You must remember that your teacher is a mirror, reflecting
your own inner-side. If your inner-side becomes clear, then you get
a clear reflection, therefore, the hesitation one may have is a reflection
upon one’s inner-side; it’s not because the teacher is
not experienced or does not fit to the image that we initially require
him or her to fit. But this understanding comes through experience
and you’ve already gone some way to experience both aspects.
As explained already, spiritual intimacy is the most
intimate relationship but it is not like a conventional relationship.
With our partner, we like to talk about all kinds of issues and we
like our partner to know our thoughts and feelings. But in developing
spiritual intimacy, you reach a stage where you don’t require
that, because you know in your heart that everything is known to the
teacher.
The relationship with the teacher is practice for having
a relationship with the Beloved; that’s why you require a teacher.
The Beloved is very vague, very abstract. It’s easy to say,
“I have submitted to the Beloved”, but one has to practice
that submission. If you don’t have a teacher with whom to practice
that submission, how else would you know that you could submit?
Perhaps an analogy is that of a baby who must play
with its parents to understand the use of its muscles, learning co-ordination
and its capabilities. It’s the same with the student and teacher;
you practice the servitude, the submission and the sincerity with
your teacher as a practice for you to know you are submitting to the
Beloved. Otherwise, in human terms, it’s very difficult to move
toward something so vague, abstract and difficult to comprehend.
It’s very easy for the ego to say to you, “Yes,
you have submitted totally; yes, you are spiritually ascended; and,
yes, you serve Him totally by your heart.” But in reality it
may be a disguise of the ego to assure you of what you’re doing
– or not doing – if you’re not showing that submission
and service through practice with your teacher or with your group.
Like many other teachers, I’m not expecting
service from individuals because that’s not what a teachers’
role is actually about. If a teacher asks for service, it is for the
benefit of the student rather than a help to the teacher. A good teacher
doesn’t need the service of anybody – they are independent.
But if the teacher asks you to do a service, that is based on his
wisdom and designed to get you through an experience that you are
required to have.
