As we are taught from our childhood to be obedient, one of the most famous studies of obedience in psychology was carried out by Stanley Milgram, a psychologist at Yale University. Milgram examined justifications for acts of genocide offered by those accused at World War II, Nuremberg War Criminal trials. Their defense often was based on “obedience” – that they were just following orders from their superiors. He concluded that there are two states of behavior in social situations which humans exhibit i.e. autonomous state (people direct their own actions, and they take responsibility for the results of those actions) and agentic state (people allow others to direct their actions and then pass off the responsibility for the consequences to the person giving the orders). This became famous as Agency theory in the psychology world. Agency theory says that people will obey authority when they believe that the authority will take responsibility for the consequences of their actions. This is supported by some aspects of Milgram’s evidence.
So we know how an authority which we believe or we have faith in, can determine our actions. That authority can be an organization, a Guru, a terrorist cell, a political party, or any social group. It is a chain of reaction how faith works in every industry and very much proven that how people get influenced by just talking or listening to one individual providing them comfort or way of life. The agentic state is what drives you and is determined by your faith. Faith, in general, can be good at some personal psychological level but eventually, in a group or society, it can be harmful.
Faith (stripped down to its core) seems to be equal to blind faith — I make no distinction. “Blind” doesn’t add anything to the concept; neither does “true”. “True faith” is just faith wrapped in a warm blanket. Hope, on the other hand, is unlike faith in one extremely significant way; there’s no EXPECTED outcome. To hope I pass the GMAT exam is not to EXPECT that I will. To have FAITH that I will pass the GMAT exam is to EXPECT that I will. Hope costs us nothing. It’s open-ended.
Faith is believing something to be real or true or will be real or true in the future without any evidence and often in the presence of confirmed contradictory information. It doesn’t make things true that are currently not true. And faith doesn’t make things that are not true, suddenly true. Faith does not change facts. Faith is not knowledge, it’s not even a pathway to knowledge; it’s certainty without evidence. It’s wishful thinking.
Now, faith can be of two types: religious-type & non-religious
Let’s look at religious-type faith: “Raj has faith in God” can mean one or two things; even both simultaneously. Raj believes a god exists or/and that Raj believes that this god will see his through, be there for him, maybe even see he gets through the day safely. Does his god exist? With no evidence, even Raj doesn’t know. But his answer is yes, anyway. This is the detrimental effect of faith. Blind or otherwise.
A non-religious faith may look more like: “Jitu has faith that Anjali will pass the UPSC exam next week.” Anjali has known Jitu for 7 years, they’re best friends. Anjali has shown herself to Jitu to be studious, funny, ambitious, smart, and is a real go-getter. His “faith” in Anjali is not the same type of faith as Raj’s religious faith. Anjali has earned trust that she will pass the UPSC exam. Will Anjali pass the exam? Time will tell. This sort of “faith” is better expressed as earned trust.
These all examples are individualistic and works for all the people out there but the bigger picture comes when it happens in a group and then in society and someone in authority driving it and that’s what drives cultures and religions.
If you attend any spiritual group meetings whose ideas interest you, you will find one common strange thing. The strange thing will be the attitude of other members of the group. Although the teacher is alive or died, they will worship him/her as an omnipotent god-like being. They will usually believe that he/she had performed miracles or he/she can perform miracles. They will disapprove of any other approach provided by other groups. They will have FAITH in him/her.
This is what we call “GURU syndrome”. The guru tradition has been a part of Indian culture since time immemorial and it is religion independent. Spiritual development can be a tricky process, with all kinds of pitfalls and dangers, so the guidance of a guru is helpful. In Indian tradition, the guru can also “transmit” his spiritual radiance to his followers, providing them with spiritual sustenance. In addition, the devotion and obedience of the disciple to the guru has an important role. Indian spirituality places a high value on bhakti (devotion) as a way of transcending self-centeredness.
The key to understanding guru syndrome is the psychological need of disciples. Although many disciples (at least initially) may have a genuine need for spiritual growth, this is usually combined with a much more unhealthy impulse: a regression or defensiveness to a childlike state of unconditional devotion and irresponsibility. This is a very appealing state to be in. Think of how wonderful it felt as a young child, to believe that your parents were in complete control of the world, and could protect you from everything. And you worshipped them so devotedly that you unquestioningly accepted everything they said and did. And the guru is a perfect being, who cannot behave unethically. He can accumulate millions of dollars, own 93 Rolls Royces, has his own armed security team, and regularly humiliate his followers, but they will always find some excuse for this appalling behavior, in the same way, that children will refuse to believe that their parents can do wrong. The disciples will claim that the guru’s abuse and cruelty is a form of “divine play” or a way of testing their followers. This is Faith. And disciples become protective of it.
Of course, this doesn’t apply to all gurus. Certainly, in the Indian tradition, there have been many examples of gurus — such as Ramana Maharshi and Ramakrishna — who have behaved with integrity and supported the development of thousands of followers. This also doesn’t mean that there is anything wrong with spiritual teachers per se. It is perfectly possible to be a spiritual teacher without being a guru; that is, without having a community of disciples around you, offering you unconditional devotion.
In fact, the best thing a spiritual teacher can do is to avoid guru worship. And the best thing a spiritual seeker can do is to avoid gurus.
Because it boils down to the faith and blind faith for individuals per se; but this individual philosophy combines to form groups, then eventually to religion. People tend to be what psychologists call “cognitive misers,” preferring the shortcuts of automatic thinking over the considered examination. And if the scale can be so huge, then the individual thought is important i.e. your autonomous and agentic state needs to be thought through and understood. Do read about Jonestown and you will agree.
“As I have said, you have no reason to trust me, and an excellent reason not to.” – Robin McKinley
References:-
https://www.simplypsychology.org/obedience.html
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/out-the-darkness/201904/the-guru-syndrome
https://www.hinduwebsite.com/ask/do-you-need-guru.asp
http://www.krishna.com/you-don%E2%80%99t-need-guru%E2%80%94or-do-you
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/12-basic-principles-for-faith-and-work/