Guru

A guru commonly appoints in Occident an intellectual guide, or more generally a person who brings together followers.

This term is currently employed in France to appoint the leader of a Secte. But, in the Hindouisme or the Buddhism, this term appoints a spiritual Master or a religious tutor (see Gurû).

This term, used in the press, can cover several cases:

  • the guide of a spiritual group.

  • the manipulator of a group. It is the usually dependant direction at the end gouroutism, described hereafter.
  • an expert in a particular field (in particular in data processing) whose opinions are largely recognized and respected. For example, John Carmack is regarded by certain as a “guru of the data-processing Programmation 3D”.

Positive concept

The guru (Guru Sanskrit: गुरू) in its definition of spiritual guide, in the Hindouisme, the Buddhism, at the Sikhs like in many more recent religious groups, is a sizeable figure of authority. In the contemporary India, the word Guru is used to indicate the " Professor " , that which teaches and whose credit rests on the spiritual tradition to which it belongs and of which it followed the lesson and practices, or on its spiritual awakening.

One translates sometimes the word Gurû (which means " literally; poids" in Sanskrit) by " a person of poids" in the illustrated direction of the expression, indicating a personality of influence in its field.

See also: Gurû

In Occident, in its positive meaning, it applies sometimes to any individual followed by studious pupils, that he is member or not of a church or a school. The term is sometimes used to designate somebody who has a knowledge or a particular Expertise in a nonreligious field.

Neologisms

In France, one hears sometimes the pejorative expressions gouroutism or gourouism (this word being also a Barbarisme) to denounce the dominating tendency of the guru, with the particular direction of chief or propagandist, on an organization or school of thought, in particular a Secte. This negative influence would be made by means of techniques of Persuasion and possibly of Coercition resting on the human weaknesses and them through collectives, as well cognitive as emotional so at the same time recruiting followers and securing a to be able Totalitaire on them.

Concept of guru in the fight against the sects in France

In France, associations antisectes define the gurus as people who would be only holders of an absolute truth (for example thanks to a revelation) and would allow them to exert a totalitarian power on the members of their Secte.

This point of view, widely diffused within the administrations (police force, justice, education, youth, etc) with a preventive aim, speaks about devouring worship of the personality, sacrilized; the guru is seen like a usurper of old traditions, enacting the rules, codifying violence, cutting under the pretext of connect, with the radical speech, diabolisant outside, with the unavowable or inexpressible aspirations, translator of unthinkable, carrying driven back collective, whose historical image changes surreptitiously into a totalitarian image, acceptor and encouraging imposture by the idolatry.

This evaluation of the phenomenon is disputed by certain defense associations of the freedom of conscience, certain sociologists like certain representatives of the Church, as Mgr Jean Vernette which was during nearly 30 years the national secretary of the French episcopate for the study of the sects and new religious movements.

It is objected overall that this manner of considering “in block” the gurus is libelous and manifest a character propagandist, diabolisator, partial and intolerant, in violation with articles 18 and 19 of the Universal declaration of the Human rights and the principle of secularity which prohibits in the State any interference in the religious facts.

The French government made a development at the time of an Annual conference of the SOEC on the Human rights: “ the list of the sectarian movements included/understood in a French parliamentary report of 1995 is a document of parliamentary work. In other words, it does not have any legal authenticity. Certain local authorities could however refer to this list to take administrative measures - all cancelled by the courts. The French government gets busy to sensitize the wheels of the administration so that the list of the sectarian movements is recognized for what it is: a document of parliamentary work which cannot be used as base with a measurement.”

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