A similar dynamic is at work from the side of the Teachers. When spiritual teachers find themselves living in cultures which – regardless of the priceless value of what they have realized – require them to fork out cash, monthly, to pay rent, buy groceries, etc. – then of course they have to find some way to generate this money. And why not arrange a way to be honored financially for the spiritual skills and knowledge that they have? If they have the power to transmit Shakti (a kind of spiritual currency/merit) – to awaken within a person the power to manifest their dreams into reality – and/or can share the wisdom (Buddhi) which knows this “reality” to be no more than a dream – then why on earth not charge for this?!
The dharma of a particular Teacher might include creating organizations, and/or traveling widely. In such a case, there are of course costs associated with these activities, which frequently are offset by charging for teachings, and/or soliciting donations.
Forever Impervious To Marketplace Forces
What it comes down to, for me, is the importance of maintaining some kind of clarity around what can and what cannot be "obtained" from another person – and so, by extension, what can and what cannot be legitimately offered within a marketplace context. Various techniques for removing the obstacles to my perceiving my inherent Divinity: no problem, I’ll pay money for these. Immortality/Enlightenment as some “thing” which I can only “get” from some other person: seems ill-advised, to say the very least.
Various energetic transmissions: this is the area that feels to me most ambiguous. Does paying for an energetic empowerment, for shaktipat, amount to paying another person for an experience of nonduality - in which “me” and “you” no longer exist? So we enter into blissful union – both of us enriched immeasurably from the experience of our mutual, shared Divinity, our primordial Equality – yet the post-bliss balance, in terms of dollars, tipped distinctly in one direction. I’m not saying this is a bad thing - just a bit strange.
Honoring
I also have a choice, in that moment of offering up my $5 or $20 or $1008, to understand the action as simply an honoring of the gifts I will be receiving (rather than some cold marketplace transaction). I can assign to the act of giving a meaning which is based solely in my clear commitment to the path - my desire to deepen in my own study and practice, for the benefit of all living beings, and to support my Teacher in his or her larger mission. This may be the most empowering way for each of us individually to relate to this whole issue.
A Bow Of Gratitude
I bow to the great beings – the realized Masters – my own precious Teachers included – whose courage and compassion has compelled them to be here with us – in spite of these strange and often challenging circumstances!
