--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, Vaj <vajradhatu@...> wrote:
> That's a really good question, but I suspect my answer might seem a lot simpler than you expected. Really the criteria should be no different from any other professional you might want to hire. All of my current teachers had a period of study, often in college, where they learned (often memorized) the intellectual bases for what they were to teach. Every initiation they received, was documented: who they received it from, what their practice experience was and what the initiations consisted of and then how much practical experience they had to realize the teachings they received. For none of them is there some nebulous "I was the secretary of a famous yogi", but precise, verifiable information. Warning: Grammatically Challenged Reply: I kind of get the impression that you are describing a very linear process. And my experience on what I would call the "spiritual journey" has been anything but. And the one thing I don't, or won't do is doubt my experience. I don't care if I'm stuck in some pseudo/shallow samadhi during meditation, or if I am stuck on some relative plane with little chance of progressing in my outer life. I am enjoying the ride, and I try to live in the present. I trust my experience, and it has been my teacher. Whether I have a formal teacher doesn't matter to me. Sometimes I get the impression that the credentials of your teachers mean more than the experiences you might have. What I would never do is try to pick apart my experinece and determine if the faculty of intuition that has been the foremost principle for me is based on the highest teaching, or something lesser. On the other hand, whatever you are doing seems to work for you. And I guess you must have taken a pretty big bite out of the TM apple because if you would have just looked at it, and walked away, I don't think you would be such a heavy poster on this site. Having said that, I mostly enjoy your insights. But you seem to take a more formal, or academic approach which doesn't really appeal to me. > And really, that's the way it should be. I want to see their resume and see if they are actually qualified in theory and in practice. If they're not, I may still be interested, but they'd have to possess extraordinary characteristics. As a westerner, I demand this type of documentation for my teachers. On top of that, their orgs should preferably be non-hierarchical and totally, have 100% transparency. > > It would really be very difficult for me to be involved with anything less. > > A great example of what I'm talking about would be current author, meditation teacher and researcher Alan Wallace. Check out his list of publications and teachings he received. IME this is typical. Legit teachers do maintain a working CV. >
