By The Spiritual Explorer | Published 14 February, 2014
Dear Spiritual Explorer: I have been searching for a teacher for years now and I can’t seem to find one. I realize that when “the student is ready, the teacher appears.” I need guidance and I have nothing but myself and whatever I can pull out of books. Any directions would be greatly appreciated. Meghann B., Knoxville, TN
Ma Jaya
Dear Meghann: From your letter I have seen that you are a true spiritual person. To even search for a teacher or guru means that you have that impulse of spirituality within you. My own teacher would tell her students that longing for or missing a guru was an essential part, because the pain of non-union is what compels us to keep practicing and searching.
I began searching in 1972 for a teacher/guru and finally found my teacher Ma Jaya in 1976. I was fortunate to have that occur. Not everybody has an outward teacher; some are required to find their teacher on another level and have a connection that way. A friend of mine has a relationship with Guru Meher Baba, who has passed from his body, and my friend feels that he is in constant guidance and relationship with Meher Baba. Other people have been inspired by and considered they were students of other teachers who have passed and found great solace in doing so. Perhaps that is something you might find useful for you.
As an aside, I remember Spiritual Teacher Baba Ram Dass relating in one of his books of someone searching for a teacher for many years and then coming home to see his aunt cooking chicken soup in his kitchen and realizing to himself, “Here’s the Buddha.” Sometimes because of our minds, we do not recognize what is in front of our eyes. It’s that old Biblical construct, “for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear.”
Meher Baba
In the meantime, what I would also suggest is that you attend some meditation retreats, confer with like-minded individuals who are on the same path and most of all, become quiet inside yourself, praying or asking from a very sincere place. Sometimes we receive answers but are too chaotic inwardly in our minds and don’t hear what is present for us.
Everybody teaches us if we have the humility to hear and accept. The guru or teacher can come in many forms, but you must be silent and receptive inside to hear properly. That is why I have suggested you find a meditation group because it is sometimes easier to meditate when you can tune into the energy that comes from meditating in a group rather than by yourself. It isn’t even necessary to think that you must choose a group with a particular ideology. Any group that creates a silence and depth is a good group.
Thank you so much for writing. I hope this has been of some assistance to you. I myself will send up a prayer for you that you will find a teacher whom you can love and respect. Best wishes, Spiritual Explorer
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