What is psychotherapy?

Most who use that term say it is a talking cure for mental illness. This is the certainly the common understanding in the profession and with associated organizations. But just because it is common, does not make it the only or the best possible definition.

For years some of us have spoken of “spiritually-integrated psychotherapy,” accepting that common understanding of psychotherapy, but seeing a spiritual component to accompany the usual triumvirate of behavior, cognition, emotion as component parts of “mental health.” This “triumvirate” has never seemed adequate to me, just as the terms “mental health” and “mental illness” have seemed inadequate. 

There are many others whose views are that the medical model of “mental illness” is only sustainable if there is an organic cause that can be demonstrated through biologic testing by a pathologist. Otherwise it is simply a metaphor to allow psychiatry to label emotional distress as a medical disorder. A close look at the latest version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, the bible of the psychiatry industry, will demonstrate the faults of the medical model.

So if, perchance, the word “psychotherapy” has, at best, a scarred root, and if “mental illness” is to be reserved for brain pathology, perhaps there is another paradigm for which the word psychotherapy could be a referent.  I propose that there is.

Examining the word etymologically, it derives from Greek words for “spirit” and “cure” or “repair”. In particular the story of Psyche and Eros is instructive. There are various interpretations of the story but in essence, the following are the key points—that buttress my argument.

Eros is the son of Aphrodite, whose mischievous interventions in the affairs of gods and mortals cause bonds of love to form, often illicitly. (In other versions Eros is the fourth Primordial god and had no parents.)  Psyche is a mortal, human princess of astounding beauty who has gained the ire of Aphrodite as men turned their worship from the goddess to the girl.

In her jealousy, Aphrodite commands Eros to make Psyche fall in love with the most hideous man he could find. The story gets complicated by tasks of impossible difficulty and trips to the underworld, but the upshot is that Eros and Psyche fall in love and are married in the presence of the gods.

Here is the key point. As part of their marital bliss, Psyche bestows on Eros the one thing, the one gift that he, as a god, is lacking, the human spirit. Zeus (The one who rules all of Olympus, all of the gods.) is so pleased by this that he decides to give to both Psyche and Eros, the gift of immortality—as a wedding present.

In ancient Greek, the name of Psyche became the word for the human spirit. It is literally, the breath that is unique to the human spirit and is used as such in language and literature of the time.

It would appear then that a more adequate definition of “psychotherapy” is not the “cure of mental illness” but rather “the cure or repair of the human spirit, or soul.” It is no longer valid to speak of “spiritually-integrated psychotherapy.” All psychotherapy is spiritual, at least in this sense.

This helps distinguish psychotherapy from the use of psychology to reduce human beings to “normalcy,” to make them “fit in.” Psychotherapy as truly practiced is helping people to recognize and move toward their uniqueness; toward what makes them truly human; toward the health of the human spirit.

So often, people are in emotional pain and dysfunction. At the first level, it is important to aid such a person by being attentive to their struggle and difficulty, whether that is grief, fear, anxiety, depression or something else. But psychotherapy is called to go beyond that, to help the client recognize, pursue and grapple with her own uniqueness, her spirit--her unique “ground of being.”(The concept of “Ground of being” comes from the work of Paul Tillich in his The Courage to Be.)

Only by making spirituality the center of our endeavor, can we say that we are practicing psychotherapy.

Birds of Paradise

For the last three years, I have been a "parront", a foster parent for rescued parrots. Parrots are amazing animals with the intelligence of a three-year old human but the emotional level of a two-year old. They are gorgeous and usually very companionable. But unlike dogs and cats, they are not really domesticated. They have not lived with humans for thousands of years, but only in the last few hundred and even then not in the same way.

It has given me a new understanding and appreciation, not only of parrots but of the many birds of the rainforest and jungle.

One of my fellow parronts forwarded this video, not of parrots but of the many unique birds of New Guinea.

Love and the Greeks

I have been a part of the mainstream Christian church for more than forty years. While I am Heterodox--I don't believe in any orthodox dogmas or doctrines--I still believe myself Christian in that I see in Jesus--and Gautama--models for living that, translated to modern time, provides a guidance worth paying attention. 

In all that time, I have heard pastors and other learned people prattle on about love. They almost always say something similar to, "There are three words in Koine Greek (The language spoken about 2,000 years ago and of the New Testament.) Those words are 'agape', 'philia', and 'eros'. The word agape means self-giving love which does not even have to have an emotional content. Philia is the word the Greeks used for the love of friends. Eros is romantic and sexual love." Most of those lectures put the words in order of value—and they did not value eros very much. Clearly “agape” is the ideal love—and we won’t even speak of “eros” except in passing.

To begin with, the original premise is incorrect. There are at least four words. Storge is another Greek word for love, being affection—like a parent with a child.

But the word “eros” has also been mis-defined. Yes, it does include sexual and romantic love. The original story of the love between the god Eros and the human woman Psyche is the prototype. But Eros was so passionate about his love that he was willing to give up everything for her. That was not merely sexual. However, the Greeks went far beyond this. They used the word to express this power of passion. In fact today people speak of platonic relationships. Plato used the word eros to designate that kind of love that is beyond physical attraction, but powerful and passionate. Too often we speak of platonic love as against erotic love. That is just an expression of ignorance of Plato.

We have gotten to this point because people are fearful of their passions, especially sexual passions. We work to limit them, afraid that they will take control of us. So the church—as most religions—hides sex, and limits it. But in so doing it limits also the energy and power of all passion.

From my experience of many years helping people deal with their emotions, I think the agape, philia, eros (and storge) distinctions are sometimes helpful. However, the reality is that in human life, these first three are never experienced independently. The exact “quantities” in the mix differ from situation to situation, but they are always all there.  Agape without passion diminishes the humanity of both parties. And eros without self-giving love quickly becomes merely self-centered.emotional greed.

The Hebrew Bible (Which some call the Old Testament) actually recognizes this. Read the Song of Songs and experience the passion, the eros of the words there. The churches have largely  ignored this book. In all those mentioned years, I have heard only one sermon from this source. Even when they acknowledge it, they make it an allegory about God and humanity. But, no! It is a story of romance, passion and sexuality. In fact it is something to be read in a romantic setting with candlelight, roses, sweet smells and touch. 

Occasionally, the churches take baby-steps toward addressing sexuality but they rarely follow through. The National Sex Forum in the 1970’s was started by the Methodist (and other denominations) church and the Rev. Ted McIlvenie. But as the support waned in the 1980s, it was spun off and become a degree granting university without the benefit of a depth of interest in spirituality.

More recently the United Church of Christ and the Unitarian Universalist denominations, produced a very well-done curriculum for adult sex education—unfortunately still abstinence-based. But if you ask pastors about it, most of them don’t even know of the curriculum’s existence.

Now, I have not even mentioned that every other major religion has a similar story. Islam is sexophobic. Buddhism is equally fearful of sex when it isn’t just silent. Hinduism is often looked on as the exception and people will point out the Kama Sutra. But the Kama Sutra is mostly about how to live life according to certain rules and the sexuality is restricted or celebrated only under particular practices that are intended to enhance spirituality. Of course American practioners of Tantra have gone beyond in recent years.

We are afraid of our passions, including especially the sexual ones. We are fearful that they will sweep us up and become uncontrollable. If we breach the walls between us, we might be caught up in our passions and not able to control our sexual urges.

As a counselor/psychotherapist I am often struck by the way the various psychotherapy organizations have found it necessary to put restrictions in their codes of ethics preventing any physical contact. If I hug a client, I may not be able to stop until I have “ravished” her. There are times when it is exactly a hug that a client needs. And sometimes it is a “he”.

Of course, in the counseling relationship we must be vigilant and aware of issues of “transference” and “counter-transference”. Another of my mentors used to ask a client, “Whose head are you putting on my body?” Everything we do in that role is to be considered as to whether it will have a beneficial or deleterious effect on the client. But that concern cannot become a set of handcuffs preventing us from pursuing the client’s good.

Love is the final frontier. It is the emotion most needed. Children who don’t get enough love suffer—even growing less well-developed brains, not just less well-developed emotions. (More on this later.) Agape without eros fails. I have no doubt that the Greeks used different words, but they did not make the mistake of separating the aspects of love by inserting impermeable walls between them.

My Way or My Pain

Yesterday I got a phone call from my friend. She wanted my help to buy a watch. Could she have bought it on her own? Of course. But it was a nice way of making a contact; for us to go watch-shopping together. We quickly found a watch that met her specifications. It had to be a dial watch, not a digital face. It needed to be attractive but plain. No date, time, alarms, etc. for her. It must be a quality brand—preferably Seiko. It had to be “waterproof.” Money was not a question. She expected to pay $200 or so. We quickly found her watch at Costco—after considering other vendors, including Amazon, the jewelry store in the mall, etc. It actually was not Seiko, but Citizen, an equally well considered competitor of Seiko of equally high reputation.

That got me to thinking about my own watch. I purchased a fancy-looking watch just a few months ago. It had both digital and dial display. But I’ve never really been happy with it. The dial display is large and hides the digital, and the hour and minute hands are almost the same size, so it takes me a bit of concentration to decide if it is ten minutes after three or 15 minutes after two. It does display the day and date, but those are tiny and almost hidden behind the dial hands. In other words I was quite dissatisfied with my purchase, but I had spent $60 on it and I was just going to suffer through.

Getting my friend’s watch though, convinced me that I needed to stop spending so much of my mental energy both reading the watch and being dissatisfied. It was time for me to find a watch that would do what I want. Unlike my friend, my budget was $25-50. I considered carefully what I want and it was almost the opposite of my friend. I like the digital display. I wanted it large, though not enormous, so that I did not waste mental energy and distraction having to search for the time. I also wanted the date and it had to have a dial that could light up in the dark. It did have to be wearable in the water, but not to 100 meters. I haven’t been below 10 feet in the water for years. I quickly found a Timex for $30.

My point is that we had almost opposite specifications. Both held to them very strongly. Both of us are right—for ourselves. And both are self-indulgent. Another friend used to say, “That’s why they make chocolate, strawberry and vanilla ice cream.” In other words there is no right or wrong in most arenas of life. Thinking that my way is the only right way—even for my own toys—is self-defeating. Life is better when we don’t demand that it be a certain way, but have an attitude of acceptance. I’m not saying that all desire causes unhappiness. But absolutely insisting on my life preferences does.

One of my teachers talked about “low frustration tolerance.” Some people not only are frustrated by occurrences that don’t suit their prejudices, but descend into an attitude that “can’t stand it if my desires are not met.” It is obvious that we can stand it. If we couldn’t, we would just have to commit suicide. Most people don’t do that so the belief that “I can’t stand it" is just wrong. (I’m not saying that it is wrong to have strong preferences, only that we cause ourselves pain when we absolutize them.)

Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas. Happy Chanukah (a tad late), and a Wonderful Holiday for those of other or no tradition.
Some of my friends know that among my failings is that I am a foster parent for rescued parrots. I volunteer with Mickaboo Companion Bird Rescue. We take in lost, abandoned or surrendered parrots and care for them until we can find loving homes.

Parrots are often purchased by well-meaning folk who don't realize that they are not like dogs and cats. They are not really domesticated. They are often one or two generations from the jungle and require a lot of care. While they are very smart--One African Grey learned more than 1,000 words and was able to construct a meaningful sentence--they are not for the timid. They live a long time, so provision needs to be made for their care if they live longer than you do. One of the volunteers writes a Christmas song each year. I thought that I would just share this with all the many friends who deign to read my occasional blog. Chloe Redon, the author, is a very creative "parront" with much experience--and a tongue in her cheek. LOL She has captured key characteristics of each of the species of parrot.

The Twelve Days of Christmas Parronts

On the twelfth day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
Twelve Conures calling,

Eleven Budgies bathing,
Ten Lovebirds mating,
Nine Lories licking,
Eight Pigeons cooing,       

Seven Tiels-a-talking,
Six Canaries singing,

FIVE GNARLY 'ZONS!  (Amazons for the lay person)

Four timid Greys,
Three Finch friends,
Two blue Macaws
   
And
a Poicephalus
in a palm tree. 

-- --
Chloe Redon
Tech and Conure Teams
Education Curriculum
www.mickaboo.org
==============================
Mickaboo Companion Bird Rescue
"Don't buy, don't breed.......
           ADOPT!

The Value of Nudity in Therapy

My first introduction to the power of nudity was in therapy. I came west to a two-day workshop with William Hartman and Marilyn Fithian. Their main work was in sex therapy, but they also had this recurring workshop on body image which was conducted in the nude. I was so impressed by the changes this workshop helped me make that I returned to take a two-week course from them on doing nude therapy.

Hartman and Fithian did not invent nudity, of course. In the Hebrew Bible, there are many positive references to nudity. King David dancing nude before the Ark; several of the prophets lived for long periods in the nude. The early Christian church baptized with either the new convert alone or in some groups, the whole congregation removing their clothing, symbolically putting off their sinful nature. Many Celtic religions likely worshiped in the nude. In fact today, some Pagan religions do so, especially certain Wiccan covens who worship "skyclad." There is a good body of research showing the positive effects of social nudity on children as well as adults.

All this stems from the same factors that make nudity valuable in psychotherapy. (If you wonder why more therapists do not use nudity, that is the subject of another article. I think, but cannot prove, that many therapists are personally uncomfortable with nudity. Most of the professional therapy organizations are very conservative and wary of claims of sexual harassment. Much of this stems from the repressive nature of our conservative culture which insists on sexualizing nudity and then is anti-sex. That is my conjecture of course and not demonstrable fact.)

After my studies with these teachers, I have continued to learn to work with nudity in the context of body-mind practices and have become ever more aware that we "store" many of our emotions in our bodies. Obviously we do so in our tight chests, knotted muscles in necks and backs, but also internally in our digestive systems and elsewhere.

To speak of the value of nudity, we should say a few words of the value of clothing. Clothing serves several purposes: it protects our body from the elements. As we move toward fall and winter, we keep ourselves warm with clothing. It also protects us in our activities. We would not handle many construction materials or do other dangerous tasks without wearing the appropriate garments. Riding a motorcycle without protective clothing is foolish. A second and important use of clothing is to impress others or to project an image of our status, our interests or our wealth. The suit and tie of the business person is intended to project prosperity or the serious nature of endeavor.

But a major and insidious use of clothing is as psychological armor. We hide behind our clothing; unconsciously hiding our emotions, and especially our pain, not just from others but even from ourselves. In daily life constantly dwelling on our emotional difficulties would disrupt our day to day efforts at life, and actually reinforce our pain and struggle. However, while constantly focusing on emotions is not healthy, hiding them is equally unhealthy. Emotions need to be acknowledged and accepted. Healthy emotions can be an indicator that we are alive and well, even when they are painful as when we are sad or grieving. Unhealthy ones can be changed.

In my work with clients, I have learned to use nudity when it is an appropriate tool to discover and release emotions. This usually follows some period of discovering the more obvious and presenting issues that a client brings. Those are helped with some combination of insight-therapy, Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy, hypnosis and other more conventional tools. But with some clients, not all, there comes a time when the emotions within their awareness or that surface through other methods, are not all that is troubling them. Often they are carrying painful emotions below the level of awareness.

When the depth emotions are not sufficiently available to the client's awareness, another valuable tool is nudity. The client is always given the choice of how near to nude they are willing to be. For some, the association of nudity with sexuality is too strong and full nudity might even be counter-productive. (Though, I have discovered that if the client can trust themselves, the concerns disappear very quickly. After a few minutes of tenseness, they begin to relax and discover that nothing terrible is occurring and that they are in charge of themselves and their experience.)

Working with the body can be done by using loose clothing like sweatsuit. Removing all constricting clothing such as belt or bra for women or tight shorts for men and then covering up with a sweatsuit is an option. While it still leaves the body armored, at least it is more lightly armored and the client is better able to focus attention on the internal sensations of their body.

This work is almost always done with the client lying supine on a massage table. We often, in session, talk about "table work" as a short-hand, as in "the emotions that arose during table work."

Some clients are never able to work nude. It is always the client's choice, as are all the the techniques I use. With some clients who have found themselves able to trust both me and themselves, fully removing their clothing is like taking off the armor. I try to help them become comfortable with exposing their own emotions by exposing their bodies, not so much to me as to themselves.

To this end, I help them lie back without the emotional armor and become aware of the tenseness and stress within. We usually begin with some focused breathing. Many clients come to me not knowing how to breathe deeply. So we begin with learning that skill. Focus on expanding the belly, contracting the diaphragm and getting as much air as possible.

When the person is able to be clearly aware of the air moving in the body, we proceed to use that air to fill other parts of the body. Clearly, this is not a literal possibility; human anatomy does not allow it. However by using our imagination, we can "push" some of the air into the shoulders, the pelvis, into the thighs, into the legs, etc. This helps the person become aware of the tensions in various parts of the body.

At some point in all of this, the person begins to be in touch with emotions that have been outside of awareness. While they were affecting his or her life, they were hidden beneath the surface. It is not so important to know where or when those emotions first arose, but to recognize them and know that they are controlling the person here and now. This point may come early with the breathing, but more often it takes some time.

Depending on the person, and maybe in additional sessions, we can go further and identify those emotions more fully. There is a gradual transition in most nude sessions when the client's emotional energy has been expended and they feel more peaceful. This is when we conclude that session. Usually, I leave the area and let the person just rest until they feel able and ready to get up and dress themselves.

Since our goal, in most counseling encounters, is for the client to leave our sessions more "in charge" of themselves, becoming aware and able to enjoy emotional health, we do not stop here. It is important to immediately get the clothed client talking about the experience and acknowledging the emotions which arose in the table work. While we may not have time in a normal session to fully use the information in cognitive process, we do mark it for future effort and ensure that it is fixed in the client's mind. The client is sent away with some homework, to practice some of what we did for themselves; at least, to practice the breathing exercises. Of course, a client who has mastered the skill of REBT exercises will be encouraged to use the emotional information that way.

We follow up in the next session by working with various tools to process the emotions more fully. Due to the depth of what comes to the fore, it is unusual to use nudity two sessions in a row. The power of the nude work provides so much growth material that it normally takes a full process session or even more between. On rare occasions, and especially at the client's request, we may do table work more frequently.

Because I want to ensure that the client understands the non-sexual nature of this nude table work, I am careful to use exam gloves. It is a way of emphasizing that there is no sexuality involved in any nude touch. Of course, I am a "huggy" person and am not adverse to touching a clothed client if it is appropriate, but it is important that nothing we do in session is mistaken as sexual. This is especially true with clients from Latin American backgrounds. They are much more likely to be touch friendly. Many of the cultures are sexually conservative but they still tend to great each other with a hug.

Like all my blog entries, I wrote this for myself. However, if you find it useful I am delighted.

Saturday in Guadalajara

Yesterday was an easy day. I wandered around downtown for a while, then took a taxi west to Colonia Americana.

Wound up at a Chilis for lunch.(Yes, same chain as in the US) I ordered and ate a hamburger. I rarely, almost never, eat red meat but the hamburger, it seems, was calling my name in a very plaintive voice. LOL. The Chilis was on the ground floor of a small shopping plaza. I don't remember Chilis in the US as a very good place to get real food and they are no better in Mexico. I would have chosen a salad or something else, but there were no options to go with the hamburger. It was fries. Limp, greasy, sodden fries. Am I complaining too much. Yeah maybe.

Then I fooled around in the plaza. On the third floor was, a great playground for little kids. It was about 150 feet long and about 40 wide. The floor was firm, but soft enough so that a child who fell would not be hurt. And they did fall while I was there, but not often. There were wonderful climbing things, a three tier balloon structure. It was about 15 feet in diameter at the bottom, then a second balloon about 10 feet and finally the top balloon was just wide enough for two children to climb up and lay down. The whole thing would bounce around as the kids were climbing and then at the top, they enjoyed more bouncing. Even if they fell from the top, they would land on the second tier, maybe three feet. But what they really did was just slide down the sides.

Another toy was a 10x10 shallow pool of water which was covered by a loose sheet of clear plastic. The kids were enjoying "swimming" without getting wet. Many other similar items including a cloth "tunnel" with a helical coil structure, about 15 feet in length and two feet in width, so the kids could crawl in at one end and end up at the other. But with equal enjoyment the "tunnel" could roll around and be bent back on itself so the children could manipulate things. There were also areas where the children could paint with washable colors, fold papers (origami) etc.

It was all presided over by two women who seemed to have a special touch with the kids. Meanwhile the mommies could sit at a counter right around the perimeter and watch their children play while they drank cokes or horchata (A wonderful Mexican drink) or even eat lunch.

Hurray for whoever created this playground.

By the way. I could have found a much better hamburger up there in the food court, or gone for a salad. Several nice fast food options. Maybe it is my limited life experience, but I've never found a real fast food salad place in the US. Yes, MacDonald's and BurgerKing will serve a premade dried up salad in most of their outlets. For a while Wendys had a salad bar. Today, Carl's Junior seems to be the only one left and even it is pretty limited.

I returned to the downtown area and, in the taxi, had a small personal triumph. The driver was explaining how driving was easy yesterday, but today the traffic was bad due to the El Grito holiday. (If you try to Google it, you will notice that Google is honoring Mexican Independence Day with their logo.) I remembered the quotation, "Some days you eat the tiger, some days the tiger eats you." (No, I don't remember from where that comes, and it might have been a bear. LOL). So I did a quick translation and shared it with him. He got it and laughed so hard, I was afraid he would lose control of the car.

I should explain that my Spanish is pretty lame. I studied for six months in Mazatlan, then for another six weeks the next year, in Cuernavaca. But I really don't have much self-confidence in my Spanish. Moreover, I almost never use it while in the US. When I come to Mexico (Almost annually) for vacation, it takes me a couple days to really get some confidence back and begin to understand even minimally. So the tiger was a good thing.

By seven, I was again hungry but just a bit. Decided to eat a small bowl of tortilla soup at this little health restaurant. As I walked to it, I noticed the many police and soldiers on the streets. Their numbers increased as I sat eating. They had several varieties of police, city, state, forest rangers, and military as well, marines, army, even navy (Even though GDL is a long way from the sea ;-) It was good to see them taking security seriously. Not the 20,000 that were deployed in Mexico City, but a reassuring presence here in Mazatlan.

I was hoping to get to the central square for the fireworks and to hear the big proclamation--I will explain this later in this blog. Unfortunately, as I exited the restaurant, a few sprinkles of rain began. Not bad, but I made my way back to the hostel under the overhangs and awnings. By the time I got to the door of the hostel, it was beginning to be minor but serious rain. Assuming it would let up soon, I prepared to go out again. About 15 minutes later (8pm or so) the rain was coming down in sheets, the street was flowing, the few cars going past the window looked like they were swimming. Then the lightening started and continued.

I had not come prepared for rain so I just decided to view the celebration, if there would still be one, on line and just gave it up for the night.

A word about El Grito for those who don't know the Mexican history. In 1810 Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, a Catholic priest in the small town of Dolores, had the church bells rung and gathered the people to pronounce the beginning of the war of independence from Spain. 

Usually called "El Grito de Dolores" or "El Grito de la Independencia". The exact words appear to be lost in history, but one source quotes "The essential spirit of the message is...'My children: a new dispensation comes to us today. Will you receive it? Will you free yourselves? Will you recover the lands stolen three hundred years ago from your forefathers by the hated Spaniards? We must act at once… Will you defend your religion and your rights as true patriots? Long live our Lady of Guadalupe! Death to bad government! Death to the gachupines!" (Gachupines means the Spanish conquerors and their lackeys.)

Mexico is a great nation. Many in the US tend to think of it as backward, poor and the home of all those drug cartels, when they think of it at all. Oh, and the source of tens of millions of "illegal aliens." (I wont go into the reasons for the quotation marks here, but the term is wrong on many levels.) But actually Mexico was far ahead of any other country in the Western Hemisphere in freeing slaves and restoring to the proper indigenous people, the land that had been stolen by the conquering Spaniards.

Mexico freed all slaves in 1828. This was a corollary of the Chilpancingo Constitution of 1814 where it was the world's first country to recognize all persons as equal regardless of race.

Growing up in Texas, I learned a lot about Texas history. Some of it was magnificent. But the freeing of the slaves was a good part of the motive for the Texas war with Mexico. The immigrants from the US who came to Tejas, needed to have slaves to work in the fields of cotton and onions. When Mexico freed all slaves, that began the planning for the Texas Republic which was formed in 1836. Now I won't pretend that it was the only reason, but it was a big reason. Texas quickly gave up its status as an independent nation to join the US as a slave state.

If you have any interest in Mexican history. Well...even if you don't, let me recommend a history book that is exciting and worthwhile even for those who slept through high school history class. (I confess). Pick up a copy of Gods, Gachupines and Gringos: A People's History of Mexico. The author is Richard Grabman and it is published by Editorial Mazatlan, run by my friend David Bodwell who has published a number of excellent works on Mexico.

My Open Love Letter To Michelle Obama

Dear Michelle,

You follow many other presidential wives in having a high calling of work on behalf of your own initiatives in nutrition, promotion of personal health activities and much more. White house organic gardens, efforts on behalf of military families and veterans and so many more works are an inspiration. All these and more demonstrate your most admirable intellectual and moral traits.

But when I see you with Sasha and Malia, flanking Barack, I am most grateful. Being president is a stressful job, I am grateful that you and Barack are willing to take it for another four years. But doing that while raising a healthy family requires a dedication that is rare today. Doing it under constant scrutiny of the media, with a hundred pair of eyes searching for any weakness; that is beyond dedication, it also demonstrates amazing personal skill and resourcefulness. You, Barack, Sasha and Malia are a great inspiration for families around the world. Your evident mutual love shines as proof that it can be done even in trying circumstances.

Of course, your sense of the personal aesthetic in dress and demeanor are complimented by your physical beauty. While they would not bring my admiration by themselves, they, combined with all the above have made me fall entranced with you and with your children. No husband or children could more appropriately consider their wife or mother as gorgeous and beautiful and in so many ways.

Barack has long since acquired my admiration and loyalty. That does not mean my automatic approval. I think he has made some terrible decisions about not recognizing Republican intransigence earlier and putting on his steel gloves; about his personnel choices like Geithner and Rahm Emmanuel; following a very conservative economic strategy; walking away from the public option in health care. But even so, he has accomplished far more than any president in recent history against a blockade of Republican, and "Know Nothing" racist Birther, and Tea Party opposition.

I do hope that in his second term Barack will look more to Robert Reich, Paul Krugman, Joseph Stiglitz and Bernie Sanders for aid, ideas and advice.

Another four years. As Yoda says, "Do or not do. There is no try!"

Love,
David

Friday in Guadalajara

It was a good choice to take the Lake Chapala tour. As bad as the previous tour experience was, today was great. The tour company made up for the previous experience by giving me this tour at no charge.

It began by being picked up at the hostel by the same person who had picked me up the other day. Of course she was not going to be the tour guide, but she was as pleasant today as she had been on Wednesday. I really enjoyed her good spirits and her humor--though some was lost on this gringo whose Spanish could stand a lot of improvement.

We headed for the rendezvous with the big buses. Sure enough we had a full bus to head to Lake Chapala. I was seated across from a US couple who live in Monterrey. He travel all over Latin America, managing the administration for hospitals. Their Spanish was absolutely fluent. The guide on the bus was a nice woman who was quite bilingual. I usually understood most of her Spanish, but she could readily give me any lacking information in English when I missed.

Along the way we stopped at the enormous ranch of Vincente Fernandez. Lots of photos of horses and people. I focused on the gate guards and their interesting expressions. Then a brief stop at a store on the ranch which sold gaucho clothing, boots, buckles, jackets.

Arriving in Lake Chapala, the guide explained that the lake had been showing signs of serious diminution due to the increase in population around it and the use of the water for industry. It also became quite polluted. However, the lowered water level was so obvious that it focused public attention and the area began to take the problem seriously. While it still has not returned to the same size as it was earlier, the pollution has been abated and it has become usable even for swimming and fishing again. It is a real ecological success--well on the way, at least.

We had about an hour to just enjoy the shore and the air. Really quite pleasant a place. A few folk took a short boat ride out into the lake with a tour guide explaining the sights.

After a while, I found a nice restaurant for a cup of coffee on the veranda with a great lake breeze.

We climbed back aboard the bus and headed for Ajijic, a few kilometers west of the town of Chapala and along the lake. Ajijic (pron. Aheehik) comes from the Nahuatl language of pre-Spanish times. Ajijic is a major retirement area for US and Canadians. Of the more or less 13,000 population, over 5,000 are these retirees. Many of the Mexicans owe their livelihood to this group as the economy was quite deteriorated before, people leaving in droves for Guadalajara.

We had a late lunch in Ajijic at a very nice restaurant right on the shore under palm trees and palapas, the delicious breeze gently caressing us. I must admit that the Huachinango Veracruzana that I ate was probably the best I have ever enjoyed.  OK. Huachinango is red snapper. A true red snapper has a head almost as long as its body. Veracruz sauce includes all manner of spices with tomatoes as a base, onions and olives, all baked deliciously.

I came to enjoy it many years ago when I ate it in a restaurant in Mazatlan. But it is difficult to find unless you are lucky. It will rarely be on the menu at "Mexican" restaurants in the US. I walked into a small restaurant in San Rafael, not long after we moved there. The woman who ran it was in her early 80s. I saw a note in the menu, to ask for anything special. When I asked if she could make Huachinango Veracruzana, her face lit up and she easily agreed. I had to settle for another fish as she didn't have the red snapper, but the Veracruz cooking sauce was marvelous. That established our relationship. She said to let her know the day before I was coming and she would buy the snapper just for me.

We headed back to GDL at around 4pm, a bit later than the schedule, but that was fine with me. I had nothing else planned and knew that I would not be looking for dinner anyway.

So writing this blog is my final action for the day.

Tomorrow is at present quite unplanned, but I may head out to one of the major neighborhoods that I've been told are pleasant places to visit. Then tomorrow night will be the beginning of the Independence Day celebration. I do want to buy a Mexican flag pin for my shirt.

Good night all, and thanks for reading my blog.

Wednesday and Thursday in Guadalajara and TlaquePaque

Fascinating day, yesterday. So far I've spent a lot of time in the historic downtown area of GDL and there is a lot to see. From the cathedral--which dates from 1541 but has been damaged by fire and earthquake on several occasions--not nearly as spectacular as that in Mazatlan, which is much newer, built beginning in 1875 and recently refurbished, to the official buildings housing the state legislature and the city government. All this on Tuesday. A long day.

So I reserved a space on a tour of Lake Chapala for yesterday. I was picked up at the hostel by a small van which then went around to several hotels to pick up passengers. We were then taken to a rendezvous with the main, large vans to go to either Lake Chapala or to the Tequila area which is where the drink of that name is produced. After a few minutes, we were told that only a few people wanted to go to Lake Chapala and they couldn't go. Instead we could choose either the Tequila tour or the towns of Tonala and Tlaquepaque, both known for handicraft.

Three of us who were not interested in the Tequila tour chose the T/T route. A gentleman in a private car was designated our tour guide. After we left the area, he pulled over and recommended that we just do a general GDL tour and then go to Tlaquepaque. At this point, if I had been smarter, I would have just asked for my money and being returned to my hostel--but I went along to get along.

It was not a good experience. The guide was quite knowledgeable and took us to half a dozen famous statues along with two churches, then back to the old town center that I had already well covered. After three hours of this we left to Tlaquepaque. By now the older couple who were with me--and for whom this was all new--were hungry. The guide steered us to the most expensive restaurant and then abandoned us for the next two hours. I wandered off looking for subjects to photograph and, in doing so, found some very nice restaurants that seemed to serve quite good food for about 1/2 the price.

He finally dropped me back at my hostel. Frankly this was not one of the better days. This morning, I narrated my sad story to the clerk at the hostel--which had recommended the tour. They gave me the option of taking the Chapala tour at no charge, if I wanted, or they would refund their kickback from the tour company. So that's the plan for tomorrow. We'll see what happens.

Tuesday in Guadalajara

So, late though I was awakening, I thought I had recovered, and was ready to take on some cultural sightseeing. I chose this hostel in part because it was right down in the middle of the old town center. And it really is.

I've already mentioned having to climb three flights of stairs so I won't say much except that going down them is not quite as difficult, but still not too easy with replacement knees.

I left the hostel about 11am and headed for the big plaza around which are many, varied government buildings. Lot's of activity in the plaza. It entertains families and company outings. At one end was a booth recruiting for the Mexican armed forces. They were giving away toaster ovens, microwaves and other appliances to the families of young people who join up. Sounds good to me. Some of you will remember when you got such things for opening a new bank account--now the bank just sticks it to you. (By the way, I'm a big fan of Credit Unions. Free checking, low interest loans--8.9% on my credit card balance. Compare to banks at 18 to 28%.)

So my camera got a lot of use. Photos inside the well-done main mayoral building, an open two-story structure. You can see the cathedral spires from inside, especially on the second floor. There is a wonderful five panel wall mural. I haven't take the time to find out the official meanings, but I interpreted it to be the story of the conquest of this area by the Spaniards. Many scenes depicting the Spanish cruelty to the indigenous populations. The center panel is the only one in color. It shows the Spanish, in all their splendor, looking down on the population. But there is a small corner scene which looks like an Indian urinating on the wall where the Spanish are standing. I'm sure that was not the official interpretation, but it fits my political and scatological mind.

Next was the cathedral. I even put my f1.8 50mm lens to use in all the darkness of the interior. (And cranked the ISO rating to 1600, for those to whom this is meaningful.) I took a few photos but in all honesty, this cathedral looks drab and colorless to one who has seen the cathedral in Mazatlan with all it's glorious gilding and stained glass windows.

By now I was again tired and dehydrated. The climate here seems to suck the water out of my body. Suddenly I found myself in front of a nice Sanborns restaurant. Not hungry, just thirsty, I got an iced tea and sat enjoying the cool rehydration of 1/2 a liter bottle and then a similar amount of plain water. Sanborn's is an interesting story. It is a Mexican chain of stores begun by two brothers who immigrated from California. The first store was in Mexico City. During the Mexican Revolution in the early 20th century (Not the war of independence from Spain) Emiliano Zapata used one of the branch stores as a gathering place. Now there is a Sanborns in almost any medium to large city, often many.

Revived, I found an ATM and got some spending money before heading back to the hostel and those three flights of stairs. A late dinner came a couple hours later and some very good pozole. (A kind of stew with hominey, this pozole had a chicken base.)

Now it is time for this very tired camper to head for bed. OMG, it's only 9pm. Tomorrow, I'm playing tourist and taking a tour of the Lake Chapala area, so I have to be ready by 8am.

TTFN (Ta Ta For Now)

Guadalajara

I have been vacationing in Mazatlan regularly for over 20 years. Yes, I occasionally go elsewhere, Tokyo, Cuernavaca, even Brazil. Last April I did take a week to visit two of my mentors in Akron, OH and in Kansas City, MO. But otherwise it's Mazatlan. I have many friends there, some Mexican, some US and Canadian expatriates, some in retirement, a few with jobs or their own enterprises. Among my closest are David Bodwell who runs Editora Mazatlan, publishing books in Spanish and English--the best popular history of Mexico, including a good history of the relationship with the US, entitled Gods, Gachupines and Gringos: A People's History of Mexico, and Martha Armenta, who owned the language school I attended and who is the patron saint of wild animals who are brought to Conrehabit, the wildlife preservation group and rehabituation clinic that she began in her grown son's abandoned bedroom, but now has a large operation just outside of Mazatlan. If you want more, go to Conrehabit

This summer I decided to go to a new place--new to me of course--Guadalajara. Guadalajara is a big city, almost 5,000,000 people, it is a bustling place of technology and industry. If you want to know more about the city you can go to Wikipedia, but since you are reading my blog, I'll, with lack of humility, assume you are interested in me.

I began yesterday morning, catching a Marin Door to Door ride to the airport at 2:30am. Couldn't sleep on the planes what with changing in LA and the only two plus hour flight then to Guadalajara. The flight was packed and I was sitting with two other folk of my own size (Extra large). The walk from the airplane to Immigration was about half the distance from LA. I was very tired by this tie. Of course the Mexican  immigration and customs folk were very polite and helpful as they always have been whenever I have visited or lived in Mexico.

One Mexican curiosity is their green light/red light approach to baggage inspection. After immigration, you pick up your bags and head for customs. If you have nothing to declare and fill out the form to say so, they let you push a button. It (seemingly) randomly chooses to show a green light or a red light. If it is a red light, you have to open your bags, but on a green light you are just waved through.

By this time, not only was I tired, but very hungry. I had eaten nothing since dinner on Sunday and it was now 2pm on Monday. But I have arrived in civilization. The airport lounge sported a Starbucks and a BurgerKing in addition to several restaurants. I choose a chicken sandwich, Mexicano; a slab of breaded chicken breast slathered with salsa on an elongated bun. That and a cup of coffee. (Mexican coffee has improved tremendously over these 20 years. In the old days, if you ordered a cup of coffee, they would bring a jar or packet of Nescafe, and some hot water.)

Rejuvenated, I went to the kiosk and bought a taxi ticket for the ride to downtown Guadalajara. (From now on I'm going to use the abbreviation, GDL or gdl. These are approved and used by Mexicans all the time.) Showing the taxista the directions I had received, he had no trouble getting me there. I got out of the taxi in front of Hostel Hospedarte, where I had a reserved single room. Most hostels these days have a few private rooms, not just dormitory style. I went in and the delightful (and quite beautiful) young woman tried to find my reservation, to no avail. I showed her the confirmation and after pondering a bit, she said, that there are two Hostel Hospedarte and the offices had sent me the wrong directions. I needed to take another cab to the correct one which was even more in the heart of the historical center.

$10 lighter, I arrived at the correct Hostel Hospedarte and entered to immediately be greeted by a three flight set of stairs, up which I had to haul my bags. This was almost enough for a full collapse. But I persevered and wound up at the top, where another very gorgeous young woman checked me in and showed me to my room. (I wonder if physical beauty is joined by the bilingualism and patience as a few among the many qualifications for the job.)

By now, it was about 4pm. After unpacking and taking a short nap, it was 7pm and I was hungry again. The clerk gave me a map and marked it with the local restaurants that served the kind of food I wanted. So I went down the stairs and started walking the block to the restaurant that served salads. Three blocks later, I found a small park, but not any restaurants. Sitting down on a park bench, I hauled out the map. I had followed her markings. Studying the map more carefully, I realized that she had marked the wrong corner for where the hostel was located. Her mark was across the street. So when I turned left, per her marks, I should have gone right.

Another four blocks--one block past the hostel--sure enough there was the restaurant. I could barely climb the one step up, but I did. The tortilla soup was excellent and was followed by a small, but delicious salad and a cup of coffee.

Now back up those stairs, but not hauling suitcase, briefcase and camera case, I sat for a while, then took a shower and plopped into a sound sleep. I set my alarm for 8am. When I awoke, it was 9:30. The alarm had not gone off. Then I realized why. The alarm was on my cell phone which still had SF time. But GDL is two hours ahead. The alarm still thought it was 7:30.

I'm still not up to a lot of effort. Decided to narrate yesterday in this blog before heading to some historic sites which are relatively nearby. Also need to change some money so I'll have to find a bank. It is 12:15 and time to get on.

The Burden of the Church

One of my strongest memories is a Friday evening, attending a Shabbat service at the synagogue. It was in the middle of reading from the Torah—the Hebrew bible—when suddenly there was loud music coming from the street in front of the synagogue. Then a voice, telling us that we must turn to Jesus and we would be forgiven. Only Christ could wash away the sins of our hearts. He would forgive even Jews who had murdered him. We rushed outside—our Shabbat service was disrupted—and saw an enormous truck with loudspeakers pointed at our synagogue and a local evangelist speaking in a microphone. The truck was emblazoned, “Reverend L. L. Roloff, Brings Jesus, Come Let His Blood Cleanse You.”

I was born Jewish in Corpus Christi, Texas. Experiences like mine have been the frequent lot of Jews in the South, but not only Jews. Mormons, Buddhists and Muslims all have experiences like, if not as extreme as, mine. It is not only Christian evangelists who have and continue to do this. The most orthodox of almost every religion seem to delight in perpetrating similar atrocities. “Fundamentalist” Muslims, Buddhists too have their dogmatic “fundamentalists” who prey on others. Ultra-orthodox Jews do not proselytize, but they do treat even less orthodox Jews with extreme cruelty. There are similar dogmatic Hindus.

But it is the protestant Christians like Rick Warren, Charles Colson, James Dobson, Billy and Franklin Graham, Ted Haggard, and Pat Robertson who get most of the media exposure.  The Roman Catholic church now has as its Pope, the man who is an ex-Nazi and who led the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which is the latest name for what had been called the Roman Inquisition, which condemned to torture and burning many Jews, “witches” and other “heretics.” His rulings as Pope have, while not actually torturing and burning, been extremely punishing to women, homosexuals, and progressives both in and outside of the Roman Catholic church.

I was out with friends the other day. We went wine/olive oil tasting in the beautiful Sonoma valley. Over lunch the couple had trouble understanding why I am involved in the church. She is Brazilian and was shocked that I had been a missionary in Brazil. How could I, a relatively sane and progressive person have been a missionary. All the missionaries she had encountered were determined to convert people to their version of the Christian faith. I’m sure many of my friends must wonder about that same question.

I was a missionary in Brazil in the late 1960s, arriving there just a few months before the very oppressive military dictatorship began killing and torturing any opposition to their rule and that of the powerful elites. I was sent by the Presbyterian denomination, not to convert people, but to help the city administrators of the new city of Brasilia “humanize” the city so that it would be a better place for the citizens. My other main role was to teach counseling at the University of Brasilia. I arrived however, in August or 1968. In December I watched incredulous as the army invaded the campus, arresting students and professors and destroying all hope of free speech and inquiry. An aside: They did it with jeeps and other equipment marked U.S. Army. They were supported by the U.S. government.

The conservative protestant denominations, including the Brazilian Presbyterians supported the military. However, many Catholic leaders and some protestants worked diligently and in peril to aid the ordinary people and oppose the military. They often did so at the cost of their lives. Much of the opposition—the progressives—were supported by the World Council of Churches. My “boss” who was a Brazilian became my hero. By day, he was a mild-mannered, church official. By night he transformed himself into a support system for the Brazilians who were struggling against the oppressors. He did so at great risk to himself and to his family who backed him up.

The Brazilians threw off their military oppressors in the mid 1980s, due in no small part to the work of people like Jaime Wright, Dom Helder Camara, the bishop of Recife, Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns of Sao Paulo and the young Christians who had studied and worked with Paulo Freire.

Here 40 years later, the religious world continues to be divided. On the one hand we read and hear so much about the conservative-evangelical dogmatic purveyors of religion who believe that only they understand and have the truth. On the other, there is a smaller but important kernel of progressives, who are un-dogmatic, who see and respect others, who struggle with their own spirituality and who, based in that spirituality, put themselves on the line for humanity.

There is a place for religion. It has fed and clothed millions of people. It has spawned thousands of non-profit organizations to spread education and medical care. It has supported the efforts against oppressive politics. It has paid for community organizing efforts in cities around the world. Members of non-dogmatic religious communities have supported the building of low income housing, digging wells in poor villages, medical facilities in many countries—including the U.S.

Habitat for Humanity is a Christian organization; the civil rights movement of the 1950-70s was born in the synagogues and churches as was the earlier Abolitionist movement. Relief agencies after so many wars have come from religious organizations. Churches have supported women’s health rights—including the right to have an abortion if the woman believes she needs that. Non-dogmatic religious communities have been key in forwarding LGBT rights. Spectrum, the well-known LGBT organization was born and supported by the Presbyterian denomination, organized and led by an ordained lesbian minister. The efforts at stopping the atrocities in Darfur came initially from the efforts of religious communities. In Japan, it was the Christians who worked among the poorest of the peasants and founded schools.

The items in the paragraph above are rarely noted in the media. Most of the media coverage focuses on the absurdities of idiotic ranting of Pat Robertson, or the ignorance of Ted Haggard or James Dobson. We hear about the Westborough Baptist Church harassing the funerals of soldier veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The religious justifications for war from these right-wing pseudo-Christians are presented on television. The murderers of doctors who provided needed abortions are identified as Christians. We hear of the Ayatollahs of Iran, but not the Sufis who are progressive and spiritual. Many who love the words of Rumi don’t even know that he was Sufi.

It is certainly true that many religious groups are dogmatic and proselytizing. They somehow believe that theirs is the only way to their god, who is the only god.  But there are other communities who are not dogmatic, who are delighted to have people join them, but have no interest in persuading and converting people to believe a set of doctrines, who do not believe that they have the “truth”.

To be a part of such a church or synagogue or other religious community that is non-doctrinal is to understand that all spiritual language is metaphoric. The words are only symbols for something that cannot be expressed otherwise. Spiritual language is in the same category as art and poetry. A painting may be described as having a line of 2.7 inches, painted in a color which reflects light of 5900 angstrom units on a canvas of certain technical characteristics. All that is true, but it misses the whole point of the painting. Taking spiritual language literally also misses the point.

The word “god” has as many different meanings as there are people using the word. The word “prayer” means so many different things to so many different people. The word “love” is similarly different for each person. (I know that it is common to say that there are three different words in Greek for love. Of course, that is not quite true, there are actually at least five in the Greek of the Roman conquest period.)

Words are merely symbols that point to a reality but have no reality themselves. Religious words are even more so because they point to spiritual/artistic reality where each person has a different spiritual “truth.” This has been expressed better by others. Alfred Korzybski, whose famous quote is “The map is not the territory,” then there was Humpty Dumpty (Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking Glass.), "When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone,' it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less."

And finally, more directly to our point, the Buddhist monk, Hotei, “Truth has nothing to do with words. Truth can be likened to the bright moon in the sky. Words, in this case, can be likened to a finger. The finger can point to the moon’s location. However, the finger is not the moon. To look at the moon, it is necessary to gaze beyond the finger, right?”

I’ve just used a lot of words to explain why I continue to be involved with religion. It is not any particular religion. It is the community of non-dogmatic spirituality that keeps me centered and that challenges me to learn and grow. But it is also progressive religious communities which continue to foster and support social justice most faithfully and consistently. Do I have to wade through a lot of misunderstanding by friends and others? Absolutely! But in the end, I find it enhancing my quest for meaning in my life.

Like all human institutions, governments, non-profits, churches, synagogues, mosques, monasteries are all a mixed bag. We must learn to be discriminating, make choices, take the good and work to move the balance toward good. We don’t really have the choice of abandoning all these institutions, we would only create new ones, but we do have the ability to work to change them.

The False Guru Test

The False Guru test seems to have struck a cord here in the West because of the outrageous abuses and exploitation by gurus, many self-proclaimed and completely misguided.

TAKE THE FALSE GURU TEST. If seven or more of the following describes your guru or spiritual teacher, then unfortunately he or she may not be be as enlightened or good for your soul as you would like to believe:

1. States his or her own enlightenment: The wisest masters tend not to state their own enlightenment or perfection for they know that it is both unhelpful to themselves and to their students. The false teachers often make this claim because they have little else on offer to attract followers.
2. Is unable to take criticism: False teachers strongly dislike either personal criticism or criticism of their teaching; they do not take kindly to ordinary unenlightened individuals questioning them. They or their organisations will even undertake multi-million dollar law suits to stop ex-members from spilling the beans.
3. Acts omnipotently with no accountability: Some spiritual communities are run like concentration camps, with guru and his chosen ones acting like Gestapo officers. Unjust or outrageous behaviour by the guru is passed off as what is needed to help the followers grow (how kind). These are the dangerous gurus who have often severely damaged their students. A real master respects your will even if he or she understands that your particular decisions may not be in your interest, and he or she will act accountably to an ethical code of conduct.
4. Focuses on enlightenment itself rather than teaching the path leading to it: It is amazing how much false gurus have to say about enlightenment. They argue their points in the same way that the scholars in the middle ages argued how many angels could sit on the head of a pin. Any fool can talk about the end goal because what is said is irrefutable to most of your listeners. What is skillful is guiding those listeners to having awakening within themselves. The real teacher focuses on the path and strictly avoids any talk on enlightenment.
5. Does not practice what is preached: Contrary to spiritual myth, you don't reach a point of realization whereby you can then start acting mindlessly. If a teacher preaches love and forgiveness, then he should act that way, at least most of the time, showing suitable regret for any lapses). If he teaches meditation, he should meditate. If he insists that his followers live in austere conditions, so should he.
6. Takes the credit for a particular meditative or healing technique: The fact is that meditation and guided visualisation work. Anyone doing them will experience major changes, benefits and realizations. The false guru will try to own or trademark particular methods and techniques so that she has something unique to attract followers. And she will hijack the effects of meditation as the guru's blessing rather than each individuals natural potential. Often the students or followers are forbidden from divulging the techniques to maintain a sort of intellectual property right, usually under the guise of needing the technique to be taught correctly.
7. Specifically gives satsang or darshan when it is not part of his culture: Darshan is when the disciples or students of a master line up and to pass their master, who is usually seated, with either a bow or traditionally kissing their feet (yes it does happen). In the East, this is part of their culture and a normal thing to do to show respect and reverence (even children will kiss the feet of their fathers). However, here in the West, such copycat behaviour is a strong indication that the guru is acting a role. Satsang, on the other hand, means literally "the company of the Truth". In a deeper sense it is an affirmation of the Guru-Disciple relationship in Eastern traditions. But some Western gurus will use this terminology because they are playing a role.
8. Lives in total opulence: There is nothing wrong with living in luxury or being wealthy. But when that luxury turns to unnecessary opulence using funds that were not explicity donated for that purpose then you are probably dealing with a false guru. Money is collected from followers usually in the form of donations, and those donations are given as an act of love, appreciation and to help spread the influence of the master. However, a genuine master is more likely to use such wealth to lessen the suffering in this world, not to buy another yacht, private jet or Rolls Royce.
9. Encourages or permits adoration from his followers: Avoid any group that focuses on the "master" themselves rather than the teachings or spiritual practices. This will be a hindrance to your self-realisation for your focus will be drawn outside of yourself, and usually indicates that there is not a lot more on offer than guru worship.
10. Presents himself or herself overly fashionably and glamorously: Beware of masters who present glamour photographs of themselves and dress overly fashionably (whilst proclaiming that they have no ego and leading ego-death retreats). Yes it does happen!
11. Demands love and devotion from their students: Keep clear of any master who demands love and devotion. One very well known Western guru stated, "Anyone who loves me is guaranteed enlightenment"! Real love and devotion is earned over time when we begin to really know the whole person and not their public image.
12. Speaks with an Indian accent or vernacular when he is in fact a Westerner: Not sure how much this happens now but there are some high profile Western gurus who have (or had) Indian accents, mannerisms and vernacular. Unless they have genuinely spent considerable time in other cultures, they are probably playing out a role.
13. Runs expensive miracle workshops and courses: You are unlikely to reach enlightenment after a few weekend workshops with cheesy titles. In our society of "must have now", we want to be able to purchase spiritual development with minimal fuss. Also, avoid meaningless accreditation — it is often used merely to encourage followers to do more courses.
14. Takes sexual advantage of his or her followers: This happens much more than many believe. It is not being prudish to include this one because when a follower falls under the spell of a guru he or she is likely to do anything for the Chosen One. It is only afterwards that it may dawn on the follower that his or her openness has been used and abused. This can be very psychologically scarring.
15. Flatters you and treats you as very special: Sure we are all special in some ways, but this is one of the things that a false guru may do to hook a potential follower or to get a current follower to do a particular task. Nothing can be more intoxicating to the ego than to be selected by the master or leader (or any high profile person). A real master will stand back and allow you to make your decision whether to accept his or her teachings without trying to influence the process.
16. Talks bollocks: It is surprising what a person will listen to when he or she is devoted to the speaker. It is always a good idea to get hold of a written transcript of what has been said and really read the message. Then tell an open-minded friend who is not a follower what their opinion is purely on the strength of the words. You will soon find out whether there is any real substance to the teacher's message, or whether you are merely being drawn in by the charisma of the messenger.
17. Overly relies on slick presentation: Slick presentation can often mask poor content, and so it is important for you to look past the lovely music and video shows at the actual message. The slicker the presentation, the harder it is to see what exactly the teaching is.
18. Gives him or herself outrageous titles: Not satisfied by being "merely" an enlightened being, many false gurus give themselves titles (or allow their followers to do so) to indicate that they are literally God-Incarnate, the reincarnation of the Buddha or Christ, or THE chosen one. Some continually change their names, to keep pace with their burgeoning egos.
19. Runs abundance workshops: A guru or master is there to help us find an authentic life. This is nothing to do with becoming more successful at work or making more money, although this may or may not follow from being more authentic. There is nothing wrong with abundance weekends, but if we mistake spirituality for increased business success, then we are guilty of spiritual materialism and we find ourselves deeper in the illusion. (The Japanese say that the Gods laugh at those who pray for money.)
20. Is not interested in you personally: If a teacher or guru does not have time to interact with you personally, then you may as well read his teaching from a book, because merely being in his presence doesn't help you find realization inside you. You may model some of his spiritual characteristics, but that often only places you deeper in illusion.
21. Allows his followers to set up a hierarchy of access: A guru must be accessible. If he is not, or if he allows his followers to block your access, then he is playing the role of a king and not a spiritual guide. A guru is only useful to the process of awakening if you can directly interact with him. With the false guru, it is often the case of the more you donate the greater your access.
22. Makes false claims of lineage: Many mistakenly believe that realisation can only happen under the guidance of a realized master. In this belief system, gurus are only authentic when they come from a line or lineage of realized gurus. Desperate not to be left out, some gurus claim a false lineage of enlightened masters to bolster their authority to teach. Another pseudo form of "lineage" is to recount a miracle that once happened to them (maybe they cured themselves of some disease or God spoke to them personally) which infers that they are "chosen" and therefore have the authority to set themselves up as teachers and gurus.
23. Presents themselves as non-profit whilst raking in the millions: Often, the false prophet will present her teachings for free, whilst strongly encouraging her devotees to make large donations. In this way she can appear above money considerations, whilst maintaining her greed and opulence.
24. Collects a large band of angry ex-followers: This is an indication that something is seriously wrong. If she has used kindness and love in her interactions with her students, and has discouraged them from projecting denied spiritual characteristics onto the guru (rather than encouraging their integration into the self), then it is extremely unlikely that there would be more than a few disheartened ex's. Many might drift away and feel they have wasted their time, but they are only likely to have the great anger if they have put their teacher on a pedestal, given him their power, and later realized that he was never worthy of such adoration. Contrary to what some believe, it is actually the teacher's responsibility to strongly discourage students from putting them on pedestals, for this is counterproductive to finding realisation inside.
25. Uses pseudo-technology: Many false prophets and organisations base themselves around pseudo-technology in the effort to appear scientific — special meters, communication devices (do you really expect the aliens to use a mobile?) and energy clearing instruments and pendants that involve crystals and copper wire. Once again, this is to distract the unwary from the poor quality of the actual teaching.
26. Acts like a complete paranoid mad person: If your Precious One acts like a complete paranoid schizophrenic or psychotic then he or she probably is. Run! Remember that there is no such thing as "crazy wisdom"—wisdom is the art of being balanced. However charismatic they may be, and sane between moments of madness, you WILL be damaged by them.