If you’ve been studying spirituality for years, you’ve probably noticed that most spiritual teachers seem to contradict each other. There are two main subjects where these contradictions take place: the first topic is the spiritual teachings themselves, which concern non-duality; the second topic is the spiritual practices that are recommended. In fact, very often, a spiritual teacher tends to recommend a specific spiritual practice and tends to belittle all the other spiritual practices. In this article, I will explain why these contradictions occur and how to approach them in the world of spirituality. Let’s start by analyzing the first category of contradictions.
Spiritual Teachers and the Contradictions about Spiritual Teachings
To understand why many spiritual teachers contradict each other regarding the content of spiritual teachings, it’s necessary to debunk the most common myth about spiritual enlightenment: that spiritual enlightenment consists of a single realization. In reality, it’s absolutely not like that. The event that is usually called spiritual enlightenment refers to the loss of personal identity; however, the loss of personal identity is not the end of the inner search.
Beyond the recognition of the non-existence of a separate self, there are dozens and dozens of other realizations that lead to the maturation of the event that is called spiritual enlightenment. So, if the teacher stops at the loss of one’s conceptual self and does not delve deeper, it’s clear that he or she will not be able to teach truths that go beyond his/her realization. Therefore, there could be contradictions with another teacher who might speak of subjects such as divine love, divine intelligence or divine beauty.
It’s clear that the teachings of a teacher who has stopped at the realization of the non-existence of a separate self are equally useful; they’re useful for those who, for example, are new to spirituality, for those who have not yet realized the non-existence of a separate self. However, there are teachings that go far beyond this realization. So, to understand why most spiritual teachers contradict each other about spiritual teachings, it’s necessary to understand once and for all that spiritual enlightenment is not just a single realization.
Spiritual Enlightenment as the Climbing of a Mountain
Imagine spiritual enlightenment as if it were the climbing of a mountain. There are spiritual teachers who begin to teach when they have not yet reached the top, these teachings are useful for those who have not yet understood the existence of the mountain. However, if the spiritual teacher stops at this point, it’s clear that he or she can only teach you lessons that are useful to you up to this point, cannot help you climb the mountain further. To reach the top of the mountain, you will have to abandon his or her teachings and study the teachings of another spiritual teacher who is further up.
Therefore, it’s very important not to identify oneself with a spiritual teacher. It’s very important to be able to learn everything a teacher has to teach you, and as soon as you understand that you have learned everything there was to learn from a particular teacher, let go of your identification with this teacher and take the next step that will help you reach deeper realizations. I often see the tendency in many seekers to be unwilling to let go of their identifications with a specific teacher. It’s an understandable tendency because it’s tiring to always question one’s realizations, it’s tiring to understand that there’s something more to learn. It would be nice to say, “I’ve arrived” and it would be nice to say, “There’s nothing more to learn.”
Unfortunately, in the field of spirituality, spiritual enlightenment and of non-duality there are extremely profound truths to realize, it would be a shame to stop at the first realizations such as the non-existence of a separate self from life, the non-existence of the mind and the conceptual self.
U. G. Krishnamurti and the Importance of Not Identifying with a Spiritual Teacher
I’ll give you the example of U. G. Krishnamurti: he’s a spiritual teacher who has understood the non-existence of a separate self. In his writings and in his work, you can see the reflection of this understanding; however, in Krishnamurti’s work there are dozens of higher understandings that are missing.
And I invite you to note that if, reading this statement, you’ve felt angry, or you’ve felt somehow offended, it’s precisely because you are identified with the figure and teachings of Krishnamurti. But if you want to realize much deeper truths than those Krishnamurti realized, you have to be willing to let go of the figure of Krishnamurti, even though his teachings are useful up to a certain stage.
The deepest teachings a spiritual teacher can share are the existence of the divine and the equality of the divine with love, perfection, intelligence, eternity, and beauty. If a spiritual teacher does not share this insights with his or her students, if the spiritual teacher seems to be angry with reality, it’s clear that this spiritual teacher has not fully matured his or her realizations. Therefore, it’s necessary to go much deeper, to go beyond the teachings of this particular teacher, if you want to understand and discover the deepest realizations that are possible in the field of non-duality.
Spiritual Teachers and the Contradictions about Spiritual Practices
The second main topic on which spiritual teachers contradict each other is the spiritual practices to be implemented to achieve enlightenment. A spiritual teacher will recommend the practice that has been effective for him or her, that has led him or her to have certain realizations and very often will tend to belittle all other spiritual practices.
I’ll give you a very practical example: a few days ago, I was watching a video by Peter Ralston, who is a teacher I respect very much. I’ve read many of his books and I find them fascinating. He’s a teacher who can really help you have extremely deep realizations; however, Ralston recommends contemplation as a spiritual practice and in this video I saw a few days ago, he belittled the practice of yoga, he almost made fun of it, saying that doing stretching can’t lead you to spiritual enlightenment. It’s clear that such a comment shows that he has no idea what Yoga is. Commercial yoga could be equated with stretching, but a deep spiritual practice like Kriya Yoga, is absolutely not just stretching.
This is why I advise you to be very careful about blindly believing the statements of certain spiritual teachers who tend to belittle other spiritual practices in favor of their own. In most cases, spiritual teachers have not researched nor practiced all the varieties of spiritual practices. I gave you this simple example to make you understand that even a teacher I respect very much can be wrong about the effectiveness of a particular spiritual practice, such as yoga.
Spiritual Teachers Tend to Teach Only the Practice That Led Them to Enlightenment
It’s important to understand that spiritual teachers tend to teach only the practice that led them to enlightenment. If you study Ramana Maharshi, he will recommend self-inquiry. If you study Nisargadatta Maharaj, he will recommend the practice of staying in the I Am. If you study Peter Ralston, he will recommend the method of contemplation. If you study the teachings of Yogananda, he will recommend Kriya Yoga. Spiritual teachers tend to teach only the practice that led them to enlightenment and tend to belittle other spiritual practices.
However, it’s obvious that there’s value in each of these practices I’ve mentioned. One student might get better results by contemplating reality rather than practicing Kriya Yoga, while someone else might get better results with Kriya Yoga than with contemplation. I invite you to be wary of spiritual teachers who tend to belittle spiritual practices that they most likely have never even studied. Moreover, I remind you that spiritual enlightenment does not make a person omniscient from a relative point of view. Just because a spiritual teacher speaks extremely profound truths most of the time, this does not mean that they cannot sometimes say something inaccurate, and I include myself in this statement.
Sometimes, it even pleases me to listen to a spiritual teacher I respect very much say something that I know is wrong, because it makes them more human. If people like Peter Ralston or Leo Gura never said something inaccurate, I would hardly consider them human anymore, but it’s clear that such a person does not exist. Any spiritual teacher remains a human being and can say something nonsensical from time to time.