When the Student is Ready, the Teacher will Appear

This brilliant post is not mine. My friend Dave over at AA Beginners Club (AABC) posted this this morning and I had to share.....

I will gain more understanding when I realize . . . a teacher is not one with many students but one who creates many teachers.

THERE IS a saying when the student is ready, the teacher will appear. For many on the spiritual path, this statement implies that a teacher will show up in the flesh, ready to teach us the things we need to know. In fact, some of us feel so ready, we mistake other students, who believe they are teachers, for the teacher we long to have. When this happens, we can follow the wrong people down the wrong path, learning very little. Unfortunately, by the time we discover our error, we are a little bruised and very weary.

A teacher, a true teacher is not one who gives you anything. A true teacher is one who makes you aware of what you already have and encourages you to use it. A teacher is not one who tells you anything. A true teacher listens to you, learns from you and uses what you have to inspire other students. A true teacher recognizes your brilliance and supports you in learning how to nurture it. Seeing your dilemmas, a true teacher walks through them with you. A true teacher will look you dead in the eye, call you out of hiding and celebrate with you in the joy of standing in your truth. A true teacher will not do it for you. Instead, they will sit with you as you figure out how to do it for yourself. A true teacher will not keep score for you. They will support you in moving beyond the need to know the score. If you are really lucky, you will happen upon the greatest teacher of all: the student who brings you to the realization that you are your own greatest teacher.

Until today, you may have been searching for a spiritual teacher in the flesh. Just for to day, pinch yourself! Honor yourself for all the lessons you have taught yourself.

Today I am devoted to being the best spiritual teacher I can be!