In a spiritually-hungry and impatient age, the student is mistaken for a teacher.
What I see with the new crop of "life coaches" and gurus is unscrupulous individuals who are still in the process of learning the ropes/ fine-tuning their understanding assuming the position of Masters. Partly these overly-ambitious students/seekers posing as teachers are to blame, and partly an undiscerning public.
To paraphrase Nietzsche, people prefer copies to masterpieces (doubly so in this day and age where Relatability reigns).
As T.S. Eliot says, humility is endless... (And, as I write this I think of: Golda Meir — 'Don't be so humble - you are not that great.')
Or, to twist the common proverb just a little: when the true teacher is ready, the impostors will disappear.
By imposters, I mean students posing as teachers - y'know, the type regularly cranked out by the Oprah factory.
I don't want to argue, but I'm not a fan of leveling the playing field and saying we're all teachers. In every discipline, Spirituality included, there are Masters and students; part of the problem of our confused, cynical times is disputing this self-evident truth...
Part of the problem has to do with everyone having a platform and therefore a Voice. For example, how everyone thinks they are a critic (say, of Literature) when they don't have the learning or the discernment to properly evaluate a work of Art, past "like" or "dislike". The same is exponentially true in matters of Spirit.
Students do not, entirely, define the teacher. There are student- less teachers and imposters with many students. Hard to define what a true teacher is, but yes connected to the 'quality' of their students and a stage of overflowing that needs to be shared. (I think, by association, of a tree whose fruits have ripened and must drop to the ground, or be picked, if they are not to spoil...)
Yet another way of describing this state of (over)abundance:
...like a bee that has gathered too much honey; I need hands outstretched to receive it.…
Bless the cup that wants to overflow, that the water may flow from it golden and carry everywhere the reflection of your delight.
Behold, this cup wants to become empty again..."
- Nietzsche, 'Zarathustra'
My friend, this is a bigger problem than most people understand. Let me begin by quoting your post:
I think it was Jean Baudrillard who talked about Simulacra, or the copy without origin. As Nietzsche said, people rather take to the copy than the original masterpiece. This, I think, talks about modern people's affinity with quick digestion and easily understood things. People do not want to think anymore, people do not want to understand.
I have written two pieces on this exact problem, if you ever have time to read, and if you want to. You absolutely do not have to, I am just leaving them here as reference: "Bringing philosophy back to the people", and, "Garbage in Garbage Out: Economical Politics in the Current Educational System (A Mini Philosophical Rant)."
Also, I am reminded by a paragraph in Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha:
Again, fast-food culture. We want to know and have wisdom with immediate effect, the student wants to imitate and become the professor without going through the arduous and laborious process of learning. Imitation of the masterpiece without substance, a copy without origin.
I hope this makes somewhat sense. It is more notes than actual substance. I think we have similar problems with youth today.
Oh, dear, so many comments to catch up on and in a deep state of silence. Forgive me, friend, I get this way, and run dry of words, sometimes. Agree with Hesse, he was a formative influence. Thank you.
Oh no, I must apologize for writing too much! Sometimes I get verbal diarrhea even online! My friends and family always tell me to speak less and write less.
I can be overly talkative, too, so I understand the temptation. But, it does drain one after a while, and distracts them from going deeper and meditating more profoundly. (Your friends and family are right ;) Said lovingly
Again, I refer to my own work and the idea I mentioned in the previous comment: we need to ferment (read: meditate) our ideas. And by talking too much (indeed one of my problems) we prohibit our own ideas to become "better" and richer (in flavour, if you excuse my use of culinary metaphors).
As a foodie, I’m pro anything culinary (just back from a Peruvian restaurant :)
Yes, to fermentation and meditation 🧘🏻♂️
Great info. I only take aim with one statement, "There are student-less teachers." If someone has taught nothing, they cannot be considered a teacher until a lesson has been taught. Once a lesson is taught, a student and a teacher have been created simultaneously. I agree about the sentiment of a student teaching while still a student, but isn't that part of the path of becoming a true teacher... finding one's voice? Does it matter if the guru who we consider to be less enlightened is teaching just because we disagree with them or feel their lessons are not at their greatest potential? I have learned from many teachers who are still students in their own right. Brilliance can exude in mere moments. Its development can come to the most humble and the proudest regardless of time mastering the content. I welcome information. I do consider the source, but sometimes wisdom comes from the most unlikely of places...
Thank you, for taking the time to read and engage. Yes, I agree wisdom comes from the most unlikely of places...
Some deep stuff here! I think that it's difficult to try and quantify someone as skilled in something as objective as literature or spirituality. We can all be our own judge of things but formal education does not and should not be considered skill in something or an expert at something. I think the assumption that going to school for something makes someone good at something. That is definitely not the case! It improves ones look on something, yes but I don't think should be as important as some try to make it. We can read significant amounts of things on our own and come to our own opinions of it all that might take just as long as a formal education would.
Good thought provoking post here!
I'm glad you found this thought-provoking and am sorry if I was unclear. I did not mean that formal education, alone, made one an authority on a subject. I also believe in natural talent and something very hard to define (like taste) that can be refined with education, but not granted. Also, I do agree with you that to the open reader, with an open mind and heart, they can receive much, w/out filters...
Absolutely! Glad that you and I agree on those perspectives. A lot of people don’t and that’s sad! Thanks for dropping by my community here, it’s a lot of fun!
Haha, yes, the occasional rant is healthy :) Also, I'm of the opinion that as people/humans have far more in common than differences. And, when we disagree, that can be a learning experience, too. Have a lovely day, @cmplxty :)
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Gurus, those ubiquitous gurus, with their "Best Seller" books on how to take charge of your life and set the world on fire and get rich and be a #success -- everyone is a teacher, a guide, mentor, leader, guru, as their book sales will prove. Ugh! In the early 1980s I first took the bait with Wayne Dwyer's book, as per the recommendation of a college chum who seemed to have his act together. I lost count of the books I've read since then, all exhorting us to be great, and be humble, and.... you really nail it all, in this post. THANK YOU for this.
And now at the risk of playing the critic myself: no hyphen is needed after an -ly word. I may be the last editor on the planet who notices or cares, but "spiritually hungry" needs no hyphen. Big-House book publishers pay no attention. It's a lost cause, like lay vs lie, or "between you and I,' or "He gave Tom and I the book." Sets my teeth on edge. Let it go, Carol, let it go... I know, I know,
Critics, vs Encouragers.... we need "critical thinking" skills, but judgment and condemnation, no. Can a critic offer encouraging words... well, there's another blog post in the making.
Thank you for your reflections on false teachers - every line is quotable!
No, do not let it go, @carolkean! Thank you, for educating me (and entertaining me in the process :) We need real teachers; this is the point of my rant, above. I love the idea/writing prompt of critics offering encouraging words and think that the best do. Susan Sontag comes to mind and, mostly, used her criticism to convey her enthusiasms. Thank you, for your attention & hope your day is off to a good start :)
My day did get off to a great start - we awoke to a double rainbow! What a marvel of nature, the rainbow. A college roommate inspired in me a hatred of the cliche of rainbows and unicorns (dancing all over the walls of the room we shared--gaaaah!). But I am coming 'round to a new appreciation of these prisms of light and color, arcing a perfect 180-degree omen of goodness over the rain-soaked land.
The most quoted book critic of all time must be Dorothy Parker, whose one-liners are so memorable (e.g. Beauty is only skin-deep, but ugliness goes to the bones), and too many fiction workshoppers tried to channel her, only to show of their "wit" with snide judgments of the writer with very little attention given to the actual words and ideas of the victim (the writer).
Susan Sontag, now, using her criticism to convey her enthusiasms, THAT is who should be the most enduring and loved of "critics."
Let kindness reign, in abundance. :)
Yes, let kindness and gentleness reign. (I’m a fan of Parker, but only up to a point ;) Let’s consider that wisdom is becoming innocent, again, and maturity a kind of sweetening.
Here’s to appreciating those rainbows, even unicorns, innocently…
Some deep stuff here! I think that it's difficult to try and quantify someone as skilled in something as objective as literature or spirituality. We can all be our own judge of things but formal education does not and should not be considered skill in something or an expert at something. I think the assumption that going to school for something makes someone good at something. That is definitely not the case! It improves ones look on something, yes but I don't think should be as important as some try to make it. We can read significant amounts of things on our own and come to our own opinions of it all that might take just as long as a formal education would.
Good thought provoking post here!