I had a pretty bad experience with a spiritual teacher who felt threatened by me. He wanted to be the be all/end all to his followers instead of a facilitator to them finding their best selves, and when I became uncomfortable with that, he decided to either put me in my place or drum me out. Fortunately, I’d had the right/best kind of teacher before and knew enough to leave, but not before he eviscerated me in front of my entire class, accusing me of things that weren’t possibly true, but that were designed to hurt me the most. It was a horrible experience; perhaps the most traumatic of my life but believing in myself and my own perception of myself enough to walk away probably did more for me in the end than continuing in that coursework would have.

My take away: learn from others if you can but don’t ever give away your power to somene else.