The Guru Criteria

It’s common psychotherapy babble today to talk about our rotten childhoods and how many of us were ruined by them. Our childhoods can also be influenced by the religion of our parents. There are many Christians who suffered under toxic family religion passed down generationally.

During the 1960's young people rejected the religions of their parents in search of a religion that would give them the freedoms that they wanted to experience. The Jesus Revolution was one such rebellion. Rather than shuffling into a drafty cold church and forced to sit on hard benches and listen to someone talk about sin, the young people took Jesus outside, into the parks, to celebrate in a joyous manner, focusing on his message of love rather than damnation! They were against the established religion, the blandness and hypocrisy, and rather drew on the counterculture to create a movement. Then there was another shift...

When music became the signature of the boomers, the Beatles' music (in particular) opened up undreamed of spiritual possibilities. We wanted to emulate our rock heroes, and that’s when many of us experimented with drugs. We also wanted their kind of spiritual experiences, and at that time the Beatles were studying with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. More than that, we wanted a religion different from our parents, and something they wouldn't understand. This would set us apart in a generation that defined ourselves as "not trusting anyone over 30."

“All Things Must Pass,” started my inquiry into eastern religion. The *** line of gurus showed up on the now famous Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album. Many of us were scrambling to read the founding guru's book, The Autobiography of a Yogi.

That is how we (and some friends) ended up at Self Realization Fellowship–by wanting to be part of a counter-culture movement that had already passed most major city players. Guru’s were not aplenty in conservative Orange County at that time. The Dutch cows had just left.

In 1967 Self Realization Fellowship bought a church building in Fullerton, California. In a small community, word got out amongst the younger crowd that the gurus on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album had set up shop nearby, and this was the only criteria for us to attend. This seems a very irresponsible way to chose one’s religion, but many things are done in youth that we come to regret.

Now, in today’s world, new-age, eastern alternative religion is everywhere and it’s no longer counter-culture the way it was then. Self Realization Fellowship isn’t the same either. Over 30 years I witnessed many changes to accommodate the modern world-view.

But this isn’t about the church per say, as there are toxic Christian religions, as well. My goal has always been to educate about eastern religions, specifically those that have a guru-figurehead, someone (or people in a group) whom we allow to control us, usually subliminally.

Because I got involved at 18, I was young and impressionable enough to have lasting effects of the relationship. I took a vow at 19 that I would accept the guru as my own, and I renewed this vow many times over the years in secret ceremonies.

There is no greater sin than the one I committed. I denounced Jesus Christ for an Indian guru and I didn’t see anything wrong with it. I always loved Jesus, and believed through the teachings of the guru, that what I was doing was in harmony with Jesus, that East could meet West in a harmonious way.

"Those with toxic faith use it to avoid reality and responsibity. It often results in perfectionism; people are driven to perform and work in an attempt to earn their way to heaven or at least to gain favor with God. Like other addictions, it cause great damage, but the addicted continue to purse it." Toxic Faith, Stephen Arterburn and Jack Felton