The word "Guru", as it is used in the contemporary American scene, is someone who takes all your money and tells you what to do with your life. You assume no responsibility. A lot of people want that free ride.
I don't think of myself as a guru but as a teacher. If one means 'guru' in the original sense a 'dispeller of darkness' then that certainly is my purpose.
Today in the west the word 'guru' has come to mean someone who leads a cult, someone who deprives others of their intellectual or spiritual freedom and rips them off financially.
It really doesn't matter to me whether a person has a lot of money or a little bit of money.
The cult phenomenon is definitely journalistically 'in'. But if we were to apply for a financial aid grant as a cult, I'm afraid we would be turned down for lack of proper qualifications.
I don't engage in brainwashing, I don't dictate forms of lifestyle, I don't perform mass marriages or even singular marriages. I don't tell people what to believe.
I don't dictate particular styles of dress. I do teach classes in self discovery.
We have a spiritual community but everyone lives where they want to. I recommend certain areas to live because of their power.
People get together and go to the movies or on hikes, but everyone maintains their own independent domicile.
Some people harbor the idea or belief that all teachers should teach for free. Obviously these people have never been teachers, particularly in the twentieth century. Teaching meditation is a very expensive hobby.
I try to teach people to continually search and question the meaning of everything they are taught and everything they believe in. My job is not so much to impart a philosophy but to train people in the methods of self-discovery.
I show people the techniques for gaining knowledge, and this inspires them in their search for truth, freedom and happiness. I also try to show people that truth exists as much in this world as it does in any other world.
Everything that I teach as an enlightened Buddhist teacher is towards directing an individual to happiness, a balanced wisdom and knowledge that is sometimes just bubbly and euphoric or just very still and profound.
There is no best teacher. Life itself is the teacher. There is no best method. All that matters is that it works.
My teaching - of what is perceived to be a complex and foreign sounding religious philosophy - has become the target for people's prejudice and religious intolerance.
Many people who help me encounter a lot of resistance from other people and from forces.
Certainly, I am aware that there have been a number of articles written about me and television shows in which I have been featured and referred to as a "cult leader."
I don't think there is anyone in public life today who can escape the inevitable onslaught of the media. It seeks to pry into and often grossly distort aspects of one's personal and professional life. I guess it just comes with the territory.
I find it ironic to read stories about myself which have never occurred and are simply so absurd that they are comical. At other times, it is very painful to be so misinterpreted and vilified.
All I can say is that these cult stories are totally untrue, are without any foundation, and trade on a deep bias against Westerners who dare to embrace an Eastern belief-system.
Unfortunately, in self-discovery, you get the culty types who want the father figure or mother figure to tell them everything to do. They don't want to do any work. They want to hang on your energy and try to drain it.
The source of their motivation ranges from what you might expect - from the seeking of money and publicity, to those who genuinely suffer from chronic personal problems and have fixated on me as the cause of their frustrations and failures.
Every new movement or group of people who seek to explore awareness is considered a cult. The United States was founded by several cults. They felt that Protestantism had become much too lax, so they came to America and set up a hard line religious cult.
It is inevitable that, in the process of teaching an Asian religion in a Western country, many of the teachings will seem strange or unusual - in the same way that Christianity and Judaism may seem strange and unusual to people from the Far East.
Obviously, following my convictions has come at a personal price, but they are important enough that I have been willing to endure the abuse.
