Abusive Quote by Robert Thurman

Phony gurus make themselves objects of adoration and worship. Real spiritual teachers aren't interested in adoration and worship. They like respect only because they…

— Frederick Lenz

Today in the west the word 'guru' has come to mean someone who leads a cult, someone who deprives others of their intellectual or…

— Frederick Lenz

Cult leaders are often self-styled prophets who have not studied with great teachers or undergone lengthy training or discipline themselves. . . Many of…

— John Welwood

People come to a teacher to learn self-discovery. A teacher who just wants to keep you on a string forever, the god-guru concept, a…

— Frederick Lenz

“Probably the single most reliable sign of a cult guru is that the guru claims expertise, not in one area, not even in a…

— Eliezer Yudkowsky

I think people are always looking for gurus. It's the easiest thing in the world to become a guru. It's quite terrifying. I once…

— Doris Lessing

I don't like gurus. I don't like people who ask you to follow or believe. I like people who ask you to think independently.

— A. S. Byatt

I've gone to great lengths not to be a guru. I think the notion of guruhood is utterly pathological, and I couldn't live that…

— M. Scott Peck

When we start to talk about gurus, we're talking about beings who actually know what this is all about. They know who we were,…

— Krishna Das

One does not become a guru by accident.

— James Fenton

I've never been uncomfortable with the host of modern gurus, and gurus of different motivations I should say, or different intentions. You know, we…

— Maya Tiwari

The word 'guru' is very loaded, so I would never refer to myself that way. I see myself as a teacher.

— Gabrielle Bernstein