Beware of Teachers!; Against The Stream: A Buddhist Manual for Spiritual Revolutionaries

Read Part ONE , TWO and THREE of Against The Stream: A Buddhist Manual for Spiritual Revolutionaries here.

BEWARE OF TEACHERS!

The Buddha’s final words were an encouragement to his students to beware of teachers and to trust their own deepest experiences

“Be a guiding light to yourselves; continue forward with vigorous effort and steadfast commitment to the truth” - The Buddha

In his final moments of life, when asked about who would replace him as the teacher of the way that leads against the stream, the Buddha said something like, “Be a guiding light to yourselves; continue forward with vigorous effort and steadfast commitment to the truth.” The path to freedom has been explained by the Buddha and offered as a practical experience. Obviously we need to learn the practices that will reveal the truth to us—but that is all. A teacher’s role is only to point out the instructions and encourage students to do the work for themselves. A good teacher constantly empowers students to trust themselves, to train their minds, and to uncover their own heart’s wisdom. A good teacher is nothing more than a wise and caring friend who has traveled the terrain on which the students are now treading. The teacher can point out the pitfalls and detours of the path, but we each must do the walking for ourselves. When we get lost, a good teacher can give us skillful directions to return, but it will always ultimately be up to the practitioners to be a light unto themselves.

The Buddha rejected the guru role: he was an educator, a friend, an activist, a role model, and a guide, but not a guru. Guru implies the ability to impart grace and to do the work for you. This is counter to the Buddha’s insistence on personal responsibility. Shouldering that responsibility is part of the against-the-stream experience of awakening. We are all lazy and long for someone to do the work for us. We buy into the deeply held human delusion of externalizing spiritual power. This must be understood clearly: no one can do it for you! I urge us all to be cautious and suspicious of spiritual teachers. There have been countless betrayals and deep harm caused through the unskillful actions of teachers and the unwise or blind trust of students. A trustworthy teacher is hard to find. Train your own mind and heart and investigate and analyze for yourself all teachings you receive. Don’t believe anything based on tradition or charismatic presentation. Don’t even believe the Buddha, and certainly don’t believe me. Study the texts, study your own mind, and the highest truth will be revealed. All of what you are looking for is here in your own direct experience. Enlightenment will come if you work for it. The path is a gradual one that leads against the stream. One breath at a time we make progress toward freedom. From the foundation of present-time awareness to the deeper investigation of impermanence and impersonality, it will all culminate in friendliness, care, appreciation, and a balanced understanding of reality.

Be a guiding light to yourself!