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Everyone's looking for the perfect teacher, but although their teachings might be divine, teachers are all too human, and that's something people find hard to accept. Don't confuse the teacher with the lesson, the ritual with the ecstasy, the transmitter of the symbol with the symbol itself.
True teachers not only impart knowledge and method but awaken the love of learning by their own reflected love.
The fundamental motive of true teaching is the love that seeks and studies and performs.
I would go out into the desert. The desert was my teacher. I didn't know about gurus and wise people—I wasn't a reader.
All of you knowing now,
Tthat the Buddhas, the Teachers of the Ages,
In accord with what is peculiarly appropriate, have recourse to expedient devices,
Need have no more doubts or uncertainties.
Your hearts shall give rise to great joy,
Since you know that you yourselves
Shall become Buddhas.
The extraordinary qualities of great beings who hide their nature escapes ordinary people like us, despite our best efforts in examining them. On the other hand, even ordinary charlatans are expert at deceiving others by behaving like saints.
-Patrul Rinpoche
Every man should be his own guru; every woman her own gurette.
To be sure, there are great spiritual teachers among us. However, all are human, so they are vulnerable to all of the same temptations and corruptions as the rest of us. Perhaps we would be better off viewing spiritual teachers as entertainers. To see them otherwise, often leads to our surrendering our common sense and distorting our boundaries. Leaders cannot mislead us for long. It is we, the followers, who mislead ourselves.
Do you seek the truth? There is nothing worthy of being followed except your own heart; no one to teach you except life's experiences; and no one for you to lead except yourself.
There are two kinds of teachers: the kind that fill you with so much quail shot that you can't move, and the kind that just gives you a little prod behind and you jump to the skies.
To fight is to die, to retreat is to die. Better then to fight snd die in the jaws of battle. - Asante Proverb
"If at first you do succeed, try something harder" - Unknown
"If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him." - Unknown
"Anger is only one letter short of danger." Usher Raymond
"In prosperity you cannot always tell a true friend, but in adversity you cannot mistake an enemy." - Ecclesiasticus 12;8
"I change myself, I change the world." - Gloria Anzaldùa
Shoot for the moon, if you miss you're still amongst those stars." - Beanie Siegal (In the Air)
"If you need a drink, don't take it." Charles Stevenson
"Sins cannot be undone, only forgiven." Igor Stravinsky
"Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living; the other helps you make a life." - Sandra Carey
"It is in the hour of trial that a man finds his true profession." - Anthony Anderson in The Devil's Disciple by George Bernard Shaw
"Talent is like electricity. We do not understand it, we use it." - Maya Angelou
"We hate some persons because we do not know them, and will not know them because we hate them." - Charles Caleb Colton
"The only real failure is to quit." - Anonymous
"If your head tells you one thing and your heart tells you another, before you do anything, you should first decide whether you have a better head or a better heart." - Marilyn vos Savant
"Knowing the truth and not saying it is as foolish as writing a love letter and not mailing it." - Unknown
"It is not what has happened that distresses a man, but his judgement about it." - Epicteus of Hierapolis.
"Nothing can be either loved or hated unless it is first understood." - Leonardo Da Vinci
"A wise man adapts himself to circumstances as water shapes itself to the vessel that holds it." - Chinese proverb
"A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out." - Walter Winchell
"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear." - Nelson Mandela
"Ignore weak moments, but never ignore what made you weak at that moment."
"Actions speak louder than words; let your words teach and your actions speak." - St. Anthony of Padua
"A strong man stands up for himself. A stronger man stands up for others." - Ben in the animated feature The Barnyard
"Knowledge is the only instrument of production that is not subject to diminishing returns." - J M Clark
"Only fools test the depth of water with both feet." - African proverb
"Admit your errors before someone else exaggerates them." - Andrew Mason, M D
"In peace I lie down and at once fall asleep, for it is you and none other, Yaweh, who make me rest secure." - Psalm 4:8
"Dreams come true when the one who is dreaming wakes up to work." -
"The impossible cannot have happened; therefore the impossible must be possible in spite of appearances." - Hercule Poirot in Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express
"Be yourself, imitation is suicide." -
"A goal is a dream with a deadline." -
"Fear is temporary, regret is forever." - "
If you lose heart when things go wrong, Your strength is not worth much."- Proverbs 24:10
"Sickness the human spirit can endure, but when the spirit is broken, who can bear this?"- Proverbs18:14
"To retort without first listening is both foolish and embarrassing."- Proverbs 18:13
"A fool takes no pleasure in understanding but only in airing an opinion." - Proverbs 18:2
"A friend is a friend at all times, it is for adversity that a brother is born." -Proverbs 17:17
"Disaster will never be far from the house of the one who returns evil for good." - Proverbs 17:13
"The tongue that soothes is a tree of life; the perverse tongue, a breaker of hearts."- Proverbs 15:4"
Thoughtless words can wound like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing." - Proverbs 12:18
"A man who stands for nothing, will fall for anything." -
"To find your way through life, follow Jesus." - Our Daily Bread (19th September, 2006)
"No knowledge gained through arduous quest
Has made my heart so free
As this great fact of time and space -
That Jesus died for me!"
- D. De HanSo many paths that wind and wind
When just the art of being kind
Is all the world needs."
- Ella Wheeler Wilcox
"Teachers are expected to reach unattainable goals with inadequate tools. The miracle is that at times they accomplish this impossible task"
"If a doctor, lawyer, or dentist had 40 people in his office at one time, all of whom had different needs, and some of whom didn't want to be there and were causing trouble, and the doctor, lawyer, or dentist, without assistance, had to treat them all with professional excellence for nine months, then he might have some conception of the classroom teacher's job."
If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.
Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it.
Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many.
Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books.
Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders.
Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations.
But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.
This "you" of you that "you" are is already and energetically flowing through the very eyes of this mindbody that you find yourself being so intimately involved with and flowing through right now. You are going to have to be able to find it and then stop at and as it until you are deeply at rest in and as it for consecutive moments together. This is what has you being this "you" of you that "you" are - nothing less.
"We cannot teach people anything; We can only help them discover it within themselves."
Listen to your parents and teachers. they got a line on most things, so don't treat em like enemies. There's always a chance you could learn something.
From all kinds of flowers,
Seek teachings everywhere,
Like a deer that finds
A quiet place to graze,
Seek Seclusion to digest
All you have gathered. . .
It is not easy for a man to be as great as a mountain or a forest. But that is why the creator gave them to us as teachers. Now that I am old I Iook once more toward them for lessons, instead of trying to understand the ways of men. They tell me to be patient. They tell me I cannot change what is, I can only hope to change what will become. Let the grasses grow over our scars, they say, and let flowers bloom over our wounds.
A child does not have to be taught how to be happy or the ways of love. It is fear, hatred, and prejudice that have to be taught. And from the condition of the world we can see that unfortunately there are some very good teachers.
What if you're practicing wrong? Then you get very good at doing something wrong. If we don't get good instruction, then we don't notice when it's a little out of round. Surrender yourself to your teacher. That's doesn't mean you turn over your life to the teacher - you don't want a guru. You have to keep the autonomy within yourself. You are finally the ultimate authority on your own practice.
Life always gives us exactly the teacher we need at every moment. This includes every mosquito, every misfortune, every red light, every traffic jam, every obnoxious supervisor (or employee), every illness, every loss, every moment of joy or depression, every addiction, every piece of garbage, every breath.
Every moment is the Guru.
A true teacher would never tell you what to do. But he would give you the knowledge with which you could decide what would be best for you to do. On the path to me, it is first necessary to come to the understanding that you do not know. This is difficult for most. Everybody likes to think they know. But when you are humble you can learn a great deal very quickly.
Chapter 11: Being an inspiration for others
Just as we're all students throughout life, we're all teachers. In fact, we learn best by offering what we desire for ourselves to as many individuals as we can, as frequently as we can.....Following this line of thinking, it's imperative that we make deliberate effort to increase our inspirational energy, as this will lead us to being both a spiritual learner and teacher simultaneously.
Contemplate the workings of this world, listen to the words of the wise, take all that is good as your own. With this as your base, open your won door to truth. Do not overlook the truth that is right before you. Study how water flows in a valley stream, smoothly and freely between the rocks. Also learn from holy books and wise people. Everything-even mountains, rivers, plants, and trees-should be your teacher.
Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Silence is the great teacher, and to learn its lessons you must pay attention to it. There is no substitute for the creative inspiration, knowledge, and stability that come from knowing how to contact your core of inner silence. The great Sufi poet Rumi wrote, ''Only let the moving waters calm down, and the sun and moon will be reflected on the surface of your being.
Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can avoid only by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.
Whenever I have found myself stuck in the ways I relate to things, I return to nature. It is my principal teacher, and I try to open my whole being to what it has to say.
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