There are many great problems facing the Orthodox world in our times. We have often discussed the pan heresy of Ecumenism, modernism, the growing ignorance of the faith among our people, and similar problems.
There is one such problem which I feel is of very immediate importance, and which must be discussed. This is the problem of cultish "guruism," and we have encountered striking examples of it recently. One usually expects to encounter such problems in relation to some cases of deluded monastic "elders," however, Archbishop Lazar has often warned about the problem of such cultism developing around married parish priests (an example of which is being lived out at this very time). Because of this most recent tragic incident, I am reprinting here an excerpt from a letter which Archbishop (then Archimandrite) Lazar wrote in 1989 to a group of catechumens who were falling under the influence of "guru cultism."
The Editor
...It is necessary for you to know that the Orthodox Church has no tradition of, and does not recognize, the kind of obedience into which you are being led. There has somehow developed in recent times a kind of "elder cult." This kind of extreme "guruism" is very much a perversion and distortion of the concept of monastic obedience and the real function of a spiritual father and an elder. It is not at all normal for lay people in the Church to be asked to be in blind obedience to an elder, or even to their parish priest, even if he is one of the two or three parish priests in America today who could truthfully be called a spiritual father. Indeed, even monastics should not be in blind obedience. This would be contrary to the fundamental concepts of the meaning of faith, and certainly to the Orthodox doctrine of what the laity is ..... One should be extremely cautious of anyone who wants to gain such absolute control over your mind and thought that they cannot allow you to freely associate and to freely and intelligently weigh and choose between seemingly conflicting ideas and "schools" of thought. Truth does not fear exposure and comparison. Cultism must always fear these things, and therefore it seeks to gain total control over and total obedience from its adherents, first through isolation and then through fear.
Almost inevitably in a cult, there is one central personality who remains the sole interpreter of all things. One is not supposed to be able to question his interpretation, but one must accept what he says simply because he has said it. He is never (or at least very seldom) called upon to explain or prove his interpretation or instruction.
From an Orthodox Christian point of view, freedom of choice is very important. We are required to know and to choose intelligently and reasonably. The division between laity and clergy in the Orthodox Church is not a sharp one. We are all part of the "holy priesthood," just as the priest is part of the "laity." There is no special esoteric or arcane knowledge which the clergy or monastics -- even spiritual fathers and elders -- can acquire but the people cannot. We are all supposed to have sufficient knowledge and understanding to make intelligent theological, moral and spiritual decisions. Our spiritual fathers and elders are supposed to help educate us, give us spiritual comfort, consolation and guidance. What authority they do have to "impose" a decision is this: the parish priest, bishop or other Church authority cannot allow anything contrary to the canons of the Ecumenical Councils to occur in the parishes. He cannot allow, and he certainly has the authority not to allow, for example, uncanonical "iconography" in the parish church. However, when the spiritual "authority" does have to impose such a solution to a conflict or problem, he is completely obligated to give a full explanation and, if asked, demonstrate proof of what he is imposing. In other words, there can be neither blind obedience, nor chaos and un-Orthodox activity in the parishes or dioceses....
We are told in Scripture that we are all co-workers in the salvation of our souls, and that we must work out our salvation with fear and trembling. We often need to be guided by someone with more experience, and this is the role of the spiritual father and elder. We can go to confession to our parish priest or we can also go to confession in the monasteries where, in general, we expect the monk-priests to have more experience and understanding, not through some magical means because they are monks, and not because they are holier, but because they have more time to devote to prayer and study than do people living in the world.
Monastics do not form a special class or caste in the Orthodox Church; they are only a category of the laity who have a special kind of life with special order, which is prescribed by the Church, because they are living together in a close community and devoting themselves more thoroughly to prayer. In a monastery a special kind of obedience is necessary to maintain good order, avoid chaos and promote mutual cooperation and respect, and to avoid spiritual delusion. However, the same order of life does not apply to people living in the world, raising families and competing in the work place.
We are all striving to grow and develop spiritually and to acquire the Holy Spirit to a greater degree. This struggle and spiritual growth is intended for the broad masses of the people, for all who wish to be saved. It is not some kind of secret, hyper-mystical gnosis. It is something clearly revealed and clearly defined.
It is true that in any family where good order and a healthy family environment are to be maintained, a certain discipline and obedience are required, and this is certainly true of a parish church. Obviously, this obedience is primarily to the canons and doctrines of the Orthodox Faith, and a respect for the office of the parish priest. However, blind obedience to an individual is not at all a part of this concept, and the family -- including the parish family -- works together....
Often the details and spirit conveyed in the paterikons and lives of the saints and histories of famous monastic houses are misunderstood or interpreted in an exaggerated fashion. For example, the service of the famous Optina Elders in Russia was often in stabilizing people in a confused and deteriorating society. The Optina fathers never attempted to claim a unique eldership for themselves, and they never at tempted to isolate or control those who came to them. They never sought to limit the access of their spiritual children to other Orthodox centres and experiences. On the other hand, the era which produced the great Optina elders also produced Rasputin and Mad Mika, examples of the great and profound spiritual delusion available in that era, and in any era.
You should be extremely suspicious and wary of any would be elder who must seek to isolate you and who demands absolute obedience, or even excessive obedience. In fact, if you belong to an Old Calendar jurisdiction which tells you that you cannot receive Holy Communion or attend Liturgies at another Old Calendar parish, just because it is not "in communion" with them, you should flee from that jurisdiction at once, because it is not authentic, it is not a Traditional Orthodox Church, it is some kind of cult which is trying to isolate you and ensnare you.
Everyone is aware that an Orthodox Christian may not receive communion in a non-Orthodox Church and should not attend divine services in heterodox churches, however, the attempt to isolate you from other clearly Orthodox churches because "they are not in communion with us" is the first and most certain sign that you are involved in a cult, and you should extricate yourself from it with all haste.... And I say this not only about individual jurisdictions; whole groups of jurisdictions can fall into this sort of unhealthy cultism....
There is no unique "ascetic theology" in the Orthodox Church. Orthodoxy does not know of a mysticism separate from its theology, and certainly not a mysticism divergent from the general experience of the whole Body of Christ, that is, all the people of the Church. That which is extreme, esoteric or which claims special arcane knowledge, or which isolates one in an absolute obedience to one priest or monastic, is by no means a valid expression of the Orthodox Christian spiritual experience.
I ask you to weigh all these things carefully in your mind and heart before you allow yourselves to become involved in something which might be more of a perversion of the faith than a valid expression of the Orthodox Faith....
One more thing: every cult I know of -- Jonestown, the Jehovah's Witnesses, Hari Krishna, the Hubbardites (Scientology), all of them, -- have the practice of declaring that those who leave their cult or who speak against it are "insane," "completely mad," "not well," etc., and they have the practice of "shunning" those who leave their cult. When you hear these catch phrases used about practically everyone who has left a group or broken relations with it, and when you see a group which "shuns" those whom they think to be objectionable, you are most certainly looking at a cult.
We invite you to visit us and our parishes, and we also encourage you to visit others, and to study and weigh all that you see and hear carefully. As a matter of fact, you should also visit and talk to clergy and laity of the O.C.A. and other non-Traditional jurisdictions and observe them and hear what they have to say. You should hear both sides of the story. That, I think, is the only way you will be able to arrive at a healthy and sound conclusion to your search.
Finally, whatever path you choose, if you have a parish priest who attempts to "shepherd" you, or who seeks to control your way of thinking, isolate you or insist that you must be present in his church every Sunday, or answer for where you were, you should flee from him as you would from a poisonous serpent. If you, as married people, become involved with a monastic community which seeks to control you, using your sex life as married people as a lever for such control, you would do well to flee from them also. There are many who claim the role of elder in the Church, many of them are not. They may be charlatans, they may be psychotic men in a deep state of delusion, they may simply be self-deceived. If any monastic elder seeks to control your life, requires absolute, unquestioning obedience or pries too deeply into your private life, you should be most wary and cautious of him and his community. If you find yourself thinking that your salvation depends on some elder or spiritual father, and you stop focusing on Jesus Christ as the Author and Finisher of your salvation, then you are, indeed, hooked in a cult situation and you should struggle to extricate yourself from it....
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