Benthino Massaro being exposed

[Jodistrict]

21 minutes ago, Olaf said:

@Jodistrict why not find your own practice? I have found that works better for me at the end of the day. To keep your ego in check, you don't need a guru; you need self-reflection, questioning your own beliefs, aka philosophy. That also will make you come up with authentic thoughts instead of being a copy-paste of whatever some guru says, which is almost as dogmatic as any religion. 

If you have a real teacher, you are developing authenticity which you can only do with another person.  A real teacher isn't transmitting dogma.  

[Jordan of the Shire]

On 5/4/2026 at 8:20 PM, Natasha Tori Maru said:

The poopy truth is that bullshit and the truth don't arrive separately. They are usually bundled together. You see this often with sharp insight in one domain, and then a completely distorted crazy statements in another!

@Natasha Tori Maru Yea this makes a lot of sense.

 

@Lyubov It sounds like you had a healthy relationship with your teacher. I see why it would work well to have a teacher give you the skills, then encourage you to go practice on your own for awhile. I'm experiencing something similar.

It can be a trap to get involved in a never ending treadmill of new skills and teachings. Dependency in a way. 

 

@Jodistrict I see the benefit in a gentle hierarchy based on recognizing a difference in expertise, while still acknowledging our common humanity. I like the term spiritual friends or sangha. Respecting the sovereignty of eachother, while still being in community. Even when the gap in skills, knowledge, wisdom, etc etc could be large.

@Olaf  As an example: I am impressed by someone like Damo Mitchel. After close to 50 years of dedicated practice and mastery in the arts, he sees his teacher, who introspects and reflects with him about his intentions, actions , failures and successes, and the responsibility he has as a teacher, and guides his development. He speaks openly and advocates for teachers even at the highest levels.

His humility inspires a sense of humility in me.  

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I think too that having no teacher and sourcing through the path with the tools you have is fine too.  But you could say that a forum like this is kind of like a sangha, where we are collectively guiding eachother, whether directly or indirectly. So though we may not have a dedicated teacher, we are still learning through osmosis through relationship.

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Imo, it's kind of an art - trying to figure out your own path and what works for you.

 

 

 

Edited yesterday at 01:45 PM by Jordan of the Shire

[Olaf]

@Jordan of the Shire sure hearing other peoples perspectives helps aswell, that is also why I am on this forum to share and hear other peoples reflections and reactions on what I say and my perspectives.

[Butters]

I knew from the beginning this guy was a POS by the way he treated his black caddy driver in that documentary they did on him a few years ago.

Just look at the way they treat other people, it's not that hard to see.