An Introduction To Kabbalah Part 5: Choosing A Teacher

[icymist]

I believe this to be a good article for anyone wanting to choose a teacher, no matter what the discipline.

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I think there are a few basic principles which ought to guide how you look for a teacher. Some of these are common sense, others a little more specialized in nature.

1. Try to get to know your teacher as a full human being. There's a famous Hasidic story about a hasid going to learn with his rebbe not to learn any particular text, but rather to see how he ties his shoelaces. The point is that true wisdom affects everything about us, not just how we sit and read a book; the true teaching, as in Zen, is life itself.

So, in researching possible teachers, it might be useful to ask questions like: How much money is this person making from the teaching of Kabbalah? Does this person's family/personal life seem healthy? What motives does this person seem to have, in teaching Kabbalah? Is s/he patient, or quick to anger? Generous, or stingy? Of course, there are many mystical teachers who use anger or other aggressive behavior for the well-being of the student. But you should be able to see whether that's the case for yourself.

2. Trust the "vibe." I've met teachers of mysticism who have a lot of technical knowledge, but who seem emotionally unstable, or involved with a lot of anger or fear. I've met some who seem overly concerned with money. And I've met teachers who, in a profound way, just don't seem to "get it," at least not from a spiritual point of view.

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