Teacher and Student

As Vivekananda says, “The only true teacher is he who can immediately come down to the level of the student and transfer his soul to the student’s soul and see through the student’s eyes and hear through his ears and understand through his mind. Such a teacher can really teach and none else.”

In another context he went on to say, “a Vedic sage … proclaimed the glad tidings ‘Hear ye children of immortal bliss…’ Allow me to call you brethren by that sweet name. …Ye are the children of God, the sharers of immortal bliss, holy and perfect beings.”  In this statement Vivekananda opens the door to spiritual truth for all, East or West or, as Kipling puts it, “But there is neither East nor West, Border nor Breed nor Birth, when two strong men stand face to face though they come from the ends of the earth.” In other words, there is no distinction to be made between Indians and Americans or Westerners in general, as to what teachings are appropriate or to be given. But the entire burden is not on the teacher alone; the student needs to do his/her part also. As the Swami says, “With the teacher … our relationship is the same as that between an ancestor and his descendant. Without faith, humility, submission and veneration in our hearts to our religious teacher, there cannot be any growth in religion.” 

The most fundamental thing Swami Vivekananda ever said was, “Worship your guru as God, but do not obey him blindly; love him heart and soul, but think for yourself. No blind faith can save you; work out your own salvation [with diligence, as Buddha said]. Have only one idea of God, that he is an eternal help.”Now some may feel that this statement contradicts the previous one. As Emerson wisely puts it, “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, … With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays: First Series (1841) History)

My good friend Michael Fell made the point that there is a parallel to a good marriage where “Devotion of a couple each to the other is not incompatible with each one thinking matters out for himself (or herself). Neither should feel fettered in thought. And neither should disturb the faith of the other.”

Now, then how is the teaching to be given? Swami Vivekananda says, “The teaching must…be modified according to the needs of the taught…Fire a mass of bird-shot, one at least will strike; give a man a whole museum of truths, he will at once take what is suited to him. Past lives have molded our tendencies; so give the taught in accordance with his tendency…” 

Swami Vivekananda constantly reiterates the need to allow the aspirant to think for himself, to choose for himself. Why is he following this method rather than asking for complete acceptance, as many teachers do? In my opinion, he has confidence in the capacity of the student to choose wisely. Swami Vivekananda is following the tradition of the Bhagavad Gita where Krishna ends his teaching with  “Thus has wisdom more profound than all profundities been declared to you by Me. Ponder it carefully, then act as you think best.” Perhaps this is what Pascal meant when he wrote, “People are generally better persuaded by the reasons they have themselves discovered than by those which have come into the minds of others.” Pascal, Pensees No. 10

When one formulates an idea so that it gives one the “aha” experience, that is more likely to persuade us of its truth than any formulation by the teacher, although the teacher had to have prepared the ground for the student. Learning does not come by mere memorizing of texts. Ideas have to be thought on and made one’s own by reformulating them in our own terms or, as Swami Vivekananda says, “It is wrong to believe blindly. You must exercise your own reason and judgment…”

 Albert Einstein agrees: “Blind obedience to authority is the greatest enemy of truth.”