Judging a teacher

By definition, a less knowledgeable and less intelligent person cannot evaluate a more knowledgeable and wiser man. If you can, then you are not a student, you are as good as a teacher. Anyhow, people go ahead and judge a teacher according to whatever they know or believe. If the judgment comes from your direct knowledge then it is reliable but if it comes from stuff you heard somewhere, i.e. from beliefs, or from your biases, likes and dislikes then it is not very accurate.

The true test of a teacher is how useful his teachings are for you and if they have pushed you forward on the path. The teachings are more important than the teacher. This is the essence, you need to know nothing more.

Here is a list some common errors people make when judging a teacher.

Indoctrination

From his very early days, a child is fed with beliefs, faiths and stories about what is true and what's not, whom to believe, whom to trust and how others who believe something else are his enemies etc. When you start a search, you need to throw all that away. Start from a clean slate, the state of "I do not know". Erase odd notions of how a teacher should be. This will broaden your choices substantially.

Cultures

Some strange beliefs, like eastern teachers are the real thing and western ones are cheap copies, will only narrow your choices. Ripening is universal, unrelated to places or times. It does seem that east has a treasure of teachers but then most of humanity lives in east and all sciences, philosophies and civilizations started in east, which obviously means that those ancient places will be richer. However, most destruction and corruption of knowledge happened in east and some of it is just outdated. So we have both extreme knowledge and extreme ignorance in east. The west has an advantage that scientific method or attitude kills off some strange BS automatically. The disadvantage is that such attitude and materialism lowers the acceptance of teachings that are foreign looking or in direct conflict with dogma. Anyhow, you can trace the lineages of a majority of western teachers to east.

Followers

The quality of a teacher reflects in his students, and so if you see some really dumb students around a teacher for a long duration, its time to rethink. If you see cult like behaviours, anger and hate radiating from the followers, don't be one. Anyhow, do not throw away the baby with the bathwater, take a look at his teachings carefully, perhaps its simply his bad luck that he is stuck with such students. Experiences: People often judge a teacher from the stories about unusual experiences his students report. They rush to join the gang and then get disappointed when they experience nothing unusual. And the judgement is that this teacher is a fake. In this drama the teachings are totally forgotten. Phenomenal experiences are not a requirement to know something of value.

Charisma

It is easy to get infatuated with the talk and style of a good orator. Fancy talk can be used to cover up totally ordinary teachings. Usually such talk has an advantage that it keeps the students from dozing off, but it is no guarantee that the teachings will be useful for you. Social service: Some teachers take up the tasks of fixing worldly things, helping poor, serving sick etc. If you are emotionally driven you may prefer them to others, they have this aura of goodness. But there is a risk that you will remain as ignorant as before after spending 20 years doing nothing but service. Check out his teachings also.

Luxury

Is a sign of prosperity not of knowledge. Five star quality ashrams provide a fun filled adventure but will they make you progress?

Crowd

More followers mean better marketing, not necessarily a better teacher. Quality of students, not the quantity, should be a criterion. Moreover, such teachers become inaccessible to an average student and are always surrounded by crowd. They teach in a broadcast fashion. If you get lucky, your question may get answered but expect no personal interactions. Anyhow, the teacher himself may be really bright and you may find his teachings valuable. Instead of joining a crowd of ten thousand, its much better to listen to his videos or read his books, if any.

Diet and fashion

What a teacher eats has no bearing on his knowledge, experience and skills. Unless you are interested in an in depth study of a teacher’s digestive system, ignore the diet thing. Similarly for attire. Some are found covered in gold and royal attire, some are almost naked. Some wear strange clothing which was in fashion two thousand years ago and some are in a t-shirt and shorts. A long flowing beard is compulsory for a wizard, not for a teacher. None of the above tells you how you will benefit from him. Listen carefully to his teachings, that’s all.

Lifestyle

Personal affairs of a teacher have nothing to do with his knowledge, experience and skills. Teachings are all that matters. Some people get lost in the stories of which teacher does what with whom in his bedroom. This is of no importance. Judgements based on such point to the presence of strong ethical beliefs about what teachers are allowed to do. A teacher is just another human. Students don't dictate how a teacher behaves in his personal life, they just absorb the knowledge and go home.

Controversies

The celebrity kind of teachers get quickly drowned in all kinds of controversies. Strong statements, black money, scandals, politics or crime, you name it. A seeker ignores all this drama and concentrates on his teachings. If a criminal says, its day, then it does not become night. Truth demands nothing in terms of Egoic behaviours. A teacher, just like any other person, can easily get afflicted with Egoic problems and spoils his personal reputation. However, that does not affect the content of his teachings, books, lectures or effectiveness of his methods. Granted that most of such teachers are just crooks, but not all of them are so. Its totally a different matter why they fall into controversies, its their lesson, not yours. In my experience, the great teachers re-emerge, mostly after their death, and get crowned as great masters. The deeds of the individual are forgotten and forgiven. The teachings, if they are genuine and useful, live on.

Tradition and lineages

It depends on how effective are those traditions or systems for your own self. A highly renowned tradition that is five thousand years old may seem like a real deal but may end up wasting half of your life. Lineages hint at what kind of teachings one can expect from a teacher, but do not tell about the effectiveness or knowledge of the teacher himself. There is no guarantee that a forth generation student of a great master will be as great as that master.Conversely, a teacher with no formal lineage may turn out to be a gem.

Attitude

Which teacher is better - a strict one, a lenient, loving, abusive, great talker, boring silent one? It should not matter. If he successfully pushes you miles ahead on the path, he is the one.

Commercialization

Of teachings is a controversial matter. Some turn their teachings into a business and others earn their bread and butter just like the rest of us. It does not really tell anything about their teachings itself. However, one can still guess a few things. If there is a small fee, it serves the purpose of a filter that cuts out non-serious students. In that case, students do not join him just because it costs nothing, they join if they think its worth. Secondly, the teacher is relieved of the trouble of maintaining a place and providing food etc. for his students. There is less chaos and more organization. So charging for teachings is not all bad. Anyhow, if it costs a leg and an arm just to learn how to breathe, then you are in a wrong place. Those who teach for free are really doing a service. It should be a piece of cake for a wise man to arrange for his own life, he need not depend on his students for his survival. Ideally, a teacher should be able to even support a few students, just as he supports his children. But I've never seen even one case like that. Anyhow, check what the teachings say. Is it all a mindless repetition of some old book? Is the teacher talking from experience? Is it superficial or can take you to your goal?

Background

Some teachers have extraordinary stories to tell about their life experiences and how they became enlightened and all. This pulls some students into beliefs that they themselves may receive all those experiences, and they rush to join that teacher. It may or may not work. Experiences translate into learning and learning translates into teaching. It all depends on how effective the translations are. If all he has is stories, you may not benefit much.

Lose the training wheels

Once you are past the teacher-student phase, its time to become independent. You have seen what the noise is about. You tasted many sources. You got some experiences. You know what the books essentially say. In short, you are very-very clear that you are now stable on a path, which is in fact a path of your heart, it is really bringing you the promised happiness and freedom, then it is wise to take the bold step of walking alone on it. Usually, your teacher will notice this first and will let go of you. But if he doesn’t, you should at least ask politely. Often the students get attached to their teachers, but it is possible for a teacher to get attached, and then its up to the student to cut the cord.

It won't take you long to realize that the best teacher is your own Self. Pose a question and if you are established in the Self, the answer will be there. The answer will be most satisfying, bright and will fill you with blissful peace. There is no need to hunt for an answer or to struggle with logic and arguments, it is instantly there and is self-evident. Once you know the Self, you don't need to know anything else.

Why can't we have both?

Where is the problem if one has stabilized on a path and still wants to be with the teacher? I guess some of the readers are going to disagree with the idea of cutting the cord, but in my opinion, not letting go the teacher implies presence of attachments and some leftover ignorance. That, or the student has simply become habitual of a teacher-student lifestyle. If you are really doing well on the path, then you will realize very soon that there is no teacher. The man you see delivering lectures is merely an appearance, an externalized version of your own Self.

You will also see that there was no teaching and you learnt nothing new. The teacher is merely a catalyst for quick removal of impurities of ignorance, that’s all. Once you know this, it makes no sense to continue the role of student-teacher, the show is over. However, as long as our human experience lasts, the teacher will remain with us, in some form or other, as he is now an essential part of us. He remains not as a person handing out instructions and lectures, but as a companion, friend and beloved.