Self-Realization and Other Awakenings

qualities, such as love or compassion, intellect, or
energy gurus, yet they were all men or woman first,
ordinary men and women, with faults, problems,
desires, loves, favoritism, and with endless opinions.
U.G., for example, kept talking about how his body
purged itself of all thinking, all concepts, and
underwent enormous transformations. Yet, the U.G. I
met was an extremely garrulous old man who chatted
constantly and voiced opinions about every topic under
the sun. He had opinions about everything and was as
tainted as any man I ever met by concepts and ideas.
Every master I knew had had at least one affair
that got them into trouble with their own sangha, and
what I learned here is that “Masters,” “teachers,”
“gurus,” are among the mostly harshly judged people
because they do not live up to the personal and
idealized images students have of them.
They are judged on the basis of having favorite
students; they should treat everyone the same, spend
the same amount of time with each. They are judged
based on what they do with donation money, such as
giving some to support their families. They are judged
based on who they put in charge of the sangha or
satsang. They are judged on the basis of their diets,
whether they are vegetarians, vegans or meat eaters.
But especially they are judged based on their attitudes
towards sex and relationships. It is as if in this area,