Pharaoh, Guru, Jesus – Do we need middlemen for our spiritual evolution?
May 08, 2022
We pray Jesus so that he can talk to God for us. We worship gurus, so that they can lead us to enlightenment. In ancient Egypt people was not able to talk to God, pharaoh was their middleman. Spiritual evolution is now the oldest it has even been, why do we still think we need someone to lead us to God, to enlightenment, to the Light? Why do we think there is not a straight way to “heaven”?
Recently the concept of guru has been diluted. Maybe that is an evolution we have been aiming for, to release us from the worship of middlemen? Is it now the time to trust our own guidance?
Guru as a word appears in many spiritual cultures. It has similar meaning in all of them, including a mentor, guide, expert, master and teacher. “Guru shares experimental knowledge, literal knowledge, and is an exemplar in life. Guru helps in the spiritual evolution of student and helps one to discover the same potentials that the guru has already realized.” (Wikipedia). It seems that in Buddhism the guru concept was considered as the only way to God, to enlightenment. Guru was to be worshiped and his instructions were never to be violated.
The way to understand the meaning of guru spread to Western tradition in the late 60’s. Western students of these guru-like teachers mainly had no earlier knowledge of the spiritual process, other than what they knew from Christianity. Therefore, it was easy for these eastern teachers to capture their interest and will.
And so they did! But this was a misunderstanding. Unfortunate one.
I once belonged to the cult like spiritual community. I was not looking for a guru but a teacher. When I was told to do something that was not aligned with my own will, I said no. That is one word I was thought NOT to ever say to my teacher, but I did. Eventually I was called as a loose cannon, because I didn’t obey. Once my teacher denied his place as my teacher. It hurt; it was painful. The power of middlemen is tremendous when you rely on them.
Later I knew I chose the right path. I was following my own truth. But if you don’t know your truth it’s easy for someone to guide your will. The spiritual ego is the worst, it can probably harm the most.
Guru is not a person; it has never been. Guru means energy that is flowing through that person. He/she is a teacher, whose only responsibility is to reveal the meaning of life to the student, to show the path for them to walk. But they do have the right to say yes or no to that path.
There is a writing in the Shvetashvatara Upanishad 6.23 explaining the place of a guru: “He who has highest Bhakti (love, devotion) of Deva (god) just like his Deva, so for his Guru, to him who is high-minded, these teachings will be illuminated.” (Wikipedia). I read this sentence the way, that there is no need for a middleman. When you reach toward the Light, your highest truth within, only thing you need to do is to find love and purity within, and devotion for your searching. You will need guides, so that you won’t lose your direction, but your guides should never be your bosses. You are. Your guides, teachers, they will help you to navigate. But it is up to you to know where you want to go.
When the Light is within, there is no need to worship another being, but respect and honor them for what they have experienced and went through to help you. There is no need for naming a person as a guru. Guru cannot be a person; it is always an energy leading us from darkness to the light.
Picture: Queen Hatshepsut (1479-1458 BC) the first female pharaoh in the 18th dynasty. During her time the economy boomed, there were peace and affluence throughout the land. Pharaoh's main job was to maintain ma'at (goddess of truth, justice, balance and order). Ma'at represented the crucial concept of how the Universe was maintained. Ma'at kept everything in balance having a strong sense of moral and justice.
