Wed 5 Nov 2008
SPIRITUAL TEACHERS: HOW DO THEY GET TO KNOW WHAT THEY SAY THEY KNOW? by Stefan Carey
Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
The short answer is: we can be pretty sure we know about the ways they get to know what they say they know, but we can be less sure they actually know it.
Its important to be sceptical about what they say they know, because there are lots of them saying they know more than us! Some even say they know the unknowable, and therefore they should be our teachers. All this clever talk can be very, very confusing.
Perhaps the real title of this talk should be these three questions:
1. What do spiritual teachers know?
2. How can spiritual teachers help us?
3. Why should we believe them?
What is a spiritual teacher?
Spiritual teachers offer us hope that there is a way out of the condition of suffering. They offer us happiness through insight and training. Some even offer with strenuous meditation and following the right path, that in seven lifetimes you can achieve Nirvana and escape reincarnation forever. Once started there’s no turning back, like a high-speed Japanese train. An appealing proposition to many, no doubt.
When I started writing this paper, I thought I could stick to these spiritual teachers: Buddha, Mohammed, Lao Tse, Jesus, Masters of compassion, Mahatmas etc.
Yet, after researching the topic for ten minutes on the web, I found there are literally thousands of self-appointed spiritual teachers and gurus. They are a mix of today’s spiritual awareness built on the great awakenings of the 1970’s, partly nurtured by the Theosophical Society starting in the 1890’s. This Society’s influence in bringing Eastern thinking and ideas to the West is now widely, and publicly acknowledged.
In my research, what I did find that some mix spiritual teachings with self-help and motivational techniques — and some are making what seems a comfortable living. They run expensive retreats, lectures and even cruises. So in our thirst for spiritual teachings and perhaps someone else’s quick answers, we the consumer, have created a billion dollar industry where the lines are sometimes blurred between what is what is not genuine, and what might be of lasting value. One could argue that some value is better than none.
The newcomer hungry for ideas and solutions will undoubtedly find it confusing and difficult to see what is worth listening to and what is not. Lots of people claim to be spiritual teachers. Some take advantage and abuse their position of trust, proving they have not really learned what they preach at all. So we are right to be sceptical, and must trust our instincts, especially if there is a private jet explained away with clever words.
What are spiritual teachings?
This is a difficult definition because it is quite personal. Who am I to define for you what is spiritual when there are so many ways to express and experience the inner aspects of human reality? I am firmly attached to what I own and my work, so why listen to me?
I believe spiritual teachings help us train ourselves to help us to be more deeply self-aware. They help us cast off, and work around the shackles of the unruly mind and emotions and be at peace with the better side of our nature. The side of our nature that helps humanity, the warm affectionate unselfish side of our nature, often referred to as compassion. We learn detachment. Training ourselves to find and express the best in us in a natural and healthy way, that side of us that others respect, that children and partners look up to. At their best they inspire us with positive ideas, give us practical skills for living and instil ethical codes of conduct. Spiritual teachings are all these things. In a nutshell tools for more happiness and less strife.
At their worst they are the tools of persecution, and prompted one side of my family to flee
Not just given by people
Before we continue don’t think people are the only vehicles for spiritual teachings. Divinity finds expression in many voices all around us: in nature itself, in works of art, sculpture, painting, in music, poetry and good writing of all kinds.
Traditions of spiritual teachings
The history of spiritual teachers for our human family is a patchwork of successful and failed teachers, schools of spiritual education and teachings: monasteries, lamas, shamans, high priests, mullahs, friars, monks, popes, gurus, gymnosophists, tribal elders, rabbis, medicine men, and more!
Some great ideas fell into dogma and pointless ritual and obscured the good stuff at the core, ending up as a poor reflection of the original inspired vision. The human family decides which ones are unfit or past their use by date.
Theosophical teachings and other commentators present the idea of a chain of teachers working in the background, a link of wisdom and understanding kept unbroken by the sincere thirst and aspirations of the public for genuine spiritual knowledge and genuine instruction. I can only hope this is the case. Sometimes we could be forgiven thinking life in a material world is an abandoned asylum in a spiritual desert full of thorns!
If we look around we see this is the case: we have Buddhism, Druidism, Gnosticism, Taoism, the Muslim religion and Christianity: these have all lasted more than 2000 years. If we accept a human generation is 30 years, we have at least 70 generations of teachers for each. But these are not really impressive numbers.
For impressive numbers look here to
But from a larger perspective what keeps all these traditions alive?
“Since the earliest times in human history, individuals have appeared at cyclic intervals to disseminate this knowledge to help mankind during times of suffering and spiritual destitution. This process has been recorded in myths and religions worldwide. In the Greek Mystery Tradition it was known as the Golden Chain of Hermes, and in Sanskrit it is called Guruparampara - an uninterrupted succession of spiritual teachers, alluded to by Krishna when he said to Arjuna in the Bhagavad-Gita : “I produce myself among creatures, O son of Bharata, whenever there is a decline of virtue and an insurrection of vice and injustice in the world; and thus I incarnate from age to age for the preservation of the just, the destruction of the wicked, and the establishment of righteousness,” Recension by W. Q. Judge, TUP, p.14
Although the message of brotherhood is fundamentally the same, the way the Wisdom-Religion is presented changes through the ages, along with the names it goes by. The ancient Hindus called it gupta-vidya (secret knowledge), the Neoplatonists and Gnostics knew it as gnosis (knowledge), many Buddhists called it aryajnana (exalted knowledge). The name used by H. P. Blavatsky for the modern presentation of the perennial philosophy is Theosophy. Originally used by the Neoplatonists in the early centuries AD, the word translates as theo, meaning god, and Sophia, meaning wisdom - so roughly “divine wisdom”. (From http://www.theosophical.org.uk/origins.htm)
Thanks to the spiritual teachers who kept a flame alight, like the Olympic torch. More power to them I say.
How do people become spiritual teachers?
The reason why someone adopts their position as spiritual teacher are mixed.
Here are some:
· Some teachers undergo years of instruction, meditation and training to clear and tame the mind. In
Here is verse 29 from Atisha’s, Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment:
I shall not be eager to reach
Enlightenment in the quickest way,
But shall stay behind till the very end
For the sake of single being
· Some teachers become teachers simply because in their previous incarnations they have done so much self development work, that in this lifetime they emanate, without trying, such a strong energy it affects others in a positive and obvious way: spiritual teaching if you like, without words.We sometimes come into contact with these individuals and their influence on us is sometimes strong enough to convince us there is something interesting or special to be learnt. This can be a valuable lesson in itself.
· Some spiritual teachers simply listened to their teacher: Nisargadatta Maharaj says when asked by the questioner in I am that, pp149- 151
Q: Am I permitted to ask you how did you go beyond the mind?
M: By the grace of my Guru.
Q: What shape his grace took?
M: He told me what is true.
Q: What did he tell you?
M: He told me I am the Supreme Reality.
Q: What did you do about it?
M: I trusted him and remembered it.
Q: Is that all?
M: Yes, I remembered him; I remembered what he said.
Q: You mean to say that this was enough?
M: What more needs be done? It was quite a lot to remember the Guru and his words. My advice to you is even less difficult than this — just remember yourself. ‘I am’, is enough to heal your mind and take you beyond. Just have some trust. I don’t mislead you. Why should l? Do I want anything from you. I wish you well — such is my nature. Why should I mislead you?
Commonsense too will tell you that to fulfil a desire you must keep your mind on it. If you want to know your true nature, you must have yourself in mind all the time, until the secret of your being stands revealed.
Q: Right. But do I need a Guru? What you tell me is simple and convincing. I shall remember it. This does not make you my Guru.
M: it is not the worship of a person that is crucial, but the steadiness and depth of your devotion to the task. Life itself is the Supreme Guru; be attentive to its lessons and obedient to its commands. When you personalise their source, you have an outer Guru; when you take them from life directly, the Guru is within. Remember, wonder, ponder, live with it, love it, grow into it, grow with it, make it your own — the word of your Guru, outer or inner. Put in all and you will get all. I was doing it. All my time I was giving to my Guru and to what he told me.
· Some teachers are people genuinely inspired to unselfishly help others reach what they have found, or find ways to help others solve some of life’s problems.
· Some have had a genuine transcendent moment of deep insight. Quit their job, write a book. The are genuinely helpful for the right reasons. Some also have a transcendent moment where they realise it is a good way to cash in to the market.
· Some, even when teachers already, find their own teachers. One example is the Indian Buddhist monk Atisha. 1000 years ago, when already well known, Atisha travelled from
· Lastly, there is most important spiritual teacher of all: our own inner teacher or guru, which we often fail to listen to or perhaps not. Sometimes life’s traumas masks the voice of this teacher, sometimes the experience brings it to the fore. Sometimes it takes an entire lifetime to hear the voice of this inner master, perhaps we may not even hear it all if we are sufficiently distracted. I’d say it takes a good teacher to see our inner teacher and get that working for us so we do not rely on the outer teacher, but the inner. My guess is that this would be difficult to find.
Some of difficulties of finding a spiritual teacher: wisdom can be a commodity
Sessions and workshops by those calling themselves spiritual teachers are freely available. It’s hard to tell what is genuine. The money we spend for a session might well be the best investment we ever make. Then again, the session, like so many others like it, might not be amazing, but somewhat useful to us. There really is no certain answer, because everyone who attends will probably learn something from the experience.
Selected extracts from Searching for a Spiritual Teacher by Alan E. Donant (Selected paragraphs from
Once we find a philosophical or spiritual basis for the universe, it is only a matter of time before we decide upon a further focus for our thoughts and actions. A spiritual teacher may play an important role in this. What is a teacher? The answer in part may be: one who imparts information or skill through precept or example. Yet when we think back on our formal education, the one or two teachers who stand out are those with whom we had an affinity; those who, though knowledgeable, not so much told us truths as allowed us, under their guidance, to experience something from within ourselves that impressed us very deeply.
Turning to the word spiritual, at first we may think of places, rituals, or a divine being. But spirit is an impersonal, all-pervasive, and eternal aspect of reality. The process of spiritual awakening does not necessarily involve going somewhere, getting something, or other acts limited by time and space; rather, it is becoming aware of what is already within and around us. In this light we could say that a spiritual teacher is one who, through mutual recognition, encourages and assists us in experiencing universal reality.
Many people feel that spiritual progress requires allying ourselves with a divine being outside of us in order to be saved or to escape the consequences of our actions. In this view, the issue of personal salvation colors all we do, and teachers may try to hold us by threatening to separate us from the divine being.
However, we come to radically different choices in our search if we see a universe of continuing spiritual evolution impelled by the divine essence, of which all are unfolding expressions. In this second view, all entities, as aspects of divinity, are evolving spiritually through an infinite process: one lifetime cannot lead to eternal damnation or eternal heaven.
Life may appear as an ongoing series of rebirths, the causes and effects of which become the means not only for dealing with our transgressions but also for building upon our strengths. Here no personal devil or god is whipping us about; rather, the events in our lives unfold from tendencies within ourselves for which we are responsible because they originate in our past acts and thoughts.
Given the complexity of human nature and the minute progress made in any one life, many rebirths are needed before we complete the process of spiritual gestation. The teacher then acts as a midwife bringing to birth the pure inner nature of the student, and a number of lives may follow before the human soul blossoms into full maturity.
We each come into existence with a reservoir of unique talents and imbalances from previous lives. Spiritual training often emphasizes rituals and established courses of action, but such practices may not take into account these unique qualities of each person. Any particular system for achieving spiritual awakening, while benefiting some, may work against what others need.
A spiritual teacher recognizes this and works with each pupil accordingly. Rather than stipulating a single method for mass enlightenment, he or she may see that for one person daily duty is a sufficient training ground, while another pupil may benefit from the addition of a more formalized regimen.
Still, we should not forget that our greatest teacher lies within: our higher self or inner god. It is our own self-becoming that brings about the events of each day, which are, in actuality, the foundations for inner awakening prescribed for us by our inner teacher. In this way our friends and family, our co-workers, our fellow beings — indeed all of nature — are providing the experiences necessary for our spiritual growth.
We know great teachers have existed in the past, and we may feel they exist today and will exist in the future. There are rare individuals whose deep sincerity, devotion, and commitment to the bodhisattva ideal places them karmically under the tutelage of highly evolved instructors. To us they are adepts, for their spiritual nature has been awakened by lifetimes of effort. The stories of such teachers and their disciples stir our own yearnings, and it may seem natural to wish for such fortunate circumstances. We must, however, be honest with ourselves and ask why we want to study under a teacher.
Personal gain, increased spiritual stature, or an enhanced ego is no valid reason, and positive results will not follow. Yet in reality we are never really separated from our true teacher, for a magnetic sympathy is always there. The teacher wants us to grow, is looking for us to open our hearts, discipline our natures, and bring light out from ourselves.
It is a matter of worthiness and perception, of actualizing our inner potentials. Because so few are able to reach within themselves with sufficient purity, genuine teachers immediately fan the inner fire when the slightest spark appears in the sincere aspirant — but we must do the work. It is not by fortune, but by will, courage, compassion, and a selfless heart exercised over great periods of time that we become worthy.
In the beginning we are our own spiritual teacher, and so it is at the end, while we each are also teacher and pupil to one another. We may come across one with whom we are so very much in tune that for a time we accept him or her as a teacher. We recognize inwardly that this one comes closer to understanding things as they are than any other we have met. Although in any particular lifetime we may never meet such a teacher, this should never hinder us; a teacher does exist and is not far from us.
The first lesson of any spiritual teacher is “learn to live to benefit others before yourself.” Enormous liberating forces are activated when this precept is practiced in everyday living. Being pledged to work for the “great orphan humanity” means obeying the highest within ourselves until we have earned the right to more direct teaching. Such instruction, however, is no more profound or clear than what we can learn from our own daily lives.”
The above is the text of a lecture presented by the author to a meeting of the Theosophical Society Pasadena in
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