When you really want to learn, the entire world becomes your teacher. If that is the case, then what is the necessity of a teacher in specific? Can we skip schools, or forget about a guru of spiritual sciences? :)
No, because it is them who can give you the wisdom you need to decipher what you come across in the world and learn from it.
Without them, you might look at a thief and say to yourself, ‘I want to learn stealing’. This is only an example, but there can be mild to major situations when we may make unhealthy choices due to lack of good wisdom. Once our teachers help set our feet in right direction, and eyes in right perspective – learning becomes a beautiful journey!
Once upon a time, A king named Yadu was travelling through a dense forest. There wasn’t anyone around for a long while. Later he came across a sage. As he exchanged conversation, he understood the greatness of the sage. He was an avadhootha, an erudite scholar. The king asked, ‘How did you become so wise just living in this dense forest with no one around?’
He answered, “శీల వృద్ధా: జ్ఞాన వృద్ధా: వయో వృద్ధా: బహ వహ పరి ఉపస్థితాహ.. సాత్వికాహ!”
“I have learned from many scholars here, some are great by virtue of age, some are great by virtue of wisdom, and some are great by virtue by learning from the experienced. They are all satvic, not carried away by any temptations. I have many such teachers here, but primarily learnt from 24 of them.”
The king asked him where do they live in this forest? He named two of his teachers. One is the moon and the other is the honey bee! The king was shocked and later understood what it means to learn! It is not just whom you look at, it is how you look at something that makes you learn from it. This sage became the king’s teacher who helped him understand how to see the world and make it his teacher.
Moon is seen in 16 shades. One day, it is seen fully illuminated and another day it is hidden. The rest of the days, it is seen in different phases. What it tells you is that things seem to change, but the underlying spirit remains intact. The fight must not be about keeping things stable, it must be about utilising the change in your learning process!
Honeybees are extremely hard working when they build their homes. They are very grateful to the flowers from whom they collected the nectar. They pay them back by helping in pollination. When anyone tries to poke in their nose, they show the strength of team work! 😊 (a bee sting needs treatment!)
Teaching is therefore the greatest profession of all times. It’s not an easy job. Sometimes teachers must be hard on their students to train them right. It requires enormous efforts and balanced nature to teach righteous, principled, hardworking attitude in some students. How can we expect good music from drums until we hit them hard as and when required?
Let all the teachers continue to do their job well. Let all students continue to learn from them in full spirits! May the grace of Ramanujacharya, the greatest teacher, inspire us throughout our lives.
From the discourse of Sri Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji
– 5 th September, Teachers Day,
–Netra Vidyalaya and JIMS Homeo Medical College
