Feet of Clay: Study of Gurus

by Anthony Storr (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  1996

  $4.23

  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.

• Used

  Hardcover
  1996

  $3.28

  In his classic work, Solitude, internationally acclaimed author and psychiatrist Anthony Storr probed our basic and often unmet need for solitude, especially emphasizing its relation to creativity. In Music and the Mind, Storr explored the fundamental human need for music, demonstrating its ability to reunite the mind and body. Now, in Feet of Clay, Storr again provides a fresh perspective into one of the most potentially dangerous human needs, the need for certitude. In vivid portraits of some of history's most intriguing gurus, from David Koresh to Freud and Jung to Jesus, Storr examines why we are so enthralled with certain dogmatic figures who play on our need for certainty. Gurus are extraordinary individuals who cast doubt upon current psychiatric distinctions between sanity and madness. Because gurus are charismatic figures who are gifted teachers, they recruit disciples who adopt the guru's vision as their own. The guru convinces others that he knows, a persuasive capacity which can bring illumination but which may end in disaster. Storr demonstrates that most of us harbor irrational beliefs, and he discusses how the human wish for certainty in an insecure world leads to our confusing delusion with truth. Storr reveals how the adoration for the guru can so easily corrupt him and explains why certain gurus become moral parasites while others become spiritual beacons.