Real vs Fake Gurus:
How to Spot the Imposters?

UGH article, 2021
Author: T. Kamal

Beyond Blind Faith: Cultivating Critical Thinking in a World of Deceptive Leaders and the other peddlers of fake information

In a world where self-proclaimed gurus and deceptive leaders proliferate, even the smartest among us can fall victim to their allure.
Why do many, seemingly intelligent, CEOs, politicians, high-ranking government officials and many individuals, from all walks of life, become followers of these charlatans - some even start worshipping these deceptive figures - these fake Gurus and fake Babas?

The Crucial Imperative of Identifying Genuine Educators:

Traits of Authentic Educators - The true mentors, the true Gurus.
The true mentors in various spheres, ranging from primary school classrooms to university lecture halls, from social activism to political leadership, emerge as guiding lights of wisdom and enlightenment. They shepherd individuals on a voyage of self-discovery and personal development, instilling values such as critical thinking, open-mindedness, and genuine inquiry. These genuine educators foster the discernment necessary to differentiate truth from falsehood and the ability of individuals to ascertain accurate information.
Authentic educators often demonstrate defiance and display remarkable resilience in the face of adversity. Despite challenges and persecution, they persevere in their noble mission of encouraging people to gain Correct Awareness … "Buddhi".

The Illumination of Genuine Educators:
Across history, there have been luminaries who have illuminated humanity's path with their sagacity and compassion. Among many such exceptional individuals are Raja Ram Mohan Roy (1772-1833), Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968), Periyar E.V. Ramasamy (1879-1973), and Nelson Mandela (1918-2013). Their teachings, deeds and legacy have inspired countless individuals, and have contributed to peace, unity, harmony, religious tolerance, and society's advancement.
In more recent times, a new cadre of social activists and educators continues to uphold this legacy by advocating for accurate awareness and critical thinking. They utilize evidence, data, critical thinking and their wit to debunk myths and misconceptions, particularly those pertaining to religion. In doing so, they embody humanity's ongoing pursuit of enlightenment and the cultivation of a well - or, correctly - informed society.
This pursuit of enlightenment - not only for 'luminaries', but each of us - is vital for fostering harmony, prosperity, and safeguarding humanity's future.

Challenges for Genuine Educators

Challenge 1: Persecution and Vehement Opposition

Real educators face significant hurdles when advocating for positive change in individuals and communities; they encounter often vehement opposition when challenging the blind faith, harmful ingrained behaviors, and entrenched traditions of others, for example:

Worshiping Buddha as a deity despite his explicit statements rejecting godhood and the concepts of heaven and hell.
While Gurus denounce the caste system and advocate for human unity, some followers deviate from these teachings, perpetuating activities that further divide society, often for some kind of gain.
Religion, alongside teachings from authentic Guru Teachers, emphasizes ethical living and the pursuit of higher consciousness. These teachings aim to quiet the mind, transcend ego-driven tendencies, and foster love, unity, empathy, co-operation, and a sense of interconnectedness with all beings and the universe.
However, misunderstandings, about religion and the preaching of real Teachers/Gurus, often lead to the misuse of these teachings, resulting in harmful activities such as forming exclusive groups, practicing discriminatory systems like caste, engaging in practices like female genital mutilation, performing sacrificial offerings, and following specific diets to appease deities (Use or Misuse of Religion).
The vilification endured by Galileo for his astronomical observations that contradicted the prevailing beliefs of his time, and opposed the established religious doctrines of his time, and Charles Darwin and others who promoted the theory of evolution. These men exemplify the hurdles and persecution faced (and are still facing) by educators and others who advocate for a scientific understanding of the world.

Challenge 2: Breaking free from mental shackles

The second greatest challenge lies in formulating a viable strategy to liberate mind and consciousness from the confines of:

A. Evolutionary-trained behaviors B. The traditional imposition

Evolutionary traits:
Behaviors such as fear, establishing supremacy, living in small groups, and amassing and hoarding resources at the expense of others. These survival tactics force humans to become leaders or followers, often seeking a leader to follow.
The traditional imposition:
Prejudices and Dogmas:
Unquestioned beliefs that stifle understanding and inhibit growth.
Harmful Traditional Practices:
Practices within groups and societies that are detrimental to societal progress and individual well-being

The Crucial Need to Identify the Deceptive individuals

The vast array of deceptive Impostors come in various forms and can be categorized as:

Imposters and Self-Promoters:
Driven by ego and greed, they exploit others for personal gain.
Fanatics and Misguided Leaders:
Blinded by their own beliefs, they spread misinformation and hinder critical thinking, and mislead the people towards wars and destruction.
Fake Religious Figures the fake Babas or fake Gurus:
Those masquerading as spiritual authorities deviously disguise themselves as true leaders, and Clerics, driven by an insatiable hunger for notoriety and opulence. They are aspired to become leaders and gather followers, cynically exploiting and misleading innocent, ignorant people for their own name and fame, ego satisfaction, and selfish ends
Fake Researchers, Bad Science, and Fake media:
Fake Researchers, Bad Science: These deceptive individuals may hold educational qualifications, but their work is fraudulent, for example Andrew Jeremy Wakefield, a British fraudster, discredited academic, anti-vaccine activist, and former physician.
Unlike their counterparts in religious or spiritual garb, fake researchers are decorated with universities degrees, and misuse their academic credentials

For everyday news reports exposing corruption in research studies, you may visit this honest charity website: retractionwatch

Fake Media: Just like false prophets in the realm of religion, fake media entities disguise themselves as champions of truth. These deceptive outlets cunningly disseminate false information and biased narratives, preying on public trust for their own benefit. By manipulating and misleading innocent, unsuspecting individuals, they not only hinder progress but also sow seeds of societal discord and destruction. To learn how to discern accurate information from such deceit, visit [What is correct information].

Yet another category is the Well-Informed Innocent, or some might say 'Inadvertent Peddler promoting pseudoscience and dogmas', referring to educators who may discuss philosophy, and provide evidence-based knowledge, but unwittingly endorse ideas that contribute to the dissemination of pseudoscience, (example: A science teacher promoting astrology). Thus, they may potentially mislead people who trust in their expertise or authority.

Into this category fall religious aspirants and leaders, including monks, nuns, and clerics, albeit with a little knowledge, and who can memorize and recite the teachings of their faith, but are themselves totally incapable of understanding the teachings or the purpose of their religion/faith. For these individuals, constructing grand religious structures can be a way to gain satisfaction from their devotion, but it is often primarily for personal prestige and recognition within their community. Driven by ego, the creation of Monastery shrines can serve as a lasting legacy attributed to their name. Consequently, they shift their focus to building more religious structures as symbols of their religious devotion. They may misuse funds, mostly raised from public donations, to construct luxurious religious monuments and buildings. These individuals, often cult leaders with a knack for increasing their following by infusing excitement and devotion to them by their words and actions, create divisions and conflicts among humanity. Their activities contradict the teachings of their respective religions and the principles espoused by true spiritual leaders, like Buddha, and the real Gurus.

This is a critical issue especially in developing countries, an example is Thailand where the proliferation of temples, with some built in close proximity to disadvantaged communities, has raised concerns about resource allocation. The funds used for constructing these temples could be better directed towards addressing pressing socio-economic issues such as education, healthcare, and infrastructure development, thus balancing cultural heritage with the needs of the disadvantaged communities.

You may check these Newspaper Reports:

The Bangkok Post: Saffron swindlers

The Nation Thailand: November 2019, Monk arrested for sex with both laymen and other monks

The Thaiger: September 2020, a monk arrested for fraud

BBC: Should religious buildings be sold to help the poor and feed the starving?

THE WORLD SATELLITE: Rich Clergy, Poor people

Manipulative Tactics of the Self-aggrandizers:
Those who deceive others often employ sophisticated tactics to manipulate their victims. These tactics may include exploiting cognitive biases, using persuasive language, or creating emotional appeals.
Once someone has been successfully deceived, it becomes very challenging and difficult to break through these manipulative tactics and see the truth.

Critical Review: The Shocking Truth About Deception

Why lies spread faster than truth, and why it's easier to deceive than enlighten. It's easy to fool anyone, but difficult to make them realize they've been fooled.
The most probable explanations are;

Ego Protection:
Admitting that one has been fooled can be emotionally challenging because it may imply that the person was gullible or made a mistake. Our ego often seeks to protect us from feelings of embarrassment or shame, leading us to resist acknowledging that we have been deceived.

Cognitive Dissonance:
When confronted with evidence that contradicts our beliefs or actions, we experience cognitive dissonance - a state of mental discomfort caused by holding conflicting ideas simultaneously. To reduce this discomfort, we may rationalize our previous beliefs or actions rather than accepting that we were deceived.

Social Pressure:
Individuals may face peer or social pressure to maintain their beliefs, particularly if those beliefs are widely shared within their social group or community. People who realize that they've been fooled, and are being exploited, may remain silent due to fear of social repercussions, such as being ostracized or ridiculed by peers who hold the mistaken belief.

Emotional Appeal:
Misinformation or lies often contain elements that provoke strong emotions such as fear, anger, or excitement. These emotions can motivate us to believe in and share such fake information more readily and widely than with mundane truths.

Simplification and Sensationalism:
Lies and misinformation are often simplified and sensationalized to make them more appealing and easier to understand.

One example is the following that was widely shared:

"Drinking Age at Disney World May be Lowered to 18".
Note: The link is from an entirely discredited 'news' site.

This makes us more likely to believe and share, while truths due its complexity, may appear bothersome to realize, hence we may tend to overlook or ignore truth.

Confirmation Bias:
The state of our mindset, already inclined to favor information that confirms our existing beliefs, increases the likelihood of accepting and spreading false information and pseudoscience that align with what we are already convinced is correct. This tendency, known as 'confirmation bias', makes us more vulnerable to deception because we seek out, and give more weight to, information that supports our preconceived notions. As a result, lies and misinformation that resonate with our beliefs appear more credible and compelling. Recognizing, and more importantly challenging, this bias is crucial for developing a more accurate understanding of the world, and for making correctly informed decisions.

Behavior of believing in 'hearsay':
Believing in hearsay is a common aspect of human behavior that often begins in childhood. Parents and society teach children to accept certain beliefs, instilling in them the tendency to trust information that aligns with what they have been taught. This can sometimes dampen critical thinking skills, making individuals more susceptible to hearsay. Several factors contribute to this phenomenon:

Trust in the Source: If the person conveying the hearsay is someone trusted, like a friend or family member, individuals are more likely to believe the information.
Repetition: Information repeated often enough, even if it's hearsay, can start to seem more credible. The more people hear something, the more likely they are to believe it.
Social media and Misinformation: In the age of social media, misinformation and hearsay can spread quickly. The sheer volume and speed of information dissemination can make it challenging to discern truth from falsehood, especially if it is repeated by many different sources, including reputable ones.
Cognitive Ease and Heuristic Processing: People use mental shortcuts or heuristics to make sense of the world. Accepting hearsay can be a heuristic decision-making process, especially in complex or ambiguous situations. It takes less mental effort to accept information at face value than to critically analyze it.
Lack of Access to Factual Information: Sometimes, people rely on hearsay because they don't have access to the actual facts. In the absence of reliable information, hearsay, or gossip, can fill the gap.
The Evolutionary Basis: Some innate survival tactics compel humans to become leaders or followers; it is often easier for the many 'ordinary' people to seek a leader to follow. This creates an environment where both genuine and fake leaders can emerge and thrive.

Remedial Approach

Considering these challenges, it is imperative for humanity to unite. Only a united human effort can initiate the design and implementation of a global educational curriculum, that appeals to people of all ages, aimed at promoting accurate awareness to ensure that the true science and the true essence of religious teachings and ethical guidelines is correctly discerned.

Educational Curriculum on Self-Education:

Learning about Common Cognitive Biases and Logical Fallacies:
Understanding how biases and fallacies distort our thinking.
Questioning Everything:
Adopting a mindset of healthy skepticism. Asking for evidence before accepting information.
Reading a variety of viewpoints:
Avoiding groupthink by exposing oneself to diverse perspectives and ideas.
Open-Mindedness and Self-Reflection:
Regularly examining one's own beliefs, understanding why you hold them and being open to revising them based on new evidence and insights.
Meditation…
Practices that encourage introspection, mindfulness, and a deeper connection with oneself.

Our Responsibility as Ordinary People

As ordinary individuals - fulfilling roles as parents, educators in schools and universities, independent private teachers, and social and religious leaders - we bear a profound responsibility to embody the essence of a 'Real Teacher'. This entails a conscious commitment to educating ourselves; we will do this by questioning everything, seeking diverse perspectives, reflecting on our beliefs, and practicing mindfulness to correctly understand and use science and Religion/ faith for the betterment of quality of life.
By doing so, we can foster a world guided by truth and wisdom; we must move beyond personal biases and refrain from imposing our personal or social dogmas on those we guide. Instead, we should strive to cultivate an environment that nurtures individual growth and wisdom, allowing our loved ones and students to flourish in their unique learning journeys while pursuing 'Correct Awareness'.

Crux of discussion:

This article underscores the critical importance of nurturing 'Correct Awareness' or 'Buddhi'. Developing this enlightened consciousness can enable us to distinguish fact from falsehood, and to identify genuine guides versus deceptive impostors and exploiters.
Ignorance, innate inclinations, the traditional imposition of blind faith, dogmas, and prejudices, combined with depression, stress, unemployment, and feelings of insecurity during uncertain times, create fertile ground for deceptive impostors to exploit our vulnerabilities. These conditions also foster the growth and proliferation of ambitious, deceptive leaders like Hitler, warmongers, and those who masquerade as true leaders and spiritual guides - the fake 'clerics' or 'Babas', or monks and nuns (known in India as Devi/Mata).
We will need, ourselves, to be pursuant to improve our own ability to discern correctly, and campaign to promote correct discerning ability in others, whilst simultaneously raising our voices to counteract and to nip off the malevolent forces, that bring death, destruction, hunger, and poverty to humanity, and tarnish the sanctity of religion.