The following is an extract from my book Discover Your Soul Template.
If you want to go the whole hog and set yourself up in business as a spiritual teacher or counselor, then there are some important things to consider.
First, you have to ask yourself why you want to do it. Clarify your intention by listening to what your ego is saying. Chances are the ego will go along for the power trip and the attention. That does not mean, however, that you are not suitable for the calling. All human beings and all spiritual teachers have an ego. Your job is to keep an eye on that part of yourself so that it does not dominate your work. Above all, listen to the voice of Spirit. It will guide you. It will tell you if your ego is starting to party hard, and will often let you know whether you are ready or not, and whether to stop, go, or wait.
Regardless of all other considerations, a spiritual teacher is called upon to serve Spirit. If you are not doing that, if you have no intention to do that, you are not a spiritual teacher, even if you call yourself one. You are a spiritual fraudster.
At a very practical level, you have to decide what it is you are selling. This may not seem very spiritual, but actually there is nothing unspiritual about selling or making money. Remember, in the end it is all an exchange of energy.
I highly recommend that you begin part-time. I have met more than a few naïve wannabe teachers who think the cosmos will reward them for the generous act of offering their grand wisdom to humanity. That’s not how it works. You have to honor the language and the realities of the market place. You have to offer a product that has some kind of business worthiness. Someone out there is going to have to want to buy what you are selling. And then you have to let people know about it.
Another approach is to make your teaching into a pastime, rather than a money-making venture. You might see it as a chance to share your wisdom with humanity. This is a perfectly noble ambition. One point to keep in mind, however, is that people often do not value what they are given for free. Scientific studies have confirmed this. When people are charged more for a service, they tend to report more positively about it, and when it is cheap, they tend to dis it. If you write a book, print off a thousand copies, and give them away on the street, you can bet a lot of people will not value it. If you charge market prices, only people who really want it will buy it. If you overcharge people, they will think you are a crook. There is nothing wrong with doing things for no financial reward. However, just be mindful that your desire to take this approach is not undermined by a belief that money is bad, that you are not worth anything, or that abundance is just too hard to create.
Jessica, the woman who was the original inspiration for my theory of Integrated Intelligence, charged hefty fees. She earned about five times more per hour than I did at the time, and I was an education professional with a university degree (she had no degree). But she was so brilliant that she had no trouble attracting clients. She was also very generous. One time I had a one-on-one session with her and at the end she laughed playfully like a little girl and said that Spirit had told her to give me the session for free. And so she did.
As I mentioned in an earlier chapter, every time you step forward out of your comfort zone in an act of creativity, it will draw out the resisting beliefs and energies from your psyche. As a Sage you will need to work on your consciousness, as well as deal with the day-to-day running of your business. This takes time and discipline. Don’t overestimate how quickly you can set things up, because it usually takes longer than you think. Creating unrealistic expectations places unnecessary stress on yourself.
Money pushes buttons too. If you put yourself under financial pressure, you may, ironically, cut yourself off from Spirit. Think about it. You open your little spiritual center and nobody comes. Suddenly you can’t pay the rent, and you are asking all sorts of questions of Spirit, and demanding some answers. The ego will tend to get scared and angry and then go into blame and judgment. Fear takes you away from presence and away from Integrated Intelligence and the wisdom of the Spirit. This situation can turn into a self-perpetuating cycle of poverty and poverty consciousness. You go into business believing that the cosmos owes you a living. You have a bit of a hard time, and suddenly the negative beliefs within the psyche come forward, and before you know it you are broke, bitter, and screaming, “I told you so!”
This is precisely what happens to a lot of wannabe spiritual teachers. Mostly, we overestimate our level of spiritual development and our faith in the cosmos. Nothing will bring out doubt and fear faster than the rent notice when you haven’t got a penny to your name.
Remember the concept of being a spiritual fraud? I call it frauding, when you believe you have gained a level of spiritual development that you have not. Frauding involves a rejection of certain parts of your psyche that you are not willing to look at, and this usually means that there is some personal pain that you are avoiding. My ego fall at the country retreat, which I mentioned above (not included in this extract), is a classic example. My ego fall came early, as the lie was exposed by perceptive people. In day-to-day life (as opposed to doing spiritual work), a fall also inevitably comes when we fraud. It may just take longer to happen.
An awareness of the trickster and its tendency to fraud, is crucial for your business and for the manifestation of your bliss in general. When your estimation of your attainment exceeds the reality, it creates a metaphysical wake. A critical instability emerges when the delusion becomes too great. Even as you think you are putting forward positive energy into the world, your psyche will be working against you and against your bliss. Once a certain level of delusion is reached, you have to invest more and more energy in maintaining the charade. Inevitably, the whole thing comes crashing down like a house of cards.
Everyone frauds from time to time, because everyone has an ego. It’s just a question of spotting the lies as they pop up, and gently and lovingly correcting them. When you are frauding, Spirit will send you signals. We have to be on the lookout for the signs. Within my own psyche, I have always gotten a particular symbol in my dreams and meditations at such times: Mickey Mouse! To say that something is “Mickey Mouse” is to imply that it is false or simply of poor quality.
For you the symbol you are given or the way Spirit lets you know you are going into delusion will most likely be different. Your life experience is different from mine, and the symbols within your psyche are particular to you. You have to learn that language.
It is also important to remember that, though the Sage is always a teacher of Spirit, she does not necessarily have to become a spiritual teacher. As long as you are living your bliss and in presence you will be serving Spirit. You will be part of the light, pushing holes through the darkness. I trust that this book has shown you that this is not as easy as some popular versions of spiritual development make it out to be.
Keep in mind though, that beyond the price you pay, the reward is the joyful discovery of your soul, and the knowledge that your time here on earth has been of service to all humanity.
Marcus
1 thought on “Are You a Potential Spiritual Teacher?”
We were first given to. I was given my life, you were given yours. We were each given the ability to love as a fundamental ability of that life. I was given freedom of choice and so many gifts. These same gifts have been given to you. Having received, it is now our responsibility to give. Until we learn to give we are unlikely to receive, especially spiritually.
As a person learns to be compassionate, they make space to receive kindness. In the same way as you forgive it becomes easier for others to forgive you. Allowing your true feelings to flow opens the door to receiving. As you love others you give love an opportunity to liberate. As you love your own soul, your own being, your own presence love becomes part of you. Now is the time to give, to give to yourself and of yourself. Do not wait for an opportunity to arrive, the occasion is always present. The time to love is here and now. Your spirit, your very essence is healed as you do so. It is not selfish to re-unite with your soul. A wounded soul needs your love to restore it.
There is no scarcity of love, it is free, it is plentiful and to be found anywhere and everywhere. It is within, nearby and afar. It is here now, this very instant. It is throughout and beyond. We are never alone. My problem is that during my temporary stay here on planet earth I have clouded my ability to see love’s clarity. I have been neglecting love who is my companion. It is not within the spirit of love to hide and be unavailable to anyone, for why would that be so? Love has no requirement to be veiled for that is not its essence. Love does not hide. It can only be me who has made myself remote from love. Each of us is alike, it is the same for you, the same for all.
Love cannot help but give of itself for that is its nature. Frequently we do not recognise this and we become blinded by our inability to see. On another occasion we may be blinded by love, by its beauty, by its brilliance. Where you or I do not see peace today, we may find peace tomorrow. The same is true of all the aspects of love. As I forgive I am forgiven. You and I as individuals may find it difficult to reduce the conflict on our planet, but we are responsible for peace within our own hearts.
Although love is not hidden, in order to see it and be in its presence, we are required to seek it out by opening the eyes of our souls and then, finding it, stay within that place. Love will assist, that is its nature. It is not for me just to sit back and let love do the work for me, it is my job and yours, to initiate this reunion by achieving our home coming back to kindness, compassion, peace and joy so that we again find our true selves.
Our egotistical self is not our real being. As I pick love as my powerful and comforting partner I may always ask for its assistance. Love will not and cannot reject me for its pattern is to give and forgive. Our efforts will always be rewarded. It is a case of “give and be given to” rather than saying give to me first and then I will give. I am, and so are you, to make this move of reconciliation and be loving. Thus we may re-unite with a mighty giving and forgiving presence.
If you do not find peace in your own home, your own kitchen, your own inner self, what chance planet earth? For the sake of all, the path to peace is yours to take.
Love and all its ingredients such as kindness, forgiveness and truth are free. We may access its compassion wherever we are, within and without, for it is ever present and ever a present awaiting to be opened. We only need to practise our willingness to achieve its companionship. The task of every human is to actively look for and seek the company of love in every situation. Love is to again immerse us as we devote ourselves to renewing our relationship. What better cause can there be in life than to love? It is time to re-discover love, it is the reason for life and death. My soul is love and yearns my return, we have been separated too long. We all forget and we have left our souls in darkness. The moment is now to renew this spiritual association.
In the beginning we are love, what has happened since? How come I no longer recognize my beginning? Where have I hidden my truth? I have become so remote. I seem to have difficulty distinguishing my own spiritual self, my own reality. I associate with my ego in preference to my soul. I no longer recognise my true nature. I have deeply buried myself and hidden my real being, buried behind so many disguises. I have been so calculating with my cleverness that I no longer recognize who I am. I have lost contact with my soul. So have you.
How come I let others advise me about my feelings? How come I let the world I perceive, the material world, tower over me and my relationship with my soul? How is it that I have ignored my very core, my essence, my presence? How come I have shut myself down from love? How come we fail to demonstrate thankfulness, to forgive, to be caring, comforting and to show concern for others? How come we judge and fail to be truthful and gentle? Where is our hope, our humility? We have lost touch in these matters and love escapes us. The time is now to return to kindness, joy, light, mercy, peace, thankfulness, tolerance, truth, wisdom and all things loving; for you and for me. We are all related, we are related by love; we have forgotten.
Now is my chance to again be with my soul. It is not within my power to change yesterday, nor am I able to surely predict tomorrow, but by living love in the “now”, in this instant, then I become more accepting and less judging. Love will love me for that. Similarly for you, by giving, you receive. By showing care, you will receive. Forgiving self, forgiving others and being forgiven is what your soul yearns. Love is who you are, allow its company. Love will remain with those who are prepared to forgive and be at peace. Now is the time to do this, it is never too late.
As I receive love I may pass it on to others, as I do so I may immediately be replenished. But not giving is being apart and I will not have made space for love within. As I again allow myself to love and be loving, I am thankful. I am not to ask to whom shall I give, I am just to give. It is not for me to judge whether I should give to the perceived rich or poor. The sun does not ask “For whom am I giving light?” the sun just gives light. The tree does not ask, “For whom am I giving shade?” it just gives shade. Similarly it is for me to give. Give freely so I may receive freely. Practise giving and be thankful. Give with joy in the heart. Give of the soul rather than the mind, give spiritually. Today is given to us for giving. I may find it easy to offer love to some and more difficult to others. I am to practise for all are equal; all are souls as I am, journeying on this planet. I am offered the consciousness of love as my companion, why would I reject it?
My giving is just to be giving, not with any attachment. Should I give with a condition, it becomes something other than a gift. To say “I will give you this, if you do or allow that”, that is a trade rather than a gift. Love is not a trading commodity. Similarly love cannot be: “I’ll love you if you do this” for that is manipulation and such exploitation is no longer loving. The gift of love is freedom, love itself is free. Love is. Just allow love, for this recognition brings peace and understanding. Today our world needs peace and acceptance and I hear many say “There’s nothing I can do.” But there is something you may do! You may assist by becoming peaceful and kind, within your soul and outwardly in your daily life. Re-unite with your soul.
Imagine if we all did just that!