Teacher or Guru

    All the great scientists, sages and leaders are teachers or Guru in one way or the other. They are the ones who live by example. Guiding humanity towards the light in all aspects, whether it is material, mental, psychological or spiritual has been the mandate of these people.

    First let's analyse what and who is a Guru. Guru means: The one who vanquishes the darkness. He/she is the one who leads by example which requires a great amount of sacrifice, discipline, will power, tenacity, determination and sacredness. He/she has to maintain a mental balance and integrity in the gravest of circumstances. He/she has to be capable of self reflection and should have an attitude to learn, unlearn, relearn and teach continuously. He/she should be aware of his/her own strengths and weaknesses and should be able to acknowledge and correct keeping aside his/her personal ego aside. His/her destiny should be a path of wisdom and he/she should strive continuously to better his/her attributes throughout the life. He/she should traverse the path of truth. Only the path of truth will lead to happiness and bliss. When a Guru has all these characteristics he/she will try to bring out the best in his/her students. He/she will teach the students to be broad minded and to have a positive attitude towards life. A Guru is not the one who teaches  only the material aspects of life but also all the aspects which make up the individual as a human being.

    Teacher must mean the same as Guru. But in todays materialistic monetised world, the word teacher has been reduced to a person who merely teaches subjects of materialistic importance. While it is true that these subjects are necessary to have a comfortable materialistic life, this interpretation of a teacher is very narrow minded. Students and parents see teachers as a mere person of economic interest. He/she has just become an employee in an organisation who does work for what he/she is paid. He/she has become a tool to certificate. This has reduced the status of the teacher in the students mind and generally lack respect. They deceive the teachers by being opportunist and talking all nonsense behind their backs. Similarly even teachers have downgraded themselves as an economic tool for the students. Some teachers even go to the extent of committing fraud and give benefits to students for their own personal vested interests. This attitude of both the students and the teachers must change and the real meaning of the GURU must be inculcated within our culture.

    Now coming to teaching methods, there are a number of ways to teach. But the best way is to teach how to learn. For this the teacher must understand the psychological profile of the students and show kindness and empathy towards him/her. Only when a teacher can think like a student he/she will be able to educate them effectively. When a teacher teaches a student how to learn on his/ her own,  it becomes true empowerment. Each and every student has a different psyche and abilities. They will have varying intellect, cognitive abilities and emotional stability. Hence the best way to teach is to show the path, identify their strengths and weakness, empower and encourage them to self reflect and become teachers themselves. This is the true spirit of teaching. Some of the life lessons like truth, integrity, ethics and morals cannot be completely thought through theory. It has to be taught by living as an example in following those principles. Finally it is the job of the teachers to inspire themselves and inspire the world.