Well "internationally renowned" may be a characteristic of both, lay persons and ordained persons.rowyourboat wrote:TMingyur
I reacted differently to 'worldly' - I thought you were talking of internationally renowned teachers. I wonder if people would prefer a local more accessible teacher, to an internationally renowned one? Maybe if there was a 'dhamma continuum' (as is the case with Goenka and his assistant teachers) it would be much more acceptable (rather than just relying on books/talks/Cds).
with metta
Matheesha
For some a large following of a teacher may support their having faith in these persons (kind of "herd instinct"). But as to a teacher I think "the larger the following the greater the allurement of Mara" and that this holds true for both lay and ordained teachers.
Nevertheless the fact that someone did ordain and stayed ordained for me is sort of an indicator of "competence" (provided that ethical conduct corresponds).
But all this is really very much dependent on one's view as to monasticism which I think is dependent on one's view on the relation between "the worldly sphere" and "the dhamma".
E.g. There may be people who are unable to rely on monastics but can only rely on lay people.
'dhamma continuum' sounds like "lineage" which is the seed of "tradition".There certainly is nothing wrong with this but on the other hand it may be a further trap causing one to "settle down" at the wrong time and in the wrong place.
I think that if one has received some benefit from a teacher one should consider to "leave" her/him and not stay around and wait for "more" or "something better". In this way one may experience if one really has received some benefit or if one has deluded oneself into projecting "benefit" onto what is just another instance of clinging.
But the Theravada concept of "spiritual friend" is maybe not compliant with the concept of "teacher" anyway. A "spiritual friend" may be one who one asks from time to time, i.e. occasionally, while attending to one's own "business" during the rest of the time, right?
Kind regards