1. Apprenticing to a Good Teacher

World Scripture

If at any time there is doubt with regard to right conduct, follow the practice of great souls, who are guileless, of good judgment, and devoted to truth.
Taittiriya Upanishad 1.11.4 (Hinduism)

Let your house be a place of meeting for the wise, and dust yourself with the dust of their feet, and drink their words with thirst.
Mishnah, Avot 1.4 (Judaism)

One not knowing a land asks of one who knows it, he goes forward instructed by the knowing one. Such, indeed, is the blessing of instruction, one finds a path that leads him straight onward.
Rig Veda 10.32.7 (Hinduism)

Approach someone who has realized the purpose of life and question him with reverence and devotion; he will instruct you in this wisdom. Once you attain it, you will never be deluded.
Bhagavad-Gita 4.34-35 (Hinduism)

Should one see a wise man, who, like a revealer of treasure, points out faults and reproves; let one associate with such a wise person; it will be better, not worse, for him who associates with such a one. Let him advise, instruct, and dissuade one from evil; truly pleasing is he to the good, displeasing is he to the bad.
Dhammapada 76-77 (Buddhism)

I will follow the examples of the Buddhas from thought to thought. Even though the void of space has end, and the worlds of beings, the karmas of beings, the sorrows of beings all have end, yet my practice and following the examples of the Buddhas will not be ended. Thought succeeds thought without interruption, and in deeds of body, speech, and mind, without weariness.
Gandavyuha Sutra, Vows of Samantabhadra (Buddhism)

Arise! Awake! Approach the great and learn. Like the sharp edge of a razor is that path— so the wise say—hard to tread and difficult to cross.
Katha Upanishad 1.3.14 (Hinduism)

Yen Hui said with a deep sigh, “The more I strain my gaze up towards it, the higher it soars. The deeper I bore down into it, the harder it becomes. I see it in front; but suddenly it is behind. Step by step the Master skillfully lures one on. He has broadened me with culture, restrained me with ritual. Even if I wanted to stop, I could not. Just when I feel that I have exhausted every resource, something seems to rise up, standing out sharp and clear. Yet though I long to pursue it, I can find no way of getting to it at all.”²¹
Analects 9.10 (Confucianism)

When your view is the same as your teacher’s, you destroy half your teacher’s merit; when your view surpasses your teacher’s, you are worthy to succeed him.²²
Mumonkan 17 (Buddhism)

One man is much the same as another, and that he is best who is trained in the severest school.
Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War 1.84 (Hellenism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

Do you know an earthly person with the character of God? Someone with the pure disposition of Jesus? Find that person and make him your friend. If you know a person of noble character, please follow him. If you know someone with a God-like disposition who brings harmony wherever he goes, follow him and attend him. Then you will surely gain the path of life.
(2:318, July 7, 1957)

There is no life apart from the heart. The path through the valley of life is difficult and grim. When you seek a teacher, seek a teacher of the heart, not a teacher of knowledge. If you dig into the valley of the heart, the more you dig, the more tears you shed and the more your “self” disappears.
(9:81, April 16, 1960)

Maybe you are someone with a talent for writing. After you write a particularly fine poem or essay, do you ever think, “I’m grateful to my teachers who taught me how to write well”? Do you ever miss your teachers and wonder how they were doing? Do you remember a teacher who made a striking impression on you with something he wrote on the blackboard? Truly, they made great efforts to educate you. Sometimes you resented a strict teacher who chastised you and gave you a hard time, but now you recognize that his training has made you a better writer.
(104:278-79, June 1, 1979)

My idea is to give you an extremely hard time, in order to make you into filial children of God and loyal patriots in the service of your nation and the world. Should I strike you if you do not go this way? In the relation between father and child, elder brother and younger brother, or teacher and disciple, one should say firmly, “Father, please cut off my bone!”

“Elder brother, please cut off my bone!” “Teacher, please cut off my bone!” It is true love to make someone overcome his present difficulties by kicking him with your foot.
(49:304, October 17, 1971)

A teacher who tells you, “You don’t need to study hard. Just take it easy,” is a fake. Why do your teachers push you to study hard? It is not for the sake of the present, but for the future. They want you to prepare for the future. If you do as they say, your future will expand without a doubt.
(93:232, June 5, 1977)

President Eu was my disciple; he went through a lot of suffering for my sake. For instance, he was deeply concerned about me when I was in the prison. When I think about him, I reflect on when I was lying in prison. I was pulled by his love. It made me want to see him. Whenever I sent him a note on a scrap of paper, he regarded it as precious as his life.
(33:83 August 9, 1970)