A self-help guru is someone who has undergone a positive change and uses their experience to help others improve their lives. They offer advice and guidance, organize group meetings, and may teach meditation or yoga techniques. There is debate over what makes a legitimate guru, and some may be unscrupulous and manipulate clients for money or put them at risk.
The term “guru” means “teacher,” but the word is generally used to describe anyone who has profound knowledge and wisdom on a given subject, usually from personal experiences and teachings. A self-help guru is someone who has undergone a dramatic but positive change in their life and uses what they have learned from this change to help others improve their lives. Normally, a self-help guru provides insight and advice, as well as challenging people who need to help them achieve their own life-changing realizations. This is done in an individual or group setting.
There are many techniques employed by a guru, but only a few are used by most gurus. Within a group setting, the self-help guru organizes meetings and sets goals for the group. He also offers advice to anyone who requests it and encourages those present to continue their own personal path towards improvement. Often, the guru will use this as an opportunity to meet with a potential client to help in a more personal way.
On an individual basis, the guru may be more accessible. Typically he or she will be on call most hours of the day. He or she will also provide more advice and guidance on how the client thinks and acts on a day-to-day basis. This includes teaching the person how to shift their thoughts to more positive attitudes and teaching meditation or yoga techniques to ease the mind and relieve stress.
There is an ongoing debate as to what makes a person a legitimate self-help guru or someone who simply claims to be. Most traditional people believe that a true self-help guru must spend years reflecting on their inner self and receiving teachings from an already established guru. These traditionalists believe this is the only way to achieve true epiphany that can benefit others. Those who are more contemporary in their thinking believe that anyone who has undergone such a change and can actually use it to benefit others can become a guru.
While most self-help gurus are sincere, there are cases of unscrupulous self-help gurus. There have been cases where a self-help guru has manipulated clients, friends and family into giving them money in exchange for help, advice or a self-help program. In some of these cases, the self-help guru can then disappear with the money. In other cases, the self-help guru may get his clients to do things that could put them at risk.
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