Blame this one on blusc0ut. He made a very sincere post recently in which he asked what I'd do if someone asked me how best to learn to meditate. I dashed off some quick answers, but in retrospect one of them could be expanded upon. That was me saying that I sometimes, off the top of my head, suggest to newbies to the world of meditation things to look for in a teacher of meditation and his/her organization, and things to be wary of. Today I have some free time, and I decided to write a few of these things down. I always preface anything I say to such questioners with, "This is only my opinion, and my opinions have at best a 50/50 chance of being proved correct. You should make your own decisions about such things," and I do the same for this rap.
SO, YOU'RE INTERESTED IN MEDITATION You want to learn to meditate, but you've never done it before and you are a little put off by what you read about some meditation teachers and their antics, and thus a little wary about "What I might be getting myself into." I think this is a wise and thoughtful frame of mind with which to evaluate any teacher or organization offering to teach you how to meditate. What follows is a series of questions that *I* would ask of any such teacher, and analyses I might make of their organization. They are presented only for your information; whether to ask any of these questions yourself or perform any of these analyses is up to you. As is the decision whether to learn how to meditate from these teachers or organizations, or at all. This is pure unsolicited advice, and thus not worth the paper it's not printed on. Do with it what you will. Here's what I would do: 1. GIVE THE TEACHER/ORGANIZATION THE FIRST SHOT Most instruction in meditation begins with an introductory talk or lecture of some kind. These are often free, and almost any organization offering to teach you how to meditate will offer them. Personally, I would take advantage of them to view the teacher and organization with an open mind, and would avoid Googling the shit out of them beforehand to find out whether there is any Internet dirt on them. I'd save that for step 2. So I'd attend the introductory talk, watch for some of the following things, and ask some or all of the following questions: * Do you feel comfortable in the setting that the talk was held in? That is, do you feel a sense of comfort or empathy with the teacher, his or her existing students attending the talk (there will almost always be some there), where they chose to hold the talk, and do you feel comfortable with how they present the image of their organization, and its teacher? If you do not, my advice is to thank them and leave, never to return. It's not going to get any better. * Does the way that the teacher explains meditation, how it works, and what its supposed benefits are "groove" with you? That is, using both your intellectual discrimination and your intuition, does it all "make sense" to you? Again, if it does not, head for the door. * What types of benefits *are* claimed by the teacher? Are they the sorts of things you might want for yourself (like being a better and happier person, more able to help others, getting rich and famous, getting laid...whatever drove you to look into meditation), or do they tend to emphasize goals that you're not terribly interested in (like enlightenment, or being able to perform miracles, or ruling the world...whatever)? What you're looking for is a teacher whose view of meditation and its benefits matches most closely what *your* view of what those benefits should be, for you. You're here at the talk for a set of your own personal reasons; keep those reasons in mind and try not to be sold different or additional reasons. * Do you LIKE the teacher and his/her existing students? If you don't, consider this a "red flag," and remember it later. * Does the teacher claim to be enlightened? If he or she doesn't, but hints at it heavily (or you overhear their students saying that they are), ASK THEM ABOUT IT. Put them on the spot. Ask directly. Their answers will be instructive, whatever they are. * Does the teacher claim that their meditation will lead their students to a lofty goal, such as enlightenment? If so, ASK THEM ABOUT IT. I'd say something like, "You said in your talk that your technique X-Med is the fastest and most effective path to enlightenment (or whatever they said). Some of your students are here tonight. Can you point out which of them have attained this enlightenment you speak of, so I can ask them about it and what it's like?" Suffice it to say that if the teacher claims that their path "produces" enlightenment but they can't produce any enlightened students, you might want to consider that a big "red flag" for later consideration. If the teacher *does* point out some enlightened students, by all means talk with them. They are the goal you are being sold. * ASK ABOUT MONEY. People are reluctant to do this, but in my opinion how the teacher responds to the simple questions, "How much does this course cost?" and "Are there additional courses that I will be expected to pay for, too, and if so, what do they cost?" should tell you a LOT. If they just respond with a checklist of prices as if what you are asking were a perfectly normal question, that's a good sign. If they hem and haw about it, or refuse to answer the question, or tell you to talk to one of their students afterwards, offline (meaning "Not aloud here in my lecture") that's in my opinion a...uh...less good sign. Often when a teacher doesn't want The Money Question to come up in public talks, there is a reason for this. * ASK ABOUT COMMITMENT. Explicitly. Find out what you're getting into before you actually get into it. I would ask something like, "After I learn to meditate from you, will I be expected to do anything else? Are there additional courses I will be encouraged or expected to take? Are there lifestyle suggestions or requirements (like celibacy, being a vegetarian, passing out copies of the Bhagavad-Gita in airports, whatever) that I will be expected to follow if I want to learn more?" YOU WANT TO KNOW THIS STUFF, AND YOU WANT THE TEACHER TO ACTUALLY HAVE TO SAY IT. * Spend some time talking to the organization's existing students. Do they seem to embody the "results" of meditating that were promised in the teacher's talk? Pay particular attention to how they talk *about* the teacher. Do they feel the need to call him (or her) by a less-than-common name like "His Holiness" (or "Swami Mommy")? If so, that's how *you* will be referring to the teacher if you choose to stick around. Check to see what the students' appearance says about their lifestyle -- do they dress as if they have a good job and a successful career (if you want such things for yourself), or do they dress and carry themselves like people who sleep on futons on the floor in a communal house while giving all their money to the guru? Believe me, you're going to run into both types, and again you're looking to figure out whether you'd feel comfortable hanging with the type you run into at this talk. If you get more involved with the organization than just learning to meditate, these people are going to be your *friends*. Do they strike you as the kinds of friends you want to have? * Pay attention to what the teacher and students say about other "competing" teachers and organizations. If none have come up, bring them up, just to see the reaction. What you're looking for is whether this teacher and organization feel the need to dump on or "diminish" others. That's not in my opinion a good sign. * If you get a chance, ask the teacher a "tough question" of your own, one you really want to know the answer to, but one that you intuitively feel will put the teacher "on the spot." A lot can be learned by the teacher's answer, or non-answer. If the teacher bristles and gets defensive, that in my opinion is a "red flag," and deserves to be followed up with another question: "I have noticed that you don't seem completely comfortable with my question. What is going to happen if I join your organization and have such questions in the future? Will you brush me off then the way you did just now?" * Thank the teacher or the students at the door for the talk, and LEAVE. Don't "sign up" on the spot. You have some homework still to do. 2. GO HOME AND GOOGLE THE HELL OUT OF THEM Google is your friend. You've heard the teacher's "take" on what and how they teach, their sales pitch. Now is your opportunity to see whether the world at large agrees with that "take" (or, more important, whether former students agree with that "take"), and whether there is a "track record" of actually *delivering* on the sales pitch. * Don't believe everything you read. Whether it's on websites produced by the teacher or organization themselves (which can tell you a lot, BTW...do you like the "look and feel" of these "official" websites?), or on "anti" websites full of people complaining about the teacher and calling his/her organization a cult. All of these things are OPINIONS, as is everything said by the teacher him- or herself. None of it is Truth; my advice would be to downgrade the importance of any claim made on either side that *claims* to be Truth. * Come up with a few more questions that you'd like the answers to before you "sign up." 3. GO BACK AND ASK YOUR FOLLOWUP QUESTIONS Attend another of the teacher's or the organization's talks, armed with a pre-written list of the questions you'd like answered before you sign up. ASK THEM. You should write them down because if the teacher is at all charismatic, you'll forget them once you're in his or her presence. 4. MAKE YOUR OWN DECISION Learn to meditate from this teacher or organization, or don't. It's your call, and your call entirely. If you do, I wish you well and hope you gain as much from the study of meditation as I have. If you don't, remember that there are a lot of fish in the sea, and a lot of teachers and organizations that give instruction in meditation out there. If you didn't like this one, don't give up. Check out other teachers and other organizations, if you're still curious about meditation. Or not. Your call, your life.
