Yes, I've been around the block a few times and have played The Game for more than a couple of decades. “The Game?” you ask. Yes, the self-improvement / metaphysical / enlightenment as end-goal game.
I've met many teachers – a few genuine, some frauds – or rather those who are half way up the mountain and proclaim themselves to be the The Real Deal. Some of these have done this in ignorance, some consciously. But truly I've learnt something from them all.
The main lesson? The only real lesson? That I am already where I was trying to get to. Already enough, already awake and awake at all times and no times. The end was the begininng and the beginning the end.