By Prof. Dr Jayadeba Sahoo
“The Guru is Brahma, the Creator; Vishnu, the Sustainer; and Maheshwara, the Transformer. To such a revered Guru, I offer my salutations.”
Every civilisation is ultimately the autobiography of its teachers. Kings may govern territories, industrialists may create economies, scientists may transform technologies, and soldiers may defend borders; yet it is the teacher who silently prepares the minds, values and capacities of all of them. The teacher is, therefore, not merely an employee of an educational institution but an architect of civilisation.
“Learning gives Creativity, Creativity leads to thinking; Thinking provides knowledge; Knowledge makes you great? This illustrious saying was told by India’s missile man, Lt. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.
Education is the guiding force of any society; its future lies in the hands of its teachers who shape and cultivate the consciousness of students.
The teachers are to nourish young ones with an aim to achieve professional values and develop learning skills among them by generating 4Cs – Curiosity, Creativity, Competence and Compassion.
For a teacher it is said that ‘we must first see what he is than what he says’.
For a teacher it is said that ‘we must first see what he is than what he says’.
“If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the father, the mother and the teacher.” This illustrious saying of India’s missile man, Lt. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam resonates in the minds of every individual. The quote epitomizes the influence of teachers on every individual’s mind and the society as a whole. Standing just next to the parents in the lead, teachers are truly an indispensable part of everyone’s life. They mould and nourish an individual’s talent and their capabilities.
Albert Einstein had said, “It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.” “Teaching is the one profession that creates all other professions.” “The Mediocre Teacher Tells. The Good Teacher Explains. The Superior Teacher Demonstrates. The Great Teacher Inspires.” This was eulogized by William Arthur Ward. Karl A. Menninger opined, “What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches.” –
For a teacher it is said that ‘we must first see what he is than what he says’.
“A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning.” – Brad Henry Read
“The best teacher is the one who suggests rather than dogmatizes, and inspires his listener with the wish to teach himself,” said Edward Bulwer-Lytton.
Henry Brooks Adams eulogized “A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops”.
The great saint, Kabir, extolled “Teacher and God are standing before me, whom to pay my obeisance first. I will bow to you my teacher who guided me to God”; here “bow” implies a great respect, courtesy and regard for the teacher.
As Erich Fromm told “Education makes machines which act like men and produces men who act like machines,”
Once Dr. Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan said, “The three things- vital dynamism, intellectual efficiency and spiritual direction together constitute the proper aim of education. Moral and spiritual training is an essential part of education.
“One has to achieve not merely technical efficiency but greatness of Spirit.” Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
A good teacher is like a candle – it consumes itself to light the way for others. — Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Dr Kalam said, “The launch of the rocket is most crucial. If it is given the right take-off, it can reach the moon. The teacher is the launching pad of every great person who reaches for the sky.”
“Teaching is a very noble profession that shapes the character, caliber, and future of an individual. If the people remember me as a good teacher that will be the biggest honour for me,” told A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.
Even addressing the American elite, Swami Vivekananda highlighted the essential requirements of a learner as well as of a teacher of spirituality. For the learner the quality of purity, a real thirst for knowledge and perseverance are most essential while for the teacher the requirements are his depth of knowledge of the scriptures, his being sinless and his sincere motive of serving humanity without any desire for name, fame, wealth or comforts.
Even according to our Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi, “Teaching is not a profession, a way of life (Jeevan Dharm)”. He said that Teachers’ determination and sincerity will shape the destiny of the nation as they are laying the foundation and the building blocks of the society.
“No one should teach who is not in love with teaching.” – Margaret Elizabeth Sangster
“Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world.” – Malala Yousafzai
Sanskrit words for ‘TEACHER’ based on their unique abilities…
- The teacher who gives you information is called: Adhyapak
- The one who imparts knowledge combined with information is called: Upadhyaya
- The one who imparts skills is called: Acharya
- The one who is able to give a deep insight into a subject is called: Pundit
- The one who has a visionary view on a subject and teaches you to think in that manner is called: Dhrishta
- The one who is able to awaken wisdom in you, leading you from darkness to light, is called: Guru
Sanskrit is perhaps the only language that has such a refined vocabulary to distinguish the different kinds of TEACHERS.
Who is a true Guru? Is he the one that teaches worldly education? Is he one that explores properties of matter? No, they are only teachers. Is one who teaches a mantra or Vedanata a Guru? No, we may call them Acharyas, not Gurus. People consider a person who imparts knowledge as a preceptor. But most of them are mere teachers, not preceptors (Gurus). A teacher who teaches others has had a teacher himself. The one who has no Guru above him is the true Guru.
The true meaning of Guru is “one who dispels darkness of ignorance”. “Gu” means “darkness of ignorance” and “Ru” means “one who removes”. Another meaning for Guru is “One who reveals the Guri (target) to the disciple”. He does this by removing the darkness of ignorance. Guri here refers to the Atmic principle present in every human being. The real Guru who can reveal the Atmic principle is a Jnaanamurthy (embodiment of wisdom); He is the very embodiment of Divine principles; and He is one who takes upon Himself a form to teach the same to the disciple; he is God Himself.
Another meaning of the word Guru is “one who is beyond attributes and forms”. Gu stands for Gunaatheetha – one who transcends the three Gunas (Satva, Rajas and Thamas); Ru stands for Rupavarjitha – one who is formless. The One who is beyond all attributes ( Gunas) and forms is none other than the Supreme Self (the Brahmam) who is resident within each of us.
Only God can be regarded as One who is beyond attributes/ Gunaatheetha and forms/ Rupavarjitha, so He is the real Sadguru.
The teachers are the Removers of spiritual blindness. We in our country look upon teachers as ‘Gurus’, ‘Acharyas’, what do these words indicate? Acharya is one whose ‘achar’ or ‘conduct’ is exemplary. If he is a victim of ‘durachar’ then he is not an ‘acharya’. He must be an example of ‘sadachar’ or good conduct.
Teachers are the Sculptors of Future: The art of sculpture is indeed fascinating: with his chiseled touch, the sculptor hews a living shape out of old, lifeless stone, shaping, moulding, carving a thing of beauty out of cold marble. So also teachers. “Teachers are like sculptors who give shape to the character and career of students under their care, develop their personalities and identify their strengths to build a bright future.”
Sanskrit and Hindi use two modified forms for individuality and personality: vyaktitva stands for individuality, while vikasita vyaktitva stands for personality.
Need of Teachers with moral orientation
“If teachers lose the strength of character, then who will build the character of the succeeding generations?” If teachers do not have self discipline, then how can we have a self-regulated and self-controlled nation or society? Value education in order to be effective, must be woven into the teaching process instead of being imparted as a subject, which is ignored by most of the students. Only then can our education system be called qualitative in its true sense. To make our teachers inspirational, it is necessary to include formal lessons in moral and human values in the teaching curriculum.
Let us realize before it is too late, that it is RajYoga meditation that removes mental tension, injustice, dishonesty and other kinds of inhuman behaviour. Understanding the theory of the laws of karma, teachers should change their attitude towards the students and their profession by means of spiritual knowledge and world’s only open-eyed meditation, which is RajYoga Meditation of Brahma Kumaris. One must, therefore, help in this noble task by encouraging more and more people to join Brahma Kumaris, who is selflessly building a better society.
A mediocre teacher tells, a good teacher explains, the superior teacher demonstrates and the great teacher inspires.
“Happy Teachers’ Day to All”
(The author is a faculty member of the Brahma Kumaris, RERF & Professor (Ex- Dean & Head), Dept. of Education, Rajiv Gandhi Central University)
