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Nine faults a master or teacher must avoid
Being a master or teacher should be one of the most respected and appreciated positions in society, to a lesser extent coaching as well. Since people in these positions have close personal contact with people from various levels of society and from various age groups, there is an enormous potential to have either a positive or negative impact on society.
There is famous Taoist saying that when the “student is ready the teacher will appear, and when the teacher is ready to teach and lead the student(s) will appear.” How many people, however, have been harmed emotionally, physically or psychologically by bad teachers, whether it be school, work, political, martial, medical or even spiritual and religious.
What guidelines should we use to determine if a teacher is ethically, morally and legitimately qualified to do the work they are doing? How much effort do you really put into researching and observing the traits and qualities of your potential teacher, advisor, doctor, politician etc…?
These traits should be viewed honestly and if the person in question is in violation of them then you really should take action and leave the situation immediately.
- A true teacher should never exploit their student(s) for any purpose, especially not for selfish reasons; material gain or social recognition etc…
- Any sexual contact between the student and teacher should be strictly forbidden.
- Observe the teacher and make sure they are practicing what they teach, in fact they should be practicing at a much higher level than the students. Hypocrisy is an especially dangerous trait in any advisory or teaching role. How many times have you seen a Cardiologist that is overweight or a healer that is unhealthy?
- A teacher must never abuse their role or try to impose power over the students.
- Being cruel or mean does not make one a good teacher, on the contrary this behavior almost always is rooted in the teachers insecurity and awareness of their own lack of ability. Imagine what impact the following comments could have one a student: “You’ve been doing this how long, and you still cannot (______)…, or yelling at the students because they are not acting tough enough.”
- The teacher must not control the development or destiny of the student, it is not their job to make sure that once you are a student you will always be their student. Beware of the teacher that insists their way is the only way or do not study with or listen to anyone but them etc…
- The teacher must authentically and genuinely care about the students; if they are teaching for any reason other than the benefit and growth of the student(s) then it is time to leave. Notice the emphasis on benefiting the students and their personal growth, compared to making sure the number of students/patients/voting block etc… increases which will in turn increase the teachers benefits.
- The true and ultimate role of a teacher is to awaken a potential in the student that otherwise may have remained dormant or undeveloped. How can this occur if the teacher is dishonest with themselves and others? Keep a watchful eye out for the fraudulent, cocky, braggart teachers for they will only cause harm to your development. “When going for a stroll be always on guard for the snake disguised as a blade of grass.”
- A true teacher will cause improvement and assist in elevating growth and development of the sincere students.
Regardless of what information or goal someone is seeking, it must be realized that not everyone is qualified to teach, lead or advise. It is up to each seeker to make the connections through careful observation. Just because someone attended a particular school, received a particular training or has a title that evokes awe and admiration, does not mean they have cultivated the traits, experience or wisdom to teach, lead and advise.
The next article will focus on some of the more common faults of students.
Note: this is a modified version of a list from the book Scholar Warrior by Deng Ming-Dao.
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(Article) Attitude of Heaven: Taoist method of planning & attaining goals
Man has been interested in planning and creating things since the beginning of time, it is indeed one of the attributes that makes us human. The ability to plan and create is a God given gift, however, it is a gift that many never develop into a skill and even less develop into a Great Skill or Mastery.
At the beginning of each year people the world over contemplate what they would like to do in the upcoming year and try as quickly as possible to forget the prior year now passing. Others will come up with “New Year’s resolutions” similar to: losing weight, making more money, getting a job, being promoted, getting married, having a child, volunteering more etc… But how well does the method of thinking and dreaming actually work? How many of us actually achieve our New Years Resolutions? How many write them down? If you do write them down, then what?
In a moment you will discover a truly powerful method to plan & attain your goals. First consider a Taoist concept: “The right person, who does the right thing, in the right way, at the right place, with the right people, commands success (The Integral Management of Tao, p. 62)”.
The ancient Taoists (in particular the Yellow Emperor in the Yellow Emperor’s Classic of the Internal, over 5,000 years ago) observed that the entire Universe was an oscillation of two forces Yin and Yang . After much investigation they discovered that Yang (——-, solid line) consists of: life, goodness, justice, righteousness, light, peace, heat, wealth, happiness, heaven, growth, the sun, active, things on the surface etc… With Yin (— —, broken line) consisting of: death, evil, injustice, unrighteousness, darkness, war, cold, poverty, unhappiness, hell, decay, the moon, passive, that which is deep or hidden etc… Yin and Yang represents every conceivable pair of opposites (Dr. Stephen Chang, The Integral Management of Tao, p.48).
If we look at the three solid lines or Yang lines, from the Pakua (Taoist symbol), we see the symbol that represents Ultimate Yang or Heaven. These three Yang lines represent absolute progressiveness, constantly improving-growing-learning. A person that wants to be successful will constantly strive to mirror the ways of Heaven by constantly improving, growing & learning. The nature of life is to live, and what one lives for is called a goal.
Throughout Taoism’s history these three Yang lines have held the secret to success and with practice you will understand why. The lines represent: immediate goals, mid range goals and long term goals. The method is to contemplate and then write down what you want to accomplish in the next: 6 months, 2 years and 5 years. Make sure the goals are challenging, realistic and specific. If you want to lose weight in 6 months; how many lbs, inches, body fat % etc… Also make sure you have a WHY for each goal, what does losing weight mean to you, why lose it; is it so you will live long enough to enjoy your grand or great grand kids? If you want to make more money, WHY, why should your employer pay you more, why should your business make more money, widgets etc…?
After you have the lists, the next step is to review them daily and make revisions at least monthly. If you take the time to do this, then this will be the beginning of a new you and this will, regardless of what others are saying, be a prosperous & blessed year!
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