Spiritual Teacher Quotes

We encounter the grinding wheels that sharpen our mental blades many places in life. Adversity, school, parents, spiritual guides, books, experience are all sharpening teachers. As we grow older, to stay sharp we must find new grindstones to whet and sharpen our potential and keep us at our brightest, most penetrating best. ~ Rob Kall

The abuse of power manifests with phony spiritual teachers and phony gurus who tell you how to run your life and what to wear and what to eat, all that sort of stuff. They abuse. People don't realize that, listen to them and ruin their lives. ~ Frederick Lenz

The one infallible sign that a spiritual teacher is a fraud is that he charges money for his instruction. ~ Alan Chadwick

At a certain point I left my spiritual teacher because I began to see the limitations of my teacher, who was a very powerful occultist, but who I thought was, to some extent, limiting others in their spiritual growth. ~ Frederick Lenz

When I'm with people, I'm a spiritual teacher. That's the function, but it's not my identity. The moment I'm alone, my deepest joy is to benobody, to relinquish the function of a teacher. It's a temporary function. ~ Eckhart Tolle

The kundalini comes in two primary forms when it comes forward from a spiritual teacher. ~ Frederick Lenz

When I was in my twenties and just so sexually prolific, the first time I went to Machu Picchu, this guy, a spiritual teacher, says to me, "When you make love, you must be making love." I thought that was the greatest advice I had ever heard. ~ Woody Harrelson

Every spiritual teaching points to the possibility of the end of suffering - Now. It is true that most teachers have had to go through the "Dark Night of the Soul," although for one or two it was very, very quick. ~ Eckhart Tolle

For spiritual teachers, it is important not to identify with the image people inevitably have of them. ~ Eckhart Tolle

I call myself a meditation teacher rather than a spiritual teacher. ~ Sharon Salzberg

Some of the most exalted states of consciousness I experienced were in bed with someone, alone, or with my spiritual teacher. There was never a difference for me. ~ Frederick Lenz

When I leave the body someday, I can help people just as effectively if they focus upon me. ~ Frederick Lenz

"Spiritual teacher" of course is not an identity. "Spiritual teacher" is a function. Somebody comes, the teaching happens. Somebody leaves, there's no spiritual teacher left. ~ Eckhart Tolle

You are not given the light by anyone - not even by a spiritual teacher. You are that light. ~ Swami Satchidananda

When it comes to spiritual teachers, there are those safe, gentle, consoling, soothing, caring; and there are the outlaws, the living terrors, the Rude Boys and Nasty Girls of God realization, the men and women who are in your face, disturbing you terrifying you, until you radically awaken to who and what you really are. ~ Ken Wilber

We hold in our arms the rising generation. They come to this earth with important responsibilities and great spiritual capacities. We cannot be casual in how we prepare them. Our challenge as parents and teachers is not to create a spiritual core in their souls but rather to fan the flame of their spiritual core already aglow with the fire of their premortal faith. ~ Neil L. Andersen

Spirituality is not a function of occupation or calling. A scientist may be more spiritual than a theologian; a teacher may be more spiritual than an officer. Spirituality is determined by personal outlook and priorities. It is evident in our words and actions. ~ Dallin H. Oaks

There are three things you cannot hide: smell of the garlic, fragrance of the flower and the wisdom of the teacher. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi

I believe the choice to become a mother is the choice to become one of the greatest spiritual teachers there is. ~ Oprah Winfrey

"To be a spiritual teacher you need to develop the skills and the art to convey the truth to others. It is the most difficult art, because something has to be said about something that cannot be said in language, something has to be transmitted which is not transmitable.
To be a spiritual teacher needs a particular training, a particular training to convey, a particular training to help, a particular training to advice and counsel, a particular training to create new devices and methods, because every individual and age need something different. ~ Swami Dhyan Giten

Aloneness is a wise teacher. Kierkegaard remarked that one sign of spiritual maturity was the ability to be comfortable when alone. ~ Vernon Howard

Are you a spiritual teacher? Then first thing you must teach to people is that there is no spirit, there is only mind and body and your mind is also a part of your body! ~ Mehmet Murat Ildan

We see that love manifested normally in the soldier, in the parent, in the lover, and in the spiritual teacher. ~ Frederick Lenz

One of the most extraordinary things about being a spiritual teacher is the rare privilege of being able to look deeply into the very souls of many human beings at the same time. ~ Andrew Cohen

In future years a number of you will become spiritual teachers. After many years of study and doing a good job, go out into the world and teach people.You'll reach points of advancement where you'll be able to be of great help to many, many people. ~ Frederick Lenz

Once the awakening happens, with it comes the realization that suffering is unnecessary now. You have reached the end of suffering because you have transcended the world. It is the place that is free of suffering. This seems to be everybody's path. Perhaps it is not everybody's path in this lifetime, but it seems to be a universal path. Even without a spiritual teaching or a spiritual teacher, I believe that everybody would get there eventually. But that could take time. ~ Eckhart Tolle

Phony gurus make themselves objects of adoration and worship. Real spiritual teachers aren't interested in adoration and worship. They like respect only because they realize respect will help the student. ~ Frederick Lenz

Flaky devotionalism, bowing and scraping and sucking up to the teacher is very phony. It is counterproductive to enlightenment and spiritual development. What is necessary is mutual respect. ~ Frederick Lenz

To be a spiritual teacher is the call of compassion. ~ Swami Dhyan Giten

We should reflect on the idea that since the beginning of time sentient beings have been mentally unstable because they have been slaves of delusion, they lack the eye of wisdom to see the path leading to nirvana and enlightenment, and they lack the necessary guidance of a spiritual teacher. Moment by moment they are indulging in negative actions, which will eventually bring about their downfall. ~ Dalai Lama

One of the characteristics of every great teacher I've known is tremendous exertion. It's interesting: You may see them as spiritual people or compassionate people, but the driving force is that incredible exertion - and their ability to sustain it. ~ Sakyong Mipham

We think we have to prove our allegiance to God by being poor. Many years ago, my own psychic development teacher taught me that to be on a spiritual path meant that you needed to be poor, because that was proving your allegiance to God. So growing up with that kind of teaching from her was a real struggle for me, also. ~ Echo Bodine

In short, a spiritual teacher needs to inject conflict into a disciple's life. Without conflict, we remain at levels of immaturity and don't grow spiritually. The conflict is likely asking us the question, "When are you going to grow up?" Jesus was consistently challenging his disciples by confronting them with their levels of immaturity. Within congregational life, there needs to be a kind of psychological contract between pastor and people that "sometimes I'm going to make you quite uncomfortable in my sermons and in my personal conversations with you." We should not accept spiritual messages that just always make us feel good about ourselves - a feel-good gospel. That is going to keep us stuck at immature levels of self-insight. In order for congregations to grow, both numerically and spiritually, we will need to experience conflict at all levels of congregational life. ~ Roy M Oswald

It's sad but true that if you focus your attention on housework and meal preparation and diapers, raising children does start to look like drudgery pretty quickly. On the other hand, if you see yourself as nothing less than your child's nurturer, role model, teacher, spiritual guide, and mentor, your days take on a very different cast. ~ Joyce Maynard

Sant Mat (the path and teachings as taught and practiced by saints) delineates the path of union of soul with the Divine. The teachings of the saints explain the re-uniting as follows:

The individual soul has descended from the higher worlds [the Realm of the Divine] to this city of illusion, bodily existence. It has descended from the Soundless state to the essence of Sound, from that Sound to Light, and finally from the realm of Light to the realm of Darkness. The qualities (dharmas, natural tendencies) of the sense organs draw us downward and away from our true nature.

The nature of the soul (atman) draws us upwards and inwards and establishes us in our own true nature. Returning to our origins involves turning inward: withdrawal of consciousness from the senses and the sense objects in order to go upward from the darkness to the realms of Light and Sound. [We experience this phenomenon of withdrawal as we pass from waking consciousness to deep sleep.] Another way to express this is to go inward from the external sense organs to the depth of the inner self. (Both of these expressions are the metaphors that signify the same movement). The natural tendencies of the soul (atman) are to move from outward to inward. The current of consciousness which is dispersed in the nine gates of the body and the senses, must be collected at the tenth gate.

The tenth gate is the gathering point of consciousness. Therein lies the path for our return. The tent ~ Swami Sant Sevi Ji Maharaj

There is a Divine Spiritual Teacher within you.

First become totally silent; only listening to the sound of your deep slow breathing.

Then be open; be innocent; and listen..... just listen.......as you breathe.... just listen.... ~ Leland Lewis

One of his students asked Buddha, "Are you the Messiah?" "No," answered Buddha. "Then are you a healer?" "No," Buddha replied. "Then are you a teacher?" the student persisted. "No, I am not a teacher." "Then what are you?" asked the student exasperated. "I am awake," Buddha replied. ~ Gautama Buddha

Many spiritual teachers have done this. They have disbanded their whole community because everyone got angry. The karma, at a certain point, has to go back to the person; it's intensified and hurts them spiritually. ~ Frederick Lenz

It is very hard to tell when I started to be a spiritual teacher. There was a time when occasionally somebody would come and ask me questions. One could say at that point I became a spiritual teacher, although the term did not occur to me then. ~ Eckhart Tolle

I entered a spiritual community when I was 20, which I was in for 11 year, with very strict meditative practices, with an Eastern teacher. It was very much like a religious order. ~ Frederick Lenz

An advanced way to meditate, of course, is to focus on your teacher. If you have a spiritual teacher and you focus on them during mediation, then you access the light that flows through them. ~ Frederick Lenz

Parenting requires a delicate balance of letting your child be your spiritual teacher while you maintain the clarity and boundaries to be her Earthly teacher. ~ Jennifer Griffin

Faith is loyalty to some inspired teacher, some spiritual hero. ~ Thomas Carlyle

Meister Eckhart, the thirteenth-century spiritual teacher, summed it all up beautifully: "Time is what keeps the light from reaching us. There is no greater obstacle to God than time. ~ Eckhart Tolle

The whole message of Jesus Christ is rejoicement. Jesus has said: Those who lose themselves will find themselves. It is to dissolve like a drop falls into the sea. The spiritual teacher is a death, but he is also a rebirth, a resurrection, a rejoicement. ~ Swami Dhyan Giten

That is the challenge of a spiritual teacher: not to take on board the projections of specialness people have. This is especially dangerous for spiritual teachers who only have contact with disciples or followers, who may live in an ashram. ~ Eckhart Tolle

Only the wounded healer is able to heal. As long as we think that spiritual leaders need to be perfect, we live in poverty. I have a perfect teacher inside; there is no perfect teacher outside. ~ Angelina Love

Remember you have lots of help. God is meditating in you and through you. The beneficent forces of existence are glad to help you. You can focus on any spiritual teacher. We are glad to help you. ~ Frederick Lenz

Dance bravely into your own heart, and you will find the love of all. ~ Tehya Sky

A teacher or teaching is not essential for spiritual awakening, but they save time. ~ Eckhart Tolle

My heart skipped a beat and then flat-out tripped over itself and fell on its face. Then my heart stood up, brushed itself off, took a deep breath and announced: I want a spiritual teacher. ~ Elizabeth Gilbert

The Zen Master was constantly attempting to break up concepts that people had about what it was like to be a spiritual teacher. We have a traditional image. Each Zen master was a complete character. ~ Frederick Lenz

I have seen cases where people seemed to become totally free of ego, and at some point in their lives the ego came back. It has happened, for example, to some spiritual teachers. At some point in their lives, they began to identify again with form. ~ Eckhart Tolle

If I'm going to continue to be any kind of spiritual teacher, I've got to go deeper myself. And so for me, [I am] preserving long periods of solitude, silence, prayer, journaling, study, writing. I don't turn on music or the TV unless I really need to. ~ Richard Rohr

At some point, it's time to stop fighting with death, my thighs and the way things are. And to realize that emotional eating in nothing but bolting from multiple versions of the above: the obsession will stop when the bolting stops. And at that point, we might answer, as spiritual teacher Catherine Ingram did, when someone asked how she allowed herself to tolerate deep sorrow, I live among the brokenhearted. They allow it. ~ Geneen Roth

Yes, fasting is not merely a commandment from God but a godly gift, a grace and a blessing. God the creator of our body and soul knows of our need to fast for its benefit for our spiritual life, development and our eternity. He granted us the knowledge and manner of fasting. As a kind Father and a wise Teacher, He has recommended fasting for us. ~ Pope Shenouda III Of Alexandria

The clergy profession is fundamentally self-defeating. Its stated purpose is to nurture spiritual maturity in the church - a valuable goal. In actuality, however; it accomplishes the opposite by nurturing a permanent dependence of the laity on the clergy. Clergy become to their congregations like parents whose children never grow up, like therapists whose clients never become healed, like teachers whose students never graduate. ~ Christian Smith

Acceptance is an important spiritual teacher. ~ Gina Lakes

Like Gandhi, like the Buddha, like all great spiritual teachers, Easwaran had no use for beliefs unless they generated actions. Doing, not saying, is what counts. ~ Eknath Easwaran

you see it." Gurdjieff, a great spiritual teacher who taught in Europe and America in the early decades of the twentieth century, noted that if you think you're free and you don't know you are in prison, you can't escape. Gurdjieff saw us as being in a prison of our own habits of mind. Unless we understand how we are conditioned by our desires, we remain stuck in the reality they create, like a television program with an ad that keeps repeating over and over, implanting a subliminal message while we watch the show. BEYOND THOUGHT In the West we get rewarded for rational knowledge and learning. But only when you see that the assumptions you've been working under are not valid, ~ Ram Dass

A true spiritual teacher knows more than he or she necessarily verbalizes, using temperance and love to be guided to say what is appropriate ... ~ Meredith L. Young-Sowers

If the only teacher you have is your suffering, you will need a substantial dose of it for the ego to dissolve. But if the power of spiritual teaching is already at work, then a minor event can dissolve the ego. ~ Eckhart Tolle

A friend of mine urged me to see my pain as an opportunity. And since the same psychic that contacted Dion Fortune had told me that I was a "teacher" - she didn't mean at Columbia, she meant in the spiritual sense - I decided my affliction was the universe telling me that it was time to stop writing fiction and become the spiritual guru I was clearly meant to be. ~ Heidi Julavits

I believe this nation hungers for a spiritual revival; hungers to once again see honor placed above political expediency; to see government once again the protector of our liberties, not the distributor of gifts and privilege. Government should uphold and not undermine those institutions which are custodians of the very values upon which civilization is founded-religion, education and, above all, family. Government cannot be clergyman, teacher and patriot. It government is our servant, beholden to us. ~ Ronald Reagan

A true spiritual teacher does not have anything to teach in the conventional sense of the word, does not have anything to give or add to you, such as new information, beliefs, or rules of conduct. The only function of such a teacher is to help you remove that which separates you from the truth of who you already are and what you already know in the depth of your being ~ Eckhart Tolle

To be a great teacher, you can't simply be looking at how to earn your income. And with a priest or spiritual leader - there's another relationship that makes those lives what they are. And in each of these cases you'll find elements of gift exchange thriving, and you'll also find a tension around it. ~ Lewis Hyde

Sex education, including its spiritual aspects, should be part of a broad health and moral education from kindergarten through grade twelve, ideally carried out harmoniously by parents and teachers. ~ Benjamin Spock

What is Strange and disconcerting about Jesus is the fact that he rarely makes demands. The style of teaching he engages in is not rote on memorization or indoctrination but Socratic, propositional and inductive. The listener is invited to explore and come to a conclusion. It is the desire of Christ for his audience to reach a conclusion and not be told what to think.
Stories, sayings, reversals, parables and other forms of teaching used by Jesus are not good teaching tools for people who seek simplistic answers. Jesus teaches but requires more of a listener. We are invited to join the journey, wrestle with our assumptions, confront our spiritual bigotry and struggle with the humbling mystery and profound profundity of God.
This is HARD faith, especially for the modern reader. We want the speaker to tell us what to think. We want our stories tidy, without complication, and we do not want questions designed to coerce us beyond easy answers. This is the LIFE and MINISTRY of Jesus. He was a walking mobile university, a theological gadfly, a spiritual teacher and Savior who cannot be contained by tradition, conformity or assimilation. Jesus is loose in the world quietly upending all assumptions, ideas and concepts we hold true. ~ Otis Moss II

If you're lucky you find your way into a spiritual community and you start to find the great teachers of all the ages who said the same thing. There's only love, you're made of love. ~ Anne Lamott

Teacher is not a great popular person. They teach what they know and make people better than them. Teacher must create a student better than him or her. Otherwise that person is not a teacher but a preacher. There are tons and thousands of preachers. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi

I was told to challenge every spiritual teacher, every world leader to utter the one sentence that no religion, no political party, and no nation on the face of the earth will dare utter: 'Ours is not a better way, ours is merely another way. ~ Neale Donald Walsch

Bring forth a spiritual idea that will never fade. ~ Michael Bassey Johnson

Art is the more spiritual side of education that really does saves lives and makes amazing individuals. ~ Mya

The Way to Heaven has no favorites. It is always with the good man. ~ Laozi

How Could Any True Love Be Based On Abandonment? ~ Matthew Edward Hall

In my ten years of teaching I've noticed that teachers tend to have a bad habit of talking to themselves. I hypothesize that this is because we talk for a living, and we feel safe speaking our feelings aloud. Or it could be that most of us, especially the high school teacher variety, are just weird as shit. ~ P.C. Cast

Meditation means to awaken new dimensions within you. ~ Jaggi Vasudev

President Obama and Secretary Duncan have made stronger teacher evaluation a key part of their education reform efforts. Under their signature plan, called 'Race to the Top,' states can win federal support for schools by improving teacher evaluations. ~ Juan Williams

I don't think atheism means one does not believe in a spiritual life. I think it means one does not follow the tenets of the established religions. ~ Amanda Donohoe

My mother is a special education teacher but also an artist, and my father an advertising executive. They are about as wacky as you can get without being alcoholics. ~ Sloane Crosley

Some women tell me they don't think what I do is important, but would like to travel the world with me. Others say they're not a slut, even though they slept with many strangers. And then many others claim to love me, even though disrespecting my beliefs and ridiculing my knowledge. And I wonder if there's the word idiot written in my forehead, or if some people are just purely addicted to suffering. They then say I'm not spiritual when I call them names and expel them from my life. One the contrary my friend, a spiritual person is very awake, not just spiritually, but mentally too. The real and most spiritual ones are not braindead. They will give you hell if you give them suffering. Hell is very real and they can show you that better than anyone. Otherwise, they're not spiritual, but pretending to be. Spirituality is reality, not cuckoo land full of unicorns and fairies. ~ Robin Sacredfire

I am a debtor to everyone on the face of the earth because of the gospel of Jesus; I am free only that I may be an absolute bondservant of His. That is the characteristic of a Christian's life once this level of spiritual honor and duty becomes real. Quit praying about yourself and spend your life for the sake of others as the bondservant of Jesus. That is the true meaning of being broken bread and poured-out wine in real life. ~ Oswald Chambers

All religions are correct but the religion that searches for 'Who am I?' and 'Who is the doer?' is on the last final path of religion. And which knows this 'Who' is the final religion. ~ Dada Bhagwan

I want to be just a pure spiritual leader. ~ Dalai Lama

The transformed person is a revolutionary only because he has revolutionized himself. He gives the people inspiration by holding up a mirror to their inner substance. ~ Vironika Tugaleva

He becomes your Teacher. Jesus said when the Spirit of truth comes, He shall teach you all things. He didn't say 'some things,' but ALL THINGS. Glory to God! Anything in this life, anything about life, anything about God, ANYTHING at all, the Holy Ghost can teach you if you will ask or let Him. He will open up the Word of God to you and unveil the realities of God to you. He will be your Teacher. He will let you know what to do. When the Holy Ghost takes over your life, you will be different. ~ Chris Oyakhilome

Fighting is spiritual. It appears to be physical from the layman's eyes. In my fights, I seemed to be angry and mad - all that stuff you saw me doing, the yelling and screaming and being mean in the ring - but I'm cool as a cucumber. I can hear everybody talking around me outside of the ring. I can see everybody. I know what is going on. ~ Mike Tyson

Imagine for a moment that you were God. Not God as a man or woman, but God as the awareness of all life. To be that in physical form is to be an enlightened person. ~ Frederick Lenz

Many people find spiritual growth possible only when times are hard; prosperity tends to promote complacency. ~ Max Anders

Sometimes, an inability to believe in Satan reflects a larger inability to believe in a spiritual plane at all. ~ John Ortberg

Curiously, ghosts are rarely if ever seen in the nude. They appear fully clothed, and may even change clothing on subsequent appearances. They may change their form, to appear as they looked at different stages of their lives. Unless someone out there knows of an extoplasmic department store on the spiritual plane, we have to wonder, Where do the clothes and accessories come from? ~ Loyd Auerbach

Keep God within His and anothers' arm's reach. ~ Annette Schrab Clark

Lava oozed up from the centre of the crater like blood from a wound. As the flaming lava touched the water it hissed and groaned. She feared she would be boiled alive. ~ Alison Cooklin

Our teacher, Mr. Stratton, was way distracting with his angular face and broad shoulders. The dark-rimmed glasses he wore had caused many a breathy sigh from his students when he'd adjusted them on his face.
One time he'd bitten his lip, pulling it between his teeth in a totally sexy way and I swear, I could smell the estrogen surge in the room. ~ Katrina Abbott

The blue light is all over. Actually it is within my body. Makes my joints feel all warm.
Vulture thinks I talk too much. ~ Sandra Harner

A man is never such an egotist as at moments of spiritual ecstasy. At such times it seems to him that there is nothing on earth more splendid and interesting than himself. ~ Leo Tolstoy

The inspired words, which flush my mind, come from a higher power! ~ Lailah Gifty Akita

Moksha (ultimate liberation) means that you just have to change your vision. ~ Dada Bhagwan

When I hear my teacher say, 'Line up with your partner,' I run to line up and grab my partner and I tell him to walk faster so we could dance faster. I love to dance. ~ Stephanie

Praise, help, or even a look, may be enough to interrupt him, or destroy the activity. It seems a strange thing to say, but this can happen even if the child merely becomes aware of being watched. After all, we too sometimes feel unable to go on working if someone comes to see what we are doing. The great principle which brings success to the teacher is this: as soon as concentration has begun, act as if the child does not exist. Naturally, one can see what he is doing with a quick glance, but without his being aware of it. ~ Maria Montessori