The Western Mind and the Relationship to the Guru

The cultural background of the West clearly differs from the background found in India, which has a history of spiritual development stretching back thousands of years. Westerners tend to have difficulty with the concept of surrender to the Guru’s guidance, whereas in India, this is an accepted concept and thus, fits more perfectly into the psychological framework of the people. When a Westerner attempts to surrender to the Guru, he does not have the needed cultural framework to distinguish the truth of the Guru from the individuals who come to prey upon him due to his basic ignorance and thus, he is more subject to being manipulated by a con man posing as a guru, whose actual goals are achievement of power, wealth, sex and fame. The history of communities such as Jonestown, where hundreds of devotees were poisoned or provoked to violence against others is a cautionary tale, but there are also instances of pseudo-gurus who represent themselves as divine guides and who use the innocence and lack of background in spiritual matters to entrap young people. The tale of Milarepa’s labours at the behest of his Guru Marpa is frequently used by these con artists to illustrate the type of unquestioning surrender that they are seeking.

Of course, there are true relationships and sincere Gurus as well. For the Westerner, however, particularly in early stages, it is difficult to distinguish the difference and it requires a strong aspiration and orientation toward the deeper spiritual truth for the seeker from the West to find and benefit from the Guru relationship. In many cases, a sincere Guru will recognise the limitations imposed by the cultural background of the Westerner and find ways to work around the issues until there is a true trust and comfort level established.

This is not to imply that people of India or any other land are immune from this type of manipulation and deception. They also have to address the concerns but have at least the cultural background to understand more fully how to navigate the dangers that can arise.

The Westerner then has the added difficulty of overcoming all the social, mental and emotional conditioning that values and emphasizes the ego personality and thus, conflicts with the psychic’s need to subordinate the ego to the higher guidance.

The inner guidance of the psychic presence eventually is required for anyone to distinguish truth from falsehood, and be able then to undertake the subordination of the ego to the Divine Guidance as channeled through the Guru.

The Mother writes: “The Western mind always finds it difficult to submit totally to a Guru and without total and unquestioning surrender to the Guru his help to you is paralysed. That is why generally I advise westerners to find the guidance and the Presence within themselves; it is true that this process is very often open to uncertainty and self-deception, mistaking some voice of the ego in disguise for the Divine’s guidance. … In both cases, it is only an absolute sincerity and an unmixed humility that can be your safeguard.”

Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Growing Within: The Psychology of Inner Development, Chapter III Growth of Consciousness Basic Requisites, pg. 55