When people talk about bad gurus, they often focus on moral and ethical failings involving sexual abuse and alcohol. Alcohol is harmful in many ways, especially if the alcoholic is a guru. Not only does it harm the guru, but because this person is supposed to set an example and be a model for the community, drunken behavior might end up encouraging other alcoholics. And it goes without question that sexual abuse is destructive. But sexual and substance abuse are usually easy to spot, whereas there are much more insidious and pervasive abuses taking place in the spiritual world. These abuses are more subtle and therefore more dangerous. Three intoxicating habits compete for the Worst Forms of Abuse Award: money, power, and fame.

Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche

from the book The Guru Drinks Bourbon?

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Further quotes from the book The Guru Drinks Bourbon?:

• Never opt for the easy way out
• Good gurus are on the verge of extinction
• You and only you will decide
• Spiritual wealth
• Examining the Guru
• Dismantling the puzzle of dualism
• Celebrity Gurus
• Vajra hell
• The path is practical
• The quest for a guru
• Seeing a student’s potential
• The whole purpose of the outer guru
• Merging with the guru’s mind
• Practicing Dharma requires sacrifice
• Devotion is supreme
• Advice on selecting a guru
• No one can please everyone
• Samsara
• Experience is like a mist in the morning