Setting out to evade the political turbulence of Darjeeling, the American writer & photographer, Thomas K. Shor sets off with minimal baggage and walks. Following the example of his mentor and friend, Ed Spencer, the 'Harvard renunciate' whose story he has admirably told here: Into the Hands of the Unknown he steps out in no particular direction intent on the present moment and what will emerge and be gifted.
Being Shor with a talent for stepping into stories, he comes across a local guru, simply called Gurudev, for whom he is the first real encounter with a Westerner. A relationship develops not of guru and disciple, Thomas is too true to his name for that, keeping always a vigorous level of doubt, but of admiring enquirer met by the mutual curiosity of Gurudev.
What could have unfolded was a classic teaching text of observation, perplexity resolved, and illumination; and, in many ways, the book is this. Gurudev is a remarkable man - by Tibetan Buddhists seen as a reincarnation or tulku of a prior realized monk and by Hindus as an incarnation of Shiva - and yet, in his own mind and teaching, transcendent to all traditions, pointing simply to God as Love. Strikingly, and affectingly, at some of his ceremonies where darshan is offered to myriad devotees, both Tibetan monks and Hindu priests are present offering simultaneous patterns of chant and worship.
Gurudev's main practice appears the 'circulation of offerings'. His devotees bring him gifts - material and money - and he often in staged, elaborate ways, re-gifts them, often to teaching purpose about detachment and sharing - though what the meaning of handing out black Jockey men's underwear is anyone's guess! He, also, has an extraordinary talent at enabling his audience to laugh, often keeping them in stitches for hours, which, given the hardship and poverty of many of his devotees' lives, might on its own be a welcome relief.
All of this is witnessed through Shor's careful observation and inquisitive probing. He keeps his skepticism of many of the stories of Gurudev's miracles yet notices a handful of remarkable moments of healing, of almost telepathic insight, and of rolling synchronicities.
But all through Shor remains struck by Gurudev's underlying equanimity and love - even as the 'master director' contrives situations that can discomfort as well comfort his followers - and as Shor, himself somewhat tires of what he sees as Gurudev's continuous acting in this regard. Why cannot Gurudev more often remind or tell his devotees that they are directing too much of their energy towards him rather than to that which he points?
However, Shor's fundamental stumbling block comes when he discovers that Gurudev's principal sponsor is Subash Ghising, the local political overlord and, not to spare a point, a thug who under the guise of agitating for greater autonomy from West Bengal for this Nepali 'minority' area around Darjeeling, has drawn all power to himself often secured by violence. The very car that Gurudev and Shor travel together in is a gift from Ghising, one that he should not be able to afford on his government salary; and, he is diverting money from the Tourism budget to build Gurudev an improbable monastery.
How can Gurudev appear so enlightened and yet not refuse such gifts, not least because such a close relationship confuses many of his own disciples?
In a tense moment, Shor confronts Gurudev with these questions, much to the distress of the young men who form Gurudev's team of helpers. Gurudev's reply is simple: how can love choose who to spend itself on? Yes, he knows Ghising is a 'bad man' but he has often, not always, been able to temper his bad actions and is not love patient, and does it not spend itself this way? Shor himself compares such a response with Jesus in the Gospels being criticized for dining with tax collectors, the Ghisings of his day, replying that one comes for sinners, not the saved.
This response will ultimately convince Shor of the nobility of Gurudev's intentions - if never completely remove the question that even the best of intentions can lead us in the wrong direction - but it also signals a parting of the ways. Shor's questioning of the guru has agitated the immediate disciples and they are not as forgiving as Gurudev, and Gurudev himself realizes perhaps that the presence of the American will prove too disruptive. Events including the shifting, and ongoing, political tension, mean that Shor and his wife have reasons to leave the area, and though occasionally follows Gurudev in the media, the story is at an end.
The story, however, is a beautifully, lucidly, and honestly told story of a guru and his non-disciple. An admirer yes but not an uncritical one; and, in the telling of the story multiple observations emerge about the relationship between spirit and religion, between the role of the teacher and what is taught; and, between guru and disciples/devotees. It, also, raises perennial questions about the relationship between love & justice - can you pursue the one without nodding attention to the other - and between religion and politics, a usually terrible coupling that, however, is well-meant often ends in tears.
I came away with all my prejudices intact that, as it happens, resonate with Shor's. This is notably in recognizing that though there may be a role for the guru/disciple relationship it so often appears to get 'stuck' - even when the guru appears, as here, a 'realized being' - it appears the conveying of that realization is inhibited by the disciple's idealization - putting the saint on an impossible pedestal rather than realizing what the saint is pointing to that namely we are all, in fact, sitting on the same pedestal! The saint's role as inspiration all too often does not lead to the disciple's efforts at perspiration towards the same goal, rather substitutes for it. In other words, this idealization can be supremely comforting (and you can understand the temptation of this) but it does not move you on, open you up, or enable you to see through. Or as Shor is fond of quoting the Zen Buddhist saying if you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him! With reverence no doubt, but boldly!
The text is accompanied by a whole series of wonderful photographs that illuminate both Shor's descriptions of Gurudev and the world created around him - and help to anchor you in the perception that Shor himself is a balanced, compassionate, and fair witness to his complex, loving, sometimes frustrating encounter with Gurudev.
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