Why we need spiritual visionaries

A new acquaintance in Washington, DC wrote me about her concern of promoting Andrew Cohen's upcoming talk and day seminar. She pointed out that most people are something less than comfortable with spiritual authority, especially if that authority takes the form of a spiritual teacher. And especially in DC, as she wrote, because "the waters have been so muddy for so long around this town that few feel at all clean anymore... Everything that is said is expected to be spin; everything is mistrusted."

She continued:

"...the Guru-bit is very hard to swallow.  We are longing for I-Thou relationships -- we do not want to have a middleman; we do not want to be followers of a guru.  This is the breakdown as I see it. The word "guru" has to be re-languaged and disarmed.  It must be clearly stated that the metaphoric white flag of surrender (of our ego-selves) will only be directly given to Source, not through an intermediary...  My sense is that this has to be addressed to truly reach the DC community.  How Andrew Cohen (and you) deal with this will make all the difference..."

I responded:

"Yes, for us post-moderns, authority in the realm of spiritual matters is a bitter pill to swallow. We are jaded, and for good reason, but more importantly, we are individualists, and seek for ourselves, to have our own independent relationship with the sacred. Boy do we! Andrew walks this line very well as he insists upon partners and not followers. Of course, unless the individual embraces freedom and the obligation to speak for, act for, care for the whole of the life process, there can be no liberation. And yet there is a real hierarchy - some of us have gone further than others. What I have found, imbued as I am with our narcissistic culture, is that bowing down to the fact of God (or whatever name you use...) - as oneself, as guru, as omnipresent consciousness - is all the same...This is a subtle point for if the teacher has absolute integrity, messenger and message are one - you bow down to the sacred principle and you also bow down to the teacher. If you don't, it's impossible to independently and courageously take responsibility for the highest as oneself. So surrender and independence, in the end, are the same thing."

This gets at something important: whether we need, and implicitly, whether we are willing to trust, in the authority of a spiritual teacher.

It might be possible that despite the fact that we live in an era where personal truths are sacrosanct, and despite the fact that countless spiritual authority figures have fallen on their faces, and despite the fact that past religious myths (and moral coda) struggle to find relevance -- there are spiritual visionaries with the courage and heart to walk their talk.

We need them. Especially in DC.