Guru Yoga

 "If you've been given everything then you won't know how to ask for anything."

I was thinking about that today as more people reach out to me for help. In the past it was easy for me to racialize the inquiries into two types: POC who tip toed around asking/apologizing for making a request and white men who I have never met who ask of my free work and time because...well because they are used to getting what they want whenever. But taking it outside of race for a moment, I realized that anybody of any race can suffer from the same haughtiness. A spoiled child grows into a rotten adult. There is an approach when asking strangers. A deep ask requires humility. In Buddhist sadhanas and prayer books have a slavish and devotional tone toward teachers. They are the key to everything. Yet in Western culture teachers are the less regarded and most underpaid. It's no wonder that the ignorance gap increases with each generation. We have trained ourselves to not approach a teacher or ask. Due to public schooling we think we are all just deserving of teachings wherever we go and under any situation. Poisonous arrogance undercuts deep learning because you can't get deep knowledge from a teacher you only half respect.  What you end up with is half-ass teachings with broken information. 

I think colleges should teach a class in guru devotion. It's so important to know HOW to ask for something and why. It is the gateway to everything. As I get older, this becomes more apparent. I have to un-train myself from expecting people to help me just because I asked.