I sometimes imagine that a spiritual teacher is trying to live up to an image of what he or she thinks is expected of a teacher. And I had the same thought about the psychotherapist I went to in Oslo last summer as part of the TRE certification. Of course, the thought equally well applies to me, and it’s all happening within my own world of images.
What thoughts do I have about V.G., a spiritual teacher in Oslo?
She is trying to live up to an image she has about the teacher role.
She is misguided. She hasn’t questioned her thoughts about this.
She is doing her students a disservice. She is not very skillful.
She tries to follow tradition, while something else is more appropriate today.
She tries to create an artificial separation between her as a teacher and others as students. She is patronizing.
Her approach is not helpful to me. Others do it better. (Byron Katie, Adyashanti, Bonnie G., Barry.)
She is preachy and moralizing. It would be better if she invites to inquiry. She is using a sledge hammer instead of surgery.
And about B.A., the psychotherapist who is also a TRE trainer?
She thinks it’s helpful to reify (solidify, take as true) my stories.
She thinks she is a good therapist by reifying my stories. She thinks she takes me seriously by reifying my stories.
She is mistakes reifying my stories with taking my experience seriously. (She thinks she has to reify to take my experience seriously.)
She is misguided. She is provincial.