Three Signs Your Spiritual Teacher is Authentic
Many teachers abound, but few are real.
Fake spiritual teachers are everywhere. I’m not talking about the ones that impose non-disclosure agreements and secrecy, all to cultivate the aura of being part of a special group, and threaten you if you dare to leave, or worse still, have engaged in misconduct or mistreated their students.
I’m talking about the ones who present themselves with polish, glowing with the sparkle of an Instagram filter, and who seem genuinely interested in helping others. The difficulty is that it is often hard to scrape the surface to find out if someone who presents as a teacher just finished their first meditation retreat, did a weekend reiki certification, or perused A Course in Miracles and then decided that after a few months in a Facebook spirituality group that they were ready to teach.
Spiritual teachers can show up through their writings, through centers like Kripalu or Esalen, through traveling or from their online presence. Some may be famous; others may be relatively obscure. Some may have followings, and others may just have a series of clients. Teachers come in all different forms. Fame and followers are, however, just proxies — very imperfect ones — for how authentic a teacher is.
