I've been avoiding writing out this inquiry but having been playing around with it for a few weeks. That's because I've always harbored a bit of disdain for gurus as a whole and realized that the reason for the judgment, as in most stereotyping, was due to laziness. My preconceived notions needed to be torn down in order to take a good look.
So I took a sledgehammer to them.
Though I haven't had any experience with gurus outside of YouTube videos, I've got a mental image that teachers like Mooji or Gangaji, (or any ji) can easily fill. Anyone with robes or long and flowing clothing, beads, a slow blink, and a bouquet of flowers nearby or hung round the neck qualify as the stereotypical guru. There are those who skirt the edges. Adya and Rupert Spira come to mind, but with those guys, I think it's really just the flowers that throw me.
Putting all of that aside, I realized that there's a really very good purpose for the "guru look". Sure, it's part of a sort of uniform, but it's also a signal. They provide visual and auditory cues which tell me to SLOW DOWN. That's all there is to it. They cues are employed to assist in carefully listening to the questions, and the pauses are there to allow me to consider and inquire. In other words, STOP.
We've come to the part where I let you know the outcome of this inquiry.
