Oops - guess I picked the wrong rabbit out the hat. I'll refrain from posting again.

Long time listener - first time caller. Personal pertinent demographics 46 yrs old Went to a Catholic school Initiated in 1995 A few things came to mind... First I thought, “hmm, sounds like a cool place to work.” After reading article and comments I thought, "shoulder shrug." Gotta be a disjuncture on the ideology landscape between East and West I think. I’ve never had any misconceptions about GIHF. Human, to me at least, means inherently flawed. So gurus are flawed, some more than others. Jesus was flawed - at least he was in Jesus Christ Superstar, which is my definitive version of the New Testament. From a Eastern or Indian cultural perspective, I do see the sort of devotion to the outside form of this guy that you’all criticize. I’ve always been bothered by this fanaticism. The books certainly go on about it. But my Western sensibilities are unsettled by it. I never got the Darshan thing. The seva thing is weird. I’ve never given any money or devoted any time to seva within the RSSB community. It never felt right to me. Smacked of evangelical TV. Seva to me always meant helping out someone other than yourself in a way that you wouldn’t normally do. Seva and Darshan are not part of the four vows. I’ve never had any burning inclination to go to India. I can say it was good to get away from a very busy life to go to Petaluma for a couple of mornings and listen to Satsang. Besides I think we’re not even listening to what he (Gurinder) is saying. He said at Petaluma that it’s not the external form you should be idolizing, but the internal form. I remember him saying that if by glance or by touching the guru’s feet we could receive enlightment he would stay up there all day and let people come by all day long. But he said it’s not about that at all. It’s the internal form were supposed to be after. He said we could throw all the books into the ocean. It's not about the books. The loudspeaker announcements at Petaluma all say don’t follow the guy around. Don’t run after him etc. But lots of people run after that external form. It’s people’s own fault if they get dupped. It pretty humorous really. In fact I’ve often thought that the dude is trying to shake up the community. Look at the policy changes. Little or no new literature. No pictures. Discouraging people from writing down things. Not allowing initiation till 25. It’s got all the traditionalists in a row. Gurinder (and the books for that matter) openly encourage people to search for all information - including on the Internet. Perhaps this is a means to an end. I think the philosophical framework is OK though - spiritual cause & effect, the four vows, simran using the five words etc. I’ve always thought of the journey described during initiation (which I dimly remember) as a Transcendental - George Harrison - Moody Blues - Mediation thing. But I figure the trick is to not get caught up on the outward description either in discussion or in meditation.