The Modern Gurus Among Us.

Reflections on BBC’s “The New Gurus.”

The New Gurus.

I recently listened to BBC’s The New Gurus podcast series. Helen Lewis, the host, is a strong journalist: she fairly presents many perspectives, and is respectful to everyone she speaks with or about.

It is an incredibly engaging podcast. Lewis introduces the concept of “modern gurus” — the charismatic public figures who we turn to for advice, wisdom, or instruction. Guru is a Sanskrit word, originally used in Buddhist and Hindu traditions to denote a spiritual teacher or guide. Some of the most well-known gurus include the Dalai Lama, Osho, and Yogananda. Now, in the Western world, many influencers, thought leaders, and celebrities have come to inhabit this kind of role.

The first episode posits Steve Jobs as the initial modern guru. Jobs was a consciousness seeker, one of the first to blend Eastern spirituality with Western consumerism on a grand scale, and wound up being a sort of prophet himself. Jobs’ mission, carried out via Apple, was to bring computing power into the hands of ordinary consumers. “That’s power to the people,” he declared.¹

The iPhone, and social media, also brought the ability for anyone to share publicly. Tara Isabella Burton, theologian and author of Strange Rites: New Religions for a Godless World, describes that “[this] new internet culture gave rise to [a] new religious landscape.” She disagrees with the notion of society becoming increasingly secular, and says that while more people claim to be religiously unaffiliated, this doesn’t indicate not believing in anything. Instead, Burton says, the shift is in the way many people are thinking about religion: “it is becoming less institutional, less about organized religion, and more [about being] spiritual.”²

This is evident in the myriad communities, online and otherwise, that involve a sometimes dogmatic adherence to a belief system, ideology, or set of practices. To name a few of these “new” religions, as Burton does: “various cults of fandom, wellness culture, modern occultism, neopaganism and witchcraft…libertarians who believe technology will save us all, [and] the atavists…”

Humans need to be a part of a community, to feel purposeful and to lead meaningful lives. It is not surprising that decentralizing religion has, for many people, led them to seek to fill that “god-shaped hole” in other ways. Lewis remarks astutely that now, “thousands of online preachers [fulfill] the role that once may have been held by a traditional religious authority.”

The series goes on to examine a variety of public figures and movements characterized by large amounts of followers. Lewis interviews people who hold a type of guru status, as well as commentators on the phenomenon. She did well to include an array of gurus, from ultra-progressive influencers to libertarian crypto-bros, doomsday preppers and crunchy hippies, and from public intellectuals turned conspiracy theorists to dating coaches and diversity leaders. No one group, it seems, is immune to the tendency to prop someone — or some idea — up on a pedestal, and gaze down at those below it.

I find this topic fascinating. I am undoubtedly a spiritual and intellectual seeker, and have found myself in the midst and on the periphery of many communities. When I discover someone new and enchanting and intelligent, I voraciously consume all of their content, occasionally getting swept up in their worldview and losing sight of what I really think. I have followed certain spiritual mentors for many years, and practice daily with the same yoga teacher who lives on the other side of the world. It does sometimes feel like I know them.

I am not a disciple of anyone or anything and plan to never be. I prefer the advice that a good teacher is one who encourages you to think for and listen to yourself. No one has your answers, although others can certainly help you along your path.

Here’s Steve Jobs to round this point out: “your time is limited. Don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma…don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice…have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.” Thank you, Steve. I think some other people on Instagram share these sentiments, too.

Something for everyone.

There are countless ways to connect with people who share values or interests. You don’t need a religious group to determine the principles you live your life by, and you can find guidance pretty much anywhere you look.

Whether it’s skin care, pop culture commentary, or parenting methods — or perhaps it’s homeschooling, fitness, or bio-hacking — the world is your … raw vegan sustainably farmed oyster, it appears. 

The problem is not that we are seeking meaning and connection through alternative means. It is not necessarily where we find meaning and connection. The potential problems of following a modern guru or joining a vaguely defined online group lie in the nature of the parasocial relationship we may form with them, or the guru’s relationship to their own fame or followers.

Everyone, everywhere, talking about everything.

Whenever we want, we can all access hundreds of different teachers and experts — and the decidedly unlicensed experts, for those anti-establishment folks. How, then, do we know who is worth listening to? How do we know if they are full of shit or actually legit? While power is not inherently good or evil, it can corrupt even the most well-intended.

People are hungry to have their views and opinions validated. Many are hungry to be told what to think about, or to be told what’s right or wrong. It can be hard to know what to think or believe when there is so much content and information to sift through.

I will not tell anybody to stay in their lane, and in fact don’t think it’s right or helpful to patrol language and behavior. That said, it’s irritating to hear someone start declaring something bogus. “They’re wrong!” I think indignantly. “Completely out of their lane! They don’t know what they’re talking about!”

I prefer to listen to people who talk about what they actually understand, don’t try to push an agenda, and are grounded in respect and openness. We are each allowed to say what we like — and, not everyone needs to talk about everything. Just because you’re willing to “have the conversation” does not mean that it’s a good conversation that should be had.

Audience Capture: Dives off the Deep End

As Helen Lewis lays out in episode five, even the “heterodox” thinkers can fall under the spell of orthodoxy when they become authority figures. Many public intellectuals started out their climb to fame by sharing reasonable, often refreshing takes that challenged dominant popular opinions. Some of these individuals have remained ethical and balanced thought leaders, while others have spiraled over the years into reactionary contrarianism and cruel judgment, and have even ventured into far-fetched conspiracy theories.

The effects of fame are interesting to pay attention to. You’ll notice when prominent podcasters who host weekly multiple-hour conversations with experts start to speak like they are the expert about all such topics. You’ll notice when all of a sudden, big-name influencers, credentialed or otherwise, start talking about things that, quite frankly, they know nothing about.

The thing is, some followers may not really care about credibility after a while. Many are devoted, loyal fans, often financially and emotionally invested in their parasocial relationship. By pledging support through patreon or book sales, and emphatically participating in comment threads, people become very attached to the continuation of their guru.

When anyone rises to high visibility in the public sphere, they are at higher risk of “audience capture.” Audience capture describes the cycle of performing in increasingly exaggerated ways based on what the public figure thinks their audience wants. As their behavior gets more extreme, they often receive more attention, thus rewarding said behavior. In Lewis’ words,³ “for many [online gurus], their very identity is shaped by their audience’s view of them. They become who their fans want them, need them to be.” This is why we see people with wildly incorrect or inappropriate views skyrocket to fame: outlandishness generates intrigue, which in turn generates engagement.⁴

From idolatry back to admiration. 

There isn’t anything inherently wrong with admiring people, but there can be danger in idolatry, for both the idolized and the idolizer. It isn’t healthy to look at another human as a god, nor is it healthy for any person to receive so much power. And yet, we cannot expect those we admire or venerate to remind us that they are not god — especially when they might actually believe that they are. Regardless of whether the guru in question is acting responsibly, it is our responsibility to remind ourselves that we have agency.

We can easily get swept up in expectation and experience disappointment in people we don’t even know. We can fall in and out of interest with people and ideas and ways of conceptualizing the world, and that’s ok. This is where it’s helpful to have principles to fall back on: a way to check yourself against your better self. Being a follower is not bad, but let us remember to stay grounded in our own inner authority.

Anyone who says they have the answers or know the secret sauce is probably not someone worth listening to. A good teacher does not seek to control others or indoctrinate them with their ways. A good teacher always turns you back to yourself and your own intuition.⁵

Perhaps this discussion is merely an opportunity to be aware of when we look for answers in someone else. Perhaps it is a chance to look at whether where we are placing our trust is actually where we want our trust to be. Maybe it is just, as it often is, a reminder to be present in our own bodies and selves. 

Listen or don’t to The New Gurus. It provoked a lot of good thinking in me, so maybe it will for you, too.

Maggie

1. Cited from episode 1, “The Birth of the New Guru.”

2. Cited from episode 1, “The Birth of the New Guru.” Tara Isabella Burton’s website linked here.

3. Cited from episode 5, “Gazing into the Abyss.”

4. For more on this topic, read the article “The Perils of Audience Capture: How influencers become brainwashed by their audiences.” by Gurwinder. Fascinating stuff.

5. Am I starting to sound like Steve Jobs? I really had no idea he was such a dominant self-help figure.