Yoga Journal Singapore — December 15, 2017

(Grace) #1
december 2017 / january 2018

yogajournal.com.sg

When powerful teachings,


charismatic instructors,


and receptive students


come together in a


spiritual community,


intimate relationships


have the potential to


bloom. Yet is it ever OK


for a student-teacher


relationship to turn romantic?


Yoga Journal investigates.


Story by Sarah Herrington
Illustrations by C.J. Burton


“HUNGRY GHOSTS REPRESENT the parts of us
that can never be satisfied,” I heard the meditation
instructor say from my back-row seat in the packed
contemplative center. I’d just returned to the United
States after teaching English for a year in Japan. I had
no job and was suffering the fallout from things ending
badly with my first love while I was abroad. In my
vulnerable state, I felt pulled toward a path that had long
interested me: Buddhism.


“Keep coming to class,” the teacher told me as I
left that night. When he emailed three weeks later
asking if I’d like to meet for coffee, I was taken aback.
I looked him up online. His social media status had
recently changed from “in a relationship” to “single.” I
was curious. Within a few days, I was meeting him for
coffee, which turned into dinner. He was handsome and
charismatic. I was attracted to him, yet confused.
He was my teacher. When he leaned in to kiss me,
I stopped him.


“It’s taken me forever to find a meditation group I
like,” I said. “I don’t want to mess it up.” Before I’d left for
Japan, I’d looked for a sangha, or community. The one
this man led, filled with young creative types, was the
first in which I felt at home.

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