Three Types Of Self-Inquiry Teachers

Self-inquiry is the practice of looking directly at the self, by the self.  It is an investigation of one's being, and what it means to be, done by oneself.  By this definition, it can be seen that no one can possibly do this for you.  Another important distinction to note is that self-inquiry is not an effort to gain something, or to change anything.  It is not concerned with adding to, or adjusting the self, but is simply a looking at what/who that self is as it is.

Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others. - Gautama Buddha

What a teacher of self-inquiry is not, is a giver of new knowledge, or an adjuster of old knowledge.  Bearing that in mind, my own practice of self-inquiry, and the growing number of discourses by people working with self-inquiry, I have so far found three distinct types of self-inquiry teachers.  Each individual teacher has aspects of all three, but most seem to focus primarily on one with bits of the other two poking in from time to time.

The Confessor

The Confessor has had some profound, and life altering experience of Self (capital S), or non-dual realization, or supreme bliss, or some such.  The experience has cut out the feet of worldly suffering and concern, and shown the TRUTH of reality to them.  They usually have only the vaguest idea how this happened.  Typically some version of the phrase, "by Grace", comes forward in their stories.  They serve primarily as proof of the possibility of resolving conclusively the question of what/who we are, and the snuffing out of suffering that seems to result.

Example of the Confessor tone:
Said the river to the seeker, "Does one really have to fret about enlightenment? No matter which way I turn, I'm homeward bound." - Anthony De Mello

The Coach

The Coach has had a profound, final insight into the nature of all that is.  They lack the roots of worldly suffering which seems to affect all of mankind.  (Sense a theme here?)  This occurred while (perhaps because?) they were actively pursuing a path of inquiry, or a path occurred to them as a result of their insight.  Either way they are left with a method, if not a goal, to point towards the experience.  By the nature of self-inquiry no one is able to hand out the results, but all can discuss how those results appear for them, and a Coach has some facility in helping to keep their "students" on target with the inquiry.  Unlike typical teachers they cannot hand out the answer, but they can herd one along the way to one's own realization.

Example of the Coach tone:
You don't have to understand that or develop a new narrative about who you are, what you are and what your relationship with life is. Simply bring your personal consciousness into direct contact with the you-ness of you, the I of you, the sense of being you, the sense of self that is always here. - John Sherman

The Carrier

This type of self-inquiry teacher may, or may not, have had a big opening experience or a life altering realization.  What they definitely have is a knowledge of the path, its tenants and some of the stories of realizations that other sages, realizers, and teachers of the path have had.  They carry forward the possibility and the methodology of the teaching.  The Carrier's role is not so much to assist others in their own realization, or to bear witness to what self-inquiry has resulted in for them, but rather to pass the flame of burning desire for self-inquiry on fanned by the recorded proof of those who have made the journey before.  They are also the historians and scholars of self-inquiry.

Examples of the Carrier tone would include lots of attributions of quotes, and statements referencing past teachers, saints, sages and gurus.

The first two types of teacher (the Confessor and the Coach) both tend to have a strong flavor of uniqueness about them.  You will often hear something like a term followed by the qualifier, "... as I use it." or preceded by the qualifier, "What I call..."  The third type (the Carrier) often does not have much of that self-distinguishing tone.

As I mentioned before, no single teacher is free of any of these three types (or styles) of teaching.  They all have all three.  They all also have a focus.  That focus can make what they are saying, and how they come across very unique.

I want to say that I sincerely believe that none of the above teaching types is better than the others.  Whatever works is good, and each teacher is inherently confined to using the style available to them.  Likewise each seeker is inherently bound to profiting from the method which most suits their particular disposition.  The only thing left to do is hope that the right seeker encounters the right teacher, and has the luck and determination to follow their personal path to its conclusion.

Of course, since what is being discussed is the self, it ultimately doesn't matter.  No matter whether you feel drawn to investigate the self actively, or not, obviously doesn't change the self which you already always are.

Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared. - Gautama Buddha

All of this is just how it appears to me, so take it for what it's worth.  (Which may not be much.)  For further excellent reading on the types of spiritual paths one can follow, check out Four Paths to Freedom - Which Is Your Root Path? over at Mommy Mystic.  Great stuff!