The required qualifications for any spiritual student or teacher, and advice for any student seeking spiritual guidance in relation to schools, teachers and teachings. Also, how to find your true Master.
Read the lecture transcription.
“The eastern traditions emphasize the importance of finding a teacher. However, this tradition has been imported to the west and has now been mingled with idiosyncrasy of our western mentality and there have been some unexpected results. In the west, we have a very different perspective of a teacher. In the western traditions we have a different point of view, which is rooted in both Greek and Hebraic psychologies, whether we are aware of it or not. All of us who have been raised in the west, have been formed in an environment in which the teacher is seen as a spiritual authority, as someone who can tell us what is right or wrong. In the east this is not so. There is a striking difference between eastern and western psychologies on this point, and you can see it if you look at the role of a priest in a western tradition. A priest in a western tradition is often a confessor, someone disciples go to in order to confess their sins, to confess their mistakes, and to ask what they should do. This is generally not the case in eastern traditions. The lama, the teacher, the guru, is seen as a spiritual guide, but not a confessor. There are cases in which an eastern student may approach a teacher for guidance or assistance with physical things or with life issues, but this is generally rare; most eastern disciples would not dare to approach a guru with such mundane concerns. So there is a strong distinction between the two.
“The psychology of the western disciple is one of fear; the disciple is usually afraid of any spiritual authority figure and fears punishment, going to hell, being excommunicated, or exiled. And this is because of the western development of spiritual authority through churches and religions in the west. So we have to recognize, in our own psyche, these unconscious tendencies of how we perceive our teachers. Do we approach our teacher with this subtle fear, with this subtle influence, that pushes us to show ourselves as good student because we are afraid of hell, our we are afraid of being kicked out, or exiled or rejected? This is a harmful attitude; this is a very harmful point of view, which is generally unconscious in students. It is harmful for both the student and the instructor. The student who feels afraid, who wants to prove themselves or be seen as a good student in order to feel secure, damages their own potential, and also puts the instructor in an unfortunate position. This is an attitude that is very important for western students to analyze.”
Give Feedback About This Article