Subject #3: Why spiritual teachers?

Before we start talking about spiritual teachers, we should first define word "spirituality". To me, this word means the essence. Essence of what? Of reality in its wholeness. Of everything. Another word for same thing is "religiousness" but I prefer not to use it as people mix it with religions. That essence has no ties to any particular religion though characters, to which different religions are based on, did experience the essence.

It's very important to notice that these characters, to which religions are based on, did not teach religion. They were all spiritual teachers. Unfortunately human mind has tendency to seek authority, which would tell what is right and what is wrong & what to do and how to be. The power of that desire has made people to create religions & rituals and get stuck with words of the "holy" writings such as bible, quaran, vedas, sutras and so on. Instead of inside journey into oneself, attention is focused into interpretation of words of others.

The way I see it, teachings of spiritual teachers (like Buddha, Jesus, Bodhidharma, J. Krishnamurti, Osho, Gurdjieff, Dogen, Anthony de Mello, Tilopa etc) can help one's journey. They are like climbing equipment which eases the desending of a mountain. The danger is that one becomes fascinated by equipment set and just stays at the top of the mountain watching equipment. In any case, sooner or later one must throw away that set because it is no longer needed, it has served its purpose.

Usual question here is that how does one know which spirtual master is "right"? Well, one should be very skeptical with all teachers - famous or not. If the message makes sense to you - good. If it doesn't - just leave it. Just as long as this "sense" is not based on believing something because of the beauty of idea or because it involves gaining something, you will be fine. The message should be confirmed by your actual being, otherwise it's worthless.