Hi pet, there are a number of very important issues concerning this. I think it would be useful to look closely at your first sentence and think about what exactly it is that seems scary to you about not having a teacher. Underneath that fear, I would say there is a fear of failure, a fear of lack, and a fear of not fulfilling one's potential. A fear that one's development is dependent on others more than oneself.
One part to this is knowing what you want and having an idea of how to fulfill this. If you
know you need a teacher in order to reach your goals, aren't you being your own best teacher already ? You are already aware of what you need and you are already watching for that to play out. Do you understand ? If somebody comes into your life that you did not previously know you needed, it is still you who recognizes the need and fulfills it in whatever way it is appropriate, including the decision one makes to study with a particular teacher. This attraction to that which one percieves of as needing, never stops, and is something we have all been doing since birth, whether we have been aware of it or not.
The desire to have a teacher to correct our mistakes and give us approval is a deep personal desire to do things right. The more we ourselves are aware of our own desire to do things correctly for ouselves, the more ready we are to accept whatever form that comes in. Ultimately, it begins with our own intentions. We can feel our best teacher in our bones even if the face is not always apparent. The truth is, we never need to become someone that we are not already. We just have to become more aware of who we are. If you were not already your own best teacher, you would not have the judgement within that is required to learn anything from anybody. On some level, you must accept something as,
in your own best interest. So who does one's potential truly rest on ? Eventually, one must realize their own ability to learn, which could include scads and scads of teachers, or one will never fufill one's potential anyway. If a person forever fails to recognize one's own power to learn and achieve, all accomplishments will seem empty. But in my opinion, this does not
need to be coldly
forced but can be done gently.
In learning from other people, I think that for every lesson we need to learn from being in contact with another, the other needs just as much to help us learn in this way. There are people in the world for whom fulfilling one's potential seems to rest just as much on the need to
share information with someone else, as that someone else's potential seems to rest on the need to recieve it from the one who needs to share.
Yes, we WILL always have teachers because we always need to learn. Yes, we will forever need to have mistakes corrected and we will forever need to feel the approval of a job well done. But even if it appears to come from somebody else, it requires our own acceptance of these things to be truly effective toward our growth. It must always come form our own heart.
I think you are
already your own best teacher; becoming more and more aware of this
can be an adventure rather than a heart ache. It will take whatever form your highest sense of self will allow it. Your own desire to follow your intentions will eventually push you out of any circumstance that is no longer conducive, as is, to serving your purpose.
Just some thoughts on a subject which I myself, am working to understand. Thanks for bringing it up
m1469
Topic: When can you give up a teacher?