With Jac O’Keeffe, Mariana Caplan, Craig Holliday, and Miranda Macpherson

• Introduction by Rick Archer
  
• The spiritual awakening sweeping the world may be critical to addressing our critical problems.
• Ethical breaches by spiritual teachers sabotage this awakening.
• How the ASI was founded. Its role & perspective.
• Qualities and Characteristics of a healthy teacher, student, and spiritual community.
• What to look for in a spiritual teacher
• The student’s responsibility.
• Healthy teacher/student relationships.
• Support for teachers recognizing their blind spots.
• Are higher consciousness and more ideal behavior correlated?
• Continual growth and learning, even in the teachers’ seat.
• Discriminating between Awakening, Integration process, and actualization.
• Abiding exclusively in nondual awareness vs. developing a multi-layered perspective.
• What contributes to unhealthy behavior or cult-like tendencies.

Questions and answers

• Guru addiction
• Money issues in spiritual communities
• The responsibility teachers and students share
• The importance of therapy.
• Teachers referring students to other teachers.
• How long to stay with a teacher
• Teachers inviting students to give them feedback

Discussion of this panel in the BatGap Community Facebook Group.

Summary and transcript of this discussion.

Recorded October 25, 2019

YouTube Video Chapters:

• 00:00:00 – Introduction and Purpose of the Organization
• 00:02:40 – Establishing Guidelines for Spiritual Teachers
• 00:04:40 – Introduction of Spiritual Speakers
• 00:06:29 – Qualities of a Healthy Spiritual Teacher and Student
• 00:08:38 – Pursuing Growth in Spiritual Communities
• 00:10:47 – Accountability and Ethics in Teaching
• 00:12:47 – The Role of Humility in Teaching
• 00:14:31 – The Role of Trust in Teacher-Student Relationships
• 00:16:17 – The Process of Idealizing Teachers
• 00:18:23 – The Interplay in Unhealthy Relationships
• 00:20:25 – Higher Consciousness and Behavior
• 00:22:22 – Aligning with Integrity in Sexuality, Money, and Power
• 00:24:26 – Embracing Lifelong Learning
• 00:26:20 – Finding Balance and Growth in Education
• 00:28:08 – The Tricky Spot of Non-Dual Awareness
• 00:30:02 – The Deterrent of Fixed Notions and the Endless Possibilities of Awakening
• 00:32:02 – The Problem with the Search for Enlightenment
• 00:33:49 – The Danger of Group Think in Spiritual Communities
• 00:35:41 – Challenging Group Think and Teacher-Student Relationships
• 00:37:41 – Recovery from Guru Addiction
• 00:39:35 – Working on Our Relationship with Money
• 00:41:30 – The Illusion of Giving in Spiritual Teachings
• 00:43:30 – Mobilizing Teachers in the Shift
• 00:45:27 – The Power of Students Speaking Up
• 00:47:02 – The Development of Spiritual Maturity
• 00:49:05 – Engaging in Good Therapy and Trauma Healing
• 00:50:43 – Referring a Student Out of Their Depth
• 00:52:12 – Long-term relationships with students
• 00:54:24 – A Teacher’s Role in Empowering Students
• 00:56:09 – The Need for Connection and Support in the ASI Community
• 00:58:01 – Music Interlude