about teacher

[donq]

A friend of mine just wrote me about "School children, people fight about if schools should teach or not to have any orientations. Also, the teachers were in talks of their contracts. The students are becoming more violent. Using physical violence, knives and guns, is getting more common."

As for teachers, I think it's hard to find the real teachers nowadays. Yes, most of them have a lot of knowledge, but they don't seem to know "how" to teach. Let me give you an example, I read a lot for my personal research, even English medical books. And I often found that I didn't understand what they wrote. There were so many jargon within jargon within jargon. And it took many writers (Dr., PhD) to write just only one book! And they always quoted others' books, not their own ideas. In the old days, there was only one author for one book. What does this mean? Again, they don't seem to know how to help the readers getting their understandings. Another example is this, after looking in dozens of (English) dictionaries, I still don't know the meaning of "abeam". I mean, there was only one dictionary that really helped me to get a very clear meaning. Some dictionaries even contradict each other. I wonder who can really explain the difference between "pretty" and "beautiful". It only goes like this: "Pretty is used when you regard something to look beautiful". Really? hahaha ,

I believe that it's like to become a writer, maybe? Says, in a thousand of people who are native English, sure, they can read and write English. But how many people who can really write? I mean a novel, short stories, article etc. I myself wrote hundreds of (published) articles, a dozen of short stories (in my language) but never succeed in writing a novel.

As for teachers, I read somewhere that this Lao Tzu's Quote is fake:

"When the student is ready the teacher will appear. When the student is truly ready the teacher will disappear."

But honestly, I always thought it was genuine. Besides, its (spiritual) meaning was pretty good, wasn't it?

[Lao Tzu only said that, "When wise students hear about the Tao/Dao, they follow it with care. When ordinary students hear about the Dao, they sometimes believe in it, and sometimes doubt. When foolish students hear about the Dao, they laugh at it out loud. If they did not laugh at it, it would not be the Dao."]

I believe you all already heard about the world, "guru" which means teacher. Here's from ancient Upanishad (from the middle of the 1st millennium BCE):

The syllable gu means darkness, the syllable ru, he who dispels them,
Because of the power to dispel darkness, the guru is thus named.
— Advayataraka Upanishad

Here's also from Wiki: "guru" is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: traditionally, the guru is a reverential figure to the disciple (literally seeker of knowledge or truth) or student, with the guru serving as a "counselor, who helps mold values, shares experiential knowledge as much as literal knowledge, an exemplar in life, an inspirational source and who helps in the spiritual evolution of a student"
And in ancient Indian traditions "guru" has contextual meanings with significance beyond what teacher means in English. The guru is more than someone who teaches specific type of knowledge, and includes in its scope someone who is also a "counselor, a sort of parent of mind (Citta) and Self (Atman), who helps mold values and experiential knowledge as much as specific knowledge, an exemplar in life, an inspirational source and who reveals the meaning of life.

Another quote I like:

Gurus are as numerous as lamps in every house. But, O-Goddess, difficult to find is a guru who lights up everything like a sun.
Gurus who are proficient in the Vedas, textbooks and so on are numerous. But, O Goddess, difficult to find is a guru who is proficient in the supreme Truth.
Gurus who rob their disciples of their wealth are numerous. But, O Goddess, difficult to find is a guru who removes the disciples' suffering.
Numerous here on earth are those who are intent on social class, stage of life and family. But he who is devoid of all concerns is a guru difficult to find.
An intelligent man should choose a guru by whom supreme Bliss is attained, and only such a guru and none other.
— Kula-Arnava, translated by Georg Feuerstein

P.S. Sorry for any erroes and typos.