Spiritual Communities
From a pamphlet introducing his teachings, 1999.
There’s no community in my teaching because people get to depend on a sense of community. I’m sure that if I gave the word in London or elsewhere some priest would form a community for me and act and speak for me, and play my tapes and answer questions. But to me that is creating high priests who cannot speak for the master, ever. They can only speak for themselves. And it’s not within my teaching that anyone should speak to you on my behalf. The master speaks alone to you.
When you form communities, people like to have talks and discussions. And that’s another thing I can’t support - discussions - because discussions breed words. And words lead further and further away from the state of being.
All you’ve got to do is be alone in your being. That then directs you where to go. But in communities and ashrams there’s a great club formed where you become a follower of someone. You’re no longer a follower of your own being. You’ve given that up to follow someone - and it doesn’t matter who the master is - there’s a corruption that happens in doing that.
People in communities get very comfortable. They have company and are united like captive birds in a cage. They’re able to chat about God and life and truth and have a nice time, having coffee or tea together. All communities are distractions from living the truth.
The only truth is in being. You do not need to talk to anyone about being because it is a state inside you. Being is now. You practice being now and the more that you serve and give to others in your ordinary life, the deeper you descend into this fathomless being.
True Value