Experienced Teacher

A wonderful question!
I would right away dissuade the reader from reading any further if they are not at all interested to know about the difficulties of teaching-techniques involved in initiating a person into spiritual process.

But, to me, the question itself is a bonus. And I consider my self to be unduly fortunate to know and experience the difficulties involved in acquiring the teaching skills. I did spend a significant amount of time, in volunteering with a group which is associated with a great living master! Narrating my own experiences here would not only be redundant, but also a needless diversion from the main issue.

It is good enough, if the reader feels impressed by the ‘value’ of the question, irrespective of how it is worded, or even the ambiguity/inappropriateness/ inaccuracy/futility/inadequacy of my answer.

I would thank the asker here too, once again. Unless some ‘body’ asks, where is the relevance to speak about it?

Psn(10th September, 2010)

http://in.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100909154858AAmGAMe

Spiritually, can one teach based on what one has heard from others, or does one have to have experienced it?
In order to teach, do you have to have thoroughly seen the path first-hand, or can one do it based on conceptual knowledge either gathered by yourself or from others? Can you show others the way without having walked it yourself?
Additional Details
Bonus Question:
SHOULD you show another the way without having seen it yourself? Could this potentially be harmful for the other person, if you steer them the wrong way? Should you avoid giving advice if you have no first-hand experience with whatever aspect of the way that the other person is asking about?

My answer:
That 'Bonus' question explains it all too well!

That is perhaps, the only problem, with finding a genuine spiritual guide!

Almost any science can be taught theoritically, having acquired the 'knowledge' too similarly. But not spirituality. Actually, I am in a bit of hurry to wonder, and admire even that this question popped up so pleasantly surprising us!..

The difficulty is, a very small percentage of such 'experienced' people stay back (almost like, we get rid of that plaster soon after the bone is set... may be the delay is to reach a photographer, for a snap, at the most, for a memory). And out of those who stay back, a similar very small percentage are able to communicate well, to reach others (quite understandably, the main problem is compelling use of the very same language which is used just to convery perceptions at sensory levels only!). The flight of knowledge is from known to unknown. Here the task is a bit arduous, since there is no possible bridge between the known (sensory levels) and the unknown (beyond sensory levels--that is what spirituality is all about). So, that 'first-hand-knower' has a predicament to keep the student hooked on to seeking, and hoping that somehow that fellow would slip into the 'groove'. That is why they call it pathless path! If the problem of that 'first-hand-knower' is so big, what to talk of others, who just 'heard' about it, and never experienced it?! But there is a silver lining. Two things have to be meticulously adhered to. One, never dilute/tamper/complicate the instructions of that 'first-hand-knower'. Two, maintain awareness of the adage that a person can 'use the other person's experience, but not his intelligence'! With these two age-old-tenets, there have been spiritual schools right since the ancient times, which have evolved time-tested-techniques, which make an eager seeker more prepared with the least dependence of a direct proximity of that rare-breed, the 'first-hand-knower'!(In my own personal view, the care taken by a genuine guide(that first-hand-knower) goes almost un-noticed, quite helplessly too, to avoid the pitfalls mentioned in that 'Bonus-question'. So, the potential harm is all the more compounded when the task is handled by 'theoritically-leaned' person! Now, how at all are we to get a feel of that embodiment of compassion, that 'first-hand-knower' who undertakes such a stupendous task, knowing too well that it has to be done quite out of 'unconditional love', the rewards remaining confined in the task itself!)

Thanks, many thanks for this wonderful question!