Authenticity

There is a huge misconception that a teacher or guru has everything figured out and is a total master of everything, including relationships. That certainly is not the case.  If you had seen all that I have seen with regard to teacher-student, teacher-teacher, and guru-spouse relations that I have, you’d know they struggle in the same pit as everyone else.

Even if they operate from the heart, the heart can be fooled.  It can make wrong choices.  It can make mistakes.

What would save the day in all such situations is clear expression of feelings and intentions so as to better mold expectations and define needs and behaviors.

The thing about many teachers is that they are not comfortable expressing feelings.  Many don’t have the words for feelings or even intentions.  They have been molded by their spiritual training often to ignore feelings and instead, perceive energies or many otherwise unconscious processes only.  Their emotional expressions are very limited.

These teachers use energies and expressions to affect people more or less on an unconscious level, and in a sense possess their student’s on an unconscious level. Osho was a master of this, using intellect, studied methods, and many other devices to create an aura of godhood around himself as a divine show, attracting thousands to follow. 

But around him was chaos.  The organization was not under his control.  Only his aura was under his control.  Ultimately he died of drugs or was poisoned as even his aura got out of his control because his mind and perceptions become too clouded.

This is where the West has a more clear line of escaping from the trap of energy or many other sorts of unconscious relations by providing a voice for largely unconscious feelings, and requiring emotional authenticity.  The latter is almost completely unobtainable for many.

As I quoted David Spero in an earlier post:

“Knowing and expressing one’s feelings is the very definition of authenticity, and any good enlightenment teaching will tell you that the "first commandment" in sadhana is: "Thou shalt be sincere.””