In the Company of Sages : The Journey of the Spiritual Seeker

Explains how to successfully navigate the process of initiation, instruction, testing, and self-transformation under the guidance of a spiritual teacher • Explores how to approach a teacher for initiation and the importance of gauging your inner response and feeling of trust and resonance with the teacher • Discusses the process of separating from a spiritual teacher and how to negotiate the emotional conflicts that can arise at this stage • Shares the author's experiences with several remarkable teachers and details lessons learned through testing and confronting doubts and fears In the search for inner awakening and self-realization, a spiritual mentor can be key to advancement. Yet the process of finding an authentic spiritual teacher who resonates with you can be daunting, especially for anyone who has had a negative experience with a guide. Exploring the emotional nuances of mentoring relationships, Greg Bogart details the path of spiritual apprenticeship: the process of aligning with a teacher, establishing a dynamic spiritual practice, and the later stages of separation and finding the teacher within. The author explores the importance of gauging your inner response and feeling of trust and resonance with a teacher and your readiness to receive initiation. He explains how the teacher-student relationship affects the student’s state of consciousness over time and how most students eventually need to become independent from their spiritual guides. Describing emotional conflicts that can arise at this stage, he shows how wise teachers accept our need to separate and graduate while immature teachers try to thwart and control us. Openly sharing his own personal journey, the author illustrates the lasting resonance of his encounters with several provocative spiritual mentors, including Swami Muktananda and Dane Rudhyar. He discusses how some fierce teachers practice "crazy wisdom" to confront our doubts, fears, and fixations and to activate our dormant potentials. Examining practices in Hindu and Tibetan Buddhist Yoga, Sufism, and Jewish and Christian mysticism, he also explores the deeper mystical aspects of the guru-student relationship. The author shows how, ultimately, initiation leads the spiritual seeker to find the teacher within and how this can naturally lead to teaching others. Describing nine stages of the spiritual seeker’s journey, the author affirms that a direct path to self-liberation is still attainable through initiation and instruction in the company of sages. This book describes a mystics journey of self-transformation under the guidance of a spiritual teacher. It explores how teachers initiate us, kindling our inner life, guiding us through various tests of character. The book details the process of searching for a spiritual teacher, aligning with a teacher, being nourished and inwardly activated by spiritual practices, and discovering the teacher within, through the self-liberating practices of dream work, pranayama, and meditation. It describes how the teacher-student relationship gradually matures so that we become independent and are able to naturally unfold our own potentials and capacities. The author recounts his relationships with several great yogis and provocative teachers, beginning at age 16, and experiences practicing hatha yoga and meditation for over four decades. The book explores how to approach a teacher for initiation and the importance of gauging your inner response and feeling of trust and resonance with the teacher. Special attention is paid to discussion of separating from a spiritual teacher and how to resolve the emotional conflicts that can arise at this stage. The author explains how the teacher-student relationship affects the student's state of consciousness over time, and how the relationship gradually matures so that we become independent and are able to naturally unfold our own potentials and capacities. Examining practices in Hindu and Tibetan Buddhist Yoga, Sufism, and Jewish and Christian mysticism, Bogart considers how yoga and meditation rouse spiritual states and realizations. He affirms that a direct path to self-liberation is still attainable through initiation and instruction in the company of sages. "Clarifying, balanced, highly readable, and above all helpful. This is the best book available on spiritual apprenticeship and the psychological issues involved. Georg Feuerstein, Ph.D., author of Shambhala Encyclopedia of Yoga Bogarts book is a clear and detailed map of the processof self-unfoldment under the guidance of a guru or spiritual guideincluding its difficulties, dangers, joys, and ultimate value. Highly recommended. John White, author of What Is Enlightenment? Bogart brings an integrated psychospiritual perspective to his description of the guru-disciple relationship. I welcome this book and will recommend it frequently to clients and students of my own. Bryan Wittine, LMFT, Ph.D., teaching and supervising analyst, C. G. Jung Institute of San Francisco Full of wisdom and insights, this book is an essential guide for students and teachers at all levels of their spiritual journeys. Highly recommended. Sandy See, Meditation Teacher, Ashtanga Yoga Studio, Norman, Oklahoma This is an excellent practical guide for anyone seeking a spiritual teacher and for those who are teachers. Bogarts openness and forthright storytelling may benefit parents or loved ones who are concerned about friends and family members who invest themselves in spiritual practice. I highly recommend this book. Well-researched and documented, readable, and personal, it lights the way for those navigating the journey of transformation. Laurel Clark, author, Intuitive Dreaming Valuable, even essential, words of wisdom to open the eyes and minds of those who have a spiritual teacher in their past, present, or future. Dan Millman, author of Way of the Peaceful Warrior Contents Preface Acknowledgments Introduction The Catalyzing Role of Teachers Stage One Choosing a Teacher In Search of a Trustworthy Guide Stage Two Initiation The Kindling of Spiritual Life Stage Three Discipleship Absorbing Instruction and Developing a Spiritual Practice Stage Four Testing Trust, Surrender, and Refinement of the Personality Stage Five Grace and Guru Yoga Receiving the Teacher's Spacious Gaze Stage Six At the Threshold of Awakening Glimpses of the Goal Stage Seven Separating from a Spiritual Teacher Maturation and Autonomy Stage Eight Finding the Teacher Within Creating Your Own Synthesis and Paths of Self-Liberation Stage Nine Teaching Others Sharing Knowledge Gracefully Epilogue The Cycle of Apprenticeship Complete Notes Glossary Bibliography Index About the Author