How To Distinguish Saints From Psychopaths William L Hamilton

"Psychopaths" pretending to be "saints" present a very serious problem for all spiritual traditions. There are many more "psychopaths" pretending to be "saints" than there are real "saints". If you have a true saint for a teacher, then you have a real possibility for spiritual attainments, including enlightenment. If your teacher is a "psychopath", then you may become a programmed puppet, and you risk being sexually or financially abused. You also may lose your job, your family and possibly even your sanity. Eventually you risk disillusionment in the pursuit of any spiritual quests.[...]Distinguishing a saint from a "psychopath" presents a unique problem because they have some common characteristics that seem at first to be identical. Both "saints" and "psychopaths" can have the appearance of a beautiful, radiant and attractive being. Both may tell you, "Be here now, forget the past, forget the future; be spontaneous, heed your inner voice, follow your bliss."...They may appear to manifest similar psychic powers, healing, mind reading, and channeling from other realms.Although the powers of a saint and a "psychopath" may seem the same at first, they have different roots. "Saints" have a calm, clear, empowered state of mind as a result of discipline, meditation, and introspection. "Psychopaths" can develop paranoid samadhi, which is a concentrated mind, because they have done so many unskillful things such as lying, theft, injury, adultery, substance abuse, etc. Their powers come from having to have a very sensitive awareness to perceive when someone is coming after them. They are also gluttons for attention, and when they have your attention they will start to feed on your spiritual energies like a psychic vampire. They can sometimes read minds, tell the future, do healings, see things which aren't physically apparent and you may become mesmerized and convinced of their divine power. So how do we tell "saints" from "psychopaths"? My teacher, Sayadaw U Pandita, says that he never makes up his mind about peoples enlightenment until he has known them and observed them closely for a year. It is in the nature of "saints" to respond to sincere requests for help and guidance. If you sincerely want help they will be there for you. They may ask you to make commitments once you are training under their guidance, but there is unlikely to be an initial urgent commitment. "Psychopaths", on the other hand, are more likely to come on to you with an initial urgency, demanding that you make a commitment immediately or lose your opportunity. Therefore, my first advice about telling "saints" from "psychopaths" is to take your time."- WILLIAM L. HAMILTON, excerpt from "Saints and Psychopaths" (Dharma Audio Network Associates, 1995)