What does a spiritual guide do? Oh, I’m glad you asked!
Here are seven aspects of the work of a spiritual guide, to catalyze your growth. That’s right: at the end of the day, a spiritual guide is there to catalyze your spiritual development. Here are the seven ways she can do that.
#1: Release From Suffering
The n1 task of a spiritual guide is to help you to release from suffering. In this post, we go through seven tasks of a spiritual guide, but truly, all the next six derive from the understanding of what releasing from suffering entails.
So, what does this mean, to release suffering? Suffering comes mainly from ignorance: our lack of awareness of who we truly are, and what this so-called reality is. There’s a blindfold to be removed.
I know, ignorance is a strong word. Thing is, we all have a bunch stuff that we don’t know, so our egos might as well get used to that.
Maybe you tell yourself that you are divine, you are God, you are consciousness or any such nice thing. Unless it actually embodied, it is simply a mental idea that sounds nice. When we know this and embody it, life becomes radically different.
Yes, we are consciousness, but we live from our egos that operate on fear and separation. The ego generates fears, illusions, worries, belief systems, and opinions. It simply won’t stop. With all that, it separates us from Godhood, and creates a bunch of desires that keep our mind wandering and away from the present moment.
The n1 task of spiritual guide is to help you release from suffering which is created by the separation of the ego. To release that, a guide wants to expand consciousness and connection — by dissolving the ego.
Now ego is big, in every single one of us who is here on Earth. It is not about selfishness or self-centeredness as much as about separation and fear (which leads to among others, selfishness and self-centeredness). A guide also shows the student the full dimension and meaning of the ego, and what is happening within. Many of us, despite being on this path for quite a while, don’t fully grasp what we are “up against”. We are our greatest enemy.
Technically, everything that prevents you from being your divine self and living your purpose creates suffering — not necessarily the type of suffering that takes you to cry in bed nonstop, as much as the feeling you are held hostage within yourself, that there’s more to you and who you but it won’t come out. That which is stopping you is ego.
#2 Make Sure You Stay on Your Path
The second task of a spiritual guide is to make sure you stay on your path, which isn’t easy, for the ego will always try to dazzle you. That’s simply how this works.
It is pretty easy to get sidetracked.
Shiny objects, distractions, fear of missing out, fear of failing, seductions, and temptations for short-term gains that look so innocent: so many things out there taking us out of our path. Illusions and seductions are the weapons of the ego — and be sure the ego is amazingly good at its job.
Look around you: most people are not being themselves, they are not living joyfully and living their purpose. A spiritual guide works with you so you dare to stay on your path, despite temptations.
It is naturally easier to stay out of our path than on our path, and it takes work to stay there.
#3 Get the Right Practices for Your Growth
A spiritual guide can do that because guides can access your energy field, and receive messages from Spirit about your path. Sure, different guides will have access to different channels, some will work with lineages whereas others not. A guide has a special connection, so to speak, which is what allows them to guide others. That’s their gift and is what allows them to do what they do.
In other words: the guide sees your blockages and what is needed for them. As a result, a guide can give you the right practices for your growth. Practices that will dissolve your blockages and shift your energy field — if you do them consistently.
Here is what normally happens without guidance:
Scenario 1: People do random practices they picked from videos, or books that not necessarily are the ones that are going to help them with their current blockages.
Scenario 2: People stay with their practices inconsistently or for too short a period of time, quitting before the energetic shift has happened.
Scenario 3: People stay with their practice for too long, past the time needed, for they don’t know when the process is done. As a result, they stay stuck instead of moving forward.
A spiritual guide makes sure you are doing the right thing to catalyze your growth.
#4 Knows Things You Don’t Even Know You Don’t Know
A spiritual guide is someone who knows things you don’t even know that you don’t know.
I am sure there are things you already know you don’t know about spirituality. We all have that, regardless of where we are in our path, beginners and guides alike. This path is limitless!
Yet, a spiritual guide is someone who knows a bunch of stuff you don’t even know you don’t know — but that you need for your growth. The guide has pieces of a puzzle that you don’t even conceptualize yet, and because of that, a guide can take you there and turn keys inside of you.
#5 A Pillar of Light
A spiritual guide is a pillar of light on your path. They can hold energy for you and even send you energy in times of trouble, healing you and giving you extra support for your growth. Their light is to be shared, not only through their teachings but through direct energy transmission, and so they do it.
#6 Inspire, Motivate — and Keep You Accountable
A spiritual guide inspires and motives you to keep going. Spiritual growth can be a difficult and lonely path — and the guide supports you with it.
To feel you are not alone on its own is of great support. Also to have someone to be accountable with — which is actually one of the reasons why many people avoid working with a guide. That said, accountability is a catalyst on its own.
The guide will be a strong helping hand on your path, supporting you to keep going.
#7 Humbleness
Many people tell me they don’t understand why to work with a spiritual guide, as they tell themselves they are to do it all alone.
I don’t understand why people see it this way. I personally have only arrived where I am today fast because of the great teachers I had — and still have. I am forever grateful for my guides.
We have no issues calling a plumber, learning mathematics from a teacher, or taking online courses on so many different subjects — but we struggle with spirituality.
That’s ego, right there. Doing things on our own like that means reinventing the wheel. That’s why I don’t try to figure out a bunch of mathematical formulas myself — because if those who learned before me can share their knowledge with me, I can surpass them faster. That’s evolution — and spiritual growth is infinite expansion, requiring this kind of leap.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Sometimes we need to do things on our own. If we need help for everything, we are not standing in our power, and have confidence and self-worth issues.
But we refuse to have help on something so badly, this shows arrogance — and spiritual growth requires humbleness.
There’s nothing smarter than ego. It stays with us all through this life because it keeps leveling up its illusions and seduction methods. As soon as we understand the trick it is playing, it creates a better one. We are literally hunting our shadows.
Every situation is different situation. Sometimes it is incredibly helpful to have a hand from someone who knows what we don’t even know we don’t know.
To learn more about what spiritual growth is, get my free guide “What Is Spiritual Growth?”
WHAT IS SPIRITUAL GROWTH?
Explore the meaning of spiritual growth In practical terms, and its connection to soul fulfillment.
