By George A. Boyd ©2001
The personality is one of the ways through which a spiritual teacher
interacts with his or her followers. This personal connection is conveyed
through the teacher's behavior, verbal teachings and moral example.
Until the seeker is able to commune with the spiritual teacher on the
higher Planes in the Guide form, the personality of the teacher is the
primary mode of communication with the seeker.
In some spiritual traditions, the personality is seen as evil, illusory,
or inherently flawed. Spiritual practice in these groups seeks to transcend,
suspend, or severely limit the expression of personality-level behavior
and communication. Seekers are taught not to cultivate the personality,
but to identify with their spiritual essence and remain in union with
that higher nature.
When spiritual teachers come from a dysfunctional family environment
and/or practice personality suppression for many years, it is not surprising
that they may develop personality disorders. Personality disorders may
take the following forms in spiritual teachers.
Personality Disorder |
Expression in Spiritual Teacher |
Obsessive Compulsive |
The teacher is obsessed with exact practice of rituals, scrupulous
cleanliness, punctuality, and exact practice of meditation techniques.
The teacher requires "sinless" behavior, and has perfectionistic
standards. The teacher may have followers repeat tasks over and
over to get them "right.' |
Narcissistic |
The teacher demands worship, devotion and sacrifice, dedication
of all wealth, time and life by the devotee. The teacher expects
the devotee to never to hesitate for a moment with any demand, no
matter how costly, dangerous, or degrading, The teacher's needs
require immediate attention and fulfillment. The teacher seems to
seek continual recognition that he or she is a savior, a Master,
an incarnation of the Divine, or a prophet. The teacher's speech
may have grandiose references to his or her greatness. The teacher
seems unable to sense the distress or concerns of followers, and
may discount those feelings as not important. |
Paranoid |
The teacher has apocalyptic beliefs that the world is coming to
an end, or that he or she is the embodiment and fulfillment of a
Divine prophecy. The teacher believes that the world is evil, and
that the group and its followers are being persecuted by the outside
world. The teacher embodies black and white thinking: others are
"saved" or "damned", "good' or "evil", "with us" or "against us".
There is no middle ground, no shades of gray. When severely paranoid,
the leader may stockpile weapons or poisons, actively preparing
the group for a coming confrontation with the embodiment of evil. |
Schizoid |
The teacher withdraws into seclusion and may lead a hermetic, celibate
lifestyle. The teacher may be markedly eccentric in his or her attire,
mannerisms or speech. The teacher has a highly analytic approach
to spirituality, and doesn't seem to express emotions at all. The
teacher spends most of the time alone, and seems to have little
contact with others. |
Schizotypal |
The teacher exhibits marked eccentricity in speech and appearance,
often with a disheveled appearance. The teacher's lectures communicate
very odd ideas, and may be disorganized, even incoherent. The teacher
confides experiences with UFOs, space aliens, or great Masters that
seem like complete fantasies. |
Avoidant |
The teacher hides his or her spiritual attainment, tries to find
any excuse not to teach. He or she may experience overwhelming shyness
in groups or dread group contact. One close disciple may be allowed
to convey the teachings by writing or discourse. The followers may
be told that the master does not give personal audience. |
Dependent |
The teacher refuses to let go of his or her former teacher. If
the former teacher is living, the teacher may follow his or her
predecessor every where. Despite being authorized to teach, the
teacher may not feel worthy or capable of fulfilling his or her
commission. The teacher may seek excuses not to teach, and may authorize
followers to deliver teachings on his or her behalf. The teacher
may say these are teachings of the predecessor, and that he or she
is unable to hold a candle to the predecessor's greatness. [You
may sense this demonstration of humility seems fearful.] |
Antisocial |
The teacher uses the group to commit criminal acts or raise money
for his or her own enrichment. The teacher may use manipulation
or deception to get followers to join the group, then use group
pressure and coercion to keep the follower loyal to the group, and
keep them from leaving. The teacher may exploit the follower's labor
by making them work 12 to 16 hour days without pay, often to raise
money for the group. The teacher may seduce followers or molest
their children. The teacher will find a scapegoat and blame that
other person if the teacher becomes the spotlight of negative press,
or his or her behavior falls under suspicion. |
Histrionic |
The teacher uses drama and suspense to influence the emotions of
his or her followers. At one moment the teacher may whip them up
into a positive mood of hope and expectation; in another moment,
he or she may convey disappointment and despondency. The followers
seem to have to keep the teacher in a good mood. The teacher may
be playful, seductive, or flirtatious with his or her followers,
but adamantly denies any lascivious intentions. If things go wrong,
the teacher may berate followers without mercy, even when it becomes
clear that the teacher's own actions have caused the problem. |
Borderline |
The teacher seems prone to tyrannical emotional outbursts. The
teacher may highly praise and idealize his or her followers, only
to shortly thereafter mercilessly castigate and berate them for
failing to live up to the teacher's expectations. The teacher seems
to see people as only all good and perfect, or evil and degraded.
The teacher may have self-destructive behavior or addiction that
becomes increasingly apparent. The teacher may threaten to leave
this Plane, or leave and never come back (e.g., commit suicide)
if followers do not meet his or her demands. Followers may say that
they do not know what to expect from their teacher next, and feel
frankly abused. [You may sense the teacher is using emotional blackmail
to manipulate the group.] |
When the teacher acts strange, seekers are sometimes taught that this
is the Divine Play (Lila), and that teachers in spiritual ecstasy are
not bound by conventional rules for behavior. What may be actually happening
is that the teacher's genuine illumination is expressing through the distorted
filter of a personality disorder. [In the case of a "spiritual teacher"
with anti-social personality disorder, there may be no genuine illumination
at alljust a very skillful con-job perpetrated by a master charlatan.]
Normal Personality Expression
While the aspirant may not be able to impact the personality dysfunction
of a spiritual teacher, the aspirant can work to clean his or her own
filter. The seeker can do this contemplating, "what is appropriate personality
expression?" Appropriateness takes into consideration the seeker's own
needs, together with the needs of others in the situation, and notes the
impact of behavior on self, others, and the environment.
Personality disorder skews the expression of a person's functioning away
from the golden mean of "normal" or "appropriate." The aspirant may wish
to use the following chart to differentiate the distorted expression of
a personality disorder from what might be a more optimal, more effective
way of relating and behaving.
Personality Disorder |
Distorted Expression |
Optimal Expression |
Obsessive Compulsive |
Over-control, inability to let go |
Appropriate detachment and perspective |
Narcissistic |
Exaggerated self-importance |
Appropriate self-image |
Paranoid |
Inability to trust |
Appropriate trust |
Schizoid |
Emotional suppression |
Appropriate emotional expression |
Schizotypal |
Immersion in fantasy |
Appropriate grounding in reality, paying attention to situational
cues |
Avoidant |
Shame, flawed self-image, fear of humiliation |
Appropriate self-image, healthy sense of shame and embarrassment,
ability to laugh at oneself |
Dependent |
Lack of belief in oneself |
Appropriate sense of confidence and skill mastery |
Antisocial |
Suppression of conscience, lack of caring for others |
Appropriate conscience function, establishment of a support network
of loving relationships with others, the ability to love and care
for others |
Histrionic |
Over-dramatization of issues, sexual manipulation |
Appropriate perspective on personal issues and appropriate expression
of sexuality |
Borderline |
Lack of emotional control, splitting the world into good and evil |
Appropriate emotional control, seeing objects as containing both
good and evil |
The decision to act in a certain way is often a response to the perceived
situation. The question the seeker is pursuing is "what is called for
at this time?" or "what is appropriate in this situation?" Maintaining
this mindful approach, the aspirant may find he or she has a real choice
in the situation, instead of blindly reacting.
The Mudrashram Teachings on Personality
In the Mudrashram® teachings, we encourage individuals to develop
both personality and spirituality. We do not see personality as flawed
or evil, but as the vehicle through which individuals express in the physical
world.
There are times when you must function attentively, sensitively, rationally,
and effectively in the external world. For this you need to develop your
personality to become a refined instrument for your Soul's use.
You develop your personality by
- Learning vocational skills to earn your livelihood
- Honing your social skills to develop effective relationships with
others
- Expanding your knowledge through education
- Introspecting upon your behavior and attitudes to refine your conscience
- Exercising your judgment, intuition, and decision-making
- Reflecting on the results of your performance with an aim to continually
improve it
- Acquiring the skills for independent living and parenting your children
- Cultivating the ability to listen and to achieve intimacy with others
There are times when you must transcend personality functioning to commune
with your spiritual essence. In this time of communion you work to awaken,
refine and unfold your spiritual potentials so that you may express a
greater measure of love, wisdom and ability in the world. For this, you
have the tools of meditation.
We work on both aspects in a balanced way. In this way you can avoid
the pitfalls engendered by neglecting either aspect of your nature.
By over-focusing on the spiritual aspect of their natures, some spiritual
teachers have developed personality disorders. We believe you can avoid
this by
- Understanding what is appropriate personality expression
- Finding an appropriate balance between your spiritual development
and your personality development that keeps you sane
- Identifying a spiritual teaching that responds to your needs, but
does not require you to "go off the deep end" into the zombie-like trance
of a religious cult or into the jihad mentality of fanaticism.
Dealing With a Spiritual Teacher That Acts Strangely
If you discern that a spiritual teacher with whom you have had contact
and valued interaction is acting strangely, you may wish to consider what
may be producing the odd behavior. If you intuit the teacher's behavior
may stem from a personality disorder, or evidence an anxiety syndrome
or even a psychotic illness, this may not be sufficient to make you reject
the teacher and his or her teachings outright.
You may wish to consider the following things before walking away from
the teacher:
- If I ignore the teacher's strangeness and idiosyncrasies, is there
value in what I am being taught?
- Am I making genuine, tangible spiritual progress by pursuing these
teachings?
- Am I functioning more effectively in my personal life as a result
of pursuing these teachings?
- Does what I am learning here resonate with my intuition and my heart's
touchstone of truth? Is it helping me to understand my Soul's nature
and my level of development in the Great Continuum of Consciousness?
- Am I contacting the Divine through the practices I am learning here,
or through the ministry and guidance of the teacher?
- Does the teacher manifest the love, wisdom and power that evidence
the state of Mastery? Do I experience Grace, Divine Love and Light,
or Shakti through his or her presence?
- Does the teacher seem to genuinely care for my welfare, health and
happiness? Do I feel genuine love from this teacher?
We will point out that great masters and gurus have arisen who have studied
with eccentric, strange, even bizarre teachers. If the guru is an odd
bird, but fills you day and night with the love and Grace of God, you
may elect to tolerate his or her kookiness.
But if you have made an honest inquiry and your answers to these questions
are no, get up and leave. Your human life is a terrible thing to waste
in pursuit of a spiritual dead end. Worse is to suffer abuse at the hands
of a mentally ill spiritual group leader.
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