That Faraway Look

If someone has a faraway look, it’s as if they are not with us, or aware of what’s happening around them. They are distant, remote, dreamy, absent-minded, living through their memories.

This faraway look has ramifications.

When we join any group, especially a spiritual group, we look at the figurehead, the teacher, but we also have to look at the members or students. What is their attitude? This is how it should be. 

We should not just accept a teacher because of a name, a title, mannerisms, or an entourage. But we can look at this entourage to gauge how aware and open they are. Are they with us, or have they acquired that faraway look?

Too many ‘spiritual’ people have this look, which reflects the atmosphere created by the teacher. Are the students sharp or in a routine? Looking at the students – the products – is how we judge a teacher, not in negative way, but by asking whether we can rely on them. I’ve often asked guru/lamas, “Do I have to be like the other students?” but I’ve neever received an empathetic response to this question.

Teachers are two a penny. 
Students/devotees are a hundred, a hundred thousand, a million a penny.

How can we rely on people to have an empathetic tête-à-tête, 
when their minds are far away?