a true guru guides you to be your own proof
Vic Shayne
author
13 Pillars of Enlightenment: How to realize your true nature and end suffering
If you want to be awake, just open your mind; empty it, be still, and set it aside. No one can do this for you. On the other hand, if you want to be a follower and to feel better about yourself then there are plenty of teachers who can fill this role.
The most popular speakers — you know who they are — rehash New Age ideas and repeat what they have heard or learned from so-called enlightened gurus like Krishnamurti, Nisargadatta, Ramana, and the others. They even discuss them in their talks. Offering a quote from Ramana is one thing, but it’s quite another to have a discussion about what he has said.
Rubbing elbows with Ram Dass, Oprah Winfrey, or the Dalai Lama may increase their popularity, but what does it do for you personally if your desire is to be awakened? Our most popular and well-to-do spiritual teachers deliver what most people want, which is not to be awake but rather just to have a more peaceful, calm, and stress-free life with a dash of purpose. The ego craves this sort of outcome because it craves security. And this is why these popular personalities have such a huge following.
Which teachers are spiritually awakened? How would you really know? Is it because they tell you that they are and other people agree? Is it because they have a fantastic back story or a mystical event — or because they have been endorsed by Oprah or claim that they are in some sort of spiritual lineage? And what does this have to do with you?
When speakers suggest, as they have done, that people outside of their auditorium do not have the same higher consciousness as those who have come to sit in front of them, then a light should go on in the mind of the most sincere seeker, because such statements smack of a lack of true perception. Being awake has nothing to do with bolstering the sense of self, the ego. It has nothing to do with pride in what you are or that something sets you off from all others. Such thoughts, at their essence, are divisive and speak to the belief of separativeness; and it is only the egoic self that believes it is separate from all else.
a simple truth about awakening
The truth about awakening is quite simple: Psychological suffering is caused by psychological conditioning that leads to disappointment, depression, anxiety, anger, discontentment, expectations, desires, and so on. We suffer (and cause suffering) because of the egoic self, and behind this self is consciousness, which is the undivided whole of existence; and even behind this is something else to be apprehended in some inexplicable way. Am I telling you the truth? You would need to find out for yourself to really know.
To end psychological suffering is to realize what the self is. What more can be said? Nothing more is needed from a teacher than this truth that can then be used as the basis for your own inquiry and discovery.
To end psychological suffering is to realize what the self is. Nothing more is needed from a teacher than the sincere suggestion that can then be used as the basis for your own inquiry and discovery.
learning from others is not transformation
When we learn from others about the why, what, and how of the awakened state there is no transformation, no realization. It is only when we can actually see it for what it is — by way of our own realization — that the separation between the seer and the seen becomes nonexistent. It’s really a matter of what someone wants and whether they have the energy and interest to attend to it. Listening to a teacher, lecturer, speaker, guru, or anyone else, and trying to understand him with the same mind that has fragmented itself from the totality of consciousness will never culminate into a realization beyond the self.
words are buzzing in their ears
New Age teachers and popular “enlightened experts” use all the familiar buzz words and phrases. They speak of duality, consciousness, the now, and other things that anyone can learn if they pay attention. But when you actually have the realization of what you are, it becomes obvious that these teachers’ real role is providing comfort and entertainment for people who are in fear and suffering.
seeing for yourself
We all have to find out for ourselves whether anything we hear or read is true, and we have to have an epiphany of sorts. We have to be our own proof. No one, no matter if it is the Dalai Lama or Ramana Maharshi, can do this on our behalf. This is your life and you can only see for yourself. No one else can see through your eyes or think through your brain. Your own journey into the self must begin with a clear idea of what you want and then you must see things for yourself.
I am sure there are people who will take offense with what I wrote here, because they love and respect their teachers and icons. I don’t have any animosity for New Age teachers and popular, self-proclaimed enlightened masters, nor do I condemn their small fortunes. This is their business and the business of their followers who may one day wake up and find out that they are on the wrong path. My only message is that each of us must know what we want and must have a realization for ourselves. In this message there are no promises or words that soothe the ego or allay its fears. By knowing what you want you are placing yourself on the right path.
A truly awakened guru will guide you back to your self and not tell you how to feel better or that you are important or special. They do not bother with distracting ideas such as energy fields, higher consciousness, manifestation of money, how to stop worrying, how to overcome adversity, manifesting happiness, generating energy, developing psychic powers, a journey into “now,” how to develop more awareness, and so on. None of this has to do with seeing what you really, really are. Unlike everything else, to be awake has nothing to do with learning.
Your life is your own and you may question why you would want to accept the words and teachings of any spiritual leader as truth or take their word for what you are, because this would mean you are living your life through their ideas and experiences.
