Are there any legit Gurus on ATS?

Here is a link to one of the best website on spiritual matters, which I hope many of you are acquainted with:

www.spiritualresearchfoundation.org...

One of it's many pages is one about the Guru, which is the practitioner who has achieved the highest levels of attainment.

As Spirituality is subtle or intangible in nature, it is difficult to identify with certainty who is a spiritually evolved guide or Guru. A Guru is very different to a teacher or a preacher. He is a beacon of spiritual light in our world, and teaches us the universal spiritual principles that underlie all religions and cultures.

The site proposes that spiritual level can be described on a level from 1-100%. Spiritual Levels

A person is characterized as Guru at 70%, and the site estimates there to be 500 between 70-75 worldwide, 50 between 76-85, two from 86-90 and two more from 91-100.

That's 554 worldwide guru's, folks. In a population of seven billion, it comes out to one in every 12,635,379.

As of today there are 267,553 members on ATS. A little over half have posted, and the vast majority who have posted are under 20 total posts. We have less than 35,000 who could be considered regular posters (criteria more than 20 posts)

Now, this forum is can be of special quality when it comes to spiritual knowledge, but you see a good handful of people who seem to post as if they at the highest level of enlightenment.

If there are ten true Gurus on this site that would be astounding, and more likely there are zero. We have to be careful of listening to people overstating their enlightenment. This is highly deceitful may be a more damaging lie than for example, a political one, because you are shaping your overall world view based on it.

There may be a higher potential for saints, which by the site's estimate there is a little over 10,500 worldwide. Some saints are at equal level as a guru, but the guru is more effective in managing that high level. Check out the sites.

Any members of high enlightenment willing to identify themselves?

Or general discussion about the measurement system on this site...can a spiritual level be quantified at all?


How about speculation on breaking down the 554 gurus by nationality? Any in the US? Can you name any? Eckhart Tolle? Deepak Chopra? Would they qualify?

I am currently over 9000% Guru, but only when it comes to matters like seeking alcoholic enlightenment. Sadly, the percentage wears off after a few hours. Nonetheless, I have achieved over 9000 many times...

Wow. I'm a 90, tick for everyone, yeah even 90, I always do something for nothing. Kind of sucks sometimes.

So is there a standardized test to measure Guru-dom, like the ASVAB or the SAT or the GRE? Maybe the MMPI could act as a substitute? I dunno, myself. I'm an INTJ.

If no one hears what a guru is saying does the guru still exist?

Seriously though, very very few people here or anywhere are interested in hearing real universal spiritual truth. It's probably the thing people hate most in the world.

The term guru has become a bad thing in my neck of the woods

"Boy, look how that mechanic hooked up the trans. linkage, he's a real guru"

I would be very high up on that chart, but I wouldn't consider myself a guru...

Just a person

ETA: The problem I have with ranking oneself is that the students will look up to, and depend on to an extent, the teacher/guru/mentor. Ideally, the student should learn everything first hand. Since that is harder than it seems, I find that everyone is an equally good teacher and student.

Originally posted by MassOccurs

Any members of high enlightenment willing to identify themselves?

A highly evolved spiritual person will not reveal them self’s for many sincere reasons, reasons not understood by less evolved persons. Id be very suspicious if anyone does make a claim soon on here.

Originally posted by MassOccurs

Any members of high enlightenment willing to identify themselves?

Yeah, I will identify myself as enlightened. I was liberated in 2010 during the winter solstice lunar eclipse. I was taken up, 'uploaded' if you will, through the 'gates of God and Man' by 'Blue Pearls' to an infinite realm that goes by different names in different traditions. I was my 'Atman'. I was more lucid than I thought possible. I was liberated. I joined with a Divine presence. Then I was put back in my body.

Afterwords, I was in a state of mystical consciousness that lasted many days. It was a full kundalini activation. A state of profound rapture. During that time I learned a great many things from amazing spiritual entities. It gradually faded...but sometimes it comes back in waves like the tide.

Prior to that I had been studying comparative religion, comparative mythology, and comparative religion for years. Thus my "theology" transcends any culture or conceptual border or even words but I am partial to Christian mysticism.

reply to post by pirhanna


Sad, but true

I don't think there is any fault in a person of guru or saint level to openly acknowledge themselves being so.

Jesus, Buddha, Nanak, Confucius, Moses, Lao Tzu, Socrates, Muhammad(objections?) were all open with their wisdom and cultivated followings.

I also don't think acquiring wealth necessarily contradicts spiritual level. If high enough on the scale, the corrupting factor is less and the guru may see benefit in controlling resources as opposed to a typical businessman.

reply to post by pirhanna


Buddha once said something along these lines - 5 minutes of meditation in universal love and compassion is more powerful than so and so acts over whatever period of time.

So the silent Guru can fulfill any responsibility if the above theory holds.

reply to post by MassOccurs


The problem with "spiritual enlightenment" is that it does not exist. There is no single, defining truth, which will not fade, or be proven false at some future juncture. Gurus are only Gurus in their particular theological, spiritual, religious, or cultic avenue. Deepak Chopra is considered a Guru by some, and a fraud by others. That is, unfortunately, the fate of all Gurus; whether you're the Buddha teaching the Dharma, or a quantum-hippie from Kentucky teaching immaterial existence. Someone, somewhere, will have a valid opposition to your proposed enlightenment.

That statement alone qualifies me as a Guru; for I have seen the reality of this existence and spoken it in the tongue of the commoner. I am not a Guru though. I am just a wanderer, as are we all.

~ Wandering Scribe

reply to post by MassOccurs


Gurus ? Not sure. Aliens, Jesus, whistle blowers, (type in favorite alphabet agency here) insiders...a few...

But I don't think a Guru would answer your call. Yet if you stick around long enough, you'll be able to spot a few souls that do share their spiritual wisdom out of their good hearts.

Not necessarily gurus but worth listening to their advice.

reply to post by BlueMule


May I ask why, having also studied comparative mythology and religion, you have chosen the Christian mystical tradition? Their god, their Christ, their angels, their martyrs and saints, their myths, their rituals, their prayers and practices are all lifted and plagiarized from the people whom they conquered, enslaved, killed, and forced from their own holy homelands.

In what way can you justify calling yourself enlightened—someone who has walked with the Divine, and understands the Akashic spirit behind all things, who has seen the many faces of the hero—choosing the Christian way as the right way, when it is so clearly operated from and for the wrong intentions?

A personal question, obviously, but one which no Christian mystic, Cabalist, or child of the Mystical Christ has ever been able to answer for me.

~ Wandering Scribe

reply to post by Wandering Scribe


How can you call yourself enlightened, when you question others beliefs?

Damn, just lost my own enlightenment pointing this out... Ah well, there is plenty more to go around.

reply to post by DeliriumAquarium

The problem with "spiritual enlightenment" is that it does not exist. There is no single, defining truth, which will not fade, or be proven false at some future juncture.

From my reply here. A mere two posts below yours, and two posts above mine. Perhaps my self-referential comment concerning enlightenment is a bit too enlightened for you though...

If enlightenment consists of letting people believe in what they want, without any evidence or consideration for the origin, then what makes enlightenment any different from insanity, delusion, or fiction?

My question to the user was a legitimate one, as the user said they were a student of comparative religion and mythology. It's an honest academics inquiry.

~ Wandering Scribe

Originally posted by MassOccurs
I don't think there is any fault in a person of guru or saint level to openly acknowledge themselves being so.

Jesus, Buddha, Nanak, Confucius, Moses, Lao Tzu, Socrates, Muhammad(objections?) were all open with their wisdom and cultivated followings.

Please do understand in their time it was a completely different world view & very different from today’s world view so the conditions for these beings was right.

Today one would be labeled as being a leader of a sect or a terrorist if one was to challenge say the establishment.


Edit: Also want to mention. Now there is a democratic spirit out there who question things more then ever before.

I think the essence of the Guru idea transcends traditional spiritual thought...

Repeating from the OP, the main point was that the site estimated 554 Gurus in the world. Where that comes from, I don't know. But the important thing is the rarity. Their ideologies are in the highest percentile when it comes to revealing truth to man.

Of these 554, 300 may be scattered throughout Asia meditating quietly. A few dozen could be tribal shaman in Africa. A handful could be military leaders. A good portion may be devoted to high science and may not acknowledge God at all. A few could be in America doing something as humble as teaching in high school and coaching sports. Some are bound to be infants and toddlers. A few may be hidden gems in the political establishment. A few more could be Wall Street savants. No doubt there is Guru presence in music, maybe Yoyo Ma..or more to my tastes...Anthony Kiedis. A Hollywood star or two, perhaps. Comedians come to mind as well.

When thinking of Guru, the profile shouldn't be limited to religious leaders...ultimate enlightenment would be applicable to any field.

Here's an exercise that could be fun. Let's say there are ten Guru who are well known to the American public but famous for something other than religious leadership. Who you got?

Here's mine... Anthony Kiedis, Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Larry David, Oprah, Angelina Jolie, Phil Jackson, Magic Johnson, Madonna, and Adam Sandler.

That was a quick rattle off...tried to be fair toward women....would love to see some of your lists...what celebs have inspired your life?

Or is the paradigm here that anything mainstream is evil and carries no benefit?

Edit: sort of wish I would have included Dan Brown and James Rollins. If you're into pervasive conspiracy, religious history, cutting edge science, and political thrillers I can't emphasize how highly I recommend James Rollin's Sigma Force Novels. There are 8 of them, most recently one came out in July called Bloodline...it was awesome...but you should read them in order. They are the tales of Darpa's special forces unit of soldier/scientists called Sigma Force and their constant battles against a shady international terrorist organization called The Guild.

Eh, forget it...

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