If I were to presume to advise spiritual seekers — which is, I suppose, what I do presume to do — I’d encourage them to restrict their spiritual teacher/adviser/guru pool to those who’ve written at least one book, preferably more. That would weed out a lot of the flibbertigibbets and flabbibabblers. Not all by a long shot, but it’s a good start. It would also exclude some worthwhile teachers, but we’re not spiritual collectors or enthusiasts or tourists, we’re making a journey for which we must make the best use of our fuel by jettisoning all excess weight. Once we’ve set our direction of travel, spending more time in libraries and bookstores and online forums is just a stall tactic.