Making Millions as A Buddhist Teacher is Fine By Me

While sitting on the can this morning, I got to thinking about the business of teaching meditation for a living. And while considering this notion, I found some disowned voices and shadows that I had to work with--just kidding.

But I did find that I was maybe realizing some things that were new to me about the subject of earning a living as a teacher of meditation/sprituality/Buddhism.

I realized that I don't really have a problem with people making a living teaching meditation, if that is their passion. I mean, I want to write for a living, that is my passion. Neither activity is better or worse than the other. In a perfect world, we could all be paid to do the things we love and are passionate about. Obviously, it's not a perfect world, but I don't begrudge anybody the attempt to do what they love and be compensated for it.

I think most of the readers of this blog would probably agree with the above statements.

So where does this issue around teachers making a buck (or a million bucks) come from?

Here's the thing. My belief is that all forms of meditation are simply tools--expedient means to achieve the desired result of "being present." Some may nitpick with my wordchoices here (or claim that there is no desired result), but let's just try to use this definition for simplicity's sake. Meditation is a tool used to achieve "presence". By achieving the result of presence, we see reality as it is (which some would say is nirvana, enlightenment, etc).

A lot more goes into it, just like saying that to hit a major league fastball, we simply need to swing a bat and connect with the ball. That is true, as far as it goes.

But 99 percent of average people cannot hit a major league fastball, just as 99 percent of people are not enlightened or present on a consistent basis.

Because the task of being present is difficult for various reasons, there are teachings and practices created around it. There are coaches, if you will.

However, the truth of the matter is that the way to become better at being present is the same way that other things in life are achieved. And why should it not be the case? If being present is a real skill, then it should conform to the other real skills in life. Practice, dilligence, discipline, maybe some natural ability or interest can help us become more present, more consistently. So although teaching or coaching may have its place, a coach cannot replace work ethic and talent in any field.

Which brings us back to the people I have taken to calling scam artists. And why do I call them scam artists? Is it because they make a lot of money for their services? No, because there are great coaches and teachers and service providers in every field that earn a lot of money. And rightfully so.

However, most GOOD coaches and teachers and service providers are ethical and honest about what they are providing. That is, they don't promise something that is unrealistic or false. They don't mislead their clients. So here is where it comes back to basics about personal integrity. And let's also face it: Personal integrity is one of the foundations of most spiritual practices, which makes it even more important in this arena than almost any other.

A good coach will tell you; look, here's where your abilities are and here is what I can do to help you. They will almost always admit that there are other methods out there, other teachers, and that whatever technique they use to get "results" is simply what they have found to be effective and helpful. If a good teacher says this, you still might be willing to fork over a lot of dough to be motivated, taught, whatever.
If it's worth the money to you, then fine.

A coach or teacher who is lacking integrity will tell you that their way is the only way, the best way, it's so new that nobody else is doing it. You can't ever achieve results without this special technique or insight or teaching. This is demonstrably false in most cases. It is very rare in life that somebody has found a technique or teaching that absolutely revolutionalizes whatever field it is a part of. Yes, at times there are revolutionary techniques or discoveries made, but it is sufficiently rare enough that one should be skeptical of it. Especially if the "revolutionary" technique involves you spending lots of money to find out about it.

Also, most good teachers will not associate with people of dubious personal character. For obvious reasons. And especially, most good teachers or business people will not link their businesses to unreputable and dishonest characters.

Why would they? Most great teachers are also very good judges of character, and fairly savvy. That's not to say there won't be exceptions. We're simply talking about generalities here.

If you are a beginner in almost any endeavor, you normally will start with the basics, foundational practices. Generally speaking, a beginning guitar student does not need to take lessons from a highly accomplished jazz guitarist. Especially given the price of such lessons, a beginning student can usually learn from a person who knows the basics well enough and is able to teach (just like a little league pitcher doesn't need a major league pitching coach). Then, perhaps if a great deal of aptitude is shown by the student, or after some serious time is put into the basics, you might want to get a teacher who will discuss the more "advanced" concepts and theory and so forth.

I understand that not all of these analogies cross-over to meditation, but I think there is enough similarity to make a comparison. And to go further; if anything, I believe less teaching is needed for meditation than something like playing jazz guitar or hitting a major league fastball, etc. So if we are going to err in any direction, it would be on the side of not needing as much guidance in regards to meditation, as certain other activities in life.

But let's just assume that I am someone who has done the basics of meditation and so forth, I have a foundation of practice but am struggling in certain areas and want to receive guidance. Perhaps, then, I am ready to fork over the cash to someone like Dennis Merzel who will maybe help me break through certain roadblocks, motivate me, help me to see certain unusual techniques that reinvigorate my practice. Let's give him the benefit of the doubt, that Big Mind can at least do this much.

That would be fine, in my opinion. Nothing wrong with that, nor is there anything wrong with him charging significant amounts of money to do that.

The problem is, Dennis Merzel claims that Big Mind is a "revolutionary" new breakthrough. It is completely unique. Not only that, he claims that it does something new and unique specifically for beginning practitioners, which goes against my theory. My theory is that a beginning practitioner can learn the basics almost anywhere, and thus does not need a special new technique in order to begin to meditate and reap the rewards.

So now we come to the crux of the issue. Is Big Mind truly a revolutionary technique, and is it revolutionary for beginners? Does it add something valuable or allow growth that normally would not occur? We cannot know this for sure. This is the nature of spirituality and meditation, in that it is difficult to pinpoint what the measuring stick is for achievement or results.

But we can make some assessments based on a few principles. I think the company Merzel keeps is one significant signpost. As I stated earlier, it is atypical for a person of integrity to surround themselves with criminals and cheats. I believe Merzel fails this first test. Secondly, he obfuscates and talks around the issues. He is not at all transparent. This can be heard in his interviews where he uses a lot of jargon, some of which is part of the Buddhist lexicon and some of which is part of Jungian analysis, and other terms which are part of Ken Wilbers Integral theory.

So, if you disagree with my assessment of Dennis Merzel, likely you disagree with one of the following points:

1. That a beginning meditator can learn basic foundational practices in a number of disciplines and from a number of sources, well enough to reap the benefits for a time, before a more "advanced" teaching is needed. (NOTE: Here I am assuming that an "advanced" teaching even exists, which I am not certain of in the least...but just for the benefit of the doubt to people like Genpo and Wilber)

2. That a teacher can charge whatever the market will bear for their services, assuming that they are truthful and honest about what they are providing and transparent about their business practices.

3. That personal integrity is a foundational part of most spiritual practices--in other words, a seasoned and skilled meditator should also be someone who is honest and forthright. And that a person of integrity will almost always surround themselves with other people of integrity.

4. That "revolutionary" breakthroughs in any field are sufficiently rare enough to be approached cautiously and with a great deal of scrutiny before accepting them as "truth."