Sex and the Spiritual Teacher: Why It Happens, When It's a Problem, and What We All Can Do
The problem of spiritual teachers seducing their students tarnishes every spiritual tradition, in seemingly every culture—and recorded cases go back many hundreds of years. This widespread misconduct has created scandal after scandal for these teachers, and much suffering for their students and spiritual communities.
Sex and the Spiritual Teacher examines the mental and emotional lives of spiritual teachers who have sex with their students, as well as those of teachers who stay lovingly monogamous or honorably celibate. It looks at the complex forces that tempt otherwise insightful, compassionate, and well-intentioned teachers to lose their way—and that tempt some of their students to lose their way as well. It investigates a variety of practices that have become breeding grounds for sexual misconduct, including celibacy, guru-disciple relationships, sex as a spiritual teaching, and "crazy wisdom." It analyzes why most of our current efforts to keep spiritual teachers from transgressing usually don’t (and, in fact, can’t) work. Perhaps most importantly, it suggests a set of practices and structures that can build community, encourage healthy student-teacher relationships, increase trust and intimacy between teachers and their students, and help authentic spiritual teachers stay happily monogamous or celibate.
Eminently practical and down-to-Earth, Sex and the Spiritual Teacher is for anyone who is (or hopes to become) part of a spiritual community: students, teachers, clergy, lay leaders, and even casual visitors. It’s a reader-friendly, no-nonsense guide to making spiritual life safer and more intimate for all of us—one person, relationship, and community at a time.
