File under: Gurubusting and The Siddhi of PR
Deepak Chopra reminisces about his guru, the late Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, in this article on the Huffington Post. We were especially impressed by these passages:
Ironically, the respect shown to me in his name came to be my undoing. Maharishi started to give me the perception (perhaps that was my own projection) that he felt I was competing with him in a spiritual popularity contest. On more than one occasion, he casually mentioned that I was seeking adulation for myself. This was odd considering that he had been the one who thrust me forward in the first place, and who insisted on piling tributes on me that I had no choice but to accept whatever my embarrassment. The situation came to a head. In July, 1993, during the celebration of Guru Purnima, I went to see Maharishi in his private rooms to pay my respects. It was close to midnight after all the day’s public ceremonies had ended. Rita and I entered the room in near darkness. Besides Maharishi, the only person present was a TM higher up, Benny Feldman, who kept silent as Maharishi said, “People are telling me that you are competing with me.”
At that point I had only heard indirect reports about his displeasure; this was the first time, in fact, that Maharishi had shown anything but the highest trust in me…
Because now, Deepak wasn’t being regarded as a tool with which Mahesh could further glorify himself. Now, he was only an obstacle to that glorification. Fortunately for Deepak, he had enough self-possession at the time to see things as they really were:
Here he was now, in my eyes, playing the part of an irascible, jealous old man whose pride had been hurt. For my part, I was dismayed that he might believe the rumors. Then he made a demand. “I want you to stop traveling and live here at the ashram with me.” He also wanted me to stop writing books. After delivering what amounted to an ultimatum, I was given twenty-four hours to make up my mind.
While Chopra might not share our opinion of his guru, this event speaks more to our view than his. We applaud this more truthful rendering of the Maharishi, especially in front of the tsunami of hagiographic vomitus being puked at us by the world press. Chopra and the Maharishi are one case where the devotee has outshone the guru by megawatts.
SOURCE: guruphiliac.blogspot.com
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