user12857: I am a complete beginner who was looking for a good Buddhist guide for meditation. I discovered the book "The Mind Illuminated" by Culadasa and I thought I had found the grail: the shape of the guide seemed perfect to me. It is simple and clear, based on the anapanasati, up to the jhanas, step by step.
But I have just discovered the scandals surrounding Culadasa and now I totally doubt the quality of his teaching. I attach great importance to the morality of a teacher of these issues.
Where do I go from here? What do you recommend? Is there another guide as good in its form made by a recognized teacher, without scandals?
Thanks.

user14789: Culadasa is a funny guy. So far all he does is

claims to be a at least a sotapanna https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMindIlluminated/comments/8pscyd/how_long_did_it_take_culadasa_master_the_stages/
writes a book about a mix of tibetan samatha and  theravadan  samatha
does not talk explicitly about insight, whereas the whole novelty of being a sotapanna is about wisdom, especially the lack of ''identity view''
he creates his own ''model'' about ''reality'' with his new buzzword ''subminds''
when it comes to insights, he just copies Mahasi like here
https://dharmatreasure.org/wp-content/uploads/Meditation-and-Insight-I.pdf
https://dharmatreasure.org/wp-content/uploads/Meditation-and-Insight-III.pdf
Like all the people  who claim to be ''pragmatic'' he claims that there is no ''final step.''. They do this precisely to keep their doctrine open ended in order to change it later on, or speculate about comparing ''maps'' and trying to see if they are still ''arhants'' according to''other maps''.
https://old.reddit.com/r/TheMindIlluminated/comments/az9mdm/has_culadasa_ever_publicly_claimed_4th_path_is_he/

Overall, he is pretty disappointing, especially for an alleged sotappanna.
Anyway, Contrary to the people who follow vipassana  meditation and ''pragmatic dhamma'' and end up getting completely lost, to the point of trying to mix their practice with Advaita, Mahamudra, Dzogchen and some other weird wrong views about ''the witness'', What you can do to go beyond is either stick to visuddhimagga, if you really want to, or just go back to the suttas, but the suttas are not super detailed, which is why people create commentaries and create their own view and try to pass that for the dhamma.
The best you can do is to is lots of ''mindfulness and clear comprehension'', ie to remove ill-will and so on https://suttacentral.net/an10.51/en/bodhi in order to improve your mind, 

“One should ask oneself: (1) ‘Am I often given to longing or without
  longing? (2) Am I often given to ill will or without ill will? (3) Am
  I often overcome by dullness and drowsiness or free from dullness and
  drowsiness? (4) Am I often restless or calm? (5) Am I often plagued by
  doubt or free from doubt? (6) Am I often angry or without anger? (7)
  Is my mind often defiled or undefiled? (8) Is my body often agitated
  or unagitated? (9) Am I often lazy or energetic? (10) Am I often
  unconcentrated or concentrated?’
“If, by such self-examination, a bhikkhu knows: ‘I am often given to
  longing, given to ill will, overcome by dullness and drowsiness,
  restless, plagued by doubt, angry, defiled in mind, agitated in body,
  lazy, and unconcentrated,’ he should put forth extraordinary desire,
  effort, zeal, enthusiasm, indefatigability, mindfulness, and clear
  comprehension to abandon those same bad unwholesome qualities. Just as
  one whose clothes or head had caught fire would put forth
  extraordinary desire, effort, zeal, enthusiasm, indefatigability,
  mindfulness, and clear comprehension to extinguish the fire on his
  clothes or head, so too that bhikkhu should put forth extraordinary
  desire, effort, zeal, enthusiasm, indefatigability, mindfulness, and
  clear comprehension to abandon those same bad unwholesome qualities.

after you memorize the path, ie this

“I say, bhikkhus, that (1) true knowledge and liberation have a
  nutriment; they are not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment
  for true knowledge and liberation? It should be said: (2) the seven
  factors of enlightenment. The seven factors of enlightenment, too, I
  say, have a nutriment; they are not without nutriment. And what is the
  nutriment for the seven factors of enlightenment? It should be said:
  (3) the four establishments of mindfulness. The four establishments of
  mindfulness, too, I say, have a nutriment; they are not without
  nutriment. And what is the nutriment for the four establishments of
  mindfulness? It should be said: (4) the three kinds of good conduct.
  The three kinds of good conduct, too, I say, have a nutriment; they
  are not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment for the three
  kinds of good conduct? It should be said: (5) restraint of the sense
  faculties. Restraint of the sense faculties, too, I say, has a
  nutriment; it is not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment for
  restraint of the sense faculties? It should be said: (6) mindfulness
  and clear comprehension. Mindfulness and clear comprehension, too, I
  say, have a nutriment; they are not without nutriment. And what is the
  nutriment for mindfulness and clear comprehension? It should be said:
  (7) careful attention. Careful attention, too, I say, has a nutriment;
  it is not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment for careful
  attention? It should be said: (8) faith. Faith, too, I say, has a
  nutriment; it is not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment for
  faith? It should be said: (9) hearing the good Dhamma. Hearing the
  good Dhamma, too, I say, has a nutriment; it is not without nutriment.
  And what is the nutriment for hearing the good Dhamma? It should be
  said: (10) associating with good persons.

https://suttacentral.net/an10.61/en/bodhi
If you want to follow other bikkhus, people love ajahn brahm so 
https://www.youtube.com/user/AjahnBrahmRetreats/videos
https://www.youtube.com/user/BuddhistSocietyWA/videos

user16635: "If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him."
Err... not literally...
The point of this quip is that attachment to a teacher is itself something that must be overcome. Even if you are lucky enough to meet a truly enlightened teacher, that teacher's enlightenment is his enlightenment, and you have to find your way to your own.
I'm not familiar with Culadasa or his issues, but a quick google search tells me he indulged in prostitutes and sex outside of marriage. It could be worse — he didn't seem to misuse the student/teacher relationship, as I've seen too many other teachers do — but it still displays some moral turpitude that shouldn't be ignored. Clearly he has a number of miles yet to walk on the path. That is his concern.
Your concern is whether his work advances you on your path. At this point you are not going to be able to see the path all the way to its end; what you want is something that will give you a reliable map for the next few miles, and when you get to the end of that you'll find something that takes you farther. If Culadasa's work feels 'right' to you, follow it for a while. He may have strayed off off his own map into the mire, but that doesn't mean his map is bad, it just means he lost his way. 
Trust me, he spiritual path is littered with teachers who have become object lessons for their own teachings. It's ok to use them as guideposts, so long as you commit yourself to turn right where they turned wrong.

12857: <p>I am a complete beginner who was looking for a good Buddhist guide for meditation. I discovered the book "The Mind Illuminated" by Culadasa and I thought I had found the grail: the shape of the guide seemed perfect to me. It is simple and clear, based on the anapanasati, up to the jhanas, step by step.</p>

<p>But I have just discovered the scandals surrounding Culadasa and now I totally doubt the quality of his teaching. I attach great importance to the morality of a teacher of these issues.</p>

<p>Where do I go from here? What do you recommend? Is there another guide as good in its form made by a recognized teacher, without scandals?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>
 14789: <p>Culadasa is a funny guy. So far all he does is</p>

<ul>
<li>claims to be a at least a sotapanna <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMindIlluminated/comments/8pscyd/how_long_did_it_take_culadasa_master_the_stages/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMindIlluminated/comments/8pscyd/how_long_did_it_take_culadasa_master_the_stages/</a></li>
<li>writes a book about a mix of tibetan samatha and  theravadan  samatha</li>
<li>does not talk explicitly about insight, whereas the whole novelty of being a sotapanna is about wisdom, especially the lack of ''identity view''</li>
<li>he creates his own ''model'' about ''reality'' with his new buzzword ''subminds''</li>
<li>when it comes to insights, he just copies Mahasi like here
<a href="https://dharmatreasure.org/wp-content/uploads/Meditation-and-Insight-I.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://dharmatreasure.org/wp-content/uploads/Meditation-and-Insight-I.pdf</a>
<a href="https://dharmatreasure.org/wp-content/uploads/Meditation-and-Insight-III.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://dharmatreasure.org/wp-content/uploads/Meditation-and-Insight-III.pdf</a></li>
<li>Like all the people  who claim to be ''pragmatic'' he claims that there is no ''final step.''. They do this precisely to keep their doctrine open ended in order to change it later on, or speculate about comparing ''maps'' and trying to see if they are still ''arhants'' according to''other maps''.
<a href="https://old.reddit.com/r/TheMindIlluminated/comments/az9mdm/has_culadasa_ever_publicly_claimed_4th_path_is_he/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://old.reddit.com/r/TheMindIlluminated/comments/az9mdm/has_culadasa_ever_publicly_claimed_4th_path_is_he/</a></li>
</ul>

<p>Overall, he is pretty disappointing, especially for an alleged sotappanna.</p>

<p>Anyway, Contrary to the people who follow vipassana  meditation and ''pragmatic dhamma'' and end up getting completely lost, to the point of trying to mix their practice with Advaita, Mahamudra, Dzogchen and some other weird wrong views about ''the witness'', What you can do to go beyond is either stick to visuddhimagga, if you really want to, or just go back to the suttas, but the suttas are not super detailed, which is why people create commentaries and create their own view and try to pass that for the dhamma.
The best you can do is to is lots of ''mindfulness and clear comprehension'', ie to remove ill-will and so on <a href="https://suttacentral.net/an10.51/en/bodhi" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://suttacentral.net/an10.51/en/bodhi</a> in order to improve your mind, </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>“One should ask oneself: (1) ‘Am I often given to longing or without
  longing? (2) Am I often given to ill will or without ill will? (3) Am
  I often overcome by dullness and drowsiness or free from dullness and
  drowsiness? (4) Am I often restless or calm? (5) Am I often plagued by
  doubt or free from doubt? (6) Am I often angry or without anger? (7)
  Is my mind often defiled or undefiled? (8) Is my body often agitated
  or unagitated? (9) Am I often lazy or energetic? (10) Am I often
  unconcentrated or concentrated?’</p>
  
  <p>“If, by such self-examination, a bhikkhu knows: ‘I am often given to
  longing, given to ill will, overcome by dullness and drowsiness,
  restless, plagued by doubt, angry, defiled in mind, agitated in body,
  lazy, and unconcentrated,’ he should put forth extraordinary desire,
  effort, zeal, enthusiasm, indefatigability, mindfulness, and clear
  comprehension to abandon those same bad unwholesome qualities. Just as
  one whose clothes or head had caught fire would put forth
  extraordinary desire, effort, zeal, enthusiasm, indefatigability,
  mindfulness, and clear comprehension to extinguish the fire on his
  clothes or head, so too that bhikkhu should put forth extraordinary
  desire, effort, zeal, enthusiasm, indefatigability, mindfulness, and
  clear comprehension to abandon those same bad unwholesome qualities.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>after you memorize the path, ie this</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>“I say, bhikkhus, that (1) true knowledge and liberation have a
  nutriment; they are not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment
  for true knowledge and liberation? It should be said: (2) the seven
  factors of enlightenment. The seven factors of enlightenment, too, I
  say, have a nutriment; they are not without nutriment. And what is the
  nutriment for the seven factors of enlightenment? It should be said:
  (3) the four establishments of mindfulness. The four establishments of
  mindfulness, too, I say, have a nutriment; they are not without
  nutriment. And what is the nutriment for the four establishments of
  mindfulness? It should be said: (4) the three kinds of good conduct.
  The three kinds of good conduct, too, I say, have a nutriment; they
  are not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment for the three
  kinds of good conduct? It should be said: (5) restraint of the sense
  faculties. Restraint of the sense faculties, too, I say, has a
  nutriment; it is not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment for
  restraint of the sense faculties? It should be said: (6) mindfulness
  and clear comprehension. Mindfulness and clear comprehension, too, I
  say, have a nutriment; they are not without nutriment. And what is the
  nutriment for mindfulness and clear comprehension? It should be said:
  (7) careful attention. Careful attention, too, I say, has a nutriment;
  it is not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment for careful
  attention? It should be said: (8) faith. Faith, too, I say, has a
  nutriment; it is not without nutriment. And what is the nutriment for
  faith? It should be said: (9) hearing the good Dhamma. Hearing the
  good Dhamma, too, I say, has a nutriment; it is not without nutriment.
  And what is the nutriment for hearing the good Dhamma? It should be
  said: (10) associating with good persons.</p>
</blockquote>

<p><a href="https://suttacentral.net/an10.61/en/bodhi" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://suttacentral.net/an10.61/en/bodhi</a></p>

<p>If you want to follow other bikkhus, people love ajahn brahm so 
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/AjahnBrahmRetreats/videos" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/user/AjahnBrahmRetreats/videos</a>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/BuddhistSocietyWA/videos" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.youtube.com/user/BuddhistSocietyWA/videos</a></p>
 16635: <p>"If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him."</p>

<p>Err... not <em>literally</em>...</p>

<p>The point of this quip is that attachment to a teacher is itself something that must be overcome. Even if you are lucky enough to meet a truly enlightened teacher, that teacher's enlightenment is <em>his</em> enlightenment, and you have to find your way to your <em>own</em>.</p>

<p>I'm not familiar with Culadasa or his issues, but a quick google search tells me he indulged in prostitutes and sex outside of marriage. It could be worse — he didn't seem to misuse the student/teacher relationship, as I've seen too many other teachers do — but it still displays some moral turpitude that shouldn't be ignored. Clearly he has a number of miles yet to walk on the path. That is his concern.</p>

<p><em>Your</em> concern is whether his work advances you on <em>your</em> path. At this point you are not going to be able to see the path all the way to its end; what you want is something that will give you a reliable map for the next few miles, and when you get to the end of that you'll find something that takes you farther. If Culadasa's work feels 'right' to you, follow it for a while. He may have strayed off off his own map into the mire, but that doesn't mean his map is bad, it just means he lost his way. </p>

<p>Trust me, he spiritual path is littered with teachers who have become object lessons for their own teachings. It's ok to use them as guideposts, so long as you commit yourself to turn right where they turned wrong.</p>
