The real relationship with the teacher

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The real relationship with the teacher

 

The real relationship with the teacher is from heart to heart, from soul to

soul. And the most fundamental part of this relationship is that the teacher is

not there. The teacher is just an empty space through which the Beyond, the

Infinite Emptiness, can be experienced. There can be no relationship with the

teacher on the level of the personality, because the teacher is one who has been

made empty, who has been made " featureless and formless. " Because the teacher is

empty, has passed away and is free from self, the teacher is a space in which

the lover can meet the Beloved.

 

A teacher, or guide, is essential. If you need a guide to cross an unknown land,

how much more do you need a guide to help you through the unknown inner world!

To quote Rûmî: " Choose a master, for without him this journey is full of

tribulations, fears, and dangers. With no escort, you would be lost on a road

you would have already taken. Do not travel alone on the Path. " The teacher

calls to the inner being of the seeker, awakening the hidden substance of the

heart, saying, " Yes, you can make this journey. It is not an impossible dream,

but a reality. I have been there and I know. " The teacher's being speaks its own

experience directly to the heart of the seeker, and the heart of the seeker

responds. The heart of the seeker knows that its deepest longing is being spoken

to, that its most precious desire can be realized. The teacher calls to the

seeker not with the voice of the personality, but with the song of an ancient

spiritual tradition, with the

song of all those who have gone before. The Sufi teacher is the human

representative of a lineage, of a spiritual line of masters, each merged into

the other. Each Sufi is a ray of energy that links the wayfarer to the many

great masters who have gone before us; and these great beings look after us,

help us to walk the lonely and desolate path home.