Who Can We Trust?

We are all beings whose essence is enlightened, so there’s nothing special about this, but we doubt it – and that doubting makes it seem ‘special’.

Some people have more experience than others in certain fields, but take that individual out of their area of expertise and they’re just like everyone else – a fish out of water, no longer able to lord it over others. One can be an expert in the Dharma, for example, but not expert in dealing with individuals.

Understanding this is the key that unlocks our partiality.

There are no students and teachers – we are all patients and physicians (from Latin physica, things relating to nature). People fall into two categories; those who write a ‘prescription’ with ready-made answers before the other person has even spoken, and those who ask questions first to ascertain the background history. I’ve never met a guru who can do the latter – they only want to hear that we’ve fallen in line and we’re keen to let them know that we have. It’s called totalitarianism, and religion isn’t immune.

Communication needs to be a two-way affair, and gurus should learn from the person in front of them. If they don’t, they are misinformed, and they misinform. This is why the Buddha said, “Do not take my word for the truth; test it for yourself …”

Nobody should lord it over others. Respect must go both ways. People who think they know more should think again…

We all suffer from information overload (also known as ‘infobesity’, ‘infoxication’ or ‘information-anxiety’. This creates a difficulty in understanding an situation and making effective decisions, and is generally associated with an excessive quantity of daily information, fostering repetition without understanding.

We can only trust experiencing, questioning, realising and empathising, which lead to genuine, compassionate wholeness. Many people chant about compassion but do not demonstrate it. Whenever I’ve had interviews with gurus, they only want to hear whether I’m managing to fall in line. 🙂

Understand the problems for humanity.
We all have a part to play, rather than being part of the problem.

We don’t have to be spiritual to do this;
we just need to be aware.