Asymmetry
Owen was devoted to his spiritual guide, and he had been for
years. He would hang around the center, looking for anything he
could find which needed to be done and with which his teacher might
be pleased.
Nearness to his teacher made Owen very content. Even if Owen
were not in direct contact with his guide, just being in the same
building as his teacher, or going on some errand for his guide,
generated a sense of happiness within Owen and seemed to sustain
him while he performed this or that task.
Like most people, Owen had his shortcomings. However, Owen
was aware of many of them and was constantly struggling to become
spiritually mature.
One issue which did bother Owen – and he was not really sure
whether the issue touched on a problem within him or was a problem
in certain other people – is that Owen became upset when he saw
anything which he felt was disrespectful toward, or inconsiderate of,
his teacher. As far as Owen was concerned, a spiritual guide is sort
of like a philosopher’s stone that, through the Grace of God, serves
as a catalytic agent or surface which assists the process of spiritual
transformation within a seeker.
Owen felt that when an individual was disrespectful to her or his
spiritual guide such an individual was committing two errors. First,
Owen believed treating the friends of God in a disrespectful way was
just plain wrong – in fact, according to Owen, such actions,
ultimately, displayed disrespect for the One Who had assigned the
Divine friend to help Creation. Secondly, Owen was of the opinion
that people who were inconsiderate of, or disrespectful toward, or
failed to show an appropriate spiritual etiquette with respect to, their
teacher were really putting spiritual obstacles in their own way, for
they were distancing themselves from the very means – the secondary
cause -- through which God -- the Primary Cause -- brought about
spiritual transformation.
Owen believed that just as Divinity used certain chemical or
physical substances as catalytic agents to induce material reactions
which served Divine purposes, so, too, he believed God used certain
human beings -- the Prophets, saints, and spiritual guides -- as
catalytic agents to help induce spiritual reactions that served Divine
purposes. As above, so below – the Purpose and Cause were the
same, but in the material and spiritual worlds Divine intention was
given expression through laws of a physical or spiritual nature which
were manifested through an appropriate media or means – physical
media in the case of chemical catalysis, and human media in the case
of spiritual catalysis.
Consequently, from the perspective through which Owen
approached life, if a person was disrespectful to his or her spiritual
teacher, this was like cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face. Owen
felt a spiritual counterpart to Newton’s first law of physics -- which
says that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction –
came into play, and, therefore, people only brought spiritual
difficulty onto themselves via their own thoughtlessness concerning
the spiritual guide – not because the teacher wanted this to happen
... it was just the way things tended to work ... at least Owen believed
this to be true.
There had been several relevant incidents last week, in
particular, which Owen had witnessed that had upset him. For
example, in one case, a man who was affiliated with the spiritual
center had been talking to some newcomers and rather than let these
people meet with, and talk with, or listen to, the spiritual guide
directly, the fellow had taken it upon himself to speak on behalf of
the teacher, and in the process had created some confusion and
misunderstandings.
Eventually, when the newcomers met with the spiritual guide,
these confusions and problems got sorted out, but a considerable
amount of difficulty had arisen as a result of what this person had
done. Although Owen was willing to concede the counterfeit teacher
probably had the best of intentions and was just trying to be helpful
but got carried away by his ill-considered, enthusiastic impatience,
nonetheless, Owen had taken the man aside and let him know that
what he was doing, however well-intended, was being very
disrespectful to the spiritual guide – not only was the man trying to
usurp a spiritual function which did not belong to him, but he was
creating difficulties for his spiritual guide.
Then, there had been that whole speaking engagement mess.
Someone had called the center and wanted the spiritual guide to
address an assembly of some sort about mysticism.
The teacher had been otherwise occupied at the time and
couldn’t take the call. Defying all common sense, rather than taking
a message and passing it on to the teacher for his disposition, the
woman who had been doing phone duty at the time took it upon
herself to say the teacher would be happy to speak with the group,
and she did a first rate job of taking down all the details involving
place, date, and time – only to discover, subsequently, that the
teacher was already booked at that time and date.
Unfortunately, by the time the teacher had come to know about
the double booking, the second group had begun to advertise the
teacher’s appearance.
Owen didn’t know exactly how his teacher had resolved the
fiasco, but, somehow, in his own amazing way, his guide had, once
again, by the Grace of God, been able to find a way to accommodate
everyone without anyone being inconvenienced or embarrassed. In
the meantime, Owen had tried to help the woman at the center of the
mess to understand that this simply wasn’t the way to do things and
it showed a great deal of disrespect for the teacher.
Owen had tried to maintain equanimity during the exchange
with the woman. However, he wasn’t entirely successful – although
he had behaved quite a lot better than he frequently did under
similar circumstances, which, Owen supposed, indicated some degree
of spiritual improvement.
On occasion, the thought crossed Owen’s mind that, perhaps, he
should not be trying to inform these people about their mistakes –
even if he did so quietly and unobtrusively. On the other hand, the
spiritual quality of his teacher was such that the man often did not
chastise people directly for their misdeeds -- although there had been
a few exceptions to this general principle which Owen had come to
know about over the years.
His teacher preferred other more indirect, subtle methods. Owen
believed educators referred to this approach as waiting for
“teachable moments” to arise and, then, taking advantage of them
when they occurred.
Owen remembered one such occasion very well for he had been
at its fulcrum point. Owen had not been with the spiritual center very
long when his teacher, who even then, had been elderly and
periodically suffering from bouts of ill-health, had asked someone to
request Owen to do something.
The chore was relatively simple. Owen was to take something to
one of the caretaker’s of a spiritual shrine on top of the hill which
rose behind the center.
The hill was not huge, but it was not small either. Making the
hike from the bottom to the top took about an hour, and in some
places, even though there was a cut trail all the way, the angle of
incline was fairly steep.
Whether it was laziness, or feeling hurt he had not been asked
directly by his teacher, or something else, Owen was not quite
certain, but the bottom line was that Owen put off doing the task.
Two or three hours later, when his assigned task still had not been
completed, his teacher – frail health and all – walked to the top of the
hill in the heat of the afternoon ... and it had been one of the hottest
days of the summer ... and delivered the desired object to the
caretaker of the shrine.
His teacher had never mentioned the incident to Owen. In fact,
he treated Owen with even more love and compassion after the
incident than Owen believed to be the case prior to the incident.
Yet, Owen had gotten the message loud and clear. Owen had
cried about that occasion many times since and still deeply regretted
the disrespect and inconsiderateness which he had displayed on that
day.
He had been trying to repent for his mistake ever since. Owen
supposed his own mistake might form a substantial part of why he
took it upon himself to speak with people and try to warn them about
the importance of showing consideration and respect for the teacher
under all circumstances.
Consequently, although he did, sometimes, wonder if he was
being presumptuous in talking with certain people when such things
came to his attention, he also felt that as long as he kept things quiet
and didn’t try to embarrass these individuals in front of others, then,
maybe, it was OK. Besides, he was sure if there was a problem
surrounding what he was doing in this respect, on occasion, then,
sooner or later, his teacher would say something to him about the
matter.
One day Owen was helping out in the kitchen. There was going
to be a celebration at the center later that evening, and quite a few
people were expected to attend, so a lot of preparation was required
since a banquet was on the menu.
Practically everyone at the center was helping out in one way or
another. Owen had pulled kitchen duty, and he was just about to go
to the market to pick up some supplies when one of members of the
center indicated that before he went the spiritual guide had wanted
Owen to speak with the teacher in order to make certain everything
which was needed from the market would be obtained.
Owen went upstairs to the teacher’s office, knocked on the door,
and heard the words: “Come in.” His teacher greeted Owen warmly.
“Please, Owen, take a seat,” he requested. When Owen sat down,
he inquired: “How are the preparations coming along?”
Owen replied: “Quite well, I think. We still have a ways to go,
but I feel everything will be ready in time.”
His teacher said: “Wonderful,” and added, “I understand you
are on the way to the market to gather some last minute items.”
“That’s right,” Owen remarked.
“Good, good,” he responded. The teacher seemed to be
preoccupied about something or other, and Owen waited for him to
say whatever he was thinking about.
The teacher said: “When you go to the market today, I want you
to take special care to treat everyone you meet with lots of empathy
and compassion. I know, Owen, you understand that whenever any
of the people affiliated with the center go out into the community that
they reflect, to varying degrees, something about our center’s
spiritual teachings and principles.
“In a sense anyone who goes into the community is like an
emissary, of sorts, for the center, and we should always try to be on
our best behavior in order to avoid whatever problems and
unpleasantness we can. But, there is also another reason, for doing
this.
“More specifically, everyone, whatever they may, or may not,
believe about God, is part of God’s Creation. In that sense, all of
Creation is sacred and deserves to be treated with as much respect
as, God willing, one’s spiritual capacity permits.
“Now, I find no fault with the way you have been conducting
yourself whenever you have gone into the community. Indeed, on
such outings, you always have represented the center very well.
“But, I also know that, sometimes, this is a struggle for you. So,
what I wanted to do is give you a way of looking at things which may
make such interactions easier for you.
“I know you love me a great deal Owen and have tremendous
respect for me because among other things you feel, as you once
explained to me, that you consider a mystical guide as sort of a
spiritual version of the philosopher’s stone and that through
association with me you feel you absorb, by God’s Grace, certain
qualities which are helpful to you in your spiritual quest. And, there
is truth in how you feel about this matter.
“But, what I would like you do, Owen, is to treat everybody as if
they are your spiritual guide, for, in a sense they are. God teaches us
through all the events of our lives, including the people with whom
we meet, and not just through those events revolving around one’s
spiritual teacher. I want you to show the same respect to everyone
else that you very obviously show to me.
“A spiritual teacher may, by the Grace of God, have a special
function to perform, and, in fact, does have a function which no one
else can duplicate or for which others can serve as a substitute. But,
this special function does not entitle the teacher to special treatment.
“If I am deserving of respect, then, really everyone is deserving
of respect. Everyone should be treated with the same consideration
and willingness to help them out as best one’s circumstances permit.
“If people at the center treat me better than they treat other
people merely because of my special function, then, perhaps, I have
not properly communicated a very important principle of our
spiritual way. To the best of our ability, we should treat everyone,
both inside and outside the center, as sacred expressions of God’s
creation.”
The teacher smiled a very loving smile. “Well, I shouldn’t delay
you any further, Owen, I know you have a number of errands to run.
I do appreciate all your efforts on our behalf, but do try to keep in
mind what I’ve said just now.”
Owen thanked his teacher and left. Walking down the stairs,
he realized that although his teacher had been talking primarily about
Owen’s trip to the market, in actuality, the teacher really was talking about the
events of recent weeks. His guide had, in fact, gotten around to
talking to him about it after all – but in the teacher’s own inimitable
manner.
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