Some say dead gurus have no power. Others claim they do. Do you know anything about this?
ChatGPT said:
That’s a deep and much-debated question, and the answer depends on one’s spiritual framework. Here are a few perspectives:
- The skeptical/materialist view
- Once a person dies, their influence is only through memory, writings, or institutions they left behind. Any sense of continued guidance is seen as psychological projection or devotion in the minds of followers.
- The devotional/traditional view
- Many spiritual traditions, especially in Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Sufism, hold that realized beings (gurus, saints, mystics) continue to guide their disciples after death.
- In Hinduism, for example, a samadhi shrine is believed to radiate the guru’s presence. Disciples often report visions, dreams, or inner guidance.
- In Catholicism, saints are believed to intercede, and relics or holy places are thought to carry their spiritual power.
- In Tibetan Buddhism, the lineages of tulkus (reincarnated masters) are based on the belief that realized teachers consciously continue their work across lifetimes.
- The middle-ground view
- Even if a guru’s physical body is gone, the power of their teachings and the transformative energy they awakened in disciples can carry on.
- Devotion can act as a channel, so that the disciple’s openness allows them to still feel guidance, whether one attributes that to the guru’s spirit or to the disciple’s own awakened inner Self.
Philosophical core:
- Some say the guru is ultimately not the person but the principle of awakened consciousness itself. In that sense, the “death” of the body doesn’t end the guru’s power, because the true guru is the eternal source that can appear through many forms.