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Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight
I don't really dig the concept of a guru. Afterall, what qualifications does anyone else in this world have over my own experience to understand what the hell is going on? Not to say that I've got it all figured out, but I can't see myself putting that much stock in anyone elses conclusions over my own.
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Perhaps we have different concepts of a guru. I'm thinking more in the ways of a mentor or guide rather than a parent or dictator. I've met several people in my life that I place in the "guru" category. They always had something to teach me, though they never had a lesson plan, or an agenda. This of course has been my problem with most religion, in that they seem more interested in providing answers than asking interesting questions.
Perhaps most people just want to cut to the chase and have an answer they can live with, but I'm far to curious for that. I prefer the ambiguity of the unanswerabe, and find I'm much more fullfilled when given a question to contemplate, explore possibilities, and laugh at absurdities. I value people that can take me on these journies, and going back to my original post - I think the early pioneers of psychotherapy thought they were engaging in this kind of activity.
Modern Day psychology and psychotherapy seem to also be back to providing answeres, like anti-depressents to the depressed, and much less about what makes a fullfilling life.
Perhaps I should provide an example.
I had a dear friend, Bill who passed away several years ago. Back before I participated on any internet forum, he and his wife would host monthly pot lucks at his house for a "soire." This was sort of a Salon in which each month a topic was thrown out to the dinner guests to discuss. He employeed some of the standard salon protocal, we had a "talking stick" which gave the floor to whoever held it and each person to their time to explain in detail their feelings on a particular subject. The subjects ranged from the serious (political current events) to the absurd (the existence of angels), but was always fascinating. Bill had a knack of inviting people from all walks of life to these things, there was always a rich diversity of opinion. Dinner concluded the discussions, and we all felt closer to one another before the evening was out.
There's not a day on these boards that I don't think of him, and his brilliant idea to bring people together just to satisfy his own curiosity about the world and other people (it was usually his topic
). Bill was definately one of my gurus.