Discipleship

A student should seek out a good teacher to receive instruction and submit to discipline. He becomes more than merely a recipient of knowledge; he becomes a disciple. Discipling is a valuable part of education. It recognizes that a good education engages a student’s entire being, to be molded and shaped by a course of training and instruction.

The relationship between teacher and disciple is typical of Eastern religions, which conceive of truth as embodiment more than as words. But we also find it in medicine and any field where learning requires mastering an art through a long apprenticeship.

This section concludes with passages that recognize the variable capacities of students to receive the truth. Again, this is not a matter of intelligence but rather of the heart. God tries to fill us with new wine, but if our wineskins are old they will burst. He wants to plant His seed in our hearts, but if our hearts are rocky soil, it will not take root. Therefore, a major task for the student of any spiritual path is to clear away the debris and make his or her heart ready to receive and respond to spiritual truth.