I've been thinking the past few days about spiritual leaders and their responsibilities. The reason is that I googled "Rodney Yee" and discovered an article about his extramarital affair. I found myself filled with disappointment that this had to happen to me yet again. It seems that this has happened to me over and over in my life. I become engrossed following someone who is resonsibile for a life transformation in me, and they turn out to be human. Then I become disenchanted with the person/group, get a bad attitude and leave.
In thinking about this, I've realized something. If I can't forgive my "spiritual leaders" for being human, then who am I to forgive myself for being human. After all, they are not saying that they're gods (and therefore perfect, by whoever's standards) by any means. Now that I've been through this exact conundrum a handful of times and am older and wiser, I'm beginning to realize that this has nothing at all to do with them, it has to do with me, and my ability to look at the world through mature eyes.
In my own always-trying-to-find-a-spiritual-answer-to-everything way, I am seeing this as Rodney Yee's lesson to me. It's an opportunity for me to learn. I can walk away from my yoga book and never buy or look at another lesson by him, or I can continue with what I'm doing and continue to grow spiritually and physically and keep my eyes focused on the real goal, which is the thing that is at the end of the path that Rodney Yee and the rest of us are all on together -- the path to a place of peace and harmony and a world of tolerance and love for each other.
