Some people think to show respect to their spiritual teacher they have to bow down to them, treat them as higher beings, shower them with gifts and blindly follow every word they say. I do not think this sycophantic way of acting is giving respect. If you truly want to respect your spiritual teacher then listen to their teachings, ask questions to clear up any doubt, meditate on the teaching and then, finally, put what they have taught into practice. Now what better way to respect anyone?
If your spiritual teacher has a title or calls himself a higher being, I would suggest you check him out very carefully. In the Anguttara Nikaya Gautama Buddha stated five qualities to look for in a spiritual teacher:
“The Dharma should be taught with the thought, ‘I will speak step-by-step’… ‘I will speak explaining the sequence’… ‘I will speak out of compassion’… ‘I will speak not for the purpose of material reward’…’I will speak without disparaging myself or others.’
Does your spiritual teacher have these five qualities? It is up to you to check. Do his actions match his words? Do his student’s actions match his teachings?
There are some wonderful spiritual teachers out there, but you have to look very carefully to find them.
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Strangely just before I read this post I read the following on a Buddhist Facebook page. It said: Why Buddhism?
✔ A real Buddhist never kills a live being.
✔ A real Buddhist never steals.
✔ A real Buddhist never lies.
✔ A real Buddhist never involves himself in sexual misconduct.
✔ A real Buddhist never intoxicates himself.
I find these statements so difficult - the sugggestion that Buddhists or Buddhist teachers for that matter are somehow on some higher plain and different to mere mortals seems perfectly ridiculous. If I define myself as a Buddhist (albeit a secular one) I understand that as an ordinary person these are aspirations and I don’t always get it right but I keep trying. How many people reading something like that would just give up there and then. Surely the point is that we are all human and face the same human dilemmas - teachers or not.
Hi Prue
Thank you for your comment. What is a real Buddhist? If it is the list of five things you mentioned, then there aren’t any Buddhists. You are right to say that the five are aspirations and not commandments. I strongly believe we have to try our best to follow them, but we are only human and of course will slip-up sometimes.
We are all in this together and so there aren’t any higher beings. There are beings that have a good understanding of what Gautama Buddha taught, but that doesn’t make them higher. In the end it is all just knowledge. I teach Buddhism and I really dislike it when people treat me as though I am someone special - I get embarrassed because I know I am not. I have some knowledge and experience in certain areas of Buddhism and so I share that. What is the point of knowledge if you don’t share it? But that doesn’t make me higher or better than any one else.
Thank you once again for your comment.
Yeshe