Kill the Buddha... and Leave No Trace

Ending Guru Worship for True Spiritual Liberation A guest piece by Delson Armstrong

The age of dogma has ended. We may stand on the shoulders of giants who inspire us, but then we must grow up. Abandon the stale parroting of old ideas and concepts.


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Escape the confines of conditioned phenomena. Steep into the freshness of every moment. The dew of the presence of the liberated now freshens everything it touches, including the roses of our experiences.

Only when the mind observes without agenda can Truth be known. Everything else is dogma.

I stand by these words because of my experience in Buddhism and all the schools of spiritual practice I’ve had the privilege of experimenting with. Since the beginning of 2024, my three-year journey of experimenting as a teacher has paused, allowing me much-needed time to reflect on my experiences.

Meditation has always been my path. While other practices, such as devotion, self-inquiry, or work as devotion, are valid, they didn’t resonate with me as profoundly. Ultimately, I believe we each must forge our path.

After two decades of meditation and exploring both Western and Eastern spiritual traditions, I’ve found that if there’s one thing that leads directly to greater mental and emotional well-being, it’s compassion. Compassion, to me, means recognizing our own mistakes and, as a result, empathizing with the mistakes of others. This naturally leads to empathetic joy, where we celebrate others’ successes just as we do our own.

The human mind craves connection, love, and happiness—subjective experiences. But beneath these desires, we all search for security in an unpredictable world. Our minds latch onto things that offer comfort and reliability, a natural response to our desire for safety. From the comfort of the womb, we’re thrust into a world that often feels like a downhill journey. Our yearning to regain that warmth and connection drives us to seek out tribes, ideologies, and familiar environments.

Every spiritual tradition has sought to transcend previous ideals and free people from limiting desires for security. Historical figures like the Buddha and Jesus responded to the excesses and hypocrisies of their times by refreshing and renewing basic principles of living. Over time, the very structures that once fostered innovation have trapped the innate freedom within each person.

Truth cannot be monopolized by any single tradition. I've witnessed the universal human condition in my travels through Asia, the U.S., and Europe. People are beautifully expressive in their search for the ultimate source of comfort. However, I question the methods they use to get there. The era of guru worship no longer serves us—if it ever did. Many spiritual leaders and their followers have become more concerned with wealth, power, and sex, often hiding behind platitudes about the so-called corruptive nature.

There’s a fetishization of sex, money, and power that we need to reclaim as healthy aspects of our humanity. When we repress these elements, they become unhealthy obsessions. We can empower our human experience by coming to terms with and embracing them.

As a teacher, I know the challenges these elements present, particularly the risk of exploiting students. This is why discussing them openly is often uncomfortable. I believe it’s time to confront the shadows within religious institutions and spiritual communities. By integrating our desires for wealth, power, and sex, we can better understand the nature of existence.

Understanding and appropriately channeling wealth, power, and sex allows us to live a life of clarity, joy, and purpose. Wealth can be used to help ourselves and others meaningfully. Power can be about standing confidently in our own nature and respecting that same nature in others. Sex can be a healthy expression of playfulness and connection rather than a commodified transaction.

In this age of excessive consumption, future generations will face new challenges. As we become increasingly dependent on instant gratification and technology and see others as competitors or means to an end, we risk losing touch with genuine human connection. I’m not against technology—I, too, find myself scrolling through my phone late at night and embracing new advancements. However, I believe future generations will see through the emptiness of superficial connectivity and yearn to return to authentic human interaction and creativity. Teachers must adapt to these growing challenges and offer a space for these new generations to empower themselves toward this greater understanding. We must show the path, but the student must walk it.

To achieve this, we must stand on the shoulders of past giants but not be afraid to transcend them. We need to adapt and apply their universal ideas to our evolving society. By questioning our ideals and moving beyond the romanticized notion of awakening as a static state, we embrace the realities of life. Life is about growth and evolution; stagnation is akin to death. The pressing question is: Do we choose life or death for our global culture?

A true teacher never stops learning, and a true student never stops teaching. Students and practitioners should hold their teachers accountable and question their actions. Teachers must learn from their students and be open about their challenges and needs, which are no different from anyone else’s. Humanizing the teacher and empowering the student is crucial for advancing as a civilization rooted in genuine compassion and wisdom.

This journey is uniquely our own. I consider myself a fellow traveler on the spiritual path. All humans, whether labeled as gurus or not, are doing the best they can. Recognizing this in ourselves is the key to true self-compassion. When we embrace this understanding, we open ourselves to an unspoken, unwavering, and profound para-conceptual Truth.

About Delson

Delson Armstrong lives at the nexus of traditional models of awakening and emerging trends toward secularization and evidence-based approaches to inner transformation. He is dedicated to adapting timeless truths to changing times, focusing on practices that work instead of dogma-based, cookie-cutter solutions.

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