The Dangers of having Gurus and Masters
Let’s begin with a quote from the volume 7.2:
“The disciple is unworthy; modestly he sits at the Master’s feet and guards against having ideas of his own. Mental laziness becomes a virtue; one can at least bask in the sun of a semi-divine being. He can enjoy the archaism and infantilism of his unconscious fantasies without loss to himself, for all responsibility is laid at the Master’s door. Through his deification of the Master, the disciple, apparently without noticing it, waxes in stature; moreover, does he not possess the great truth—not his own discovery, of course, but received straight from the Master’s hands? Naturally, the disciples always stick together, not out of love, but for the very understandable purpose of effortlessly confirming their own convictions by engendering an air of collective agreement”.
Damn! These words cut deep…
I don’t know about you, but I can definitely remember times when everything I wanted was to find a good mentor/ master.
And I would jump from person to person until I could find the one who would give me all the answers for my life.
And you know what?
Some of them actually gave me advice and I blindly followed it, obviously, things weren’t working out, after all, they were giving me advice based on their worldview and what they thought was true.
Even if things weren’t working out for me, it was still a comfortable position, for I had someone I could put all the blame on.
I didn’t take responsibility for my choices, I didn’t own my life.
It’s far easier to be a disciple than it is to confront your own doubts and actually search for the meaning of your own life.
The only way to find your path is to get dirty, you’ll have to work hard on yourself and confront your deepest fears.
Obviously, you’ll make mistakes, but from them, we can learn and enhance our personalities.
Most of the time people are in these positions because they fear having to grow, but not only that… they fear having to look into their own souls.
It’s a very elaborate mechanism because when you project the Self onto other people, it automatically excuses you from having to realize your own.
With time, life may start to demand you to grow. You may even develop crazy symptoms, like diseases, addictions, anxiety, and depression.
A lot of times these very symptoms occur because we’re denying an essential part of ourselves that wants to come to life and blossom.
The Self is dynamic and is always trying to realize itself, however, when we don’t consciously engage in this endeavor things may start to get rough, and neurosis may be awaiting us.
Nonetheless, this is a call from Nature asking us to look deep into our souls… what have you been running away from?
What calling have you been refusing?
It’s only when you decide to consciously face those fears that you can outgrow them, for they possess the seeds for your future and mature self.
Yes, this will require courage, effort, and dedication, but that’s exactly how you regain your life and find your authentic path.
Rafael krüger
Read this one next – How To Do Shadow Work
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Start your journey with Katabasis – The Shadow Integration Manual