On the occasion of Guru Purnima, we pay our respects and homage to our Founder and one of the greatest spiritual masters in contemporary times, Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati.
In this section, we carry a short excerpt from The True Teacher by Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati.
A teacher is not a professional for he/she has no clients, only students. Teacher-student relationship is one like even mother-child relationship. That means, the teacher cares. This caring for the student makes a teacher real. It is the teachers that make an institution. There was never a vidyarthikula but there was always a gurukula. The calibre of the teachers makes the difference in the learning process on part of the student.
Sisya means the one who is yogya, qualified for being a sisya, at least according to himself. He considers that he is eligible to be taught and that he has earned it so he calls himself a sisya. Arjuna said,” I am your sisya.” Lord Krsna accepted him as a sisya and taught him; therefore Krsna became a guru only when Arjuna looked upon him as his teacher.
Teaching is a creative adventure. If the student finds it hard to understand something and you have the attitude that, ‘I am playing the role of a teacher. I am committed to the student,’ then no other consideration comes in between. It is not for money. It is not for power. It is not for control.
When you work with the students, playing the role of a teacher, there is a certain satisfaction which cannot be bought by money. That is the satisfaction of the teacher. The very glow you see in the eyes of a child when it clearly understands something you said, is the payment you gain. Thus you find that the teaching itself is the reward.