Personal Spiritual Trainers?

If you send out an earnest request to the universe and your higher self that you meet someone who is at greater level of integrity and spiritual development than you, who can help you raise yourself to a higher state, then that might just set in motion the synchronicities needed to make it happen.

On the other hand, if out of desperation, ego, or the faulty recommendations of others you hire a particular personal spiritual trainer or join a certain publicly advertised "esoteric" school, then you could more easily enter into something that doesn't fit. Schools have the problem of  power-tripping authorities and they verge on being brainwashing cults sometimes. Joining an ashram and have a guru prop you up like a crutch may be a good or bad thing depending whether you truly need a crutch or are just lazy. You could hire someone advertising themselves as a spiritual trainer and find out which matters more to them, you or your wallet. I'm being purposely cynical to point out how there is no perfect solution, that everything has its downsides, but that only in being unaware of the downsides do people fall for them.

The idea of having a teacher or school is to have something outside of you to lead you beyond yourself. Otherwise it is like sitting in a sailboat blowing at the sails to make the boat go... doesn't work. But "something outside of you" isn't limited to some institution or publicly renowned trainer-for-hire. I prefer letting the flow of the universe, my own intuition and dreams, and the positive forces that stay in the background and drop me inspirations and clues, guide me toward the next stage of my development. Conversations with others, life experiences, your own observations, the books and websites you read, all can inspire you to rise. As long as I stay discerning but open-minded and broadcast my conscious request for assistance with a warmhearted attitude, and as long as I follow up on the leads tossed my way with an eye on stepping around false leads, I do meet the right sources and people at the right time.

Thanks for the advice.  I'll definitely keep what you said in mind.

The weird thing in Asia is that Monks will never charge other people for learning from them, but they make boat loads of money from "worshippers", people who believe if they worship Buddha, they get something back in return.  So Monasteries in Asia get a lot of money through donations.  A lot of people go to Monastery to burn incents and pray.  But I don't think any monk would ask for money unless they are fakes.  I had a lot of personal interactions with monks, and they don't seem like "worldly" people who care about "external" things like money.

In US there are these Zen centers.  They have membership dues for the purpose of paying for overhead.  I don't know if any of those old white guys are legit.  They have wives, eat meat, and have big bellies which are weird traits for monks.  They just seem too "worldly" for me.

I think US in general is not a good place for spiritual development.  The atmosphere is too materialistic, but the strength of the country is information.  I think it's quite a blessing to be able to have access to different informations from different parts of the world without leaving your couch.  Some other countries have more "transcendent" atmosphere like India or Tibet for example.  There might be better teachers out there.