Page 35 - EH54

TEACHINGS | EASTERN HORIZON 33

If someone is being
The third essential quality is ask around and check to see if there
harmed, the safety of the
compassion. As students, we need are any questions about a teacher’s
to feel confident that our teacher behavior or conduct. That is a good
victim comes first. This is
is on our side—that they have our place to start.
not a Buddhist principle.
best interests at heart and deeply
care about us and our progress on In this day and age, it is not easy to
This is a basic human
the path. find a perfect teacher. The time of the
value and should never
Buddha, when people seemed to get
be violated.
Trust is critical here. A genuine enlightened just by showing up, is
teacher is trustworthy and puts the long gone. We may not find a teacher
needs of the student first. The sign who perfectly embodies all four
Many students of Tibetan Buddhism
of a teacher who has this quality is of these qualities, but they should
mistakenly think that they cannot,
that students feel safe and protected have all of them to some degree. If a
or should not, leave a teacher once
in their care. They know that no teacher is completely lacking one or
they’ve made a commitment to them.
matter what is going on in their life, more of these qualities, it is probably
This is not the case. The whole point
their teacher will always be there to best to move on.
of the teacher–student relationship
guide and support them.
is that it should benefit the student.
Leaving a Teacher
It is not for the teacher’s gain or
The fourth and final quality is the These four qualities are a good
profit. If you have tried your best
one that relates the most directly general guideline to follow when
and have found that it is not a good
to ethics. A genuine teacher should looking for a teacher. But even when
fit, you can look for another teacher.
uphold their vows and precepts. In we do our best to research a teacher
This is not a problem or personal
the Tibetan tradition, that means first, often we only really get to
failing. It is good judgment.
they maintain whatever monastic know the teacher after becoming
or lay vows they have taken, adhere their student. In the modern world,
The best way to leave is to do so
to the bodhisattva vows of the most of us do not have a monastery
without bad-mouthing the teacher
Mahayana, and keep the samaya or Buddhist expert down the street.
or creating difficulties for those
vows of the Vajrayana. We do not necessarily know all the
who may be benefiting from the
details about a teacher, or even have
teacher and the community. Leave
This is no small feat, but it is very someone we can ask. So what do we
on good terms, or at the very least,
important. There are lots of details do when we discover that a teacher
do not leave on bad terms. Simply
included in this one, and as students is not quite what we hoped?
move on with humility and do not
we may not know exactly what
feel bad about the fact that it did
vows a person holds. But we can
not work out.