Seeking a True Master

It happened in Japan: An emperor became very anxious to know about death and life beyond death. He summoned all of the wise men in his country to his court and asked them about this.

The wise men replied, “If we knew, we would not have been here. We are just as ignorant as you. You are rich, we are poor – that is the only difference. We don’t know. If you really want to know, you will have to move out of the court. You will have to seek and search for the Master. The Master cannot come to you. You will have to go to the Master.”

The emperor tried. He went to all of the well-known persons. Of course! That is the way one seeks. So he went to all the well-known saints, but was not satisfied. Again he came to the court and told his wise men, ’I have been searching all over the country and have not found an answer.”

The wise men said, “You are, once again, searching wrongly. You go to the well-known persons, but you will not find a Master there. In the first place, it is very difficult for a real Master to become well-known, very difficult. It rarely happens. Secondly, a real Master hides himself in many, many ways, so that only real seekers can reach him, and not curious people who just want to ask something of them and then move on to the next philosophy. You have been searching in the wrong places.”

Then the wise men said, “We know of a man nearby in a small village located within your capital, but you will have to go to the man…he will not come to you.”

And so the emperor sought out the man, who was a humble beggar living under a bridge with other beggars. The emperor could not believe it, but something was emanating from the man, something from the beyond, that touched the emperor’s heart, changed the beat of his heart – a magnetic force.

Without knowing why, without even knowing what he was doing, for the first time he bowed down and touched the feet of a man. Suddenly the emperor himself was shocked at what he had done – he had touched the feet of a beggar!

And in that moment, the beggar replied, “You are accepted.”

The Price of Awakening: Beyond the Pedestrian Mentality
To the average person—the one comfortably settled in a pedestrian mentality—an authentic spiritual practice appears worthless. It seems far too demanding, inconvenient, and “expensive” for a reward that cannot be measured in the currency of this world. Authenticity promises nothing to the ego. There is no pot of gold at the end of this rainbow, no hit of emotional dopamine, and certainly no worldly praise to feed one’s hubris.

Let’s be real: why would anyone choose the path of a seeker? An authentic practice requires horrific, clinical insights into the futility of human psychology. It is insulting, annoying, and a threat to the ego’s very survival. It tips the social, moral, and philosophical gyro off its rocker.

The Illusion of “Living”
Most of us use a “quasi-norm” to sustain a life that has no purpose other than the comfort of its own survival. This is the “eat, drink, and be merry” lifestyle—a state of existence where we care for nothing beyond our immediate enjoyment. We bury ourselves in entertainment to avoid realizing what we are actually doing with our lives. Guided by the “monkey mind,” we drift from one painful incarnation to the next, mistaking emotional diversions for living.

We believe we are a “self” defined by genetic dispositions (ego) and DNA (self-preservation). Because we insist on this identity, great truths appear as blasphemies. We miss every opportunity for inner awakening because we are too busy appeasing the “genetic self.”

Students vs. Attendees
Throughout my career, I have found that many who sit before me as “students” are, in fact, merely “attendees.” They have no intent to become students of the Way because they are allergic to devotion. To them, devotion is a dirty word; they misinterpret it as “drinking the Kool-Aid” or being controlled.

These attendees believe they are too smart to be fooled by commitment. They want to be “free” — free to explore the same pitfalls of emotional mischief that have trapped them for lifetimes. They ignore Karma, foolishly believing that if they don’t believe in it, it won’t exist. They use “spirituality” as a tool for longevity or physical health, hoping to cheat death through nutrition or “right action.” This is no different from wanting human affection to be “Love.” It is an agenda of the ego, not a yearning of the Soul.

The Tragedy of the Forgotten Vow
I have witnessed hundreds of people hit the “genetic glass ceiling” like a bug hitting a windshield at a hundred miles per hour. Splat. They are out of the practice that would have saved them.

Take, for example, a former student of mine. She and her husband were an unlikely pair who sought my help to “save their marriage.” In truth, their connection was karmic and ancient. She had entered this lifetime with a sacred, inner agreement to be the “anchor”—to guide her husband across the “other shore” so both their hearts could be fulfilled.

But once she slipped into her body in this lifetime, the vow was lost. She succumbed to her genetics. She became a functional alcoholic, obsessed with money, travel, and “endless fun.” She demanded he provide her with amenities to numb her inner pain. When my suggestions didn’t align with her agenda of gratification, she met them with contempt.

She went rogue, pulled away emotionally, and dumped her practice. By doing so, she left her husband—a good man with no independent spiritual calling—lost and confused. She played a waiting game, making his life difficult until he, too, quit. In the end, they both lost. As the Zen saying goes: “Wherever you go, there you are.” You cannot travel far enough to escape your own Karma.

The Only Way Out
The Buddha noted two mistakes on the road to truth: not going all the way, and not starting.

Precious few care about personal transformation. Most are looking for ease, comfort, or a free handout. They feel entitled to “get away” and relax after years of worldly work, not realizing that the real work—the inner work—hasn’t even begun.

An authentic spiritual practice is essential because it is the only way to transcend the past and create a Karma fortified with grace and mercy. It turns the “sick self” into a vessel for Love. Without the discipline to cast Light into the darkness of a thousand past lives, we simply don’t have the horsepower to sustain the authentic. We remain subject to the misery of the genetic self, missing the very purpose for which we were born.

Most of the people that I try to serve are very stubborn and willful and do not have the Heartfelt generosity that it takes to be in an authentic spiritual practice. Hence without the discipline that is necessary, they return and succumb to their genetic dispositions, which keep them living in gratuitous ways…just as they want to keep busy until they die.

From time to time I talk to some of my fellow colleagues and they often ask me: “Why waste your time on trying to help people that simply don’t care and are content with the status quo?”

My answer is: “Because I can.”