ECOTRAIN QOTW: DO WE NEED A TEACHER OR GURU TO GROW SPIRITUALLY?

First of all, I would like to greet everyone with a good day (from the Philippines) and would like to thank @ecotrain for another qotw in which we are invited to express our point of view to the question:

DO WE NEED A GURU OR TEACHER to GROW SPIRITUALLY?

Our personal spiritual growth is an ongoing process that starts when we're still young. Our parents were considered as our first teachers that teach the basic and fundamentals of life and helps us mold into a better person with good conscience. Our home was our starting point in learning and growing. But there are also some erroneous beliefs, obsolete ideas, and habits that we learned from them. After all, nobody is perfect.

Next to our parents were the teachers in schools that teaches us how to develop our inner self (and not just about the subject lesson). I'm talking about the lesson in life in which we learn to give importance to time, preserve our nature, appreciate and give respect to everyone, human or animals. Though it was taught earlier during our childhood, the application was seldom seen in our actions.

Along the way, as we grow older, we meet other people that influence us and made us realize our mistakes. These people were our priests, pastors, elders, spiritual guru, or even random persons that help us realize how we look at life in general.

We are taught that to be spiritually mature, we need to read the bible and reflect on ourselves. The bible was considered as our spiritual guide to maturity. But reading alone without applying the truth cannot help us. These will remain words being printed on a piece of paper. And these words will just pass and forgotten. Reflecting on ourselves, checking our everyday actions (and not the neighbor's action), the words being spoken to every person we encountered, the whole situation and not only the other side of the story, will help us identify the errors or mistakes to certain events and be able to understand and refrain from judging others.

_{Photo by nappy from Pexels}

Along with reading the bible, comes praying. Constant talking or communicating to our Creator, our God means a lot. Praying as well as crying to Him alone helps me ease the pain, gives me the extra strength, and somehow gives hope that everything happened for a purpose or a reason that we might be thankful someday. It's also a way of entrusting my life to our God.

Conclusion:

Whether we seek them or not, unconsciously, God will send someone to illuminate His word in various ways to various people. It is His way of showing how much He cares for us dearly. He directed our path by sending someone we will need to open our consciousness wider and be aware of who we truly are, our sense of purpose in life, and our genuine identity.

Maraming salamat (Thank you) and to God be the glory!

@jonalyn2020