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Teaching The Truth
Many spiritual seekers - particularly men it
seems, but not solely - strive for the time that they too can be the
teacher; when they can claim to have achieved the perceived accolade of
being Enlightened and of being 'The Master', and be able to teach others
from that position.
I too felt this pull, for many years, as I sat
in the audience at Barry Long's talks, thinking that one day that would be
me up there. In fact, probably the only thing that prevented me from setting
myself up as some sort of teacher during that time, even if I refrained from
claiming Enlightenment itself, was Barry's repeated warning that people
should find a real Master to teach them the truth and not one of these
phoney-masters. I certainly did not want to be a phoney-master, so I would
wait, regardless of how long it took.
However, once the searching was over and I was
beginning to live in the state that I had longed for, and I began to teach,
I found the drive to teach was diminishing. Possibly all that kept it going
initially was the habitual belief that is was the right thing to do and what
I had wanted.
After a few small meetings, the first thing to
be done was to set up was the website; followed by the arranging of a few
public talks; then the recording of a couple of CDs; and then the writing
and publication of the first book. It would seem that progress was good. But
the above was all in addition to our regular jobs and amazingly would soon
become a bit of a chore at times - not least of all the editing of talks to
put on to CDs.
And what is my feeling about this now, at the
start of 2008, not far off 35 years old and having been in the state known
as Enlightened (amongst other names) for nearly 5 years, and having
published two books (with a third on the back-burner), created 4 CDs (with a
5th in progress), and given many public talks?
I ask the above now because I have come across
many people of the type Barry referred to as phoney-masters, who have
either already set themselves up as spiritual teachers or have expressed an
interest in doing so, and yet are by no means Enlightened (even though
sometimes one will say they are, only to come back some weeks later to say
they are not; then they are again, and then they are not, as is the way when
gong deeper into the truth - until one actually becomes it).
This has given rise to me looking at my own
position with regards to teaching, and I saw that it almost no longer exists
at all. What does exist though is an openness to share good news and to
assist others where I am able, with almost anything, and the teaching is
only a very small part of that. Other examples include: having gained quite
a lot of experience with computers over the last few years, with setting up
websites, writing, and fixing software and hardware issues on our own pc, I
have since enjoyed helping family and friends with the same issues on their
own pcs; as well as the setting up of websites for small businesses who have
looked after us well and are not so IT literate. We also keep tropical fish
and have done so for many years, and if I am able to share with another how to
keep fish healthy, or if I am able to introduce a great new time-saving
product into our local fish shop as happened recently, then that I also
enjoy every bit as much as teaching about the truth.
The point is that I do not consider myself to be
'a Teacher', except when I am teaching. In fact the teaching itself has
taken a backseat for some months while I have got on with everyday living.
It's just that it brings everything back to me, in the sense of remembering
what I was like, when I get emails and see notices saying that people who I
know are not Enlightened are trying to teach others; and some even in a
formal capacity having set themselves up as 'real' teachers or Masters. In
the grand scale of things, it doesn't really matter, as all is right, but it
would seem ironic that once one really is qualified to teach the Truth,
often the need to teach diminishes to the point that one may no longer do
so.
We are all able to talk from our own experience
and share what we have learnt with others, on any subject, and that can be a
good thing. Nevertheless, as hard as it can be to find (and identify) a
truly Enlightened person who is willing to teach and who is accessible, and
as different as their approaches and methods may be, I suggest it is well
worth taking the time to seek out someone who truly is Enlightened – living
this as a constant state of being and not talking about some experience that
once happened to them. At least then you are hearing the truth in its purest
form. Otherwise you have a wannabe or phoney-master who will never be able
to give you the truth with the same authority or level of experience and
Self-Knowledge. It will only be a partial knowledge or insight and not the
direct experience of actually BEING the living Truth.
I suppose that is why I still offer to teach. As
easy as it would be to withdraw to a little house in the country and live
the rest of my life in the piece and quiet; not bothering to try to teach
anybody anything (after all, all is right and everybody gets there in the
end), there are so few truly Enlightened people on the planet (and even
fewer living in the west and able to explain in a western way; and fewer
still who followed a method so able to teach that), if I was to not teach,
it would leave seekers with no alternative but to go to the non-Enlightened
people for direction. Thus you would have ‘The partially sighted leading the
blind’. (Either that, or people would be forced to read the works of dead
Masters from other countries and which were translated centuries ago).
So, if you truly want to know what Enlightenment
is, go to a truly Enlightened person. And if you want to know how to do it,
go to an Enlightened person who did it. I will continue to offer to help as
long as I am able.
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