From an early age we are taught that knowledge comes from teachers. So it has become common to seek 'enlightenment' from someone else. Sadly this can sometimes lead to a commodimizing of spirituality. Even to the point of making salvation - renamed 'awakening' or 'enlightenment' - a marketable item offered up by those wishing to teach.

• "The true guru knows you need nothing, not even him."
  -- Nisargadatta Maharaj
  
  
  
• "There is a false sense of liberation that aspirants reach that very few ever go beyond."
  -- Ramana Maharshi, when asked about spiritual teachers
  
  
• "When asked about those he sent to teach, Papaji said that the purpose was to have them point the way to Lucknow, not to pose as awakenened teachers. When asked further about these people, Papaji said that none of them where enlightened or even temporarily enlightened. Papaji said that many can fool others into thinking they are liberated but they are the false coin. When asked about the experiences that so many people had in Lucknow, he said they were false experiences. Papaji said he met only two Jnani's in his lifetime. One was Ramana Maharshi. The other was a man who appeared from out of the jungle into the town of Krishnagiri."
  -- Poonja, quoted from the book'Nothing Ever Happened' by David Goodman
  
  
• "It is common to demand entry into Enlightenment through someone else. This renders it needful to make clear that NOBODY, not even the best of gurus, can bestow final and lasting realization--a glimpse is the most he can possibly pass on and there are not many with that capacity. Even in such cases, his disciples must work diligently and win it themselves."
  --Paul Brunton (quoted from 'The Guru-Disciple Relationship'>
  
  
• "What about religions, teachers, gurus?"
  "If they can help in the quest of the Self. But can they help? Can religion, which teaches you to look outside yourself, which promises a heaven and a reward outside yourself, can this help you? It is only by diving deep into the Spiritual Heart that one can find the Self." 
  -- Ramana Maharshi (quoted from 'Here lies the heart' by Mercedes De Acosta)
  
  
• "Real Enlightenment definitely is not on sale at the corner store, it doesn't contain preservatives, and isn't wrapped in plastic. Absolute surrender to God, or the Universe, is the greatest gift, the "pearl of great price," and it will never be cheap. That is why one should question the ersatz gems that pseudo-spiritualists so readily sell in their fancy packages. If one wants the real thing, one must learn about counterfeits; otherwise, one is showing off a rhinestone to God, convinced it is the Hope Diamond."
  --Mariana Caplan
  
  
• "The one who explains, lies.
  How can you describe
  the true form of Something
  In whose presence you are blotted out?
  And in whose being you still exist?"
  -- Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya
  
  
  
• It seems that the pauperisation of satsang culture began after the death of Poonjaji. Many of his followers started to claim that Poonjaji approved their 'Awakening.' It seems that they just took him too literally. It is an Advaita custom to say 'you are already Awakened.' This is however more a teaching device than a reflection of reality. And even if some of his disciples had a glimpse of Awakening, Poonjaji knew very well that in most cases neither it was permanent nor the final state.
  --Aziz Kristof
  
  
• "Anyone who wants to repackage enlightenment for mass consumption must first create the illusion that it's comfortably within the customer's reach. It may be true that the price of truth is everything, but true don't pay the bills. In the commercial model, the price of truth is whatevery you can comfortably afford. ... seekers will gladly pay to be reassured that, common sense aside, they can wake up without quitting the dream. ... I know that no spiritual teacher leads to enlightenment because there is no leading to enlightement. There is no teaching of enlightenment. Hence the inevitable outcome we see all around us - everyone's grooving on the gurus and everyone's getting more and more spiritual, but nobody's waking up."
  --Jed McKenna
  
  
• Teaching is a tricky thing. It can ensnare both teacher and student within invisible walls of reassurance. It is not at all difficult to convince thirsty people that you have water. Especially if you have first convinced yourself. And often a loop can occur - wherein the teacher convinces the student who convinces the teacher who convinces the student and so on. A dynamic occurs where both are convinced of the rightness of what is being said and both reassure one another that they are uncovering truth.
  --Peter
  
  

Every so often we receive email from someone to the effect: 'Hello. I am a fully enlightend teacher in the advaita tradition. I awakened in the presence of my master and was instructed by him to teach. I give satsang and would appreciate being listed on your site." And sometimes we get notes that say something like: "Why have you failed to list so-and-so. She is the best known advaita teacher in the world. We are shocked that you would not include her. Please correct this oversite at once."

To all of this we can simply respond that none of the members of our little group here believe in teachers, least of all advaita teachers. It can be fun to listen to them sometimes, and we enjoy meeting new friends at satsangs... but we have come to wonder why anyone would want to lie in the arms of a priest, no matter how beautiful, when one could be hugging God instead?