Who is your spiritual teacher?

[ChristineM]

Too obvious to bother. She's like my personal antichrist. But not in a good way.

But still teaching;-)

 

[Vinayaka]

Who is your spiritual teacher?

I am practicing a visual meditation called “mentor yoga”. I am to “invoke the presence of the one who has initiated me into the sacred realm of my chosen form of Buddhhood.”

It’s a lot to take in once again, but I am invoking my mother in my meditation. She is my spiritual teacher as she taught me the importance of love.

This meditation made me wonder about you in retrospect! Who is your spiritual teacher? If you were doing a mentor yoga visual meditation, who would you visualize?

To me, the spiritual teacher has to be in a physical body, and not a picture on a wall, or a name in a book. There has to some sort of one-on-one dialogue. He/she should know your name. Every person is an individual with individual needs, and the wise teacher can address that. The only exception to that is if you personally knew the teacher, and He/She has since passed.

Outside of that, Experience is the greatest teacher. He can be harsh when necessary.

 

[an anarchist]

Outside of that, Experience is the greatest teacher. He can be harsh when necessary.

I once heard that a wise man learns from his mistakes, but a genius learns from the wise man’s mistakes.

I am no genius.

 

[JustGeorge]

Too obvious to bother. She's like my personal antichrist. But not in a good way.

Someone has to be the bad guy. Might as well be me.

 

[PureX]

Not who ... what.

It's the results that come from love, forgiveness, kindness, generosity, honesty, unity, and mutual respect that teach me how to live.

But only if I am willing to look for them, and learn from them. If I wallow in fear and selfishness and resentment and willful ignorance, I learn nothing, and I remain a dumb animal. With no point to my having been here at all.

 

[Vinayaka]

I once heard that a wise man learns from his mistakes, but a genius learns from the wise man’s mistakes.

I am no genius.

The genius, in my view, has developed his power of observation to a high degree. My Guru spoke of that a lot, and gave exercises on it , like walking along a street studying houses, or focusing on clothing on people, and what you can learn. One of my favourite quotes of His is ' the power of observation is cultivated by the absence of excessive talk. And it you watch yourself and others, it's so true. Folks miss out on a whole lot when their awareness is in the intellectual realm of having a discussion.

Life is a serious of opportunities to observe human behaviour.

 

[JustGeorge]

The genius, in my view, has developed his power of observation to a high degree. My Guru spoke of that a lot, and gave exercises on it , like walking along a street studying houses, or focusing on clothing on people, and what you can learn. One of my favourite quotes of His is ' the power of observation is cultivated by the absence of excessive talk. And it you watch yourself and others, it's so true. Folks miss out on a whole lot when their awareness is in the intellectual realm of having a discussion.

Life is a serious of opportunities to observe human behaviour.

Would one study houses/clothing with the intent to learn, or simply observing, understanding the lessons may present themselves later?

 

[Vinayaka]

Would one study houses/clothing with the intent to learn, or simply observing, understanding the lessons may present themselves later?

I saw that teaching as similar to any practising, much like how athletes will repeat the the same movement over and over. They are exercises to train the mind to be more observant. Those skills can transfer to other areas of life, like driving, or learning new music.

I find it a fascinating study, and for awhile now I've been focused on the observational skills of others ... so observing observation. There are two different non-Tamil men who come fairly regularly to the temple. One guy just gets it. In about 2 weeks, he was able to totally adapt to the customs of this temple, just by watching what other people do, even though, he, being Gujarati, was initially unfamiliar with what goes on here.

Then the other guy, whose been around for maybe 15 years, still doesn't get it. He interrupts the priest in the middle of pujas, is off doing his own thing, pulls on his ears anywhere, circumambulates the wrong way, can't figure out much at all.

So I find that study interesting. I lean towards something like innate intelligence to explain it.

 

[Soandso]

No one but the river and the forest.

Same! Going on a walk in the woods does much to clear and settle the mind. If you live in an area with cougars and bears though then walking in the woods adds an extra element besides the peace and quiet. Being aware and present is also part of the experience and lends itself well to the role that nature plays as the "mentor"

 

[Vinayaka]

Same! Going on a walk in the woods does much to clear and settle the mind. If you live in an area with cougars and bears though then walking in the woods adds an extra element besides the peace and quiet. Being aware and present is also part of the experience and lends itself well to the role that nature plays as the "mentor"

I learned the scary way to make noise when bears or cougars might be about. It's better in a place devoid of bears or other dangers.

 

[Soandso]

I learned the scary way to make noise when bears or cougars might be about. It's better in a place devoid of bears or other dangers.

Eh... I dunno. I kinna like it. I guess the way I look at it is that potential dangers can present themselves in many places; even in places that are "safe." If not a bear in the woods, then maybe a stranger who sees an opportunity to take advantage when no one is around to witness any crimes they may commit

Keep in mind that I'm not advocating for paranoia, but if one keeps their peepers open they stand to learn a lot about what's going on around them. This makes walking in woods with bears and cougars as enjoyable as walking in ones without, imo

 

[JustGeorge]

Eh... I dunno. I kinna like it. I guess the way I look at it is that potential dangers can present themselves in many places; even in places that are "safe." If not a bear in the woods, then maybe a stranger who sees an opportunity to take advantage when no one is around to witness any crimes they may commit

Keep in mind that I'm not advocating for paranoia, but if one keeps their peepers open they stand to learn a lot about what's going on around them. This makes walking in woods with bears and cougars as enjoyable as walking in ones without, imo

Oddly, I find actually having experience dangers coming into my home has made me less paranoid. One's not really safe anywhere.

Its made me overall less fearful. Been there, done that, bring it.

 

[Vinayaka]

Eh... I dunno. I kinna like it. I guess the way I look at it is that potential dangers can present themselves in many places; even in places that are "safe." If not a bear in the woods, then maybe a stranger who sees an opportunity to take advantage when no one is around to witness any crimes they may commit

Keep in mind that I'm not advocating for paranoia, but if one keeps their peepers open they stand to learn a lot about what's going on around them. This makes walking in woods with bears and cougars as enjoyable as walking in ones without, imo

I snuck out of a cabin in Jasper, AB at about 5 AM maybe 30 years ago, to go sit alone the Athabasca river at dawn. I snuck along watching for birds, listening to the wind, enjoying the sounds of the fast flowing river. It was serene, quiet, peaceful, and all that ... until a bear went running past, missing me by about 3 feet. Since then I've selected better places to go alone, and if Boss and I do go to an isolated waterfall 3k hike, we try to chat it up a lot. Experiences and results vary.

 

[Martin]

Ramana Maharshi.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

View attachment 98744

The Stella Maris! Very pretty image.

 

[Vinayaka]

Ramana Maharshi.

Arunaleswara is still on my bucket list. Been thinking about going next winter.

 

[Martin]

Arunaleswara is still on my bucket list. Been thinking about going next winter.

Where is that?

 

[Spice]

I snuck out of a cabin in Jasper, AB at about 5 AM maybe 30 years ago, to go sit alone the Athabasca river at dawn. I snuck along watching for birds, listening to the wind, enjoying the sounds of the fast flowing river. It was serene, quiet, peaceful, and all that ... until a bear went running past, missing me by about 3 feet. Since then I've selected better places to go alone, and if Boss and I do go to an isolated waterfall 3k hike, we try to chat it up a lot. Experiences and results vary.

Tapping a hiking stick is good. It's preferable to let the wild things know you're coming over accidentally walking up on them. I always bang a bit on the side of the tool shed before opening the door to allow any swigglies time to hide.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Who is your spiritual teacher?

I am practicing a visual meditation called “mentor yoga”. I am to “invoke the presence of the one who has initiated me into the sacred realm of my chosen form of Buddhhood.”

It’s a lot to take in once again, but I am invoking my mother in my meditation. She is my spiritual teacher as she taught me the importance of love.

This meditation made me wonder about you in retrospect! Who is your spiritual teacher? If you were doing a mentor yoga visual meditation, who would you visualize?

I would be like those who would prefer something closer to nature. In my case I'd probably like an avatar that is like an indigenous tribesman that I would think of as my grandfather because nature is old like that and has a lot to teach.

 

[Vinayaka]

Where is that?

It's the name of a Hindu temple at Tiruvanamalai near to the Arunachala hill, and famous for the home and ashram of Ramana Maharshi. It's the perfect example of how neo-Advaitans work. They'll go to the ashram, but not to the temple. I would go to the temple but not the ashram.