Have you ever heard the term “guru” used in real estate blogs, articles or other posts on real estate communities and social media? I’m sure you have. But, have you EVER found ANY of them using the term in a positive manner? I never have, not a ONE! Typically, in its derogatory fashion the term guru is used to describe or identify someone who is really not truly knowledgeable about the real estate investing game, or maybe someone who basically “overcharges or scams” a new unwitting student to real estate investing/speculating. Most of the time the person writing or making the comment is trying to make a point, but instead of constructively referring to their own facts or supporting their own position or point of view with something concrete, they just site complaints of the many that decided to pay the “ridiculously over-inflated prices for basic real estate investing education” and move on to use a comparison between themselves (or someone they want to pump-up as the good guy) and the devious elusive “guru”.
The point is that anytime someone wants to make themselves look good, win public opinion and prop themselves up as the savior of the wannabe real estate investor community, all they have to do is taint the reputation of someone else teaching real estate by labeling them a guru. I’ve read so many real estate articles and posts where the title “guru” is used in a derogatory fashion I’m starting to think it has never had any other meaning but a derogatory one. I happen to respect and revere the term guru. But I keep seeing it in article after article, post after post especially by individuals trying to benefit from undeserved accolades (much as the real estate “gurus” they are trying to besmirch.) This is probably not the wisest method of trying to make an intelligent point, as it basically amounts to no more than demeaning or degrading the term “guru” and then applying it to whomever, or whatever the writer or speaker is trying to deface. But unfortunately, most folks buy it!
For the record, I must admit that over past years I’ve been guilty of making similar unwise and immature statements myself about a host of things. Honestly, I think we all do it, occasionally without regard for the damage we may cause to others or the impact we can have on someone else’s decision making. But when connected to real estate it’s become an epidemic!
For the sake of accuracy, let’s take a closer look at the true original meaning of this big bad term “Guru”. As I’m sure most of you already know, according to Merriam-Webster “guru” pronounced gu•ru noun ˈgu̇r-(ˌ)ü, ˈgü-(ˌ)rü also gə-ˈrü, is defined as
: a religious teacher and spiritual guide in Hinduism
: a teacher or guide that you trust
: a person who has a lot of experience in or knowledge about a particular subject
“In Hinduism, a personal spiritual teacher. In ancient India, knowledge of the Vedas was transmitted through oral teaching from guru to pupil. The rise of the bhakti movement further increased the importance of gurus, who were often looked on as living embodiments of spiritual truth and were identified with the deity. They prescribed spiritual disciplines to their devotees, who followed their dictates in a tradition of willing service and obedience. Men or women may be gurus, though generally only men have established lineages.”
So actually the TRUE meaning of the term guru is pretty cool, and deciding to continue to sarcastically use it to demean someone we are basically trying to crush is extremely inappropriate.
I suppose the appropriate term to use for such an awful underhanded individual would be closer to “Charlatan” pronounced char•la•tan/ˈSHärlətən,ˈSHärlətn/ and defined as
Noun: charlatan; plural noun: charlatans
1. A person falsely claiming to have a special knowledge or skill; a fraud.
Synonyms: quack, sham, fraud, fake, impostor, hoaxer, cheat, deceiver, double-dealer, swindler, fraudster, mountebank.
YEA… THAT’S THE TICKET!
As for the actual title of guru, well I suppose anyone that has ever helped us in any way to see, learn or understand anything we wanted to master by explanation or actual example (even if the only thing we learned from them was that real estate is definitely not for us) then I’d say the person we received that wonderful gift from could, in fact, be considered our guru… whether we paid them or not!
Oh, by the way, I LOVE GURUS! 😉