Throughout the course of my life, I have been very fortunate to have had excellent teachers - not just in meditation, but in martial arts, music, scuba diving, and in my academic education.
I studied with a number of different teachers. But really, I've never studied with teachers. To be honest, the only thing that's ever interested me in life is eternity. Nothing else makes any sense to me.
At a certain point I left my spiritual teacher because I began to see the limitations of my teacher, who was a very powerful occultist, but who I thought was, to some extent, limiting others in their spiritual growth.
I liked my teacher very much and after some years of mediation, I began to teach meditation, referring all things that I didn't know to my own teacher.
Some of the most exalted states of consciousness I experienced were in bed with someone, alone, or with my spiritual teacher. There was never a difference for me.
My teacher knew that I always had a girlfriend. For some reason, he never said anything to me about it.
I entered a spiritual community when I was 20, which I was in for 11 year, with very strict meditative practices, with an Eastern teacher. It was very much like a religious order.
I've been very fortunate because many of the teachers I had were exceptional. But I didn't realize that at the time that all teachers were not alike.
Eventually light prevails, you just have to be patient. So practice Buddhism, learn to be enlightened, put a smile on your face, go find a great teacher, meditate, and stay funny.
It takes quite a bit of time to become enlightened. But it really is not so different from learning any other art; all you need is time, a good teacher, and practice.
The advanced student of meditation takes an active part in supporting the work of their teacher. They happily work more hours or do whatever is necessary to help out more.
If you're very liberal, then you should go and find a very liberal Zen teacher, a liberal interpretation of the doctrines of the Soto or Rinzai schools.
Meditate on enlightenment. Read the exploits of the great teachers, the great saints. They'll inspire you. Their power is there.
Enlightenment is a journey. It is a journey that is made alone. It is a journey that is made with a teacher.
Selectively pick a teacher, one that you respect, not just someone who can talk with wonderful poetic figures about enlightenment, but someone who has the personal power to bring you into altered states of awareness.
You never devote yourself to a teacher. You devote yourself to the practice.
The true teacher of love is the heart. The heart is very, very wise. It makes mistakes from time to time, but it has a wisdom all of its own.
Christmas time - an Enlightened Teacher came into the world, taught, and died. His message was simple: Forgive. While the human beings of this planet have still not absorbed this simple Truth, it remains the Truth.
You may not need a teacher or you may be drawn to one - everything is individual. But the main thing you need to do is meditate and learn to stop your thoughts and enter into the ocean of infinite awareness. You will be directed from there.
Most people think that an enlightened Buddhist Teacher is a fireman; His job is to put the fire out so that you can live in your home safely. But seeker beware! A fully enlightened Buddhist teacher is an arsonist! His job is to set your spirit on fire...by feeding the flames of your soul with love.
I can go shopping and pick up some Bounty Towels, the three pack, I can go home and open those up and look at them and see more infinity than in the Buddha's best meditation. If I can't do that, that means I'm wrapped by the Buddha's best meditation.
A teacher is someone who has taken their mind much further than you have. They've gone into the void further. They've seen the luminous realities. No one has seen them all...but they've seen more than you have and they understand the trap of self-reflection.
A teacher is there to laugh at you because you have such a high opinion of yourself that you need to be laughed at. You need to sense how small we all are.
Very few people become enlightened in any given lifetime. On the planet earth their might be a dozen who are fully enlightened and several thousand who live in enlightened states of mind.
It's ridiculous if you ask me. I don't know what any of us are doing here. But we're a tribe, a network, cruising the galaxy. We have offices in every loka, in every part of existence. I suppose you make that out to be a unique situation. We're Unique! No, I don't think so. We're enlightenment.
