finding a master teacher in traditional shamanism

8/13/2019 Finding a Master Teacher in Traditional Shamanism

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Finding a Master Teacher In Traditional Shamanism

Finding a Master Teacher in

Traditional Shamanism

THE ROLE OF THE TEACHERTHE TERMGURU IS NOTwell understood these das! The

notion deri"ed #rom the ancient Sans$rit term

Kalyana mitra. Kalyana means "irtuous% Mitra

means #riend! Ta$en together% the term

denoted a &erson who was a "irtuous #riend!

' associating with such a &erson% one

de"elo&ed &ositi"e s&iritual (ualities which

could not )e ac(uired through an othermeans! This term did not a&&l to *ust an

#riendshi&s #ormed along the s&iritual &ath! +e

should ta$e care not to o"eruse the word

Guru. +e must understand at what stage a

master actuall )ecomes our Guru% and what(uali#ies him to )e $nown as a Guru! I ha"e

noticed% ma)e some o# ou ha"e too% that

these das when &eo&le go to see and hear

"arious mas,ters% the discuss their (ualities

and decide which one the would li$e to

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Finding a Master Teacher In Traditional Shamanism

choose as their Guru! 'ut this is not what it is

all a)out! +e cannot &ic$ and choose% merel

)ecause we are attracted to someones&ersonalit or charisma% or )ecause o# their

re&utation or #ame! Such criteria are merel

emotional! The are too shallow to )e the

)ases #or a long standing relationshi&! O#

course% it is natural #or newcom,ers who lac$$nowledge or guidelines to )egin their search

#or a Guru ) loo$ing at such su&er#icial

(ualities! 'ut in order to esta)lish the essential

(ualities o# a Guru% we must rel u&on the

scri&tures! It is im&ortant at the outset to &oint

out that the term Guru is not a general

'uddhist term! It is used #re(uentl in

Hinduism% )ut within 'uddhism its use is

restricted to tantra! It a&&lies onl in the con,

te.t o# esoteric doctrines and teachings! The

&erson who gi"es Re#uge to ou does not)ecome our Guru! Neither does the &erson

who ordains ou! Similarl% the &erson who

gi"es ou the 'odhisatt"a "ows is not a Guru!

None o# these "ows in"ol"e /a*raana or

esoteric doctrines! 0 &er,son who has taught

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Finding a Master Teacher In Traditional Shamanism

ou during numerous wor$sho&s and

meditation sessions is not a Guru! He is a

teacher% &erha&s also a s&iritual #riend!Etmologicall s&ea$ing% the word Guru

deri"es directl #rom the Sans$rit word

Guhyarucita. Guhya means secret% rucita

means holder! So the entire word could )e

translated as holder o# secret $nowledge! 0&erson cannot )e our Guru until he &asses on

to us secret $nowledge in the &rescri)ed

manner! 0t this &oint I would li$e to discuss

the reasons wh we need a Guru! E"en in

e"erda li#e there are man things we must

learn #rom others! +hen we em)ar$ on the

search #or enlightenment we are see$ing

secret $nowledge not *ust #or our own )ene#it%

)ut in order to )ene#it others! It #ol,lows that

we must #ind a &erson with the highest

creden,tials to teach us! E"en #or mundanematters such as re&airs to $itchen &i&es% we

will want to ensure that the &erson who does

the re&airs is a registered &lum)er! 'ut man

&eo&le dont seem to )other a)out credentials

when the choose a Guru! The o#ten decide

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Finding a Master Teacher In Traditional Shamanism

sim&l on the )asis o# a &ersons re&utation or

a)ilit to attract crowds! This is not to sa that

one should not attend teachings ) &o&ularteachers! 'ut here we are re#erring s&eci#icall

to the role o# Guru! 3It is on the )asis o# the

Gurus guidance that one will gain s&irit,ual

&ractice% s&iritual $nowledge and s&iritual

realisations! +hen we tr to ac(uire$nowledge or &ractices #rom )oo$s% we are

not &re&ared #or an ensuing e.&eriences

which ma arise! Man students )ecome

con#used )ecause the ha"e a Guru on the

other side o# the world! whom the rarel see!

The cannot de"elo& a close relationshi&!

The ha"e a merel emotional lin$% or &act i#

ou li$e! The do not ha"e the closeness to

learn detailed $nowledge a)out &ractices and

meditati"e e.&eriences! I# ou ha"e certain

e.&eriences and ou cannot tal$ to a teacherwhom ou regard as our Guru% the

circumstances are not in &lace #or a Guru,

disci&le relationshi&! 0 great danger in

searching #or a Guru is the tem&tation to

search #or someone who is high and #amous!

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Finding a Master Teacher In Traditional Shamanism

Followers o# such a Guru ma #eel as though

the are &art o# something im&or,tant% )ut the

will not get much out o# it )ecause he is noteasil accessi)le! One does not get close

enough to learn the )asics! It is said that ones

teacher must )e someone who is accessi)le%

with whom one can do e"erthing% not *ust

s&ir,itual things! There must )e man ears o#)uilt u& #riend,shi&! +e are tal$ing a)out a

master who will assist% encour,age and guide

us% not do the o&&osite! One who does not

assist the student is not a Guru! One who

does not continue to ins&ire is not a Guru!

One who is not a"aila)le is not a Guru! He

must not )e *ust an o)*ect% a mere idol! He

must )e a (uali#ied master! He must himsel#

ha"e )een a dee&l dedicated disci&le at

some time! He must ha"e a &ro"en record o#

disci&leshi& with a li"ing master! He must con,tinue to see this master as we see our Guru%

and continue to emulate his e.am&le! There is

a danger when &eo&le rel solel on non

human guidance! Some &eo&le ma tal$ a)out

recei"ing transmissions directl #rom some

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Finding a Master Teacher In Traditional Shamanism

mstical )eing! 'ut as long as their

relationshi& remains &urel on this mstic

&lane% with someone the ha"e ne"er dealtwith on the human le"el% the will not de"elo&

the res&ect and o)edi,ence that a disci&le

needs to show! Such &eo&le ha"e no e.,

&erience o# disci&leshi& with a human teacher!

One must e.&erience the wea$ &oints o# theGuru *ust as much as his s&iritual (ualities!

+e must )e a)le to #ind the golden ring amid

the &ile o# manure! The &oint here is that one

must )e a)le to a&&reciate the gold along with

its accom,&aning manure% not *ust the gold!

Those who deal onl with the gold will not

de"elo& a dee& relationshi&! Nor will it endure!

It will tend to remain at the le"el o# out,er

Guru% when what we reall need is to de"elo&

our inner Guru! This is what ha&&ens when we

grow u&! 'ut we can,not do this without thehel& o# a s&ecial &erson acting as a model and

guide! +e need this s&ecial hel& to de"elo&

our )udding inner s&iritual sel#% which we

realise is a lot saner than the ordinar sel#!

+hen we ha"e de"elo&ed a real Guru,disci&le

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Finding a Master Teacher In Traditional Shamanism

relationshi&% the Guru will ins&ire us to

de"elo& our inner Guru! +e will #ind that the

"oice o# this inner Guru is no di##erent #rom the"oice o# the outer Guru! O#ten at some le"el

we $now what we should do% )ut we do not

listen to what that gentle inner "oice is saing

to us! This means that our outer Gurus

in#luence has not et )een #ull recei"ed! Untilwe ha"e the a)ilit to listen to our hearts and

act with true maturit% we will continue to

re(uire the &resence o# the outer Guru! The

outer Guru &las a "er im&ortant role! 'ut he

is not a li)erator! He does not rescue us! +e

ha"e to learn to rescue oursel"es! Otherwise

we might e.&ect the Guru to do e"erthing #or

us7 we &ra% and he acts! This is "er much

li$e )elie"ing in an all,&ower#ul god! The

(ualities o# the Guru are listed in the

scri&tures! The list is "er long% and some o#the (uali,ties included ma not ma$e a lot o#

sense to us )ecause the are highl technical!

The #irst ste& is to )e con"inced that we need

a s&ir,itual teacher% *ust as we $now we need

a teacher to learn to &la &iano% #or e.am&le!

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