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who is your teacher?
genkaku
Northampton, Mass. U.S.A. Veteran
Reading LeonBasin's topic entitled, "Zen Master Lou Nordstrom...." (http://newbuddhist.com/discussion/11924/zen-master-lou-nordstrom-alan-watts-didnt-understand-zen-or-buddhism.#Item_7) made me wonder what anyone (personally) thought a "master" or "guru" or "venerable" or "teacher" was. Is it someone you revere? Is it someone to whom you ascribe a greater understanding than your own ... and if you do, how could you possibly know that without being personally privy to what the teacher knew? Does the master serve as a role model? Does s/he exhibit what you think is a knock-out compassion, serenity understanding? Etc. I just wonder what aspects anyone might attribute to a teacher, guru, Buddha or whatever. What do you personally think constitutes a master?
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She helps me see my fears, desires, hopes & emotions directly.
What constitutes a master is someone who understands all aspects of the Dharma and can interpret texts and make them accessible to the uninitiated, for one thing. But also someone who is not ego-driven, someone compassionate, someone with a kind heart who is not swayed unduly by emotions and who practices non-discrimination in the application of compassion. In short, a Master is someone who practices what he preaches.
Genkaku, the answer to your question is in Gampopa's Jewel Ornament of Liberation for a more complete answer than I can give. The chapter is entitled, the Spiritual Master.
don't put all westerners on the same pitaka (basket)... some have chosen to be reborn in a western country.
maybe the dharma teachers wannabes in the east have a polluted mind? maybe they don't really get an iota of what Tathagata taught.
Whether it is always important or even practical to have just one teacher from whom you learn everything about Buddhist practice is questionable (although I think Shakyamuni is the obvious choice if one should want this). From where I'm sitting at the moment, teachings are more important than teachers.
I think there's a koan in Zen where a monk visits 2 hermits and they say exactly the same thing to him yet he chose one over the other. So finding your teacher is like falling in love – you just know it.
problems arise when i believe otherwise.
so what isn't my teacher?
"It should be remembered that the mind of the master is ever pure... and even if the master tells lies, steals and chases women..., he is still to be considered a true master as long as he scolds his disciples for their transgressions."
I can't think of a better definition of hypocrisy! But maybe that's just my "mundane" mind talking.
I really don't get this bit about masters getting a free pass on vice. That's not what the Buddha exemplified, nor taught. I do understand the Mahayana principle of the rare necessity of breaking a vow to serve a higher good. But vow-breaking shouldn't be a routine behavior, and I fail to see how chasing women could serve a higher humanitarian good.
As far as answering the question, "who is my teacher?", it is anyone and anything that I open and humble enough to learn from. For me personally, humility is the key. If I think I am smarter, wiser, better than someone else, then I put up a barrier to learning from them, which could very well prevent me from learning something I may not otherwise learn. It's all about being - and remaining - teachable.
Namaste'
Kwan Kev
One who, having both a greater knowledge of the dharma than I, and great compassion, points out where I'm going wrong...again and again, until I get it right.