What Does Correct Spiritual Leadership Look Like?

[Saylor Twift]

Is there anybody collecting data on this? Anybody doing proper statistical analysis on effective spiritual teaching strategies and maps?

 

There have been many good discussions on these forums regarding improper or incorrect behavior for spiritual teachers. Discussions about how they shouldn’t conduct themselves, how they shouldn’t teach, what they shouldn’t teach. Discussions about incorrect leadership and the potential to mislead. Discussions about spiritual exploitation, what that involves, and how to identify it. 

 

Most of the discussion I’ve seen centers around bad or incorrect leadership. Of course there’s nothing wrong with that. Bad leadership is an important topic, but what does correct spiritual leadership look like and how does anybody know? What are some examples of properly run spiritual communities which are/have been successful in their goals of waking people up or whatever else the goals might be?

 

What exactly is it that makes a spiritual community beneficial to its members?

 

What specific piece of instruction/advice/information have you personally found most helpful? How was it delivered? What made it helpful? Why do you think you received it properly? What made it click?

 

I’m hoping to get an in-depth and thought provoking discussion going about this topic. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts! 🙂

[Phil]

@Saylor Twift

Love to hear any suggestions as to how these could be bettered, or made more accurate, clear etc.

https://www.actualityofbeing.com/maps

-https://www.actualityofbeing.com/spiritual-mis-leadership

-https://www.actualityofbeing.com/spiritual-authority-confusion

 

And this as well…

https://www.actualityofbeing.com/the-ten-ox-herding-pictures

[Loop]

The best leaders let Everyone lead them, they listen, understand the other persons perspective & help them to improve it. They don’t get caught up in what their vision is for you, they allow you to feel your own connection with Heart, and facilitate you to deepen that. A good spiritual teacher understands they cannot teach you, they can only show you the where to look for the Guidance, for your connection to Source, and that you gotta listen to it for yourself. They will ideally be satisfied with where they are at so it is only your desires that get harmonized, & you don’t pick up any shadow or ideals from them. 

This is how I feel right now, might add to this later.

 

[Loop]

Honestly, I don’t feel anyone should aspire to be a spiritual teacher,

Only to just be Endless Friends with everyone,

Teaching is for people who still have thoughts, 

Chilling at the Springs & making friends with everyone who comes and goes it where it is really at. 
 

This is the final ox herding picture, bare chested the monk returns to the market place, and through just interacting with, hanging out, and having Fun with everyone, the monk brings Enlightenment. Not through trying to teach anyone, as there really isn’t anyone to teach. The Tao already is. The emptying is the returning, the returning is the emptying. There is no more emptying the void, or returning back to Source, Enlightenment & Embodiment have been integrated.
 

[Phil]

@Saylor Twift

As all is let go meditatively, a distillation of ‘monkey mind’, which is nothing more than the  activity of thought, which arises only of emotional suppression of discordant beliefs, occurs.

 

And all discord meditatively subsides, as it isn’t & never truly was. 

 

Cessation. 

 

Only The Truth; absolute unconditional clarity,  omniscience, omnipotence, omnipresence remains. 

And of course, not even. 

 

Therein there is no spiritual leadership, precisely as there aren’t separate selves already. 

 

There is experientially fraudulence, manipulation, deceit, coercion, exploitation, molestation, extortion, charlatanry, dishonesty; corruption… any and all truly countless & immeasurable harming mistreatments, and not even, as all arises only of ‘monkey mind’, ‘the activity of thought’ - emotional suppression; beliefs. 

 

All just to uphold beliefs, discord, suffering. 

 

 

”When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.”

- Jesus

 

“And the greatest of teachers won’t hesitate, to leave you there by your self; chained to fate.”

- Live

 

“I am just a worthless liar; I am just an imbecile. I will only complicate you; trust in me and fall as well. I will find a center in you; I will chew it up and leave. I will work to elevate you - just enough to bring you down; trust me! trust me! trust me! Trust Me! TRUST ME!”

- Tool

 

Unconditional couldn’t be more simple, as all which arises arises as conditions. 

Conditioning, is radical. 

And of course, not even. 

[Joseph Maynor]

Tips for teaching spirituality from my perspective: Guide people by nudging them to find their spirituality and develop it by looking inside themselves using their own language and ideas.  Be a good person who is not toxic and caring but also realizing that you shouldn't dominate someone, you should primarily ask them what they think and be caring to them.  Don't think for people and don't reward them for copying your ideas.  Guide by encouraging them to explore and find their own spirituality.  Push them to trust their own spiritual creations instead of looking to you to provide answers.

Edited January 11 by Joseph Maynor

[Tarak]

Gonna drop my 5c here, which might be controversial:

 

I suppose everyone knows Osho, the guru who f'd around with his students and used lots of luxury products. Was he a bad teacher? You could say he was, since he was definitely not an example of sober living, but at the same time, his work brought the eastern wisdom to the west on a scale never seen before. Whatever drama and bad things that surround his personality and ashrams, it helped a lot of people take their first conscious steps on the path.

 

My biggest teachers nowadays are people close to me, most not even aware of the spiritual. My kid having a tantrum can learn me more than listening to a 2 hour teaching of my favorite guru. Everyone and everything is both the best teacher and student.

Edited January 24 by Tarak

[Saylor Twift]

2 hours ago, Tarak said:

I suppose everyone knows Osho, the guru who f'd around with his students and used lots of luxury products. Was he a bad teacher? You could say he was, since he was definitely not an example of sober living, but at the same time, his work brought the eastern wisdom to the west on a scale never seen before. Whatever drama and bad things that surround his personality and ashrams, it helped a lot of people take their first conscious steps on the path.

I barely know anything about Osho other than that he had a massive cult and loved expensive cars. I also love expensive cars, and my cult is in the works. (Kidding about the cult.. Or am I??) But what is sober living supposed to look like anyway? Is anybody an example of that? Fucking students does fall under the umbrella of things I’d consider scummy, especially if there’s a power dynamic at play. I guess Alan Watts had a lot of drama in his life too and he was my favorite teacher for a long time. Recordings of his lectures on YouTube were what first introduced me to spirituality, and I still think they’re pretty good.

3 hours ago, Tarak said:

My biggest teachers nowadays are people close to me, most not even aware of the spiritual. My kid having a tantrum can learn me more than listening to a 2 hour teaching of my favorite guru. Everyone and everything is both the best teacher and student.

Yes, everyone is both teacher and student, for sure. That was a tough lesson for me. I used to spend hours listening to spiritual teachers on YouTube just trying to get the key insight that might get things moving for me. I went in circles trying to figure out which ones were enlightened, and which sets of dogma were more correct. I had to feel like I was driving myself crazy before I finally started looking inward. And then I realized other people are no different from me. Fucking duh no one gets enlightened. Lol

[solereproduction]

On 12/26/2022 at 12:26 PM, Saylor Twift said:

Is there anybody collecting data on this? Anybody doing proper statistical analysis on effective spiritual teaching strategies and maps?

 

There have been many good discussions on these forums regarding improper or incorrect behavior for spiritual teachers. Discussions about how they shouldn’t conduct themselves, how they shouldn’t teach, what they shouldn’t teach. Discussions about incorrect leadership and the potential to mislead. Discussions about spiritual exploitation, what that involves, and how to identify it. 

 

Most of the discussion I’ve seen centers around bad or incorrect leadership. Of course there’s nothing wrong with that. Bad leadership is an important topic, but what does correct spiritual leadership look like and how does anybody know? What are some examples of properly run spiritual communities which are/have been successful in their goals of waking people up or whatever else the goals might be?

 

What exactly is it that makes a spiritual community beneficial to its members?

 

What specific piece of instruction/advice/information have you personally found most helpful? How was it delivered? What made it helpful? Why do you think you received it properly? What made it click?

 

I’m hoping to get an in-depth and thought provoking discussion going about this topic. Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts! 🙂

Lead by example.

always be honest about self evident life evolving in plain sight.

Don't get lost believing in hypothetical stiuations and scenarios.

 

Understand the kinetics to perpetual balancing universe outside your sole time displaced here in this atmosphere naturally living as one of a kind being eternally different than before until your cycled reproduction is over.

 

Intellect is induced energy in the brain from the body evolving with each breath, each heartbeat, each blink of your eyes. Your body is never the same total sum twice, neither is anything else physically present.