If the teacher can succeed in attracting this love and
admiration to himself, he will remain a helper to his students long
after they have become men. I have been told that the boys who were
under Dr. Arnold at Rugby continued in after life to turn to him for
advice in their troubles and perplexities.
We may perhaps add that discrimination is a most important qualification
for those whose duty it is to choose the teachers. High character and
the love-nature of which we have already spoken are absolutely necessary
if the above suggestions are to be carried out.
III. DESIRELESSNESS
The next qualification to be considered is Desirelessness.
There are many difficulties in the way of the teacher when he tries to
acquire desirelessness, and it also requires special consideration from
the standpoint of the student.
As has been said in _At the Feet of the Master_: "In the light of His
holy Presence all desire dies, _but_ the desire to be like Him." It is
also said in the Bhagavad Gita that all desire dies "when once the
Supreme is seen." This is the ideal at which to aim, that the One Will
shall take the place of changing desires. This Will is seen in our
dharma, and in a true teacher, one whose dharma is teaching, his one
desire will be to teach, and to teach well. In fact, unless this desire
is felt, teaching is not his dharma, for the presence of this desire is
inseparable from real capacity to teach.
We have already said that little honour, unfortunately, is attached to
the post of a teacher, and that a man often takes the position because
he can get nothing else, instead of because he really wants to teach,
and knows that he can teach.
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