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How important is having a teacher?

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
Hope you are all well!

Here's a site you could spend many hours browsing. It lists a number of teachers - many of which I had never actually heard of.

Cannot vouch for all of them as I have only started to browse the site.

Here is the list of teachers -

Teachers - Stillness Speaks

Enjoy!
 
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Samana Johann

Restricted by request
Hope you are all well!

Here's a site you could spend many hours browsing. It lists a number of teachers - many of which I had never actually heard of.

Cannot vouch for all of them as I have only started to browse the site.

Here is the list of teachers -

Teachers - Stillness Speaks

Enjoy!
To find the Sublime Buddha listed under a punch of fools and traders speaks, no actually screams, about the value of this source... not is it of benefit to share and approve what needs blame, good householder.

Teachers have usually a more destructive influence on those being taught rather than a nurturing influence.
Taken this teaching on account, certain it's not easy to find a wise... nothing more destructive as to listen to fools.

But in and of itself:

...As he was sitting there, Ven. Ananda said to the Blessed One, "This is half of the holy life, lord: admirable friendship, admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie."[1]

"Don't say that, Ananda. Don't say that. Admirable friendship, admirable companionship, admirable camaraderie is actually the whole of the holy life. When a monk has admirable people as friends, companions, & comrades, he can be expected to develop & pursue the noble eightfold path....
Admirable friend (kalyanamittata)
 

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
The title of the thread asks a question. The first post is a pointer to a list of teachers.

To the question: to me sometimes it's essential to have a teacher and sometimes it's a hindrance. To use an ordinary analogy, some people need to have psychological help and some don't. And some do at certain points in their lives.

So to me there's no "one size fits all" answer.
 

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
To the list of teachers: some who are considered teachers are well-intentioned and others are truly enlightened. And as we've seen, some have darker motives. Judging between them can be extremely tricky.

But the first easy test is to see if there's any trace of hypocrisy. Do the teacher's actions betray greed, power urges and the like?

Then what is being taught? Are spiritual subjects being taught like college classes? Or is the "teaching" something else?

There's something from the Jewish tradition that speaks to this: I did not go to the Maggid in order to hear Torah from him, but to see how he unlaces his felt shoes and laces them up again.

There's a story I heard that illustrates this. Ramana Maharshi was said to have picked up even a grain of rice from the ground, cleaned it and put it with the rest of the rice to be cooked and served. He did not have to say "don't waste food" - he lived "don't waste food".
 

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
The title of the thread asks a question. The first post is a pointer to a list of teachers.

To the question: to me sometimes it's essential to have a teacher and sometimes it's a hindrance. To use an ordinary analogy, some people need to have psychological help and some don't. And some do at certain points in their lives.

So to me there's no "one size fits all" answer.

Thanks for the input!

Here's another interesting point-of-view ->

A spiritual teacher/mentor’s role is unique in that the goal is not to transmit knowledge or understanding as much as it is to somehow bring about a recognition in the student of the student’s own pre-existing nature. This is a much more subtle thing than simply teaching someone a skill or understanding. It is not that a spiritual teacher never provides spiritual teachings or knowledge or understanding, but that knowledge or understanding by itself is not the goal. A student can have a broad knowledge of spiritual principles, and yet can still not have truly recognized those principles as being inherent in his or her own being. So spiritual teachers or mentors may teach a lot or they may not teach anything, depending on what the student needs in that moment to experience this deeper recognition of their own true nature.

What Is the Role of a Spiritual Teacher or Mentor

Cheers!
 
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