Three Signs Your Spiritual Teacher is Authentic

Many teachers abound, but few are real.

Fake spiritual teachers are everywhere. I’m not talking about the ones that impose non-disclosure agreements and secrecy, all to cultivate the aura of being part of a special group, and threaten you if you dare to leave, or worse still, have engaged in misconduct or mistreated their students.

I’m talking about the ones who present themselves with polish, glowing with the sparkle of an Instagram filter, and who seem genuinely interested in helping others. The difficulty is that it is often hard to scrape the surface to find out if someone who presents as a teacher just finished their first meditation retreat, did a weekend reiki certification, or perused A Course in Miracles and then decided that after a few months in a Facebook spirituality group that they were ready to teach.

Spiritual teachers can show up through their writings, through centers like Kripalu or Esalen, through traveling or from their online presence. Some may be famous; others may be relatively obscure. Some may have followings, and others may just have a series of clients. Teachers come in all different forms. Fame and followers are, however, just proxies — very imperfect ones — for how authentic a teacher is.

From my own experience with many teachers, guides, and gurus, I believe that there are three key measures to gauge whether a teacher is authentic.

An Authentic Relationship to Their Wisdom

Authentic teachers feel sincerely and deeply guided to share their unique wisdom because they know that others will benefit, and they have a wealth of experience to share; they didn’t just read a few books, take someone else’s courses, and then regurgitate. Their wisdom isn’t just some airy pablum that feels like you’ve heard it before, because you have. You can feel that there’s truth in their words that emanates from a deeper sense of authority.

The teacher is honest and forthcoming about their path and the source of their wisdom. Because of that authentic connection to wisdom and experience, the teacher will willingly share but doesn’t need to impose their authority or prove it repeatedly. You’ll feel if they have something to teach you, and the teacher knows when you are meant to learn from someone else. They won’t try to hold on or manipulate you into staying in their presence.

An Authentic Relationship to Their Growth

An authentic teacher is humble and honest about where they are still learning themselves to release the parts of them that can still be triggered. It means that they have grown enough that those triggers do not shape their role as a teacher, so that teaching itself is not an attempt to cover up their wounds. It means being committed to working those edges, and not gaslighting students into believing that the teacher is beyond all human foibles; be especially wary of any teacher who claims to have healed all their wounds.

But neither does that mean that the teacher’s inner work is the centerpiece of their public persona. The pendulum sometimes swings too far, and the teacher tries to seem “real” by exposing all of their wounds, making it seem like they’re “just like you” but they just had this big breakthrough and now need to share; that’s faux vulnerability, designed for “humble-bragging” and something of a mainstay on social media. An authentic teacher is honest about their growth while not making their teachings about themselves or using “vulnerability” as a marketing technique to seem authentic.

An Authentic Relationship to Their Students’ Light

An authentic teacher sees you and recognizes you for your gifts. The teacher doesn’t need to impose a path on you, nor feels any competition with you. The teacher knows they are not there for the student to emulate, but to help that student find their authentic expression, to find your gifts. As someone once said to me, explaining the relationship, “Why would you want my power, when you could have yours?”

When I have been in the presence of authentic teachers, I could feel their genuine knowledge and heart. When they offered their wisdom, it was because they knew I was willing to receive, so that I might be led on my path. There was no relationship of dependence or demands for allegiance. There were no NDAs or efforts to make me become something that felt out of alignment with myself. Whenever I have been in the presence of a true teacher, I have felt more myself than ever.

Finding a spiritual teacher is one of the greatest gifts. They have walked a path that few are courageous enough to follow, and they have wonderful insights about what it means to be a human being. In truth, we cannot — and are not meant to — walk a spiritual path alone.

But many people gravitate to being a spiritual teacher, often for the wrong reasons. Use these three principles to guide you as you assess your relationship with a teacher. Humility, honesty, and freedom are the hallmarks of an authentic spiritual teacher.

Two final pieces of advice, from personal experience, might help you as you assess your teachers.

First, recognize that you will be triggered by an authentic teacher — that’s supposed to happen, and it doesn’t necessarily mean your teacher isn’t real. Often the role of the spiritual teacher is to offer a mirror so that you can see your ego. If you sometimes feel challenged by a teacher, or resist what they have to say, that doesn’t make them inauthentic. True spiritual wisdom is challenging. You’ll know whether what they have to say rings true if you can feel that these challenges are guiding you to become more of who you truly are.

Second, remember that your teacher also might not live up to all three of these hallmarks at all times. That too is not a sign of inauthenticity. Regard it, rather, as a sign of their humanity, and a testament to the fact that they are still growing. The question is whether they can relate to their shortcomings with honesty and humility. If they can’t, but instead cling to their image, then it may be time to move on.