"They repackage old ideas" Old in the East, new to the West. I'm sure Ram Dass would agree that he was a flawed person, except possibly the allegation that he lied. What kind of lies are you talking about? If you want to call students "gullible devotees" ok. You say "exploited women and men" to mean he had sex? You think he should have been celibate? You're looking at the finger, not at what the finger is pointing to.
Let's say you get sick. So you get in your car and drive to what Google maps says is the nearest hospital. You arrive, and people dressed as nurses and doctors are bustling about. They check you in, perform some tests, give you some medicine, and you pay before you leave. The medicine sort of works you think, and with time you get better.
A week later you find out that the hospital was actually run by people that had little formal training as doctors. Some took a few classes on Coursera or first aid training, but none really devoted themselves to the profession beyond a cursory level. But they seemed so professional you think, but then again without medical knowledge how would you know? On top of that you find they've been using their position to influence medical opinions behind the hospital, gain fame, and earn large sums of money from desperate people looking to be healed. Sure, they inadvertently cure some people, and others just got better due to time.
To me this is like Ram Dass and so many other gurus. Their lies are layered under the façade they present and under the ideas they explain, most often poorly and without context. They may inadvertently help people, but just as much they are preying on those desperate for answers and help. They are unqualified scam artists who know just enough to be dangerous. The lie is embodied in who they purport to be and in the help they try to provide.
Can you give an example for one such lie coming from Ram Dass? I'm not saying there isn't one because I'm not familiar with his work but I'm familiar with another "flawed" guru, Alan Watts. And while you may not enjoy his ideas or think he is correct it would be very hard to call him a liar because what he does is simply take reality and give you another angle to look at it from.
These spiritual gurus are like a distinct type of art. Not everyone is partial to it but certain segments of the population are more likely to find something in it that moves them. You may call these people fools but it's not much different then holders of one political viewpoint viewing the holders of the opposing one as fools. These are just perspectives, there are no absolute right and wrongs here (leaving aside some extremes), because the human experience cannot be narrowed down to science.
Can you point out where the people in my hospital example lied? If they never claimed to be doctors, but dressed up and acted as them, is it a lie? Lies come in many forms, some are explicit and others less so.
I don't see them as fools, but as charismatic and intelligent people who have found a way to garner adoration, fame and other benefits by exploiting psychologically weak and vulnerable people. Whether they do so knowingly or not varies from guru to guru. I think many of them do start off with good intentions but quickly find themselves buying into the mystique others have built up around them. They are often as weak as their devotees. Dass falls into this camp in my mind. Is it wrong, no, but I feel it's important to point out.
