if you dig a little you will find that some of the darkest aspects of our humanity are tied to this inversion of sexual-spiritual connection. These conmen will be the most hypnotic and powerful.
These most serious cases of spiritual abuse require even more intervention than leaving a cult. Victims need help reclaiming their energy and their gifts. The damage to their personal identity will have been even more profound. All these cases have and can be healed, but it is far easier to get the lesson through someone else’s story and avoid all that time and energy it takes to heal.
The Lesson:
There are no certainties in life. There is no one way. It is best to go ahead and make friends with fear now because it will be there every time you are about to grow in some big and magical way. It means you are on to something. I t means you are about to stretch beyond the familiar.
Make sure your spiritual practice includes learning who you are and loving yourself and others. Illusion cannot stand up to Truth and Love.
If you have been conned, forgive yourself. We all go through vulnerable times and all it takes is for a vulture to swoop in at the right moment. It does not mean you are weak, or stupid, or should feel ashamed. That only keeps you from seeking the support that will heal you.
Spiritual conmen are everywhere, but I give an extra caution to associating with Neo-Tantric groups. This is one of the reasons I felt called to share information on sexuality in a spiritual and health context. We need more people bringing this information out in an empowering way.
The purpose of the guru is to teach you that you don’t need one. You are meant to discover your own divinity and power.
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