What is enlightenment?
What is sometimes called enlightenment or awakening can arise at any time, whether or not we have studied with a spiritual teacher or followed any spiritual practices. It is simply the sudden, clear recognition of non-duality – there is only one reality. It is not an experience or a state of mind. It is an understanding that cannot leave us. When as children, we arrived at the understanding that Santa Claus doesn’t exist, that understanding was permanent. We didn’t subsequently go back to believing that perhaps he might exist, and then next Christmas write a letter to him. It’s the same with the non-dual understanding.
How does enlightenment arise?
We don’t know. It just happens. But there are some things that seem to encourage it. The main one seems to be a keen interest in the nature of ourselves and the universe. A desire to find answers to the questions we asked as children: How come I am here on this planet? What is this ‘me’? What is the purpose of life? What is this world really made of? Is it infinitely big? What can we know for certain? A persistent questioning that cannot let go until answers are found. Usually answers, in the form of understanding rather than words, arise in a series of glimpses. After a glimpse, the understanding gained from it may be temporarily forgotten, but it is never lost.
Is reading a spiritual book enough? Or is a spiritual teacher necessary?
We can find answers from books, but they are not our answers. We can ask a teacher, but again the words of the answers we receive are not our answers. Believing an answer you obtain from someone else can become a block to enlightenment. That is not to say that words cannot help. They may trigger a spontaneous revelation that goes beyond the words. But a teacher can give you something more.
What you can sometimes discover from a teacher is a kind of resonance. The words spoken trigger the uncovering of a deep understanding that was always there within you, but somehow veiled. The resonance expresses itself as a joyful ‘Yes, that’s right – I always knew that deep inside’. It feels very different from when someone agrees with a belief that you hold dear, such as a political, economic or ethical belief.
A genuine teacher doesn’t regard you as a student or a spiritual inferior. After the recognition of your true nature, you understand that there can be no hierarchy, no inequality. Your teacher becomes a trusted friend who can help you find the impersonal way through life’s challenges and difficulties.
Do we need to keep to just one teacher or teaching?
Before the days of electronic communication, spiritual seekers traditionally turned to India and would ‘tour the mountain’ in search of a teacher with whom they discover this resonance. Then when they found one, they would stay in his ashram (or nearby) for some years, learning from him. They might move on later to another teacher if they feel something is missing. If they eventually find a teacher from whom they can see no need to ever move on, this is known as a karana-guru. The karana-guru helps the student recognise our true nature, and thereafter helps to deepen this understanding and establish it in ordinary life. The various teachers who have been of help at an earlier stage along the way are known as upa-gurus.
With the advent of the internet, physical travel was no longer necessary. A vast array of people have set themselves up as teachers, and their teaching is easily accessible. Many seekers attend events from several different teachers without ever settling on just one primary teacher. But the form of ‘spiritual tourism’ that involves following several different non-dual teachings or traditions at the same time can lead to confusion. It can also be a means of reinforcing our existing spiritual beliefs instead of starting from not-knowing which is the pre-requisite for real understanding. This can easily happen if we subconsciously select different pathways, concepts and practices from different teachers, accepting what has an immediate appeal, and rejecting anything that contradicts our existing beliefs.
My own view and experience is that the concept of karana-gurus and upa-gurus is still relevant in the internet age and applies equally to Western teachers as those from India. A good approach for the modern spiritual seeker is therefore to start by ‘touring the internet’ to find a teacher with whom you resonate and then attend some meetings or retreats. Ideally you would then meet the teacher in person and continue to follow his or her teaching as far as it can take you. If this is your karana-guru you will eventually reach a point where you are completely satisfied. If not, you may need to move on.
It is the student who discovers his karana-guru; not the teacher who sets himself up as one. Non-duality is a radical change from conventional understanding. So spiritual seekers usually seem to need one or more upa-gurus to prepare the ground before meeting their karana-guru.
There is only one teacher
We typically perceive our teacher as a person or human body-mind who through study and spiritual practices has ‘become an enlightened sage’. But there are no enlightened persons. Human body-minds don’t become enlightened. Only universal consciousness understands. Only universal consciousness recognises its true nature. So in reality, there is only one teacher and one teaching, expressing itself in different ways through different body-minds.
However, those different forms of expression are helpful because they cater for differences in the conditioning of the body-minds of spiritual seekers. You may feel no resonance at all with a teacher who your friend says is wonderful and has changed her life.
So if you intuitively feel that you need a teacher, just keep looking until you discover someone you resonate with. It has been said that ‘when the student is ready, the teacher appears’.
Teachers are not perfect
When we discover a teacher with whom we resonate deeply, it is natural to idolize them, to put them on a pedestal, to believe that they are perfect and could never behave badly. In other words, we project onto them an image of a perfect human being, the person we ourselves hope to become.
If the teacher is no longer alive – you have been studying his words from books or recordings, and applying his methods – you may never discover your mistake. But if the teacher is a living human being with whom you are frequently interacting, there may come a time when your teacher behaves in a manner that is inconsistent with what he teaches. When that happens it is important to remember that no teacher is perfect. Your teacher is not an enlightened person who can never make a mistake and can never behave badly. There are no enlightened body-minds.
While the recognition of our true nature does gradually reduce old patterns of egoic thinking and behaving, it does not necessarily dissolve all the conditioning and habits which had developed over many years due to ignorance. Spiritual teachers can (and some do) behave appallingly from time to time, when circumstances trigger residues of ignorance. It doesn’t mean that their teaching is worthless or that what you learned from them is untrue. However, there is more to be learned from a teacher who for the most part, embodies non-duality in all aspects of life, than from one who merely teaches the philosophy of non-dualism without living in accordance with its implications.
Is the age of the guru over?
Failure to understand that teachers are not perfect can lead to disillusionment with the non-dual teaching or the belief that there is no longer any place for living spiritual teachers. ‘The age of the guru is over’ has become a common refrain. It is not unusual for those who have been grievously disappointed in a teacher to revert to the teachings of sages who are no longer alive and idolize them instead. But this is a missed opportunity.
It is natural to move on from your teacher if the relationship between you has broken down or if you feel there is nothing more you can learn. But this feeling of disappointment is an important opportunity to deepen your understanding. That opportunity is lost if you move on to a dead teacher whose followers erroneously consider to be perfect. Human body-minds are not perfect. There never was a perfect sage. To think otherwise is to revert to duality.
A genuine teacher will show you your inherent freedom
Recognising that your teacher is not perfect is the first step towards freedom. It frees you from the guilt of your own past mistakes, or the fear of making more mistakes. The second step is the understanding that your happiness and your ‘spiritual progress’ – whatever that may mean to you – is not dependent on your teacher.
At some point the relationship changes. You enjoy seeing your teacher from time to time, and enjoy spending time with other followers. But you don’t feel that you need to. Your teacher has become a friend rather than a teacher – there is no longer any sense of hierarchy. A genuine teacher will encourage and welcome this transition, and not feel threatened by it. You are free, not tied to any teacher or teaching by an invisible thread. You feel no need for reinforcement or confirmation. What remains is just love, respect and gratitude.
Does enlightenment mean you have an obligation to teach?
The feeling of having an obligation to become a spiritual teacher and to spread the non-dual message to the world is a common misunderstanding. At the absolute level, the world is what it is, and it is what it is meant to be. It doesn’t need changing.
The spiritual path after enlightenment is a path of realignment and enjoyment. Noticing any residues of ignorance for what they are and allowing them to be dissolved by your love of truth and natural integrity. Just doing whatever it is that you most enjoy from one moment to the next.
If you love to teach, then that is what will happen. But perhaps you prefer developing computer software, or being a lawyer, or a doctor, or a musician, or an engineer, or a salesman? Why not? There are so many enjoyable lines of work. When there is no resistance, no desire for self-aggrandisement, no fear of failure, almost anything can be a source of enjoyment and a celebration of life.
