Jesus aber, voll heiligen Geistes, kehrte vom Jordan zurück und wurde vom Geist in die Wüste geführt und vierzig Tage vom Teufel versucht. Und er aß nichts in jenen Tagen; und als sie zu Ende waren, hungerte ihn. Und der Teufel sprach zu ihm:
Bist du Gottes Sohn, so sage zu diesem Stein, dass er Brot werde!
Und Jesus antwortete ihm:

Und Jesus antwortete und sprach zu ihm:

Er aber führte ihn gen Jerusalem und stellte ihn auf die Zinne des Tempels und sprach zu ihm:

Und Jesus antwortete und sprach zu ihm:

Lukas 4, 1-13 (NT)

Stand weitgehend: 2003 / 2004 / 2005

• If one has a teacher who is not qualified, who is engaging in unsuitable or wrong behavior, then it is appropriate for the student to criticize that behavior. H.H. 14th Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso [LoC 570] (*1935) Tibetan monk, leader of the Gelug or "Yellow Hat" branch of Tibetan Buddhism, Peace Nobel Prize laureate, 1989; cited in: Face to Face. Confronting the Guru-Disciple Relationship, presented by Gnosis Magazine, Ihla F. Nation, spring 1996

• A good master might indeed be fully enlightened and divine, but he or she is also human. [...] The Perfect Master cannot manifest worldly perfection until the humanity in which he or she is grounded – indeed, all manifestation – has evolved to its own highest and perfect estate. Until that time, perfection lies only in conscious transcendence, not in concrete manifestation, so beware the concretely 'perfect' master. Ken Wilber [LoC 490] (*1949) US American transpersonal philosopher, consciousness researcher, thought leader of the 3rd millennium, developer of Integral Theory, author, Bruce Ecker, Bruce, Anthony (editor) Spiritual Choices. The Problems of Recognizing Paths to Inner Transformation, S. 258, Paragon House, New York, 1987

• Unethical behavior doesn't get you enlightened. It gets you a nightmare. It gets you the unhappy dream. It's the worst of all possible worlds paraded under this "crazy wisdom" notion. By the way, there is no "crazy wisdom" teaching in the East. It was invented by three American drunken womanizing teachers to rationalize their [mis]behavior [justifying egoic impulses as transegoic]. Video presentation by Ken Wilber [LoC 490] (*1949) US American transpersonal philosopher, consciousness researcher, thought leader of the 3rd millennium, founder of Integral Theory, Assholes and Accidents, YouTube film, minute 3:14+, 9:00 minutes duration, posted 4. June 2011

• [...] an alarming story about yet another world-renowned incarnation of the divine mother, Mother Meera [LoC 300], who is also considered to be an avatar. The story is by now well known. Her longtime devotee and messenger, the famous scholar and poet Andrew Harvey had left her. Harvey, openly homosexual, claimed that his former guru was homophobic. He said that she wanted to break up his relationship with his male lover and told him that he had the choice of either being celibate or getting married to a woman. If he chose to marry, she wanted him to write a book about how the force of the divine mother transformed him into a heterosexual. He even claimed that she censored some of his writings, removing all references to his homosexuality. Mother of the Universe, presented by enlightennext Magazine, Andrew Cohen, issue 10

• The entirely non-mystical, twentieth-century, late Russian-American philosopher Ayn Rand [LoC 400] (d. 1982), too, apparently managed to create a personality cult around herself. Loyalty there was evidenced to the point where one of her sincere followers reportedly floated (in the late ’60s) the idea of murder as a means of dealing with an unfaithful (and otherwise married) former lover of the homely, yet eminently rational, Ms. Rand (Shermer, 1997). The endangered ex-lover in question was the dashing Nathaniel Branden [LoC 420] – Rand’s “intellectual heir,” to whom Atlas Shrugged, 1957, was dedicated. (The book itself was the “greatest human achievement in the history of the world,” according to Rand and Branden.) Together, they encouraged followers of Rand to consider them as being “the two greatest intellects on the planet.” Geoffrey D. Falk, Stripping the Gurus. Sex, Violence, Abuse and Enlightenment, chapter XXIX After the Ordeal, Million Monkeys Press, 1. February 2009

The case of madman and sexual abuser Swami Muktananda [LoC 655?] (1908-1982) Indian Hindu spiritual guru, disciple of Bhagawan Nityananda [LoC 500], founder of Siddha Yoga, secret practitioner of an esoteric form of Tantric sexual yoga

• During his lifetime, Muktananda managed to maintain an aura of rectitude. Eventually guns and violence, sex with minors and other unwilling victims, and an alleged $5 million in Swiss accounts (by Muktananda's own claim to one follower) could no longer be justified, and several of his closest devotees left the movement.
  • For years, we thought every discrepancy was because he lived outside the laws of morality. He could do anything he wanted.

• Devastated, former disciples spent a long time picking up the pieces of their experience. Though some of them believe Muktananda's great power helped them make spiritual progress, others wonder how far a person can "really grow under a master who doesn't himself live the truth." Stan Trout, one of Muktananda's former swamis, makes an important point here. When the truth about Muktananda's sex life came into the open,
  • There was absolutely no means available to present the evidence for a fair hearing or judgment. There was no recourse but to leave, for the guru was the sole appeal.

• I was angry at the cowardice of the many girls who had been exploited over the years and failed to speak out.  But, of course, they were frightened and confused, and simply wished to put it behind them. Still, they had perpetuated this abuse by their silence, and put other girls in jeopardy. I felt impelled to speak about it to those still under delusion, and to do what I could to warn other young women about the danger – many of whom I had been responsible for leading to Baba. We Swamis had unknowingly been his pimps; and I knew I had to speak out. [...]
  I have talked with many people and have learned a great deal more of Muktananda's secret activities over the past years [1982]. Sad to say, he has been deceiving the sincere aspirants who believed in his holiness for many years. It seems to have begun at least as far back as 1976, and today he scarcely bothers to conceal the fact that he is having sex with many of his female devotees--most of whom are mere children in their early teens. Letter by Stan Trout, presented by leavingsiddhayoga.net, 16 years after his Open Letter to Muktananda disciples had been published in Co-Evolution Quarterly, pp. 110-111, #40, winter 1983, 7. October 1999

• I [was] trying to understand how it was possible for someone to be both a saint and a devil at the same time, and trying to comprehend why God had perpetrated this apparent "trick" on me, first leading me to this man, and then destroying everything I had sought attain in His name. I never found an answer to the first of these questions. Muktananda remains an enigma to me. He was without doubt an extraordinarily advanced soul, with incredible powers; but he was also a demon in his abuse of that power. How is this possible? I don't know. Letter by Stan Trout, presented by leavingsiddhayoga.net, 16 years after his Open Letter to Muktananda disciples had been published in Co-Evolution Quarterly, pp. 110-111, #40, winter 1983, 7. October 1999