Do you really want An important Spiritual Teacher?
Lots of people inquire about having a teacher on one’s spiritual path. Well, what is a spiritual teacher? What would this relationship seem like? Would it be the best option for you?
Many people have asked me my estimation on having a teacher on a spiritual path. Like anything else in life, there are only points of view concerning whether this choice is the better one for you. All I may do is reflect my own experience regarding having a teacher and what I’m the huge benefits and problems are of doing this kind of relationship.
First and foremost, a teacher is somebody who has been down exactly the same road that you will be traveling – albeit at least a few miles ahead of you acim podcast. They understand the pitfalls and the roadblocks, and can assist you for making your path easier and less painful. They could comfort you with the data that lots of people have walked this road before and survived, irrespective of how difficult the trail may appear for your requirements in the moment.
Second, a teacher can reflect things to you that you’d never see in yourself – at least not without plenty of self-honesty, which will be difficult to get once we are first on our spiritual path. Denial is most often our companion and we avoid what we fear is painful, even when we’re doing it subconsciously. The point is that a teacher has more awareness and can work through the mental and egoic strategies that people eagerly justify and defend.
Third, a teacher creates a safe and supportive environment allowing us to open our hearts and minds in, giving us the opportunity to explore facets of ourselves we’d normally avoid. A great teacher will not use anything we have shared against us or to hurt us, and especially will not manipulate us with that information. This is not unlike the connection we have with your doctor – what is discussed in the procedure room stays in the procedure room.
The dangers of such a relationship are observed when a teacher hasn’t totally cleaned their ego-mind and really has the tendency to want to utilize people and situations because of their personal benefit. The flip side of this matter is that lots of times the student does not understand the teacher’s perspective because they are able to only see from their limited point of view. They then judge the teacher, not totally understanding their intent or greater picture. In these moments it helps you to talk to other students who have been later on before for clarity – one way or another. The goal of your spiritual path is to improve your own personal power, self-love and self-worth, not to offer it away to others.
Other dangers involve becoming mounted on a teacher feeling that if they certainly were to give you that you’d never achieve enlightenment. This is merely another appearance of “I’m not good enough” manifesting itself in another guise. There’s a vintage Chinese proverb that says: Teachers open the door, but you need to enter by yourself. A teacher could be a mirror for you, they are able to reveal many hidden facets of your mind, and they are able to point out many of one’s habit behaviors which can be causing you pain in your life. But in the end they can not do anything for you. You must get it done for yourself. Anybody who promises otherwise is a danger to you.
For me, having a teacher has been an unbelievable blessing in my life. He taught me what unconditional love was through action – not through words. He reflected in my experience the love and blessing that I’m, revealing the lies that I’m not. He gave me words of support when the trail was dark and encouraged me when I believed I could not make it. He was brutally honest with me, since there was benefit or investment in lying to me. He lent me his eyes to see the planet through so that I possibly could experience that life may be heaven on earth. And most of all, he loved me just the way in which I was, with all my bad habits until I finally could express the light that I am.