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Thoughts and emotions are welcome to arise in our inner be directed towards the causes of samsara, which are
experience, but because we’ve trained awareness through in the mind – it doesn’t have to be directed towards the
both shamatha and vipassana, we start to know their external world.
nature and find more space around them. We don’t get as
hooked by them, and we can choose how to act. Teachers are believed to be important in one’s
practice of meditation. How do we ensure we have

For more advanced signs of progress in Buddhist the right teacher in our practice?
meditation, we can study meditation texts from different
Buddhist lineages that describe the stages of progress in Yes, teachers are important – we need mentors. In the
both shamatha and vipassana practice. But generally, if Vajrayana traditions of Buddhism, we also have what are
we’re finding more openness and spaciousness with our called lamas or gurus, who play a larger part in our path.
emotions and thoughts, and more compassion for others Either way, we need people in our lives who have more
in both our thoughts and actions, these are good signs. experience than us and have navigated the challenges
of the Buddhist path and meditation practice. This is a
We have heard of lay people who have practiced huge advantage because they can help us avoid pitfalls
meditation for a long time, and the result is that and help us progress, which is true for anything, not just
they find it difficult to relate to other human beings meditation or Buddhism.
on a social level in society. Does meditation turn one
into a recluse or an introvert? As for knowing if we have the right teacher, I’m not sure
there is a single “right” teacher. The first thing to do is
If we’re becoming a recluse or an introvert in a harmful ensure we have a good understanding of the Dharma,
way, where we’re developing disdain for the world, which itself requires teachers. We can have kalyanamitras
starting to loathe the world, judging others more, or (spiritual friends in Sanskrit) who can be a range of
beginning to dislike certain parts of the world, certain teachers helping us navigate the understanding of both
groups, certain people, or the world as a whole – that’s a foundational and advanced Buddhism, pointing us in the
sign our meditation has gone in the wrong direction. right direction and helping us organize our study.

Being a lay person or a monastic doesn’t determine I always say that the Dharma is the main refuge in
whether one becomes a recluse or starts to disdain the Buddhism. We need to study and understand the
world more. In the Tibetan Buddhist lineages, we have Dharma, as this influences our understanding of who we
examples of both monastics and householder yogis might look for as a teacher and how we might discern
or non-monastic practitioners who have been able to whether someone has experience. The main thing is
embrace a more compassionate approach to the world that people need to have knowledge, and of course, they
while spending considerable time in retreat and serious need to walk the walk to a certain degree.
formal practice.
Are we looking for a perfect person? Probably not,
I’ve had my own experiences with externalizing the because we’re all human beings, including well-known
Dharma, which can create judgment of the world teachers of Buddhism, and we all make mistakes. This
instead of looking at our own life and emotions. I always is natural and normal. We just need to ensure that the
recommend to “stay on your side of the street,” meaning person we’re relying on as a teacher knows more of the
we need to first apply the practice to our own suffering. Dharma than us, has enough experience to guide us, and
We don’t need to judge others’ suffering – we need to ideally has some realization in their meditation practice.
work with our own afflictive emotions, be it aversion or We can also check if they generally follow the Dharma in
craving, in our own minds and emotions. their life – they don’t have to be perfect, but if we know
the Dharma, we can start to discern this.
This approach can help prevent us from developing an
unhealthy form of renunciation. Renunciation should For someone new to Buddhist meditation, can