...I was asked to write on this topic in my writing group - this is what came out..

SPIRITUAL TEACHERS I HAVE HAD

So many spiritual teachers out there. Everyone I meet has something to teach me, whoever I’m with is my perfect teacher for the present. So I guess the question is, who taught me that? Hmm, hate to say it, but I think it was Katie. She’s taught me a lot of things: taught me to care less and as a result care a whole lot more; taught me that it’s all an illusion, that nothing is as it seems, that this is a world of my making; taught me that love is all there is. I love that.

And there’s been others. Old Buddha was a big influence, and then there’s everybody’s mate Jesus, who speaks to me daily though A Course in Miracles.

And still, this all lies inside the greatest spiritual teacher: life itself. And I suppose if life is the overwhelming spiritual teacher and life is what I make it, then I am ultimately my greatest spiritual teacher. I never even had to get out of bed! What a relief.

That’s the thing, isn’t it? Always wanting, needing, to do something, and ultimately never really even needing to get out of bed. All my teachers are inside me. They come in light and leave in light, a constant flow of beauty, a beam of indestructible vulnerability.

And every time I feel I need to be doing something, every time I feel empty, every time the torment of suffering finds its way into my life yet again, all that’s really happening is a shadow is covering that beam. The light is always there, only sometimes clouds cover it, like a grey day: the sky is still blue, we just can’t see it.

Yes, that beam is interminable, ceaseless, eternal and infinite. It’s the ‘not me’ beam: the voice that speaks when I get out of the way. And in its silence it has so much to say. Words are lies after all, so who needs them when the truth speaks so beautifully in its knowing silence?

These are the words of light, of consciousness, words we all hear in some form or other, yet are too often afraid of. We are scared of freedom because it is not what we know. To the average human being suffering seems so normal, and yet it is an illusion, so unnecessary in this beautiful heaven that surrounds us.

Oh yeah, spiritual teachers. So many, so many. My best mate Johno was a good one. He led me to the dark side and I found a whole new world to embrace. It wasn’t me though, so I left. Well, a lot of me did. Light is the amalgamation of all colours, so darkness is an essential part of it. Only if darkness is the goal, instead of the point of salvation, then the confusion begins. It’s a powerful place, all the same.

Spiritual teachers. So many, so many. My entire community at Dharmananda was one great personal teacher: a lifetime worth of personal growth in 16 months. Powerful stuff. So much pain, so much gain, so many things I’ll hopefully never have to know again, so many things I’ll hopefully always understand.

Yes, life is full of spiritual teachers. As I watch this pen move across the page and wonder what it’s going to write next I witness yet another one. Coming from inside, where the entire universe exists in a beautiful beam of light. Accessing something so far beyond me that I can but sit in awe and observe. I am so privileged to be here, an involuntary witness to the evolution of existence. Thankful, grateful, glad to be this part of consciousness in this place in eternity, knowing that nothing could possibly matter and therefore that everything intrinsically does. This is privilege. This is that point of abandonment that rewards endlessly with mystery. This is life Jim, but not as we know it. This is evolution.

So many spiritual teachers, everyone I meet. Surrounded every moment by more lessons. So much to learn, so many teachers. I have a good friend who is determined to learn something from everyone. What a lesson!