gurus and disciples

Definitions

Webster's:  Skt guru, lit. venerable. A personal religious teacher and spiritual guide.

Random House College:   Skt guru, lit. venerable. A preceptor giving personal religious instructions. An intellectual or spiritual guide; wise leader.

Roy Davis in "The Science of Kriya Yoga":  Guru - The light which dispels darkness. The guru is considered to be one of God's expressions in human form to guide the disciple on the path to soul liberation.

The Guru-Disciple Relationship

A Guru is seen as a spiritual Master. Spiritual Mastership requires knowledge of pure Awareness which is knowledge of God. A true Guru never represents the body that is seen by the disciple but the pure Awareness which is to be revealed within the disciple. Thus, being the Awareness within, the real Guru is always with the disciple and it is the job of any genuine Guru not to dominate the disciple but to free him from the illusion that he/she is the body or the mind. Most seekers found a Guru not only helpful but necessary. With the understanding that the real Guru is the pure Awareness within, we reallize the Guru is not only necessary but also always present according to the need of one's spiritual unfoldment. This probably led us to the widely known saying: "When the seeker is ready - the Guru is present."

"The real Guru is always within", that is the teaching of any genuine Guru or spiritual Teacher. Thus, Jesus said in Luke 17:20 "The Kingdom of God is WITHIN you."  The Bhagavad Gita states: "The Supreme Reality .. exits within himself (man)."   Robert Browning: "Truth is within ourselves."  Ramana Maharshi: "God shows his mercy by manifesting as the Guru. The Guru, otherwise God, guides the devotee, saying that God is IN YOU and He is the Self."

The following books may offer more insight into the Guru-Disciple realationship:
Awareness: The Center of Being
Yogananda: Autobiography of a Yogi

Is a personal Guru necessary?

Certain systems seem to have a greater need for a guru than others. That is true to a certain degree for Bhakti Yoga and, perhaps, more so for Sufis. Regardless of these two systems, in most cases one would have to say: Yes, a "Guru-in-person" is necessary! But, there have been recorded incidences where no personal Guru was required. So, if we are asking whether a "Guru-in-person" is always necessary, we must answer: Not, because rare souls like Ramana Maharshi and others have realized there Self without a personal Guru other than the one at the Center of their "Heart". Instead, they all insisted that the real Guru is within and we should not forget that the Guru does not hand out Self-realization but only assists in removing the obstacles that prevent us from seeing the Self for what it really is. Also, others, like Paramahansa Yogananda, stated that if the instructions are properly preserved, then the instructions are all that is necessary because the real Guru is still within. In regards to the benefits of a living Guru versus a Guru that has passed away, one can definitely still have a very personal relationship to a Guru, even after his death or Maha-samadhi.

How to detect Cult-like behavior

At the beginning, the seeker almost always sees the Guru as a person. Sometimes such a close personal relationship may even hinder the devotee's spiritual unfolding. Also, sometimes, a person with some knowledge might misuse this knowledge and present himself as a Guru, but is only interested in profiting from such a Guru / Disciple relationship. Cult-like behavior may easily manifest and can be recognized when the donations become overly important, whether it is money or time served. If a Guru, Pope, or any spiritual Teacher dresses in fancy clothes and displays a life-style of a king or playboy, chances are that seekers who admire such display may not even recognize a true Guru if He/She comes in the most humble clothing like Jesus or Ramana (who was known to dress himself with a simple loin cloth).

Spiritual leaders ought to be very well aware of the conflict that could be caused by putting too much importance in extravagant clothing. However, they might also feel that it is of benefit to do so, even so they are not necessarily attached to material things at all, including fancy clothing.

For example, Mata Amritanandamayi was asked why she dresses like Krishna or Devi. She answered that we are all born naked and even so nowadays people put much importance in clothing, we always remain the same.
Still, she would dress like Krishna or Devi because the clothing may convey an immediate beneficial impression. Sometimes too little clothing can be as distracting as too much.

Of course, when looking for the Truth and nothing but the Truth, it should not matter what the person is wearing either way. What matters more, however, is how much clothing (in form of egotistical personality) is worn on the inside.

Signs of Warning

Let it be your first signs of warning if the guru displays importance, wants your unconditional obedience, money, time, blind trust, etc. Let it be your second signs of warning if the guru's organization has a system set up that observes and controls followers, lets them memorize and repeat material written by the organization, puts followers in robes or any kinds of uniforms, dictates your life in any way, tries to replace your family, etc.
Further, you might wonder about too much security, weapons either hidden or displayed, a shielded environment, possibly with fences.
Are you constantly being indoctrinated, dominated, instructed and set right?
Are you being told or led to believe that the guru in question is the only Guru, or the very best Guru?
Are you being offered gifts or sevices for which you feel that you owe something in return?
Are you being enticed to do something, with the information that others had to do the same thing, even so you feel uncomfortable with their request?
Do you feel an aura of Authority, Deception, Dependency, or Dread?
Do you have to listen to long speeches while being tired and/or hungry?

Let it be your last warning if you see the organization grow but you cannot detect any fundamental and substantial change in yourself and cannot find anyone else among the followers who made profound spiritual progress.

Even so some of the warnings go already beyond Cult-like and are clearly signs of a typical cult, this page is only about cult-like behavior which can be found even in structural religion, which is normally not seen as displaying cult-like behavior. The following questions are certainly worthwhile to be asked:
Does God, being omnipresent Awareness and not a person, really require us to wear deggers, hats, caps, turbans, funny hairstyles, beards, sideburns, or no hair at all?
Do boys really have a closer bond with God when cicumcized boys or are girls cleaner when mutilated?
Is Heaven guaranteed when we sprinkle us with water, wear carnival-like costumes, go regularly to a church, a shrine, a synagogue, or a temple?
Do we become like God or carry him more in our heart when we eat his "body"?

Cult-like behavior may not only come from the organization but may be the sole result of followers who failed to understand the essential teachings. For example, if God is omnipresent Awareness and the solution to our problems can only be found in rejoining this omnipresent Awareness (not unlike the water drop joining the lake), then any kind of importance we put into anything else, but the search for and the intention to purify our Awareness, could already be seen as a cult-like behavior. For example, if someone finds out that cutting off his finger reminds him that his concentration should always go on uninterrupted then one could conclude that it was very well worth to do just that. But, when this task does not have the same effect on someone else it is completely useless to instruct other people to do the same.

You will find more about cults at: ICSA (International Cultic Studies Association)
Information about cults & psychological manipulation.