On a spiritual search there will come a time when you seek the guidance of a teacher. An old ancient proverb comes to mind: “When The Student Is Ready, The Teacher Appears.” It is a mistake to think that our greatest teachers can be found only in monasteries, hermitages and ashrams away from hustle and bustle of worldly existence.
Your greatest teacher may have already made a brief appearance in your life, but you seldom realize this. Every circumstance, every person can teach us lessons but you have to be willing to reflect and look beyond the obvious. By asking the question “What is the lesson I have to learn?” You learn to see the lesson hidden behind the circumstances or event that is causing distress or unhappiness.
Mistakenly we like to believe that our greatest teachers are those that love and support us. Nevertheless we will not identify with difficult circumstances, people who challenge us and are able to bring out our worst behaviour. You can usually recognize this by your own responses; includes feelings of embarrassment, righteousness and anger.
Those who may frustrate, anger, hurt, confuse or abandon us are our greatest teachers. They could be parents, family, friends, work colleagues, parents, children or strangers. Usually they have an uncanny ability to bruise and displease us, prompting a range of vengeful reactions from us. However these “irritating” people hold powerful keys to our own personal freedom and realization.
Throughout our battles in daily life we learn much about ourselves and we have the opportunity to recognize the value of these people in our lives.
