John Michael Greer, Grand Archdruid of the "Ancient Order of Druids America". His books and Blog started me on my path of Druidry back in 2008.
John Michael Greer - Wikipedia
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Who Is Your Teacher?
- Thread starter SalixIncendium
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John Michael Greer, Grand Archdruid of the "Ancient Order of Druids America". His books and Blog started me on my path of Druidry back in 2008.
John Michael Greer - Wikipedia
Rational Agnostic
Well-Known Member
ManSinha
Well-Known Member
stvdv
Veteran Member
My outer Guru reflects my inner Guru, my conscience, which is my "real" Guru
Gurus who inspired me (unlocked wisdom/knowledge already in me) in Chronological order:
Jesus
Buddha
Dalai Lama
Osho
Sathya Sai Baba
Shirdi Sai Baba
Ramana Maharishi
Nisargadatta Maharaj
Papaji (Poonjaji)
Amrita Anandamayi Ma (Amma)
Mother Meera
Vasistha (the book Yoga Vasistha)
Rama (the book Ramayana that Sai Baba wrote)
Krishna (the book Bhagavad Gita that Sai Baba wrote)
Shiva (the stories I have read)
Astavakra (the book Astavakra Gita)
And thanks to all the others I learned and who inspired me
Last edited:
MonkeyFire
Well-Known Member
I'm on my own path. I follow Christ, and Buddha primarily.
shivsomashekhar
Well-Known Member
Different people influence us at different times.
I want to particularly call out UG Krishnamurthi, though he is not a Guru. Before I stumbled upon UG, like others, I was inclined to simply accept statements, if they came from famous Gurus who I implicitly trusted (Ramana, etc). Like everyone else, the idea of questioning before accepting either never occurred to me or maybe it felt disrespectful.
Then I read UG who pushed me to question and not simply accept (including his own statements). Ask tough questions and do not compromise on the quality of the answers. Looking back, this attitude of questioning has helped me a lot.
Of course, not everyone can do this as sentiments run deep and prevents questions. But when you can, you owe it to yourself to ask the Why question.
I want to particularly call out UG Krishnamurthi, though he is not a Guru. Before I stumbled upon UG, like others, I was inclined to simply accept statements, if they came from famous Gurus who I implicitly trusted (Ramana, etc). Like everyone else, the idea of questioning before accepting either never occurred to me or maybe it felt disrespectful.
Then I read UG who pushed me to question and not simply accept (including his own statements). Ask tough questions and do not compromise on the quality of the answers. Looking back, this attitude of questioning has helped me a lot.
Of course, not everyone can do this as sentiments run deep and prevents questions. But when you can, you owe it to yourself to ask the Why question.
I have a living Satguru, with whom I can communicate at any time, person to person, via email, or in Real time if circumstances happen. In this tradition, a living Satguru is necessary, and the highest knowledge is passed orally in person one to one.
Before Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami, his predecessor, Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyswami was my Guru. I first met Him in 1974, so it's been 46 years this summer. It's a practice based, sadhana based tradition, Naninatha sampradaya, of monistic Saiva Siddhantha.
There has been no other influence, at least not in any strong way. We practice 'loyalty to the lineage' that means once you've found what you're looking for, you stick with it. (like a marriage ... one life, one wife) There are many others with many different living Gurus who practice it this way as well. It's rarely mass market, and often purposely restricted through various means (not advertising, for example) . Quality over quantity. (A large 'flock' would mean less care for each.) So many folks filter through these types of sampradayas, but many move on as well. There is no compulsion, but you definitely have to demonstrate commitment.
Before Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami, his predecessor, Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyswami was my Guru. I first met Him in 1974, so it's been 46 years this summer. It's a practice based, sadhana based tradition, Naninatha sampradaya, of monistic Saiva Siddhantha.
There has been no other influence, at least not in any strong way. We practice 'loyalty to the lineage' that means once you've found what you're looking for, you stick with it. (like a marriage ... one life, one wife) There are many others with many different living Gurus who practice it this way as well. It's rarely mass market, and often purposely restricted through various means (not advertising, for example) . Quality over quantity. (A large 'flock' would mean less care for each.) So many folks filter through these types of sampradayas, but many move on as well. There is no compulsion, but you definitely have to demonstrate commitment.
Four most influential teachers in my life,
Vivekananda
Gautama Buddha
Sri Krishna
Sage Yajnyavalka
IndigoChild5559
Loving God and my neighbor as myself.
The main person in Judaism is Moses. God spoke to him directly and gave him the Torah. But we also have a great many sages and my appreciation is for many of them -- I simply can't choose one. Probably the two most influential are Rashi (who did a commentary on every verse of the Torah -- you really can't study Torah without his notes) and Maimonides (who organized it all). But there are many, many more. I really like Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, and Rebbe Schneerson.
You've got me thinking. I know that because I've made two false starts to this post.
No doubt the principal agent in forming one's attitudes is the set of genes one's born with. And that, as a rule, meshes with the influence of one's parents, especially up to adolescence, they being the source of those genes as well.
So after careful reflection, I think if I ever had a guru, it was the invisible, unconsciously absorbed, influence of my father. Not a manifesto, not a lecture , not a special moment, simply a particular positive atmosphere.
My student days included philosophy, and I picked flowers from many patches (including my basic realization concerning fundamental things that have to be assumed, from René Descartes) but I don't identify myself with any of their schools.
As for talking about such things, realizing what I actually think and expressing it coherently, I learnt most of that from the old Beliefnet site (of happy memory), and continue to enjoy the like at RF.
VoidoftheSun
Necessary Heretical, Fundamentally Orthodox
As for me too brother
Underneath those towering figures I'd also put the best of the best of the great Saints and Philosophers of our tradition.
Yerda
Veteran Member
I've been listening to his Vedanta talks on spotify for a few weeks now.
Also, he put me on to the works of Shankaracharya. I'm new to all this but I'm finding it very rewarding.