The Map to Awakening (Part 4 of 4)

Part 4: Q & A In this full talk, the "Map to Awakening" metaphor is a journey from west to east—in this case Kyoto to Tokyo—with the arrival point being the awakened state. --- The metaphor: Traveling west to east, from Nagoya to Shizuoka to Yokohama before reaching Tokyo. "Tokyo" is the awakened state, while any city along the way is still part of conditioned existence. Question: "Could you speak a little bit to Westerners? We seem to have these expectations that our teachers need to prove that they're holy by living in a certain way to determined 'by me.' At least in North America we think you shouldn't smoke, should probably be a vegetarian, etc.…" "The lama in the vajrayana system -- the teacher, the guide -- becomes much more important because you're relying more on the person who's been to 'Tokyo' than you're relying on the map that you have in your hand or that you've been given. You're relying more on the humanity, the interhuman connection of it, more than a program. And in that sense it can be very much faster, because you don't have to stop and look at your map all of the time." How can you tell the charlatan from the real teacher? "You look at the teacher from the point of view, 'Do I feel that he loves me? Do I feel that he has my best interests at heart? And does he act that way?' Not whether I agree with him, whether I like him, whether that's something I approve or disapprove of, but 'Do I feel that he or she is basically on my side?' That's what you can trust." The Aquarian Age is all about 'group guru' -- how to come together as a group, a community. The four stages of the womb journey: 1st stage: Bliss in the womb 2nd stage: Contractions (intermittent) 3rd stage: Birthing (violent); trauma 4th stage: Plop and cut Concepts such as personal mastery, shifting the burden, and creative tension vs. emotional tension are based on the recommended book "The Fifth Discipline" by Peter Senge. http://www.planetdharma.com/