I think what an experienced teacher can do for you is to accelerate your learning curve. If you pursue the the path of meditation, in my opinion you will arrive at the same place eventually although the time it takes is much longer.
One lesson my teacher taught me, it took him 18 years to learn it. He was able to teach it to me in two years. His experience through trial and error, and my willingness to learn shaved 16 years off of his learning curve. He also added to his depth of understanding by teaching this lesson once again to another. Maybe he could teach it even faster now.
