Are You Too Smart to Need a Teacher?

Read 7 stories that may shock you, help you.

Right now, could a teacher be the last kind of person you want to see?

Too smart to need a teacher? Let’s clarify what you stand to lose, believing this. Giving you the chance to make good choices for yourself. And maybe some talking points for folks you know who can’t abide the idea of learning from a teacher.

I’m Too Smart to Need a Teacher? Do you have any idea how many people believe that these days? Keep reading this article and you may be astounded. Learn from seven power-packed cautionary tales.

First of All, Though, No Kidding!

Maybe it seems foolish to you. Would any intelligent adult choose to avoid studying with an expert. Yet I was shocked to learn how common this is. One of my Energy Spirituality® clients, the father of a teenager, first told me about this idea.

Incredulous, I googled: I’m Too Smart to Need a Teacher.

Oboy! I’ll repeat the research my Google. Today, while first drafting this post: 1 TRILLION, 60 MILLION hits.

Even 1,000 search engine hits can indicate something that influences you. Influencing you subconsciously. (And if you don’t yet know why, you might wish to click on the link just provided. Learn something that’s NOT dramatic. Nonetheless, you may find it shocking.)

And 1 TRILLION, 60 MILLION suggests a pretty strong undertow in Collective Consciousness.

Seriously? No Kidding?

Maybe you’re incredulous about that 1 TRILLION, 60 MILLION hits. I was. So I chose to google something shorter, sleeker: I Don’t Need a Teacher

How many hits for that one today on my Google? Today, when first drafting this post: 1 TRILLION, 400 MILLION hits.

So what? Don’t believe for a minute in that dumbing-down pressure.

And next, just in case you’re wondering about my standing to write about the topic of this article . . . .

I’ve Served as a Teacher of Personal Development

Why bother? Because, over the past 55 years of professional work, I’ve:

• Set some significant precedents as a teacher.
• Seen many not-great teachers come and go.
• And I’ve worked personally with many thousands of students, teaching internationally.

In general, I’ve had the good fortune to work in adult education, teaching self-actualizing students. But guess what? You can extrapolate what follows to whatever subject you might choose to learn:

• Either through self-study with no official teacher.
• Versus learning from an expert.
• Or simply making things up, for whatever reason.

Let’s get into mistakes that many a proud self-teacher doesn’t know. Each mistake will be illustrated by an incident, bringing that mistake down to earth.

I’m Too Smart to Need a Teacher? Mistake #1.

I’m Smart Enough to Make Things up — No Prob

The pride-enhanced reasoning may continue like this:

• I’m special.
• I’m creative.
• I’m smarter than anybody else.
• It will be a snap for me to make a genius contribution to this field.

Now, Here’s an Example. Our First for this Article

Disclaimer: In this article as with the old Dragnet radio show,”The names have been changed to protect the innocent.” Also I’m personally remembering these incidents, as best I can.

Except for our example about The Naked Yogi, coming up to illustrate our Mistake 4, which is sourced by research on the internet. Fact check at will.

This First Example Involves Teaching Empaths

Some of you Readers may know that I’m America’s most experienced empath coach. After years of dedicated cocreation with the Divine, in 2001, I published the first how-to book for empaths. I’ve also trademarked America’s first system for helping empaths, Empath Empowerment®. The two videos at the link just provided will give you an idea of what has been involved in this leadership.

A couple of years ago I was contacted by Andy. He was very excited about promoting his way of helping empaths. He wanted me to help promote him. We wound up having a conversation via email.

Curious, I asked him to tell me a little about his contribution to this growing field.

• Andy has a Ph.D. in education. He also works as a psychic. (Relevant to helping empaths? To Andy, this was an excellent qualification. Your thoughts, Readers?)
• Andy was very excited about his new project, website and all. He had decided to call his method “Empath Empowerment.” (Seriously.)
• No, he didn’t know that I had already trademarked a method for empaths under this name. This name just “came to him.” (Maybe came to him helped by the subconscious impact of how many people now use the term “Empath Empowerment?)
• No, Andy hadn’t really studied much that any other empath expert was offering. Including my online workshops for empaths, all the leading-edge blogposts you can find here, and my four empath books now available — see their reviews on Goodreads.

- By now, Amazon.com sells more than 800 books for empaths.

- Including the four how-to’s that I now make available, the series of Empath Empowerment® Books.

Does this idea sound brilliant to you, Readers? Does Andy’s teaching impress you? Hey, maybe you wonder . . . .

What Qualified Andy to Promote His Own Empath Teachings?

Hey, I’m not entirely sure. From talking with him, I got the idea that mostly this inspiration came from his spirit guide.

At one point I asked Andy flat out: “Empath Empowerment® is the name of my trademarked system. If you have something original to add to this field, maybe you can make up your own name for what you’re planning to teach. Not use the name that I’ve given to what I’ve developed.”

Sadly, he wound up going with his original idea. Infringing my trademark.

In Short

Andy decreed himself a teacher of empaths. Presumably he studied with legitimate teachers . . . in order to earn his Ph.D. Yet when it came to teaching on his own, hello! This guy simply chose the empath market. After all, it includes 1 out of 20 human beings.

Evidently Andy didn’t care to study existing systems from empath teachers. Instead, as a Ph.D. owner in an unrelated field, he chose to hang out his shingle by launching his own “original” contribution. Having looked at the website he lauched, I can tell you how his “original” contribution seemed to me: As though Andy made things up as he went along.

Your thoughts, Reader? Do you think that advice from your spirit guides, or doing a little research on the internet, beats studying with a legitimate teacher? By all means, COMMENT at the version of this article at my personal blog. Come share your reactions, and I’ll respond.

I’m Too Smart to Need a Teacher? Mistake #2.

Mashups

Remember mashups? The proud creator takes other people’s recordings and proceeds to “make something creative” by assembling bits and pieces all on one CD.

Maybe that’s not the highest form of artistic creativity, but it can entertain. That said, what happens when the purpose is to teach people to do things with their consciousness?

When a TEACHER Creates a Mashup, What Then?

For many years — although no longer — I was friends with Donna Eden. She’s the founder of Energy Medicine. Once, when she was in town, we met for breakfast. She invited me to present at her annual IGEEM conference.

I agreed. The experience, in 2013, proved interesting. Seemed to me, this was a gathering of two groups:

1. People interested in Donna Eden’s version of New Age Energy Healing.
2. Nearly everybody I saw was playing with energies. Unsurprising, most of the course participants that I aura-researched were living in Spiritual Addiction.
3. Mostly, that was the prevailing culture at the IGEEM conference.
4. Several times by then, I had warned Donna this was going to lead to problems, now that all of us were living in the Age of Awakening.
5. I explained to her about the importance of 20 Daily Minutes of Technique Time, Tops.
6. In her sweet way, Donna disagreed.
7. No coincidence? A couple of years after this conference, Donna herself moved into Extreme Spiritual Addiction.

My Most Stunning Experience at this Prestigious Conference

Traveling from the hotel to the Tampa airport, a fellow course presenter shared my taxi. Brandi looked adorable as a hippie-ish energy healer. She was very eager to tell me all about her work. What did she teach? To paraphrase Brandi’s enthusiastic description of her work.

I put teachings together. I have taken a ton of workshops. Usually I’ll just take an intro or whatever. Then I’d mix and match all the ideas and techniques.

Proudly, Brandi concluded: That’s how I’ve come up with my own special workshop. I put all this together, isn’t it great?

As a consciousness engineer, I have analyzed the outcome of many a mix-and-match technique for energy healing. In my experience, they don’t work very well. Why would they?

COMMENT below if you’ve ever tried out a technique inspired by somebody’s mashup “creativity.” At what point in the process of learning from this person were you told the truth?

I’m Too Smart to Need a Teacher? Mistake #3.

Making a Mashup for Empaths

For the previous example, Readers, I shared the story of a one-time presenter at a conference. But what about making a bold mashup and releasing it online. Where the ill-assorted “teaching” can confuse a wide audience. And new students keep finding this dubious resource.

Here’s an example. Where a teacher of empaths wasn’t really trained as a teacher. More like somebody who dabbled in other people’s workshops, and then put together her own.

Not So Yummy

Anastasia Eden worked for years at a retreat center. She worked as a professional cook. Only, eventually, she put together her own technique for empaths. Blogging about it, I call this technique “Broken Mirror Boundary Work.”

Doing this mashup might have been tempting. But was it ethical? Anastasia was recommending a set of instructions that she put together, instructions that would impact each student’s consciousness.

Whether or not you’re a fan of what Anastasia teaches, here’s a fact. Her blogpost has high SEO. Probably because skim-readers will find her technique the ultimate. (If you can’t yet guess why, keep reading. You’ll find my idea about that discussed soon in this article.)

When I took apart Anastasia’s technique, using skills as an Empath Coach and also as a consciousness engineer, hmmm. I found quite a few problems. You’ll find quite a list, at the link just provided. Enjoy!

I’m Too Smart to Need a Teacher? Mistake #4.

Teachings in Mind-Body-Spirit

Fact is, many Mind-Body-Spirit enthusiasts just looove free samples. Any new technique will do, provided that it feels familiar.

It’s like this article from mind-body-green about spiritual awakening. You can read my consciousness engineer’s critique at the link just provided. Some advice for people seeking to use their full spiritual potential in life!

Sadly, writing like this is typical of high SEO articles by mind-body-green. Many of these articles promise to offer useful info. Ironically, pursuing the recommendations as offered . . . will likely take readers on spiritual side trips. Exactly the opposite of learning anything useful, if you’re Seeking Enlightenment in the Age of Awakening.

Readers at mindbodygreen don’t exactly learn anything new. More like, they sample familiar cliches. Recognizing popular ideas can make them feel important, but have these enthusiasts actually learned anything with substance? Probably not.

Skim-readers at mindbodygreen probably read in order to recognize. Like collectors with a meaningful hobby! A hobby that causes them to feel good about themselves.

In contrast to what? At my blog I aim to supply content for thoughtful readers who like to learn what, authentically, can help them to grow.

Just as the blind often succeed at hoodwinking the blind, “teachers” like Brandi succeed by appealing to folks like themselves. Folks who believe they’re too smart to need a real teacher.

At this point, some of you readers may have related experiences and opinions to share. Please do.

It isn’t “being negative” to point out the truth of your own experiences. My experience is: Much that passes for mind-body wisdom . . . Doesn’t deliver as promised. So COMMENT here with your experiences. What has delivered for you? Versus what hasn’t.

I’m Too Smart to Need a Teacher? Mistake #5.

Teaching As Entertainment. As a Means to Make Big Bucks.

Self-taught entrepreneurs like Yogi Aaron are surprisingly common in mind-body-spirit. Why am I going to call out this particular teacher?

• Although I have never studied with him (God forbid),
• I have read enough about his teaching to consider it deeply offensive.
• Keep reading and you’ll see why.

Aaron Triumphantly Announces His Latest Mishmash

You know, as though he’s just discovered something new and important. Supposedly, Yogi Aaron has empowered countless individuals to:

• Become pain-free — Just now, while writing this article, that yields over 2 BILLION hits on my Google
• And to discover their life purpose — over 3.8 BILLION hits on my Google
• And to manifest their life purpose — 208 MILLION hits on my Google
• Through the teachings of yoga. — over 14 MILLION hits on my Google

Hey, Aaron sure casts a wide net, doesn’t he? So many big claims, few of which really go together! Yet all can grab him more SEO, and new students who are willing to believe Aaron’s claims.

Yes, Yogi Aaron Is a Talented Marketer and Also a Confident Salesman

By contrast, Yogananda was a skilled, humble, professional teacher. His work has inspired countless spiritual seekers.

Personally, I wonder if the true inspiration behind “Yogi Aaron’s” work — like that of many YouTubers — goes like this:

“I have a great personality. I’m good looking. So why not copy my favorite ideas, call that a system, and hang out my shingle?”

Now Aaron Is Selling a Brand New Teaching

Researching for this article, Readers, I stumbled upon this interesting video. It’s Aaron’s final YouTube offering in his Hot Naked Yoga series: “DELETING MY CHANNEL After Hitting 170k Subscribers.”

Here’s how Aaron describes his new role. From now on, he will help people understand what yoga is all about.

How innovative of him! Maybe he doesn’t have a clue that many yoga teachers have devoted their lives to exactly that as a sacred kind of work. By these teachers I mean, sincere teachers of personal development. Not grinning, leering salesmen.

For how many years have other teachers aimed to help humanity understand what yoga is all about? At least 10,000 years.

Does This Particular “Yogi” Offer Anything More than Charisma?

For sure, this teacher — who calls himself a yogi — appears confident that he will offer something that is both new and very important.

Traditionally, a yogi would be approaching yoga in a broader context than just asana and pranayama, incorporating meditation, mudra, mantra, tapas, yogic philosophy, bhakti (devotional) yoga, karma yoga (selfless service), and ethical guidelines (yamas and niyamas).

By the time of this video, he has spent 4–5 years teaching his system of:

1. Naked yoga. AKA “Hot nude yoga.”
2. Tantra.
3. Yoga for individuals and couples.

Finally, Any Comments on Yogi Aaron’s Memoir?

Aaron’s book is called “Autobiography of a Naked Yogi.” (I have not read it. I’ve read only read promotional description.)

Perhaps he modeled his memoir after “Autobiography of a Yogi” by impeccable spiritual master Paramahansa Yogananda. (This has been one of my favorite books for the past 50 years, read and reread for decades.)

In case you’re wondering, this self-made teacher markets his memoir as:

• A must-read for aspiring yogis,
• yoga teachers,
• world travelers,
• nudists,
• gay men,
• people wanting to manifest positive change in their lives.

I’m Too Smart to Need a Teacher? Mistake #6.

I’m a Healer. What I Need Is Given to Me

Many a client in spiritual addiction has “been given” healing powers by an opportunistic astral being. Clients have assumed this is an “angelic helper” or “my guardian angel” or “Jesus,” etc.

Sometimes such healers have booked a session with me. In every case it seems clear that these folks are expecting me to praise them to the skies. Instead, I’ll do a Skilled Empath Merge. Then caution my client. a Skilled Empath Merge. Then caution my client. In every case, such clients have not been doing well at the level of their chakra databanks.

I’m Too Smart to Need a Teacher? Mistake #7.

I’m Awakened. All I Need Do Is Tell My Story

Another group of Energy Spirituality clients has never had an Awakening Teacher. Yet now, these excited people have become teachers themselves.

And why? Due to having had an awakening experience. Typically, these clients come for a session as if they’re expecting me to greet them as my colleague. Perhaps they’ll think I will learn from them, because they’re such superior Spiritual Teachers.

These “Awakened” Teachers Have Typically Done all the Following

As if all these life choices are both original and deeply spiritual:

1. Quit my materialistic job.
2. Move somewhere closer to nature.
3. Become a vegan or vegetarian.
4. Write a book about my story! Or do a podcast.

Then based on Soul Thrill® Aura Research, I report in detail how all these ideas would be unhelpful for that particular individual.

Readers, why do you think these “awakened” teachers not doing so well? (There might well be more than one reason. So, what comes to mind for you?)

In Conclusion

Yay, discussion time! Here’s where I invite you to build upon what you’ve learned from today’s post. I’ll challenge you with these four questions.

Question 1. Taking an Age of Faith Approach to Spiritual Learning

Among the top hits on my first page was this concept from Bible Gateway, quoting 1 John 2:27:

You don’t need anyone to teach you something else. Instead, Christ’s anointing teaches you about everything. His anointing is true and contains no lie.

What are your thoughts on this faith-based approach to learning? Or to teaching?

Question 2. “I Know Enlightenment When I SEE It”

Many people are sure they know exactly what Spiritual Enlightenment looks like. Naturally, they don’t need a teacher. They just know.

Take a look at the related Enlightenment Jamboree and, then, by all means . . . .

Come share your reactions. COMMENT on the version of this article at my blog so you can open up our conversation about this important topic.

Question 3. “I Know Enlightenment When I FEEL It”

Much of the allure of popular teachers does not come from their closeness to God. Rather, it comes from the influence of opportunistic astral entities in that teacher’s aura.

This article can help you to understand why religious leaders who make their flock feel something special . . . Despite being influential, certain pastors couldn’t be father from using their full potential in life.

Again, please share your thoughts about this. Consider yourself cordially invited.

Rose Rosetree adds, “Thanks for reading, everyone. If you’ve enjoyed this article, please share it. And consider FOLLOWING me here on Medium. I’d appreciate it.”

And come join us at the version of this article at my personal blog, where interactive comments can enrich your experience!

A few days ago we passed a new comment conversation milestone, 143,000 comments. Not bad, for a one-person blog that is MONITORED.

Again, thanks for reading, everyone.