Feet of Clay: A Study of Gurus

Abstract

Scarcely a year goes by without reports of strange and generally dangerous cults which enthral their followers and lead them to cut themselves off from the world. Invariably led by gurus or spiritual leaders, these cults often end in mass suicide or harm to innocent people. This book is an examination of those gurus and of their followers. It takes as examples some of those we consider modern gurus - James Jones, David Koresh, the Bhangwan Sunree Ranjeesh, Gurdjieff and others, some of them apparently mad and some more genuine, and establishes what each of them has in common. The book then examines what each of these people shares with other gurus whose teachings we accept or at least respect - Jung, Freud, Ignatius Loyola, and Jesus Christ. The comparison finds more startling continuities than we might realize.