The Dangerous Appeal of a Spiritual Master or Guru
"Spiritual master" was never a concept I found very useful. If you ever accept that someone else has all the answers, you stop analyzing critically and thinking for yourself. This is how cults and cultlike organizations begin. There are no masters sitting high above the rest of us; there are only people whose experience you can compare your own to and gain something from (and only if those people are skilled at communicating what they know).
Anyone who seeks to brand themselves as an "enlightened being" living amongst us should be subject to extreme scrutiny, especially if they make great efforts to promote a spiritual ego image. Awakening leads to peace and inner calm as a rule, with deviations quickly correcting back to that norm. Desperately needing to be perceived as a guru, master, or leader is a sign of insecurity. You can apply the same standard to everything people do. There's nothing unspiritual about having a lot of money, but there is something very unspiritual about pushing yourself out of peace to earn increasingly more just for the sake of filling some void in your life or promoting your own ego image. A passion for athletics is fine; obsession with being the best player of all time or winning the big game is not.
I have known many great fans of spiritual culture who sought to position themselves as teachers in spiritually elevated positions worth listening to. And if I had only ever seen them under the manufactured conditions under which they presented themselves to their budding group of followers, I might have bought into the ego image they promoted for themselves. But I saw them behind closed doors too, where they couldn't maintain the public act. I came to know them as ordinary people, slaves to many of the same neuroses, anxieties, and compulsions as common un-enlightened nobodies. Eventually, people who once seemed so wise and spiritually in tune came to seem like children making it up as they went along. But because they had some level of social authority, whether due to age or popularity, I had to consider that they must have figured something out, something important about life that I lacked the life experience for. Looking back now, I wonder how they could have still been so misguided about it after having had so much time to figure out what they were getting wrong.
Regardless, once I began to understand what was meant by spiritual awakening, I became interested in reading the biographies of certain spiritual leaders from history, the famous and infamous alike. I was less concerned with their words than with what kind of people they were and what lives they led. Predictably, many of them came across as self-absorbed and narcissistic, while others genuinely just seemed to want to open people's minds to a simple truth they had realized. At times, it seemed like they wanted to shock people out of their comfort into an alternative way of thinking and perceiving.
The more spiritual material I read, the more I came to see the bulk of it as half simple, clear, and profound truths, and half mystical ramblings and desperate attempts to make sense of what the writer themselves did not understand. I tried to examine each author's approach to communication from their point of view, shaped by their culture and education. I wondered how I would have acted or spoken differently about awakening had I been in their position, born in a different place and at a different time, but realizing what I do now. Now, learning about the great Zen masters of the past or the teachings of a supposed Buddha or Christ interests me only as historical trivia or a relatable myth. I don't think anyone should take them too seriously or make idols out of their saviors and their ego narratives
The Proper. Healthy Function of a Spiritual Teacher
The proper function of a spiritual teacher is to express to others what they have seen so that they may, in their own way, come to see it too. Each person with a valid perspective will have a unique way of showing it. The result of fully receiving what the teacher was trying to show you is walking away from their methods, because you no longer need their framework to continue seeing what they were trying to show you. You just live it in your own way and rely on your own direct experience. And the teacher should recognize this when it occurs in someone who has studied under them.
A good physician cures their patient and then hopes never to see them again. There is little reason to listen to teachers and gurus for any longer than it takes for you to start to understand the experience they are referring to. Otherwise, you risk turning them into just another object of worship and a stream of thoughts to control you. All the spiritual teachings in the world will not matter once you realize what the teachers were trying to show you. You should be aware of this even while you are still looking for it, perhaps deeply attached to the works of a particular teacher or set of spiritual practices. You will eventually be ready to let them go because you won't need them for the function they perform in your life. Of what use is one particularly favored gate when thousands of others have suddenly opened up for you?
Good teachings can help you reframe and refine your understanding of spiritual awakening. They allow you to compare your experience to that of others. In this way, everyone who has experienced an awakening automatically becomes a bit of a guru to anyone who earnestly listens to them. Following one source of insight too closely turns devotees into cheap copies, and it closes them off to the lessons of their own experience. Under ideal conditions, everyone would have many mentors from whom to glean vital influence to guide them toward the truth. Each person could then combine that influence into a unique, idiosyncratic arrangement, filtered through their own life experiences. They would each go on to perform that role in some capacity for others.
Of Course, the Irony of My Advice
My advice to the reader is this: Listen to spiritual teachers and read spiritual books only as much as you need to point you to understanding a deeper level of the truth of your own existence. Then set aside the images from your study. That includes even the images gleaned from my words here.
