Question: Are we (as students) in any relationship in the moment with the spirit of past teachers when we have a relationship or connection with a living master?

Answer: The whole point of any true teacher or teaching is that the spirit of Truth is timeless and not individual, so if you awaken, you realize the same spirit of Truth as apprehended by your teacher.

Question: Can a person wake up without having to physically move to where the teacher is and work directly with the teacher?

Answer: It has been said, and I know it to be true, that it takes a lighted candle to light a candle. Real inner work requires special circumstances for the individual willing to do it because, as a rule, we all tend to take the easy way. We need others to help us remember ourselves and our intention.

Question: Most of my studies seem to be all reading and on an intellectual level only. I want to know, do you think there is value in seeking out a teacher?

Answer: Your dawning realization that the intellectual understanding of spiritual truths is useless for true transformation is the beginning of you walking away from what clearly doesn’t work. A true teacher (and they are rare), can be of benefit — not because he or she will tell you anything of such a nature to make you want to change, but by being around a true individual, you will see that real change is possible. This will awaken a new hunger necessary for real change.