No teacher but myself

Wednesday's post came from a section in Pema Chodron's book where she's discussing teaching the dharma to yourself. And then I opened Spiritual Liberation to this: Beckwith talks about opening ourselves up to Spirit (having an 'existential encounter'), to filling ourselves with "fire from heaven" and listening to the messages of Spirit in cultivating particular qualities (or fill in the blank with any message you like, I suppose—if you're looking for clarity on a life path, for example). And then observing throughout the day where we stand. Asking ourselves, he says, "Where is my consciousness?" I think we forget—I know I do—that although the teacher is helpful, sometimes even necessary to provide us with some idea of where to go and what the path might look like along the way, we don't really need an intermediary of any kind—no teacher but ourselves, no tool of divination but our own willingness to sit on the cushion and check in.