Quote:
For the chastised disciple, the guru's lesson was a statement that his giving was not pure enough. Another entirely different interpretation of the above scenario is possible: To have a temple built in one's honor and then to further waste valuable gifts by burying them to symbolize one's greatness is a sign of a monumental ego that has little constraint. One of the cheapest guru ploys is to make people feel inadequate by showing how their behaviors are tainted with self-centeredness - always an easy task. This guru, who was the recipient of all this "getting", could not even share a little bit of it with his disciple without making him feel bad about himself. Perhaps the disciple's gift, a mere rock, was not grand enough.
But since the guru is viewed by his disciples as a person beyond duality and beyond ego, they could not even entertain the possibility of our interpretation.
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aron, your quotes from this book are an incredible description of how Lee elevated himself above all. Key to this was Lee's questioning others' motives, as if he alone were pure and perfected. It's a little shocking even to me.
I remember a comment Titus Chu made about the Blendeds in a leaders' gathering. He was explaining the reasons for the tensions and suspicions surrounding his own ministry and the GLA. He explained that the Blendeds, "
see brother Lee as god, whereas I see him as a man." At the time I was a little shocked, thinking he was perhaps exaggerating, but now I believe otherwise. Of course, in typical fashion, TC placed the blame for their error on them, and not on Lee, his "spiritual father."
Some have asked who and what determines who the Blendeds are. The first and foremost criteria is their unwavering belief that Lee was god, yet I doubt they ever even allowed their minds to consider what they really believed about Lee.