Many people ask about having a teacher on one’s spiritual path. Well, what is a spiritual guide?
 |
| DO YOU NEED A SPIRITUAL GUIDE? |
First and foremost, a teacher is someone who has been down the same road that you are traveling – albeit at least a few miles ahead of you. They understand the pitfalls and the roadblocks and can assist you in making your path easier and less painful. They can comfort you with the knowledge that many people have walked this road before and survived, no matter how difficult the path may appear to you at the moment.
RELATED ARTICLES: How can we put our mind in worship ?:
Second, a teacher can reflect things to you that you would never see in yourself – at least not without a lot of self-honesty, which is hard to find when we are first on our spiritual path. Denial is most often our companion, and we avoid what we fear is painful, regardless of whether we are doing it subliminally. The point is that a teacher has more awareness and can see through the mental and ego strategies that we eagerly justify and defend.
Third, a teacher creates a safe and supportive environment to allow us to open our hearts and minds, giving us the opportunity to explore aspects of ourselves we would normally avoid. A good teacher will not use anything we have shared against us or hurt us, and above all will not manipulate us with that information. This is not unlike the relationship we have with our doctor – what is discussed in the treatment room stays in the treatment room.
The dangers of such a relationship are found when a teacher has not totally cleaned their ego-mind and still has the tendency to want to use people and situations for their personal benefit. The flip side of this issue is that many times the student does not understand the teacher’s point of view because they can only see from their limited point of view. They then judge the teacher, not totally understanding their intent or the bigger picture. In these moments it helps to speak to other students who have been down the road before for clarity – one way or another. The purpose of your spiritual path is to increase your personal power, self-love, and self-worth, Not to part with it with other people.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: FENG SHUI TIPS CAN RESOLVE ISSUES IN MARRIED LIFE
Other dangers involve becoming attached to a teacher feeling that if they were to leave you that you would never achieve enlightenment. This is just another appearance of “I am not good enough” manifesting itself in another guise. There is an old Chinese adage that says: Teachers open the door, but you should enter without help from anyone else A teacher can be a mirror for you, they can reveal many hidden aspects of your mind, and they can point out many of the habit behaviors that are causing you pain in your life. Anyone who promises otherwise is a danger to you.
For me, having a teacher has been an incredible blessing in my life. He taught me what unconditional love was through action – not through words. He reflected me the love and blessing that I am, revealing the lies that I am not. Not only that, but he gave me words of support when the path was dark and encouraged me when I thought I would never make it. Likewise, he was mercilessly genuine with me since there was benefit or investment in lying to me. Furthermore, he lent me his eyes to see the world through so that I could experience that life can be heaven on earth. , until I finally could express the light that I am.
CONCLUSION:
Many people ask about having a teacher on one’s spiritual path. Many people have asked me my opinion on having a teacher on a spiritual path. There is an old Chinese adage that says: Teachers open the door, but you should enter without help from anyone else A teacher can be a mirror for you, they can reveal many hidden aspects of your mind, and they can point out many of the habit behaviors that are causing you pain in your life.
