Why There Are No Perfect Teachers
Essay by Jerry Freeman (ASI Member)
Deep inside every seeker of Truth resonates a primordial archetype: The Enlightened One.
To find an enlightened preceptor. To be enlightened. To bring enlightenment to all. These are among the
highest aspirations a human soul can cherish.
But then, in time, sooner or later, the cherished ideal clashes against the hard rocks of practical reality.
All teachers are human. All teachers are fallible. All teachers are flawed. Those who come closest to a true,
mature enlightenment do not hide their humanity. They do not cover themselves with an “enlightened”
persona. They are at peace with themselves exactly as they are. They present themselves exactly as they
are: human, fallible, flawed and still a work in progress even though some of them, the best of them, may
already be deeply enlightened.
(You may ask, “Deeply enlightened? Can you be a little enlightened? Isn’t a person either enlightened or
not enlightened?” Thank you for asking, and please bear with me for a little while. These are the very
questions we are about to explore.)
Yes, there are enlightened teachers, but there are no perfect teachers. Contradictory though it may seem,
enlightenment does not confer perfection…
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Draft version, for personal use only, not for publication without the author’s permission.Copyright © 2019, Jerry Freeman. All rights reserved. This essay will be included in the upcoming book, The Enlightenment Puzzle: A Practical Guide to Navigating the Truths and Fallacies About Awakening
