True Gurus?

I had known Lassie corner well and it became a popular meeting place being so close to the entrance of the stupa, and one of my favourite cafes to take a special cooked breakfast of poori and sabji, a sort of fried chapatti with spicy vegetables. 

On one occasion when I was there sitting and drinking a chai, a very famous western Tibetan Buddhist monk walked straight to my table and sat opposite me.

"You're Michael Kewley?" he said.

"Yes," I replied.

"You are my favourite guru in Budh Gaya," he continued.

"But I'm not a guru," I answered.

He pointed his fat finger at me and laughed, "and that's why you're my favourite!" he finished.

I felt this to be a good compliment, especially from such a well known figure
. The modern spiritual world is filled with people presenting themselves as awakened and enlightened, and to reinforce that idea in others they behave in a way that is not completely natural.

The soft almost whispering voice, the inability to complete even a simple sentence without slipping back into bliss. The enigmatic laugh as they show their understanding of something that you as the student, have not yet realised. 

An oscar winning performance of a presentation of enlightenment.

But Awakening is as natural as breathing. It is not outside our ordinary human experience and those who make a show of something special in this dream-like way only present something that is known in Vipassana training as 'Soft Mind'. The mind without any real energy. 

If this had been the Buddha's realisation, his teaching could not have continued and survived for almost two thousand six hundred years. All the beautiful teachers I have lived and trained with, were quiet, gentle loving people with tremendous energy and vitality. Their Dhamma talks did not send me to sleep, but inspired me to practice. To come fully into my own life and to make an even greater effort for my own liberation.

May all beings be happy.

(Excerpt from: A Journey to Awakening)