“When the student is ready…” But, How do you know the student is ready?

We have all heard the saying, “When the student is ready, the teacher appears.”  But, how does the teacher know when the student is ready?  I have been teaching for many years… decades.  One thing I have learned is that students often appear long before they are ready to be taught.  Thinking they are ready does not qualify them.  Neither does wanting to be taught.  Or, even begging to be taught.  ”The teacher appeared, so I must be ready!”  It doesn’t work that way.  Sadly.

I have had many students over the years, between my advanced martial arts, energy traininings, shamanism, and others.  They number in the thousands.  But, among all those students, very few have been serious.  Even fewer had what it takes to become masters.  As I’ve talked with other teachers, they reflect a similar sad experience.

When it come to shamansim, the statistics are even worse.  My feeling is that if a shaman has one or two students in a lifetime that become a true shaman, they are very fortunate.  Why is that the case, when many appear before the teacher?

When people ask me how to become a shaman, my usual reply is, “Why in the world would you ever want to be a shaman?”  Their response is predictable — they typically either looked mildly shocked, or they give a standard answer.  Neither portends success.  Occasionally, I will have a potential student that is able to engage me in a meaningful discussion about the merits of their interest and commitment, often accompanied by enthusiastic avowals of dedication and desire.  These may include declarations of having searched their whole life for me, or having sought exactly what I have available — if only I would consent to share it with them.   Sometimes, they are convincing and determined enough to get me to take them on as a student.  They last for varying periods of time, then drop away.

I recently had someone who fit that description enough to sometimes call their self my “student”, although we never held a class, started an apprenticeship, or had a student-teacher relationship.  I did allow this person to participate in some group discussions I had about shamanism, and I assisted the group in sharing some shamanic experiences.  I did do some shamanic healing work with that individual, as I did with others who were not considered “students”.   At one time I felt this person had what it takes to be a true shaman.  This individual is extremely bright and well-studied, is naturally talented in esoteric and spiritual skills, and is powerful with much personal energy.  All the makings of a good apprentice.  I believed this person might make it through.  I devoted my heart and soul into attempting to create an appropriate environment for this person, opening up my life in ways few people would do.  That was my commitment.  However, even with all that, the apprenticeship ended.  Actually, it never started.  Despite occasionally referring to me as the “teacher”, there was no effort to learn.  There was in fact no willingness to learn.  Any discussion within the group about normal student activities, such as study assignments and exercises, was met with either flat refusal, or well-crafted side-stepping.  The pretense of the student-teacher relationship finally ended ignominiously.

So, why did it end?  For the same reason all the others ended.  The reason it ends is the same reason there are so few true shamans.  There are plenty “weekend warrior” shamans.  You can go to a few seminars, learn some pop-spychology mingled with a little ritual and esoteric language, then get a certificate that declares you to be a shaman.  But, that does not make you a shaman.  Far from it.

Becoming a true shaman means separating yourself from the world in some very subtle, yet powerful ways.  The world may never know of your abilities — you do not need to become a long-bearded, anti-social hermit that everyone avoids.  Very few people would ever guess I am a shaman.  I am an executive, active in the community, known as a leader in my state and region, even nationally in some professional circles.  Most would consider me fairly conservative, yet open-minded and tolerant.

The ways that you separate yourself are in your abilities, of course.  More significant, though, is your perspective.  You see things the average person never knows exists, much less comprehends.  A shaman truly “walks between the worlds”.  This means he or she sees things that are unknown and unseen by others.  Not just in mental images and visions, although that happens, too.  But, by going to different realms, different realities, even different universes.  The visions and understandings one gains in this manner is far beyond anything the “normal” person fathoms.

Because it is not “normal”, it is by definition “abnormal”.  In other words, the average person thinks what a shaman describes is literally crazy.  That is part of the reason few shaman ever “hang out their shingle” and become known publicly.  It is also the reason shaman of old were often shunned by their society.  They were viewed as “different”, and perhaps “crazy”.  They were often feared because of that and because of their power.  At the same time they were respected.  They were generally alone, and sometimes lonely.

A shaman is constantly on a path of eternal growth and personal evolution.  This growth is generally done in quantum leaps, not steady progress.  At best that is unsettling to most people.  Most would consider it totally unacceptable, because it is too disruptive of a “normal” life.  There is no security on a shaman’s path.  Growth means stepping out of security, comfort, and normalcy.  It is especially true of the kind of growth a shaman experiences.  That lack of security is deeply disturbing to most people.

So, we have several factors that cause students to jump overboard in desperation:

* There is a domain of experiences that, while very romantic and exotic sounding, are intrinsically disturbing to the average person.

* There is a distinct lack of normalcy that is difficult to comprehend or explain in rational ways.  (Because it is irrational…)

* The growth that is required and is experienced is vertical, not horizontal.  Those vertical leaps are truly quantum leaps in growth and are unlike anything most people experience.  This can be unnerving.

* There is a clearly different perspective on life that comes from these experiences and exponential growth that are beyond the comprehension of anyone not having had the experiences.  The only way for a “normal” person to relate to it, then, is to label it with words such as “unreasonable”, “unrealistic”, “irresponsible”, etc.  (This sounds patronizing and self-serving, but it really is not.  A person who sits on a mountain top has a very different understanding of the land than one who has never left his community in the lowlands.  Likewise, rising to these other realms forever changes one’s understanding of how the universe is structured and how it works.  But, you can’t tell others…)

* There is no security.  Much of the life of a shaman is spent in what we call “The Alchemical Cauldron”.  This is the realm of all possibility.  It is also uncomfortable, although it becomes very familiar to a shaman.

* It is demanding.  You are asked to “jump off cliffs and fly”.  That is too much for many people, as it was for this person.  They liken it to blind obedience, rather than to willing empowerment.  Those are very different, but, understandably difficult to distinguish if you haven’t yet learned how to fly.

* It is hard work.  Dirty, sweaty, sometimes scary, often disturbing, extremely self-revealing and never easy.

So, how do you tell when the student is ready?

I have some of the answer for that.  And, based upon recent experiences, the bar has been raised significantly.  I’m leaning more toward the idea that a prospective student will have to work very hard to prove they can handle it, before I will take them on as an apprentice or a student.  I have ways of screening.  They will not be easy.  In fact, it will not surprise me if I only have one person that truly makes it to a shaman before I leave this realm.

Will it be you?  If you think it might, I must ask, again, the question: “Why in the world would you ever want to be a shaman?”  If you think you have the answer….