What is a spiritual teacher?    

What are the criteria for possessing a teacher?  Must it be physical or geographical, and if so for how long or how many classes, practices, or observations?  Do distance mentoring or “online” classes count? 

Or is it that one can simply follow the teachings of some teacher, thus they become “my teacher” without having met, practiced, or corresponded with teacher? How do I talk about my teacher without sounding woo woo?

Can one have more than one teacher at a time?  Is there an appropriate intermission when transferring teachers?

Is Jesus my teacher?  Is the asana instructor I had for last week’s CorePower 2 class that I didn’t really meet and probably won’t ever see again but I learned a new pose breakdown from her my teacher?  Are Krishnamacharya, Iyengar, and Patanjali my teachers?  Are my yoga-teacher-training teachers my teachers?  Is my high school comp teacher-turned-Facebook-friend still my teacher?  Is the author of the book I really liked or that post that really spoke to me my teacher?  Is my 5 year old nephew my teacher?      

Yes… 

But, really, isn’t everything my teacher?  Isn’t life my teacher?  For instance, take this Yogi Tea tag:

You can read what I learned from this piece of paper here. 

The point of all these questions is that I am simply seeking stronger specification for personal discernment (and likely having some major ego attachment to these words and concepts as well.)  I want some reference in referencing teachers.  I want teacher citation criterion for the sake of sifting through name droppers and ego fluff (read: probably mine again) and into truth for the sake of truth.  I want easier selectivity when I study and decide what information is reputable vs. deficient.

I want I want I want.  I want to keep learning, and I want to trust and know the origins of the sources that are teaching me directly and those that teach via student who become teachers of their teachers teachings.

Maybe I just want a teacher and I’m so afraid of screwing it up so I question myself into a corner. 

How do I find a teacher and when do I know that a teacher is MY teacher?

*http://www.webpersonalsonline.com/personal_ads_abbreviations_and_acronyms.html