When Your Guru Calls Shotgun

[oxymoron]

Margaret Riegel
By NOA JONES
Published: May 18, 2012

BY the time we reached the first rest stop, a Burger King in Cle Elum, in central Washington State, I was suffering two anxieties: That I would kill the guru, and that if I didn’t, he would ignore me for the next 3,000 miles.

He’d been as quiet as a statue for the two hours since we left Seattle. When he finally spoke, it was to say, “Oh, look, chicken sandwiches, only $1.05.”

People who haven’t spent time with a spiritual master might think that being in their presence has a calming affect, that wisdom drips from their lips like nectar. But in my experience, masters of meditation and miracles are not so easy to be around.

I have known this particular guru for about 14 years; he is a yogi, a brilliant meditation master and an award-winning filmmaker from the Kingdom of Bhutan. I call him Rinpoche (RIM-po-shay), an honorific akin to reverend or rabbi. And when I’m in his presence for any extended period of time, it’s as if I become invisible.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/05/20/travel/a-cross-country-drive-with-a-guru.html?ref=meditation

[MasonDreams]

1. America has nothing to worry about.

[vlyons]

2. Guru's are always a challenge

Some are phony. Some are tricksters. Some are very kind. But all of them are human beings with human foibles. I think about it this way. Don't put anyone on a pedestal so high they can't be reached.