The Guru Papers: Masks of Authoritarian Power

by Diana Alstad, Joel Kramer,  , et al.

Book Overview

The Guru Papers demonstrates with uncompromising clarity that authoritarian control, which once held societies together, is now at the core of personal, social, and planetary problems, and thus a key... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1883319005
• ISBN13: 9781883319007
• Release Date: May 1993
• Publisher: Frog in Well
• Length: 408 Pages
• Weight: 1.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

One of the most important books for the 21st century,

God. The God of Science, The God of Papal Infallibility, The God of National Security, The God of Family Values, The God of Buddhist Selflessness, The God of Unconditional Love. What are they good for? Absolutely nothing. The Guru Papers elegantly identifies the masks that power uses to hide its abuse of others. Authoritarianism is the exercise of authority which, presuming an unquestioning obedience, can tolerate neither question nor challenge, meeting either with disregard or punishment. Assiduously distinguishing the everyday exercise of authority - living life and making choices amongst the propositions it presents - from the bullying domination intrinsic to the type of power unwilling to recognize an equal, the authors carefully dissect the threads which, woven together, comprise the cloth of abuse. Whence abusiveness flows, certain features are invariably present. When a "leader" sets up an ideological standard of perfection or purity that no human being can attain, and our consequent failure of such attainment becomes the raison d'etre for a double standard of treatment whereby the leader gives orders and we obey them, we have lost our freedom, particularly if we believe it is for our own good. Whenever one pole of a duality is identified as essential to good living and the other pole leads to evil, behind that mask an authoritarian moralist weaves his tale positing that which he believes is most important, that which he says is God. Gurus and religions, politicians and governments, educators and schools, parents and families, and lovers and spouses frequently equate evil with selfishness and goodness with selflessness and sacrifice. They say if I am sufficiently sincere and pure of heart, I will sacrifice what I want for what they tell me is best. Thus, I will be a better man. There is little difference between the cult leader who demands allegiance to the unproven presumption of his godliness, and the lover who, crying "let me be myself," claims his imperfections should be accepted without limit in the name of unconditional love. When a moral demand for sacrifice is made in the name of something sacred, be it the Immaculate Conception or an Idealized Lover, one best be brave and ask one's questions. If such courage is met with punishment or disregard, one better run. If one does not, one's conduct will communicate that there is something wrong, and it's not with the other guy. The essence of authoritarianism attacks the inner certainty of individuals by claiming that it knows a superior, more moral path. It not only condemns an individual's assertion of self as selfish and wrong, but also is unwilling to engage in dialogue which does not adopt an unquestioning regard for that which it deems sacred. If an individual adopts this moral dichotomy, he can only mistrust himself as inferior. This, Alstad/Kramer say, is the purpose of authoritarian control: to generate internal self-mistrust which makes the individual av

One of the most amazing books I have ever read

This book has completely changed my life and way of thinking. I can't say enough about it. I'm reading it for about the fifth or sixth time now. This book contains the seeds of a real awakening for some people. If you have an interest in spirituality, gurus, etc., as I have, then you may be surprised by what you find here! I am forever grateful for having accidentally found this book!

If you belong to ANY church, group or teaching...READ THIS!

This book is a must-read for anyone and everyone who has ANY spiritual belief system. The authors succeed in removing the scales from the eyes of all of us who follow or have followed ministers, spiritual teachers or gurus who are stealing our money or power ... with our unwitting permission! The bottom line is that NO spiritual teaching requires a teacher, minister or guru, only a personal devotion to our chosen belief system and/or scriptural texts, and our own relationship with and understanding of our deity. Get that guru out of your head and out of your wallet! He's a middleman who is more than likely robbing you blind while playing games ... with your life!

Must read for all seekers

This book changed my whole way of seeing the world, esp. since I was involved-at the time-in a buddhist group, whose sinews were revealed to me as I turned each page.If you are following a spiritual path in a group context, be prepared to be fundamentally challenged...and act on what your intuition and common sense tells you. I totally changed direction after reading THE GURU PAPERS.

Probably my favorite book!

In this logical and stunningly common-sense work, the authors examine human beliefs systems from the perspective of language and authoriatarian hierarchies. 12-step, Satanism, Fundamentalist Christianity, Course-in-Miracles, the systems of "enlightened" eastern gurus... without mercy, Kramer and Alstaad break EACH ONE DOWN to its ROOTS and show that ALL human belief systems are the result of a subtle conceptual dualism in which a behavior or viewpoint is taken as a spectrum, polarized, and then one side is valued over the other. A must read for anyone who suspects they might have been brainwashed, very popular among ex-cultists and guaranteed to make a hardline skeptic of you. "The Guru Papers" is probably my favorite book!