$ - not enlightenment

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cerulean
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun Mar 22, 2009 4:30 am

$ - not enlightenment

Unread post by cerulean »

I'd say the biggest and most obvious red flag of RSE would be the $.

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1. Does Your Guru/Path Charge Money For Membership or Particpation?

Perhaps the easiest question to ask and have answered by a spiritual guru/path is whether or not their organization charges money for membership or participation. If the answer is yes, it is a clear sign for the "buyer to beware," as almost all groups which assign a fee for their teachings are suspect. Although Self-Realization may entail many requirements, such as giving up ego, greed, lust, and so forth, offering up your wallet or life savings is not one of them.

In America there is a tendency to make a commodity out of anything, even spirituality. Not only is making salvation a marketable item absurd ("Sorry, you don't qualify for the highest, blissful heaven." - "Why not?" - "You forgot to pay last month's subscription dues for soul discourses"), but it allows for a number of unscrupulous individuals to make huge sums of money off naive seekers.

Although money is necessary to keep movements functioning (the publishing of books, etc.), there is a distinct line between obligatory payments -- even if they are disguised as "love offerings," and unsolicited donations; the latter has justifiable reasons behind it, whereas the former makes religion a business enterprise, with a very lucrative tax shelter.


"Real Masters never charge for their services, nor do they accept payment in any form or any sort of material benefits for their instructions. This is a universal law among Masters, and yet it is an amazing fact that thousands of eager seekers in America and elsewhere, go on paying large sums of money for "spiritual instruction.". Masters are always self-sustaining. They are never supported by their students or by public charity."

---Julian P. Johnson, The Path of the Masters (1939)


"A Wise One like me should not charge for her services....The one who charges is a liar. The wise one is born to cure, not to do business with her knowledge."

---Maria Sabina, Curandera, Shaman.....................


"Real Enlightenment definitely is not on sale at the corner store, it doesn't contain preservatives, and isn't wrapped in plastic. Absolute surrender to God, or the Universe, is the greatest gift, the "pearl of great price," and it will never be cheap. That is why one should question the ersatz gems that pseudo-spiritualists so readily sell in their fancy packages. If one wants the real thing, one must learn about counterfeits; otherwise, one is showing off a rhinestone to God, convinced it is the Hope Diamond."

---Mariana Caplan, Halfway Up the Mountain (1999)


"The Guru usually gives the disciple a Mantra and a puja (prayer accompanied by a ritual) to practise daily. The healer, instead, recites some mantras, performs Divination, or some pujas on behalf of the patient, who has nothing to do but to believe in them. Both guru and healer have learned their art by assisting and watching their teachers for years, and often give their treatment free of charge. Typically healers think that if they accept money from their patients, they will also have to take their bad Karma. Because of this belief, it is not rare for the healers who take money to stop practising after some years. They interpret some personal or family problems in which they got involved as a consequence of their breach of the rule of not charging for their services."

---Jacques Vigne, Guru, Shaman, and the Crazy Man


All of the above quotes are well and good and all those quoted are of high standards, but almost any promoter or advocate of their own pocketbook belief could search out some reason to circumnavigate their reasoning. However, even the most ardent skeptic would be hard pressed to dismiss the Buddha's own words on the subject as recorded in Anguttara Nikaya V.159, Udayi Sutra, THE BUDDHA AND THE FIVE QUALITIES OF A DHARMA TEACHER:


"The Dharma should be taught with the thought, 'I will speak not for the purpose of material reward.'"


Interestingly, there are comparatively few spiritual groups which do not charge money for membership. Thus, this first criterion is a rather simple way to ferret out the possibly genuine guru/path from the less valid ones. Check out the movement's financial situation closely, keeping a close eye on where and to whom most of the money collected is going. If the particular organization is resistant to giving out such monetary information, then it can be safely assumed that the guru/path in question is more concerned with fiscal matters than with upliftment of the mind and spirit.

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Whatchamacallit
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Unread post by Whatchamacallit »

it's good to see that there is still more information out there to showcase these realizations ! don't know how you dug that info up, cerulean, but they are good points.
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