Spiritual Teachers and Egos

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The ego is not the "enemy" of the enlightened. Instead, it is her teacher. As part of the Mind, it is also the creation of the One, and so, has a valid reason for existence.

Still, yielding to its domination (it is always wanting to control everything) is ignorance and darkness. So, especially in a spiritual teacher, we should look for the concealment of the ego, not its prideful display.

The ego is a small but real part of the identity of the Mind. Specifically, it is the "role" that Mind is playing in the "stageplay" of this earthly life. Everyone, including the sage, has one. But the sage, in wisdom, conquers or overcomes her ego with Love.

That means that she reidentifies with the Spirit of Love, or Lovemind. This process begins with a de-identification vis a vis the ego. She says, "I am not just this body," and, "I am not the identity that adheres to, or within, this body. I am not the timebased ego."

Gradually, her identity is transformed: "I am not a physical body" grows into, "I am a nonphysical mind." In time, that evolves into, "I am not just this conscious mind, but an ancient Mind that has lived for many ages-- a Soul." With the passage of more time, this realization blossoms into, "This Soul is part of the Mind of the One. So, It is Love Itself. I am an incarnation of Love, of the One."

This does not lead to selfconscious pride; if the thought leads there, it is anti-enlightenment. This realization leads to the egoless state. It is full enlightenment. This is becoming a sage, or master.

But, free of ego, and free of the need to manipulate others to approve of her (receiving her validation from within only) the sage or master would never, could never, claim to be a "sage" or "master." Thus, you can rest assured that anyone who ever claims to be any sort of "master" is working from an unhealthy ego; she is proving her absence of true masterhood. For one major mark of a master is always her humility. The unenlightened is always so very insecure that she feels that she cannot "afford" humility, and so, is very rarely humble.

So, any so-called "spiritual teacher" who puts herself "on display" is a fraud and a phony. Perhaps she is not simply deceiving, but selfdeceived as well. But any "teacher" who talks about herself rather than the Way is fake. You need to run, not walk, in the opposite direction!

Specifically, any teacher who tries to impress people with her "famous" students, or her "many" students is only pretending. The greatest masters in all human history, Jesus and Gautama (the Buddha(, did not value their disciples in terms of numbers. And anyone who tries to show you how "important" she is by saying that she has "thousands" of followers is only childishly, and ignorantly, selfdisplaying the ego.

Anyone who boasts of how "well-known" she is, how "famous," has also missed the entire point of enlightenment, and denied it. She is suffering from one of the most serious diseases in the whole of mysticism-- egotism. It is a disease that makes the pathetic ego-selfesteem feel better for a few minutes, but it seriously wounds the
Soulmind.

A teacher, in our world, must use an egoname. Jesus, Gautama, and other fine mystics used them. But, in the life of a true teacher, the ego or name must never be the center of the teaching, or the work. Any "teacher" who boasts or brags about her "many incarnations," and any teacher who amusingly claims to have been great beings from the past is laughable from a spiritual perspective. She is also quite pathetic. And she is certainly not enlightened-- not even close!
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Turning Away from Human Leaders

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We do not follow any human teacher, and, quite frankly, do not always know what they teach. The enlightened being follows the Master of Love in her heart, and often, does not even "keep up" with human teachers. What they teach is often irrelevant to one's spiritual path. Besides, since we have Jesus and many other mastersages and mysticsaints to whom we can "listen," human teachers are somewhat pathetic by comparison.

Each being is supposed to become a spiritual adult, capable of following Jesus and/or the Christ personally to the best of her personal ability. We were never created to follow human leaders. (Many of them are so consumed with ego that they have lost their own way, and so, cannot lead or guide others.) Others worship fame or money. They are, very often, very poor examples indeed.

The enlightened does not have any admiration for self-styled human teachers, and rejects the tendency of the ignorant crowd to polish egos, or to give them praise, admiration, or accolade. But she does not necessarily see human leaders as "evil." (Some have good motives.) But to focus on them is to remove your eyes from the prize, and from Jesus as model. When it comes to choosing between them and Jesus as model, there is no contest! It is a real no-brainer!

Mystics do not have human-led organizations. We do not have organized religion, or an organized church. We have no doctrines or dogma by which our spirituality is evaluated. So, we have no recognized or acknowledged human leaders. An enlightened being can choose either to accept or reject the teachings of any human teacher; for he/she is no more a "spiritual authority" than is one's own mind. In fact, we accept our own minds/soul/Spirit as a more reliable guide than any external human leader.
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