To be a spiritual teacher is surely a journey of patience, love and commitment. To have a relationship with someone that had “hired” you to stimulate his or her personal and impersonal expansion is surely another interesting journey.
Many spiritual teachers I have encountered are either already in a state that is free from their personality attachments and are firmly established in the divine grace or they are evolving into that state. I realize however, that there are also different stages in this journey of pointing oneself and others to infinity. This journey may take a few years or a few incarnations, all I can say is that the recognition of such states can create a sense of excitement and continuity in one’s path.
Neither stage is better or worse than the other; they are just stepping stones in the evolution of service. Actually it is better if each stage is fully lived and accepted so the gestalt is completed and new beginnings are fully embodied.
The Stage of Dissolution
Either by pain or destiny, there is a fire within oneself that looks to walk away from the pain of not belonging, from the pain of not feeling love, recognition or being totally embraced. It is a “normal” feeling when the mind is not trained to view that we are responsible for all our experiences. If the sense of abandonment for example arises, we as a young person do not know fully how to embrace all the needs of the self and consequently a part of us feels not embraced. This becomes an unbearable sensation, which serves as a founder for a passion to be well and to learn more about the self.
Why I am like that? How am I really? How can I remove this pain? These are the questions that support this state and induce the self to the second stage of the spiritual teacher.
The Stage of Reaction
In this stage I have observed myself 25 years ago as against the falsities, the ego and to what I viewed as injustice. I was like an activist making a statement toward peace, justice and reform. This was very valid indeed for the fortification of the ego, that surely believed in making a contribution to the whole but I was not really seeing that I was looking for recognition. It is a raw energy, like a teen, with a lot of sensibility but not much experience to see the pitfalls.
The Stage of Humility
With the attitude of the activist you may get hurt by the powerlessness of not seeing really the changes in society, in people or yourself. A sense of defeat may invade the perception of the mind.
The contribution in this stage creates a sense of service or sacrifice; it is possible to have a position that you overextend your energy with the intention of making others realize something about you or about the work.
Still a big pitfall, it is not conducive to use the role of the spiritual teacher as an evolutionary tool. You may however, start adjusting your energies with more realistic objectives, self-capacities and environmental possibilities.
The Stage of Purification
This is an important passage for a spiritual teacher who believes that he or she is improving the world by providing knowledge and/or services related to the expansion of consciousness. Here the person realizes that his/her physical body is the universe itself and by concentrating on bringing the divine attributes of self-acceptance, joy and contentment, he or she is changing the whole universe around it.
It is a shift in perception that holds self-responsibility and detachment from the opinion of others, it is a space where the personal interest and will is given up and a new relationship starts from within.
The Stage of the Impersonal
The completion of the purification stage, gives a decoration of purity to the teacher. It gives him/her a personal view that is impersonal, free from personality and personal gains. It is a quieter space, however, more powerful simply because it is guided by the purity of the his/her presence and not from the world or mental concepts.
This moment is a real passage for teacher and student, since is here that a profound stillness radiates from the whole being and permeates all around. I don’t want to put a name of that state of being, however I know that desirable changes happen effortlessly around it.
The Quality of Stillness
Now, it is my experience that the process of stillness is not necessary in the mind, but in the cells of the body, the cells are experienced as children who are in balance and in harmony. I may hear one part of the body being tired or frustrated but the general condition is in peace.
The mind however, slowly gets seduced by the stillness of the cells and naturally stops.
All I am realizing is that you can have all the sensations you want (pain, pleasure, anger or desires) but there is something bigger that embraces that palette within you, and that bigger part is able to give a continuous support to the other parts.
From the outside you may not be different from other human beings in terms of living up to the standards of life. However, inside is a detachment, dispassion and an equanimity that is unshakeable by any aspects of your roles.
I also have had the experience that it is through going within (meditation) that this process get accelerated and better understood. The company of teachers and students is a structure that constantly stimulates the process, and that each other have an important part to play trough time, through mutual acceptance and through patience.
May this sacred journey of embodiment of divine grace continue smoothly, constantly and be protected by our own self-love.
