A Mirror to Face

I listen with my full attention focused whenever my heart wants it to be thus. It takes more than a pair of ears, it takes a pair of ears attuned sharply to every aspect of the entire body. In this mode, the heart nudges. I follow.

Many teachers say, “You do not need a guru. I did not have one. Look at me, I have drawn a large crowd. Whooppeee!”

Most of them in my experience go on to teach like madmen, like their very lives depended upon it. Because they have told the listener, “Do not listen to me, you have all the answers for you”, nobody is listening except the judges. The fake teachers are off the hook, reckless even, since nobody is listening except the judges. The gurus are the entertainers. Damn good at it, some of them. But, it is still just entertainment and will not take you to your heart to realize what they are talking about. It creates a need for more entertainment is about all. To be drunk on the frivolous like politics or religious doctrine or spiritual mumbo jumbo or fortune telling nonsense. The judges want more of it. The judges require only a pair of ears and less than half a brain.

The true guru is speaking not to judges but to hearts. Knows it is not a numbers game. The way you can know one is to listen with your full attention focused because your heart wants it to be thus. It takes more than a pair of ears, it takes a pair of ears attuned sharply to every aspect of the entire body. In this mode, the heart nudges. You follow.

The so-called teachers, the entertainers, are afraid to accept the role of guru and I do not blame them. It is a tough job. They are not up to it. The guru is a mirror. The guru's function is to remain inwardly still with full attention focused in one simple message: what you are searching for, you have already. However, you need someone who is willing to tell you that over and over and over...until you get it! That is what a mirror is for. Then, free of guru. Live. Teach. Be glad. How do you teach? By being the mirror you hold before the student to show the student its own face.

There is a beautiful song called Ripple which both the Grateful Dead and Jimmie Dale Gilmore sing with so much heart. The last line goes, “if I knew the way, I would take you home”. In this way is a mirror true. NOBODY CAN TEACH YOU HOW TO LIVE WITH ALL YOUR MISTAKES AND SAFELY PENETRATE ALL DREADED INTERSECTIONS. YOU HAVE TO DO THAT. Arise!