“You Don’t Need a Guru. You ARE one. You are the Guru of your own life.” That line from a recent post by Jennifer Boykin felt like it hit me over the head.
I am the Guru of my own life.
I have sat with many, many amazing teachers over the years. And I still do. I, like many people, who facilitate and share their knowledge, hesitate when someone calls me their teacher. For years, I called myself “a guide.” I often feel like an air line stewardess who gives the necessary information needed and shares where the best escape route is located should you want to exit. I resisted being called “teacher.”
I was relieved when I read Jonathan Fields blog post, When Do You Know Enough to Teach? In his post he wrote:
It’s about being of service, helping others find ways to move forward without proclaiming yourself the sage or all-knowing guru. It’s about earning a living by opening your heart and sharing whatever learnings you’ve gleaned from your far-from-complete path with enough humility to inspire others to discover their own truths. It’s about the power of knowing the right questions, the right resources and the right primes, not just dropping the right answers.
As I sat and reread this I realized that being a teacher is about being of service; sharing what I have learned, what I have experienced, and what ideas have worked for me. At any given moment, I am the teacher and the student – the one guiding and the one learning. My work as a shaman and a life coach has taught me to help others discover a path of healing, to illuminate processes that allow for deeper understanding, and to ask powerful questions that ignite insights.
I don’t have the answers. I have many questions. I have lots of ideas. I am the teacher and student at the same time.
And yes, I am the Guru of my own life. If someone learns something from my life experiences, that is a gift.
I am the one I have been waiting for – I am the one I have been seeking and I am the one who I have been learning from all along.
What are your thoughts on being your own Guru? How are you a teacher for yourself?
Feel free to share your thoughts and comments.