thoughts about teachers

[Guest guest]

Hello- this talk going on about our spiritual states and so forth has

me thinking more and more about the subject of a teacher. I have always

had a back and forth relationship with yoga and spiritual searching.

Mostly though for the better part of 15 yrs- i would say i have had and

increasing sense of a path- and i have learned to watch for signs and

continuity etc...

Joining this community to search for a answer on deepening my yoga

practice has opened my mind about the practice- and several other

events have led me also to a new path discovering Sufism- which seems

to speak a language that strikes my heart more than ever before. I have

never thought myself to be devotional-but have explored thoughts-

however since touching upon these things..my yoga has deepened and i

feel the union more clearly..understanding the poses and my connection

to them in all the spaces...i find myself asking for guidance and maybe

it is that i wasnt ready for a teacher before- i just never wanted to

be a naive person following someone- any comments or insights about

teachers is appreciated- i just like to see where it goes and if

anything comes to me from bringing it up- no specific question really-

just my thoughts....thanks, rachele

[Guest guest]

No coincidences, Rachele, this pearl came from Vernon Howard's teaching

and appeared on my email list just before your message....

 

"A true teacher never gives seekers material rewards, nor shallow

psychological gratifications, like flattery and excitement. He knows

how the cunning nature in man will grasp these as substitutes for

truth, which alone can save. His action separates the sincere from the

insincere. When an insincere seeker's curiosity has been satisfied, he

departs. The earnest seeker, sensing something real, remains."

 

I have a teacher, a relationship with another human being I thoroughly

trust to be my guide. One of the processes I realize from this

relationship is gaining the humility to surrender to direction. This

process is occurring now. I have recently relocated, left a career of

many years with the intention of teaching yoga. My teacher gave me

three things to accomplish with this move, all of which are outside of

my realm of life experience. I'm witnessing my mind (ego) struggle

with these simple tasks, totally un-monumental, but slightly out of my

comfort zone, and the need to 1. do them to prove something 2. ignore

the directive 3. simply do what has been suggested by my teacher and

allow life to unfold. Where is the lesson? Overcoming fear and

following direction, witnessing the mind/ego play, asking the questions

and listening to my heart?

 

I don't consider myself naive. I am finding a relationship with a

teacher to be the spark which ignites the inner teacher as well as

providing me with direct guidance.

 

The responses to your thoughts will be interesting to read! I look

forward to this.

 

Sat Nam,

 

Guru Gopal Kaur

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Saturday, January 13, 2007, at 07:30 PM, rachele wrote:

 

> Hello- this talk going on about our spiritual states and so forth has

> me thinking more and more about the subject of a teacher. I have always

> had a back and forth relationship with yoga and spiritual searching.

> Mostly though for the better part of 15 yrs- i would say i have had and

> increasing sense of a path- and i have learned to watch for signs and

> continuity etc...

> Joining this community to search for a answer on deepening my yoga

> practice has opened my mind about the practice- and several other

> events have led me also to a new path discovering Sufism- which seems

> to speak a language that strikes my heart more than ever before. I have

> never thought myself to be devotional-but have explored thoughts-

> however since touching upon these things..my yoga has deepened and i

> feel the union more clearly..understanding the poses and my connection

> to them in all the spaces...i find myself asking for guidance and maybe

> it is that i wasnt ready for a teacher before- i just never wanted to

> be a naive person following someone- any comments or insights about

> teachers is appreciated- i just like to see where it goes and if

> anything comes to me from bringing it up- no specific question really-

> just my thoughts....thanks, rachele

>

[Guest guest]

I remember reading something that Yogi Bhajan said to the effect that

Americans don't understand the concept of the teacher. I believe

that, in my case anyway, that he was right.

 

Yogi Bhajan also said that a Teacher was one that you could never

say no to, and I don't know that I've ever known anyone to whom I

could apply that rule to all the time, Yogi Bhajan included. As

profound and true as I have found many of Yogi Bhajan's teachings to

be, he did say things that left me shaking my head in wonder and even

disbelief. In my own practice, anyway, it seems that most of the

insights that I have gained from kundalini yoga have come from my own

experience. I read Japji every morning as well; Yogi Bhajan said that

one of the advantages that the Siri Guru Granth Sahib had over human

teachers was that there was no personality one had to deal with.

 

As far as your pull towards Sufism is concerned there are elements of

Sufism in Sikhism and therefore in the dharma that Yogi Bhajan taught

for whatever it's worth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kundaliniyoga, "rachele" <selkie0 wrote:

>

> Hello- this talk going on about our spiritual states and so forth

has

> me thinking more and more about the subject of a teacher. I have

always

> had a back and forth relationship with yoga and spiritual

searching.

> Mostly though for the better part of 15 yrs- i would say i have had

and

> increasing sense of a path- and i have learned to watch for signs

and

> continuity etc...

> Joining this community to search for a answer on deepening my

yoga

> practice has opened my mind about the practice- and several other

> events have led me also to a new path discovering Sufism- which

seems

> to speak a language that strikes my heart more than ever before. I

have

> never thought myself to be devotional-but have explored thoughts-

> however since touching upon these things..my yoga has deepened and

i

> feel the union more clearly..understanding the poses and my

connection

> to them in all the spaces...i find myself asking for guidance and

maybe

> it is that i wasnt ready for a teacher before- i just never wanted

to

> be a naive person following someone- any comments or insights about

> teachers is appreciated- i just like to see where it goes and if

> anything comes to me from bringing it up- no specific question

really-

> just my thoughts....thanks, rachele

>

[Guest guest]

Dear Rachele:

 

The only fear between oneself and a teacher is our own doubt about

being able to tell if a teacher is for real or not. In other words:

"Will I know if I can trust him/her?" So it is about your own sense of

self.

 

That's the first question.

 

When this doubt dissolves then there is no fear to approach a teacher

because if the teacher is not real then one has no fear to walk away.

 

That's the experience I have. To the point where it does not matter to

me if a teacher is always right. There is a part of me that senses

when I need to pay attention and when it is bogus. In the same way I

welcome students who are able to give me feedback when what I say hits

the mark and when it doesn't. As a teacher I don't care to be right, I

care to challenge, I care to uplift, so when a student tells me I am

not hitting the mark, I welcome the feedback so I can learn from it

and correct my aim if I need to.

 

But I have also witnessed students who in front a teacher will

challenge the teacher as if he/she was teaching from ego when it

wasn't quite true. They were challenged and weren't able to take it

in. I was a student in that class.

 

Now everything in life can serve as a teacher. Meeting someone who

robs you serves as a teaching experience, the people and interaction

one has at work in one's family. The steps we have to take to keep up.

The key is to experience so one can integrate what is being taught.

Life is our greatest teacher. We cannot escape it.

 

Meeting a human teacher who is real (meaning someone who speaks

directly from his/her own experience) helps accelerate one's path

because the teacher can foresee or help you see the drama you are

facing. The teacher can become an active player in your search.

 

Blessings,

Awtar

[Guest guest]

Kundaliniyoga, joan richards <joancarol

wrote:

>

> No coincidences, Rachele, this pearl came from Vernon Howard's

teaching

> and appeared on my email list just before your message....

>

> "A true teacher never gives seekers material rewards, nor shallow

> psychological gratifications, like flattery and excitement. He

knows

> how the cunning nature in man will grasp these as substitutes for

> truth, which alone can save. His action separates the sincere from

the

> insincere. When an insincere seeker's curiosity has been

satisfied, he

> departs. The earnest seeker, sensing something real, remains."

>

> I have a teacher, a relationship with another human being I

thoroughly

> trust to be my guide. One of the processes I realize from this

> relationship is gaining the humility to surrender to direction.

This

> process is occurring now. I have recently relocated, left a career

of

> many years with the intention of teaching yoga. My teacher gave me

> three things to accomplish with this move, all of which are outside

of

> my realm of life experience. I'm witnessing my mind (ego) struggle

> with these simple tasks, totally un-monumental, but slightly out of

my

> comfort zone, and the need to 1. do them to prove something 2.

ignore

> the directive 3. simply do what has been suggested by my teacher

and

> allow life to unfold. Where is the lesson? Overcoming fear and

> following direction, witnessing the mind/ego play, asking the

questions

> and listening to my heart?

>

> I don't consider myself naive. I am finding a relationship with a

> teacher to be the spark which ignites the inner teacher as well as

> providing me with direct guidance.

>

> The responses to your thoughts will be interesting to read! I look

> forward to this.

>

> Sat Nam,

>

> Guru Gopal Kaur

>

>

>

>

>

>

OK...i am so glad i just took the feelings and explored them here- I

just have to say right away that I just relocated also and am going

through huge transitions while all these explorations are going

on..and i understand what you are saying and the quote you shared is

so valuable to me. I did get off the phone today with a friend who is

also something of a teacher to me- i guess i havent recognized her

fully in that regard- but the processes are the same as we talk and

tackle certain things in our lives. I have been gifted a new

meditation i am beginning this week- it is from a gifted teacher and

it made me think about the relationship- even as brief as it is- that

he takes responsibility to share a process with me and wants to

follow through with my insights...i find that important to

understand...alot is coming up for me right now working spiritually

in such an intense period of my life- i appreciate all the

connections- this is important for me to hear...thank you so much-

even just hearing you going through a relocation and such shifts is

helpful to me .....thanks, rachele

>