3 Steps to becoming a self-help Guru
It’s a modern day curse, people are suffering more than ever with mental health issues. Each one is seeking solutions for their life’s problems and the problems are varied — relationships, financial, health , grieving the loss of a loved one or a job etc etc. Each problem is multi-dimensional and seeking a solution is a complex activity. The seeker searches for solutions from religious books & teachings, self-help books and very often from spiritual leaders or Gurus. The intention of this article is not to hurt the sentiments of any seeker or self-help Guru, it’s to talk about a pattern observed in the life of many self-help Gurus.
The life of a successful self-help Guru can be divided into 3 phases. These 3 phases are apparent when one reads books written by the Guru or by a devout follower.
Step 1: The suffering, the pain and the hopelessness
This is the first phase where the Guru describes in great detail either a series of events or a life condition that leads to interminable suffering. This section of the book elaborates in graphic detail how the Guru kept spiralling down the path of suffering into an abyss with no ray of light or hope. The Guru would have perceived this to be the end of the road and either contemplates calling it a day by succumbing to the pain and suffering or attempting unsuccessfully to kill himself or herself.
Step 2: Getting out of the problem using a belief system
In this section of the book the Guru talks about a voice that comes from deep within, from an unknown and unimaginable source which gives them a vestige of strength and hope. The Guru then unceasingly uses this belief and builds rituals around it. This starts to show some positive results and the Guru then applies this with greater rigor over an extended period of time. This results in him or her successfully overcoming the suffering and his or her overall well-being improving tremendously. Friends, family and strangers begin to acknowledge the change. Either they want to know what brought about the change or the Guru believes that his method should alleviate the suffering of many others like him. He actively starts sharing the system with the underlying belief as the ‘theory’ and the method as the ‘practice’.
Step 3: Fame, books, sessions, merchandise etc
The method catches steam and the guru has a small group of followers. The Guru is now talking on a regular basis to people who reach out to him for advice, therapy and interviews. His speeches, sayings, books and videos go viral and he has hundreds of thousands of viewers & listeners. The more popular he or she becomes the more the people who reach out asking for personal consultancy, coaching or therapy. The flood gates open and the Guru has no choice but to put in infrastructure, system and processes to manage the deluge of enquiries, business opportunities, book sign ups, chat shows etc. From here on the Guru becomes bigger than the belief or the method he invented and will go on to expand horizons into other areas. The Guru now has sufficient money to hire PR and marketing agencies, image & brand consultants and is now a ‘celebrity’.
The Gurus are largely well meaning but the fact remains that no Guru has come up with a solution that solves every human being’s problem. The seekers will continue to explore and search for that one Guru who can cure them of their suffering, while the self-help industry thrives on the vulnerabilities and insecurities of their fragile minds!