M T:
Firstly, a lot of them want monetary compensation... doesn't this create an inherent conflict of interest?
It depends upon how one is able to evaluate the person
before they accept them as their teacher.
My initial teacher/guide was a Western priest/metaphysician, a former Trappist monk who had also studied with SRF (Yogananda's group in California). Needless to say, he didn't teach Gotama's Dhamma, yet he was familiar with both Eastern and Western philosophical ideas and had a lot of knowledge about how the mind worked. At least, I thought so at the time. After spending some time talking with him, I knew he knew more than I did, was more together in his life, and was generally happier than myself. At the time, I was undergoing an acute depression, and had been through at least three other people who I looked toward to help me figure things out, but who each failed to be able to help me change myself. But this priest was different from the others: self-confidence, bright and intelligent, insightful, a brilliant observer of human nature, he
knew what he was talking about, and he was happy. It was that last attribute that I was seeking at the time, in addition to learning more about the process of self-realization and whatever this thing called "enlightenment" was. One more thing: I had
confidence that he could do what he promised he could do.
However, he didn't come cheap. Cost me (if memory serves) around $3400 for the first three individual courses I took from him, and overall close to $100,000 after nine years, seven of those as a monk in his private religious order serving in a variety of capacities to pay my way. After the first course, the Life Control Seminar (this was in the early 1980s, just after all the hubbub about Werner Erhart's est and L.Ron Hubbard's Scientology when expensive self-help gurus started showing up on the landscape), I was convinced that this man must know the way to nirvana (whatever that was in my mind at the time). Within eight short weeks, he had managed to help me overcome a debilitating depression and begin to have some confidence in myself once again. It was at that point that I became interested in his method of training and began studying it as much as wanting to undergo more of it.
So, you see, it can be on a very individual basis in which one takes such a life changing decision and makes such an evaluation of the person they choose as a guide and teacher. My experience, though, is an exception to the question you are asking.
In today's world (especially in the West) there are few people who are able to support their efforts at teaching the Dhamma without asking for some sort of donation or fee that it becomes very difficult for them to survive. We don't have the same supporting traditions here as they have in Asian countries. Teaching is not something that is very easily done on a part time basis, especially for those who really
do know what they are doing. So, keep an open mind, be skeptical, and challenge anyone who you might think meets the qualification for being your teacher or guide.
M T:
Secondly, how do you know they've reached enlightenment? Unless there's a dharmic credentialing service, this seems like a nebulous task.
You don't. That's something you have to take on faith (and personal observation of the person over a long length of time) before you can begin to have confidence in their personal achievement.
In the past as in the present, the "dhammic credentialing service" has generally been with whom can one trace back the person's teaching lineage. But even this can be deceiving at times. For example, both Ajahn Sumedho and Ajahn Brahmavamso (Englishmen both) trained with Ajahn Chah in the Thai Forest Tradition. After having read their writings and seen a bit of each of these monks, if I had to choose one today to study under, it would be Aj. Sumedho. There's something lacking in Aj. Brahms demeanor and discernment about certain things that turns me off.
Your best bet is to develop a little discernment of your own and be able to observe the person over a long length of time to see how they handle their life. Look for obvious contradictions in what they say as opposed to what they do. Nothing comes easily in this endeavor. You have to work at it and so does your prospective teacher/guide, if you are to become impressed enough by them to choose them over someone else.
M T:
Thirdly, how do you evaluate their teaching ability? The fact someone has reached enlightenment doesn't indicate they have any skill in guiding someone else.
This is something that you have to allow some time for. There are different teaching methods depending upon the person with whom one comes in contact. A Zen teacher may be a bit more out there in terms of what they might do to "awaken" your mind than a Theravadin teacher. One way to begin evaluating the teacher is to watch what they tell you to do or read and how they handle teaching the basics of the Dhamma. If they start leaving important things out (like de-emphasizing being able to walk the noble eightfold path, or putting less emphasis on learning about
satipatthana) then they aren't doing you any favors. Learn the basics of the Dhamma first and be able to discern when they are teaching you something about this or that aspect of it. You have to take some responsibility in this, too, or else you are just cheating yourself.
M T:
Even more fundamentally, are teachers really the best way to receive guidance down the dharmic path? Could a book, a forum, or self-reliance suffice in their place, or are teachers/gurus really recommended?
Having a qualified and credible guide to help you walk the path is inestimable in terms of the time they may help save you in making that journey. Yet, having said that, a lot depends upon you and how quickly you are able to pick things up and use them in your practice. Books are a good secondary source. But having an actual living role model who knows what you are going through and how to help you get over the barriers you put up in your own way is
absolutely priceless. I'd even venture to say that anyone who thinks that they can get along
without at some point having had contact with a qualified teacher or guide is just deluding themselves that they can accomplish this on their own.
If I hadn't had the early contact with my primary teacher, I doubt I could have discerned enough from the books and treatises I read to help me successfully tread this path. The experiences I had while in contact with that person and the lessons I learned were just irreplaceable. And they helped me to make sense of many of the pieces I read because I knew what the author was talking about because I, too, had lived it!