In February I stepped away from my long-term Buddhist teacher, Ajahn, though not from Buddhism itself. 

     About six years ago Ajahn moved from his Buddhist temple in the city to a smaller hermitage some miles away. His large group of students slowly diminished in number because the hermitage was less easily accessible than the temple was.

     At first I had no problems driving to Ajahn's new place, but I began to miss the larger lay community we once had. Then I began to feel that I learned all I possibly could from Ajahn. I started going to see him less and less.

     Finally something happened that made me decide to stop working with him. Ajahn compared me in public to another student, saying that they were more advanced than me. I agreed with his assessment, but I asked that he do this sort of thing with me only, in private. He apologized, but not very long afterwards he did it again. It seemed to me to be a sign that I needed to move on.

     Ajahn was gracious about my decision to leave, and we remain on excellent terms. I will visit him, but as a guest and not as his student.

     Since my decision I have become more seriously involved with a local Zen temple that I had been causally attending for a while. They have a wonderful, supportive community and I feel quite at home there. I will always be grateful to Ajahn for his teachings, no matter what. I will just be practicing them in an environment that fits me better at this stage of my spiritual evolution.