The Chela's Handbook

Book excerpt: Wisdom on the Path of Enlightenment Chela is Sanskrit for “disciple” of a spiritual teacher, or guru. The guru-chela relationship is far more than that of ordinary teacher and pupil, since it involves a profoundly spiritual interrelationship. Now, in this new volume, William Wilson Quinn has compiled and organized selections from several extraordinary gurus–primarily of India and Tibet–who were highly advanced and authentic spiritual teachers. Their advice focuses on chelaship–of how to become, and remain, a chela of one of their qualified successors. Distilled to its essence, and borrowing from their words, this handbook succinctly offers a guide to cultivating the chela’s inner qualities and virtues, as well as his or her outer behaviors. These inner qualities include, among others, open mindedness, purity of heart, an eager intellect, a sense of duty to the spiritual teacher, and a willing obedience to the behests of Truth. For the chela, these inner pursuits are effective only when matched with corresponding outer behaviors such as loving kindness toward others, selflessness, and a genuine compassion and charity for all who suffer. For seekers of spiritual truth and students of the perennial philosophy wanting to explore spiritual wisdom at depth, The Chela’s Handbook offers a guide for becoming and remaining a chela, and thereafter traversing the spiritual path toward the ultimate goals of enlightenment and liberation from the wheel of death and rebirth.