How to find a teacher?

[Tirisilex]

I had a teacher for about 10 years and after all that time I didn't find him adequate. I would ask questions and he would tell me to read a book and after I read the book I found it had absolutely nothing to do with the question I asked. He would give us advanced practices of Yidam meditations and stuff and never did he explain what it was all about and info on the yidam at all. He had us chant from The Book of the Dead and I couldn't follow along because when I did I would lose my place in the chanting. He should have at the least given us Homework to read over the chants so we could understand what we are chanting about. I could go on. I did learn from him though just not as well as I could with a different one. So Now I am on the Hunt for a new Lama.. any suggestions on how I can find one?

[RyanWind]

Originally Posted by Tirisilex

I had a teacher for about 10 years and after all that time I didn't find him adequate. I would ask questions and he would tell me to read a book and after I read the book I found it had absolutely nothing to do with the question I asked. He would give us advanced practices of Yidam meditations and stuff and never did he explain what it was all about and info on the yidam at all. He had us chant from The Book of the Dead and I couldn't follow along because when I did I would lose my place in the chanting. He should have at the least given us Homework to read over the chants so we could understand what we are chanting about. I could go on. I did learn from him though just not as well as I could with a different one. So Now I am on the Hunt for a new Lama.. any suggestions on how I can find one?

Well it depends on what you want to learn as far as what teacher to look for. Myself I am seeking "emptiness," "nirvana," "enlightenment,".... lets see what other names are there... "mindfulness," "self-realization," basically my teacher is myself... I seek to be free of thoughts and memories influence on my experience of what is moment to moment. So it's a practice that you do 24/7. I seek to be a different person through the transformation of my consciousness. It actually works well because if you no longer use your thoughts to determine your reactions and actions, you are a different person.

But to get here on this path I had many teachers. Carlos Castenada, Krishnamurti, Buddha, Bodhidharma, Ram Das, Thomas Merton, St. John of the Cross, Michael Newton, Ekart Tolle, Mooji, etc...what the teachers did is show me what the path was...now I walk it. I don't think teachers can offer me anymore, at least any here on earth. The path is to bring your full attention into the present moment, notice and let go of thoughts, memory, all of that, be centered in that peace and awakeness, from there act and respond. Deepen it and sustain it. So the focus is within and that changes without.... don't see any purpose on some external teacher at this point. The only knowledge I seek comes from experience of myself.

[CSEe]

Originally Posted by Tirisilex

I had a teacher for about 10 years and after all that time I didn't find him adequate. I would ask questions and he would tell me to read a book and after I read the book I found it had absolutely nothing to do with the question I asked. He would give us advanced practices of Yidam meditations and stuff and never did he explain what it was all about and info on the yidam at all. He had us chant from The Book of the Dead and I couldn't follow along because when I did I would lose my place in the chanting. He should have at the least given us Homework to read over the chants so we could understand what we are chanting about. I could go on. I did learn from him though just not as well as I could with a different one. So Now I am on the Hunt for a new Lama.. any suggestions on how I can find one?

Perhaps Buddhism is all about realization of you...of your nature ... of your existence ...of your cause of existence .........perhaps if you continue holding on " a need" to find a teacher , you will always in a circle of own confusion as Buddhism is not a form of knowledge that you could learn .....in my current mind ,Buddhism is a natural process of realization ........as one awaken to Buddhism , everyone / anything regardless Dalai Lama , serial killer , any dog on the street , a piece of Coca-Cola can , a piece of dirt is all producing great source of realization ... all is a great teacher so awaken to Buddhism , one will never in emotion to choose what to learn or who to learn from.......one is constantly surrounded by trillions of teacher at all time ....

[Floatsy]

Originally Posted by Tirisilex

I had a teacher for about 10 years and after all that time I didn't find him adequate. I would ask questions and he would tell me to read a book and after I read the book I found it had absolutely nothing to do with the question I asked. He would give us advanced practices of Yidam meditations and stuff and never did he explain what it was all about and info on the yidam at all. He had us chant from The Book of the Dead and I couldn't follow along because when I did I would lose my place in the chanting. He should have at the least given us Homework to read over the chants so we could understand what we are chanting about. I could go on. I did learn from him though just not as well as I could with a different one. So Now I am on the Hunt for a new Lama.. any suggestions on how I can find one?

http://www.buddhanet.info/wbd/

You can also access forums on Buddhism to ask more seasoned practitioners for referrals to genuine schools.

[Black Sheep]

Four traits of a teacher might help:
AN 4.192 PTS: A ii 187

That being said a good teacher is hard to find, some may be more of a moment type, there to help along one step but not stay with you the whole path.

[row37]

Thank goodness I'm Zen. This doesn't come up too much. One can have a teacher or not have a teacher in Zen. Many say it is better with, but in the end it's up to us to do the work. 10 years is too long to go w/ someone that is not right for you. I am of the mind that it is better to have no teacher than a bad one (which is not saying your teacher was a bad one, not at all). My lineage is not like Tibetan, which places a strong reliance on a teacher almost to the point of a guru. In Zen, you might call your teacher Bill or Betty. Maybe you shouldn't, but you could. The teacher student relationship is different. They only point the way, while we are responsible for everything else.

I have seen a lot of teachers that are not so good! It doesn't matter if one likes them or not, and may even be better if one doesn't really like the teacher too much, but to find an authentic teacher is not easy. Perhaps more so in the Western world. I myself don't worry about it, just maintain my practice. In fact, since the wife and I can't find a suitable authentic teacher in our city, we're going to start sitting w/ the Shambhala folks just for a place to meditate w/ others and socialize. They tend to be open to others besides their lineage. That's the good thing about Zen. It's a very straight forward and simple (yet difficult) practice that can fit in, or not fit in, most anywhere.

Does one really need a teacher? It's of great help to have someone besides ourselves point things out, that much seems true. I would say it can be helpful. When I asked Ken McLeod, someone from the Tibetan lineage, why I needed a teacher (I was in a strong resistive mode way back then) he said "For the same reason you need someone to tell you what the back of your head looks like". Which to me meant that no matter what I do, I will never, ever be able to see the back of my head. All I can see is the reflection in a mirror. But someone other than me can see it and tell me about it. So an unbiased person can possibly help us in our practice. It's still up to us to do it, but some help is a good thing in this life. The flip side of this is that the wrong teacher could hold us back or lead us astray. Always a good idea to do what Siddharta recommended, which was to test everything through our own experience and not rely on people of authority or books.

[Jared.L]

I have heard that the teacher comes when the student is ready....

[jonesboy]

Originally Posted by Tirisilex

I had a teacher for about 10 years and after all that time I didn't find him adequate. I would ask questions and he would tell me to read a book and after I read the book I found it had absolutely nothing to do with the question I asked. He would give us advanced practices of Yidam meditations and stuff and never did he explain what it was all about and info on the yidam at all. He had us chant from The Book of the Dead and I couldn't follow along because when I did I would lose my place in the chanting. He should have at the least given us Homework to read over the chants so we could understand what we are chanting about. I could go on. I did learn from him though just not as well as I could with a different one. So Now I am on the Hunt for a new Lama.. any suggestions on how I can find one?

Hopefully you can find another one close by. Find the teachings to your liking and grow from them. Retreats are another good option.

What questions about Yidam do you have?

[Lighthouse]

CSEe! What you said is really amazing how there is a teacher all around us. Basically, nature teaches us! It is just that we must give our attention to the nature around us.. Also, give the attention of the nature within us.. We become wise by becoming good listeners.

Also, from Jared. L that a teacher comes when the student is ready...
This is superb..

It's tough to find the right teacher for you. Though, nature is a very good teacher, I feel that a good master of the ways of practice that we can go to can point you in the right direction.

Thus, there is a great saying that goes that a master can but point you the way...you must journey the way.

[Shaunc]

I suppose that's the beauty of pureland. We don't have problems like this.