I want to at least mention Carl Jung's notion of "inflation." Inflation is a very human response to finding yourself in a position of elevation, influence, power and even worship by other human beings for which you are woefully unprepared.
In the way that I am using the term, it is akin to the actor who begins to believe that he is the superhuman character that he is playing. The "more than human" character is, in Jungian terms, an archetype or god symbol. The actor, teacher or guru enters into the danger zone when he believes his own hype.
This "inflation" via identification with a "bigger than life" image or idea may increase the charisma magnetism of the spiritual teacher. It may lead to claims of being "the avatar."
Innocent inflation is not the same as pathological narcissism.8 This would be reserved for sociopathic cult leaders who are selfishly motivated and practice deception from the start.
What I am pointing to is the sincere spiritual teacher who goes astray. He could be
independent. He could represent a major non-dual tradition. Sooner or later, he finds himself in over his head. I am not aware of any course offered by any teacher, school or tradition on how to deal with these challenges.
The only realistic preparation will be the years you spend "cooking" prior to coming out as an awakened teacher. If you go public prematurely, you may well be qualified on the
enlightenment side, but your familiarity with the ins and outs of human manipulation may be sadly lacking.
The enlightened sage is often regarded as a "therapist plus" by his students. He will have to deal with psychological issues whether he wants to or not. This may include sexy women literally throwing themselves at him. Let me tell you a story about that.
Two years after my awakening in 1992, I ran a nine day non-dual meditation retreat where we all camped in the woods outside of Toronto, Canada. Once a day, in one of the tents I
privately coached each student.
An attractive thirty-something blonde female attendee came in for her one on one time with me. She sat very close to me.
When I asked her how I could help her, she replied "Do you think I'm attractive?" I don't know if there is a right way to answer that question. Since she was, I replied "Yes, you are."
Without warning, she then jumped in my lap and said in a deep husky voice "Make love to me right now!" This really happened. I know it sounds like something from Hollywood, but I am not making this up.
I have a background in psychological counseling, including sexual abuse and substance addiction. I had already pegged her as a likely candidate for some kind of early childhood abuse that would be acted out in some form of addiction.
In that sense, I was prepared. Even so, I was shocked by the boldness of her gesture. Here she suddenly was, her arms around my neck, her lips inches from mine, her legs wrapped around my torso. She was begging to have sex with me.
As calmly as I could, I replied "Melody, you are a lovely girl. But I do not know you well enough for this kind of encounter. It's very important to me that making love be an expression of love, respect and tenderness. Let's talk about this first."
Before I said those words, it was like her face was frozen in a trance. She had a glazed look in her eyes. After my tender and respectful rejection of her sexual advances, she seemed to suddenly wake up. Her face softened. She slowly disengaged her body from mine and sat at a reasonable distance from me.
She began crying. "Nobody has ever rejected me like that."
I was prepared for the worst. It had truly been a double-bind situation. I could only hope that I had said the right thing.
Then through her tears, she smiled at me. "I really want to thank you. This experience with you has been incredibly healing." She cried some more. Then she gave me another hug. This one was gentle and sweet without the sexual overtones.
I heard months later that she had been singing my praises to her friends in Toronto after the retreat. "That guy is the real deal,"she said. "He is a great teacher. He really helped me!"
This left me with mixed feelings. Even though that incident had turned out okay, was I
prepared for another one? She could have flipped the other way after I rejected her. She could have turned on me and condemned me. Then she would have gone around Toronto saying what a jerk I was.
It was this event and other totally unexpected twists and turns that told me I was not yet ready to teach the public. I needed to be more emotionally mature. I was also beginning to sense that my "enlightenment" could and should be deeper. Seeing that led me on the spiritual journey that resulted in this book.
While the most cruel manifestations of psychological self-aggrandizement are reserved for natural born psychopath cult leaders, anyone who has led workshops, seminars, group meetings or given public talks knows that sooner or later some form of temptation is likely to present itself. The aura of leadership lends a charisma some find intoxicating. A depth
psychology approach will typically find a need to be loved by the parent who was never there or was there too much, but the ones who need this insight rarely do the work to get it.
In simplistic terms, this is the "rock star" phenomenon wherein one or more "groupies" want a
"piece" of you. By getting up in front of a group and showing that you are a leader, you will now be viewed as a desirable "alpha" human.
In the crude imperative of reproductive biology that is imprinted in the human body by mother nature, you are demonstrating that your genetic material is superior and worthy of reproduction and perpetuation. Powerful forces are at work, but it will be a mistake to succumb. Whatever the underlying causes, the psychological damage to the student's sadhana and the guru's reputation can be considerable.
It is not the sage that these transient would-be worshipers really want, but what the guru or teacher represents to them. Students are not falling in love with "you," for they do not know you. If you as the teacher or "celebrity rock star" have identified yourself with this
superhuman archetypal image projected onto you, then in servicing their fantasies you have lost your own humanity. You are a phony god of light with ugly feet of clay.