Cross-posted on my Substack.

Do you need a lineaged master or teacher to practice Taoist or Buddhist occultism? Is the whole “you must have a master teach you The Way or else danger, danger” true or a myth? Can reading books replace live teachings and direct transmissions from a master?

Here’s where we’re going to start:

I’m Here for the 99%, Not the 1%

Hubby was telling me how it’s necessary to have a 1:1 personal trainer or fitness coach with you at the gym. It’s necessary for safety reasons, to make sure you’re handling the gym equipment safely and to ensure proper form. You need a seasoned expert to be designing your workout routine, to make sure it’s covering everything it needs to cover, to make sure it’s comprehensive enough, but customized to your very specific individual needs, in short, you can’t just pick up arbitrary gym equipment or hop on a treadmill and hope for the best. You can’t do it on your own based on general knowledge, because you won’t know how to be efficient with your routine. We are never as self-aware as we think, and unchecked errors can solidify into permanently bad workout habits. You won’t improve at an optimal rate, what you’re working out might be imbalanced, and also, is your dietary intake and your workout routine reconciled. And that’s the best case scenario. Worst case scenario is you physically injure yourself.

He’s not wrong. Except the ability to have a 1:1 personal trainer and fitness coach is a privilege. It’s not something accessible to the majority.

Whether it’s the privilege of being a mega corporation vs. a small family-owned or sole proprietor business, or it’s the ultra-wealthy 1% vs. the middle class American, the hallmark of privilege is having on retainer subject matter experts for every stripe. You hire specialists to provide personalized guidance and counsel to you on everything you do. You have an interior decorator, home art curator, you have a CPA, a CFA long-term investments advisor, a realtor, an attorney, a concierge physician on call who shows up at your penthouse within 30 minutes of your text, and yes, a 1:1 fitness instructor, a dietitian, and if you please, a spiritual advisor, also at your beck and call.

And so if your karma is such that time, place, and resources align for you to be blessed with that 1:1 personal tutelage from a bona fide and sincere lineaged spiritual master who is genuinely doing this for your good, not theirs, then congrats, you are in that rarefied 1%. Of course that is going to be the path for you to take. Bless you, off you go! What are you still doing here?

In no way would I ever say don’t seek out a spiritual teacher. In fact, I am totally co-signing those prominent voices asserting that as the ideal approach, assuming you’ve found the right spiritual teacher for you and one who is selfless, self-sacrificing, and sincere.

What I share isn’t for that rarefied 1% with karmic privilege. I’m here for the other 99%, because I believe with a little boost, they, too, can get to where they want to go.

Continue reading “Can You Be a Taoist or Buddhist Occult Practitioner Without a Teacher?” →