How to chose a good guru for CM?

[vganesh]

This must have been discussed already in forum. If yes can you please share the thread....
Is it ok if a guru be discouraging always ? Or For each age group we need to chose a different guru? Or Should he be available for classes / brand? Can somebody enlighten?

[srikant1987]

A guru should NEVER be discouraging. But they can criticise, and should criticise whenever they must. And because there's actually no limit to how good a student can get, really, they need to criticise all the time! To prevent all this criticism from becoming discouragement, one important thing is the student should have faith in himself / herself. The guru can tell the student about how much potential s/he has also: but should be careful and point out that it's all unrealised potential. If there's any very particular moment when the student has been especially praiseworthy, it can also be told, but it should be point out that it's just that small phrase which came out well.

Age group: Basically the guru should be respectably older than the student. It might also be good if the guru deals with / has dealt with some other students of that age group.

I think it is also best if each student is dealt with individually. Even twenty minutes with a student individually are better than two hours with 6 students as a group. But students can watch as other students are taught, and take in good qualities from them.

If the student is old enough to appreciate music, it is best if the teacher is someone whose music totally moves him/her. I mean actually move, not thrill or impress. Of course, this can be done only when the guru performs in concerts, or if their recordings are available. (It is stupid to keep a "test" for the guru and see if the potential student moved by it!) One idea is to maybe get a chamber concert arranged "through" an acquaintance, and look like a casual listener.

I didn't understand "available for classes / brand". By brand if you mean a popular and famous performer, it is of course a very good added bonus! An ultra-busy concert schedule may not give someone enough time for their students (is that what you meant by "available for classes"?), but once students are taken to a mature level of understanding, they can learn a lot from their gurus' concerts.

[msakella]

Hi, brother-members, In all the people of all races or colours or creeds of any country, always, the parents only are held very high as they always strive and struggle hard for the benefit of their kids even without any recommendation from any quarter. In our Indianity we treat ‘GURU’ even above the parents. But, presently, it is very difficult to find such a ‘GURU’. Such a ‘GURU’ always does anything for the benefit of his Shishya. Nowadays neither the Shishya nor the Guru is truthfully committed. To tell the truth, we should never find fault with the Shishya. If the Guru is truly truthfull the truthful Shishya only remains with the Guru and all the un-truthful Shishyas disappear naturally.
Irrespective of the ability to ‘move’ his students with his music the duty of a sincere, efficient, honest and loyal Guru is to make the student independent in all aspects and he only, as a teacher but not as a performer, decides in which way his student has to be taught.
Many of the professional performers want to teach music only to earn something even in their lean period as the music-teaching has never been made ‘time-bound and result-oriented’ and none of the teachers is ever ready to hold even a meeting or to conduct a seminar or confernece on ‘effective-easy-teaching-methods’ in making it ‘time-bound or result-oriented’ as it spills all the beans out of all the teachers.
In fact, this music should be imparted to the students basing upon their ability to learn, digest and practise in which way the mother gives different diet to her kids basing upon their individual appetite, digestive capacity etc., etc. But, lest they loose much of their earnings, the music-teachers always encourage any aspirant, irrespective of his/her abiltities, to learn the art and go on teaching them one composition or the other endlessly but not any ‘manodharma’ at all. Truthful Gurus should always strive hard to improve the ‘Manodharma’ of their students to make them independent in all aspects. amsharma

[srikant1987]

Irrespective of the ability to ‘move’ his students with his music the duty of a sincere, efficient, honest and loyal Guru is to make the student independent in all aspects and he only, as a teacher but not as a performer, decides in which way his student has to be taught.
Many of the professional performers want to teach music only to earn something even in their lean period as the music-teaching has never been made ‘time-bound and result-oriented’

According to me the ultimate aim of good music is to move people. That is the "result" to which a music teaching process should be "oriented". Who better for that than a musician who can move the student by his or her music?

The "time" this result would take depends on the student also.

[rajeshnat]

The basic 101 rule of CM guru is "The guru should be atleast 1 generation + " from the sishya. That way there is no internal competition and the sishya will always get the correct exposure and recogition at his/her hey days.

Any sishya choosing a guru less than one generation would be a potential disaster to the musical career as the guru could be a limiting factor in sishya's growth .

[coolkarni]

..

[nivedita]

Having learnt music for several years initially without _any_ interest in it, and having later found the _best_ guru ever, this is a topic I have strong views on. I've written quite a bit about it in my blog over the past few years. Here's something I wrote about two years ago that might answer some questions: http://nivedita-n.livejournal.com/18784.html

[chalanata]

deleted

[vganesh]

Is it not that Guru never praises student in front and he/she keeps pushing which amounts to discouraging......

[saramati]

Students who have been learning and singing for atleast 6-7 years would , to an extent, know their own strengths and weaknesses. When the student, on any learning day, sings well and is able to catch the nuances of the ragam or the krithi, he himself would be able to identify that he sang well. The guru's appreciation would be an instant gratification, which would enable him to work even more hard and better his standards. On the contrary, if the guru either chooses to keep silent or to the contrary pushes the budding student even harder, it might prove counter-productive.

[msakella]

Dear b/s-member, saramati, I know many people who have been learning music for more than 10 years but they sing full of defects only without being aware of them. Period of training is not the criteria at all. Than the quantity of eatables available the quality of them is essential and in the same way more than the quantity of items learnt the quality of them is essential. Nowadays people are always ready to discuss about things heavily but always try to skip off the heavy practice incurred in it. While fine-arts themselves are very difficult to learn among all the music, being the only invisible and most sensitive art, requires heavy mental and physical strain which everybody always wants to minimise it. More over, adding fuel to the fire, all the teachers follow only the conventional methods of teaching which takes years of study but not any novel and rational methods of teaching basing upon their favourable results making this music ‘time-bound and result-oriented’. More over, the true teacher is the better judge to encourage or discourage his student in time.amsharma

[musicfan_4201]

'How to be a Good Disciple' would have been a more apt title than 'How to select a good guru'

[msakella]

Dear b/s-member, musicfan_4201, If you truly remain fully dependent upon the Almighty and desire strongly to learn things by working very hard you will definitely be blessed with a suitable Guru. But, people, though not ready to become a good disciple by hard work, are desirous to have a good Guru. amsharma

[Nick H]

Well, I pretend to a disbelief in pre-destination, believing rather that one creates one's own future...

But... I met my mridangam guruji quite by chance, one day when I was looking for books about tabla. If the meeting was not destined, it was certainly fateful, for several of the subsequent events of my life would not have occurred but for that meeting. It is certainly unlikely that I would be here now.

That I did not master the mridangam is certainly no fault of his; I did not apply the necessary hard work.

[tribute]

As a tamil saying goes:
"Manaivi Amivadhellam Iraivan Kodutta Varam".(A good wife is a gift from God)

Like that, we can modify and write:
"Nalla Guru Amaivadhellam Iraivan Kodutta Varam". (A good guru is a gift from God)

=)

[srikant1987]

That I did not master the mridangam is certainly no fault of his; I did not apply the necessary hard work.

You can still put in the hard work and master the mridangam.

[munirao2001]

The decision to choose Guru must be based on
- one's own values.
- One's own Goal and objective in the pursuit of knowledge.
- Gaining direct knowledge of the Guru's, based on the research, getting confidence quotient of
80%.
- Ideal Guru must possess,
- matured, open minded, unbiased, lovable and adorable, human being,
-extensive knoowledge of both Lakshya and Lakshana Gnanam,
-vast repertoire with pata integrity,
-demonstrated quality of life long learning,
-mastery over vital aspects of CM,
- proven ability of teacher- par excellance,
-time, energy and innate love for teaching
-uncanny ability to recognise the strengths and weaknesses of a learner,
-passes on the knowledge-unconditionally, constantly,
-guides the learner on the finer aspects and developments in CM's Traditon,
-creates the yearning for the 'ruchi' aspect in CM(taste is unfortunately
the full import of 'ruchi'),
- well connected and recognised in the music fratenity,
- knack of getting Guru Dakshina from sishya, who is left with dissatisfaction
of having not offered enough,
- gives and strives for right opportunities to the sishya for his exhibition of
knowledge and skills and special/note worthy talent,
- most important of all the qualities, his demonstrated ability to kindle the
deep interest for continuously acquiring and mastering the knowledge,
with humility.
munirao2001

[Rasika911]

Having learnt music for several years initially without _any_ interest in it, and having later found the _best_ guru ever, this is a topic I have strong views on. I've written quite a bit about it in my blog over the past few years. Here's something I wrote about two years ago that might answer some questions: http://nivedita-n.livejournal.com/18784.html

That was quite an interesting read nivedita.

Will some gurus teach each student differently. What I mean by that is will the attention and care given by a guru to an upcoming singer in india be the same as that given to a student overseas via the internet.
I have seen some teachers just teach the student a krithi and regardless of whether or not they sing the sangathi correct they continue without any care. This should not happen. Parents living outside of india who are interested in music but not fully informed, get very excited when a popular musician offers to teach them and are willing to pay rather large sums of money and it seems that this becomes a money making scheme for musicians in todays generation. Im not saying all of them are like this but i certainly have seen some.

What are peoples opinions on learning via the internet? Its becoming an increasing trend to learn via webcam chat.

[VK RAMAN]

Learning via internet is similar to doing on line academic pursuit

[niyer]

If there is a committed guru and shishya on either side of the internet, then this mode of learning helps bridge the gap of physical distance which is becoming a huge barrier today. My personal experience whenever I interact with akella sir on the internet, is a very enriching one where there is a free flow of knowledge from guru to shishya . Of course, one needs to ensure that there is decent internet speed and a good quality mike and speakers, which are not a big ask nowadays . Web cam quality does not matter much IMO as its the audio that matters more

[munirao2001]

vganesh,
with reference to my post 17, have you got answers right ? I will be too glad to clarify and answer your specific queries, if required.

munirao2001

[VK RAMAN]

I believe if one has to be successful in music, one has to live in music

[msakella]

Dear sister-member, nivedita, Very nice. I have gone through your link and found it very useful to the aspirants. You wrote ‘within four years of learning from Shashi sir, I became a concert musician, last year’ and ‘over the years, I've seen Shashi sir teach students with varying capabilities’. There lies the greatness of the teacher to successfully manage with varying capabilities of his aspirants. I wish you and your teacher all the best. amsharma

[Rasika911]

Dear sister-member, nivedita, Very nice. I have gone through your link and found it very useful to the aspirants. You wrote ‘within four years of learning from Shashi sir, I became a concert musician, last year’ and ‘over the years, I've seen Shashi sir teach students with varying capabilities’. There lies the greatness of the teacher to successfully manage with varying capabilities of his aspirants. I wish you and your teacher all the best. amsharma

I ended up having a scroll through niveditas website and found it quite entertaining

Msakella sir, i suggest that you read KN Shashikirans book "Carnatic Fun task tic..." if you havent done so already. I think you might appreciate some chapters and ideas presented. You may be dissapointed that it doesnt have a rythimical section but it has alot of other great ideas which you might like to include in your own ams method.
Thanks.

[coolkarni]

..

[johnlovescm]

I always thought Gurus chose their students !!!!

In kaliyuga it is the other way around The sishya after learning from his guru will comment on the abilities of the guru or the worthiness
Sad state of affairs

[VK RAMAN]

psychology of guilt trip

[msakella]

Coolji: Even now, in the institutionalised system of music, for example in the music departments of many Universities the Gurus are choosing their students. Unless they have a minimum number of students on their rolls their departments will be closed and they will not get their salaries. To lure the candidates they minimise the qualifications for admissions. As a policy the syllbus also has already been minimised keeping the average student only in view. Now, even while teaching, all the teachers make only quantitative-teaching teaching only the compositions, throw the responsibility of acquiring knowledge of Svarakalpana and Ragalapana on the student himself and, ultimately, pass many of the students with the help of the examiners even with minimum knowledge of Svarakalpana and Ragalapana and get rid of them. This is one kind of routine business in music.
johnlovescm: You have lamented that, being Kaliyuga, the sishya after learning from his guru will comment on the abilities of the guru or the worthiness’. Though there may be some such cases I believe they are genuine. In the absence of any yardstick either to assess the knowledge of the teacher or to assess the value of the material imparted by him or to assess his own standards acquired in the process of learning the art the heart-burning aspirants may resort to do so.
I believe one should never demand respect but command and the same applies to music-teachers also. But, nowadays, as everybody is compelled to earn something in the struggle of his survival, every musician of the name is compelled to teach whatever little material he knows in the process of his earnings. This a very important and an intrigued question like which one is the first among the tree or its seed. Even though there is a lot to discuss in this connection, I tell the teachers are responsible for either of the upgradation or of the degradation of standards in any field and music is not an exception.
In my view, a true teacher, with much less teaching , mostly and efficiently initiates the student to work on his own. Depending upon the variable abilities of the aspirants, I am always used mostly to iniate my student while teaching them either Vocal or Violin. Even though I mostly initiate my student to work on his own at all levels, mostly my process of teaching ends with teaching of 9 Varnas and one Svarajati. While teaching I sing or play very little but initiate my student work on his own with the help of my audio and video CDs even in my absence. Thus I give him all the techniques of music and basing upon them he has to cultivate music on his own. In this process I shall make him exert much than myself. In general, people think I am exaggerating things without teaching much to my students. But, in this method, ultimately, the material I give him is far more than the material all other teachers give their students. I have very eagerly been searching to find another teacher like me to discuss and learning things from him but in vain.
For the benefit of the aspirants I am also posting the above in the sub-thread, AMS Easy Methods-2007 - Teaching & Learning Methods by A.M.Sharma under the main thread Sangitakalalaya. amsharma

[VK RAMAN]

I like the teaching method of msakellaji

[msakella]

Dear brother-member, VK RAMAN, Thank you for your kind appreciation. In fact, this new method of teaching music makes the process much easier and quicker too but only if it is followed meticulously and efficiently. Thus this helps in building up even a powerful generation in our music. amsharma

[karthikbala]

IMHO, in the case of vocal music, it is vital to (at least initially) learn from a practitioner who possesses (or did possess during their active career) sound vocalisation. Otherwise it can be a case of blind leading the blind... In the case of instrumental, with effort one could unlearn/retrain; not much you can do about a damaged voice.
Also, beginners may unconsciously imitate undesirable traits such as nasality, unaesthetic stretching of vowels etc.

There are many cases where students are advised to sing at uncomfortable pitches leading to strain. The great Italian tenor Carlo Bergonzi was initially trained as a baritone by his tutor! After even making a lukewarm debut as a baritone, Bergonzi finally took the plunge, broke with his tutor and became a self-taught tenor: one of the greatest Verdi interpreters of the 20th century !!!

[shantharama]

I believe one should choose there guru in different stages, for any beginner particularly for those young kids one should find a guru who is not famous and busy artist himself rather they should find a someone who is dedicated to teaching, I have seen and experienced myself many parents particularly in US get excited when someone famous agrees to teach their kids, over the time they will realize the artist itself is very busy and they start missing classes, at the same time a very talented famous artist may not be a good teacher

[ogirala sri ramakrishna]

One cannot choose a guru. If god is kind enough sadguru will come in search of student.

when Ramakrishna Paramhamsa is sitting on the banks of holy river Ganges his guru Totapuri came in a boat and landed at Dakshineswar. He called Ramakrishna and whether he was interested in learning advaita vedanta from him. Immediately he he has agreed.

I will quote one more incident in the life of H H Bhakta Gnanananda Tirtha ( Sri Ogirala Veera Raghava sarma Garu ), the Saint Composer of carnatac Music of 20th Century.

During his childhood he learned vedas from his father. Then he moved to Srikalahasti for higher studies in Vedas. While waiting for admission in the school he uses to spend most of his time in meditation in the river Suvarnamukhi. At the same time 90 years old Saint Srinathananda Tirtha uses to go in this way. At that time Raghava was 15 years old. The Saint observed the boy in deep meditation for many days .

One day the Saint approached the boy and asked him about his details. Then boy told his details and his pending admission in veda pathasala. The Saint tested him in Vedas. After that he has told the boy nothing will happen if he didnot study vedas further and asked him to come along with him. He escorted the boy to a cave where he lives in that jungle.

Then the Saint initiated the boy into PURNA GAYATRY MAHA MANTRA and asked to pour the water every day after his rituals on a tree which was already dead. After 3 years while moving during afternoon the Saint observed the becomming alive with all green leaves all over the tree. He called the boy and embraced him. Then the Saint told that he has attained GAYATRY MANTRA SIDDHI in 3 years for which he has spent 30 years during his lifetime. then the Saint named the boy as GNANANANDA TIRTHA as per their spiritual tradition.

He told the boy that he cannot use the name immediately .He has to under go some sufferings as a householder (gruhasta) because it was his last brith. For this he should follow some principles in the life.

1. He should not show any miracles in his life.
2. He should live in seclusion without any publicity.
3. He should not accept any gifts from anybodyelse etc.

Later he learnt Music under tutelage of sri Hari Nagabhushanam in 36 fullmoons. He started his carrie as vocalist from chennai then Madras.

He started composing song due to blessings of Gayatry. Kavave kamlakshi in the ragaJaganmohini was his first song with mudra as Raghava.

In the year 1982 he composed a song manasa sadasiva manini in the raga Surata with mudra as GNANANANDA TIRTHA for the first time. Afterwards some songs follwed with mudra as GNANANANDA TIRTHA. The songs are not comming with mudra as RAGHAVA. He was surprising. Then his guru the saint appeared to him in a dream and advised him to use the title GNANANANDA TIRTHA given by him when Raghava was 18 years old as he his sufferings came to an end.

With Gnanananda Tirtha mudra he lived from the year 1982 to the year 1989 and composed nearly 10 songs. This was due to kindness of his guru Saint Srinathananda Tirtha.

When he was remembering the Saint once he composed a song in praise of his guru Saint srinathananda Tirtha SADGURU CHARANA SARORUHA BAHKTI in the raga Behag. This songs what are the duties of a guru, how he will protect his disciple, what he will teach to his student and who is a actual guru.

Pallavi :: Sadguru charana saroruha bhakti vina sadgati kurchu suSAdhanamu LEdanna :: Sadguru ::

Anupallavi:: Sadgunayuta sama daMAdi sampadanidi
chiaghanNANANda sudDHA karudai velige :: sadguru ::

Charanam:: atulita bhava bhaya BAdhalanachi
suGNAna tatini GURchu para tatva chaturuDEE
hitamu MIra nitYAAnityamula BOdhimchi satatamu RAghava MAnasa sannutudau sri :: sadguru ::

In this song the word chidghanananda sudhakarudu in Anupallavi indicates that he was a PARAMAHAMSA which was told to me by him one day in the year 2000 during my stay at Mumbai while working in the office during lunch time in one spiritual experience , miracle he has shown to me in my life(he has attained maha samadhi on 4-1-1989)

You can get Telugu/ tamil versions of song with notation in site BHAKTA GNANANNADA TIRTHA.COM.

It is a very auspicious thing to remember during his birth centinary year and on GURUPURNIMA.

While learning music also one incident happened during his life.
those were the days he was under the tutelage of Late Sri Hari Nagabhushnama garu.
Some times guru may not praise student with good intentions even though his performance is very beautiful.

One the guru and student are playing one raga on Violin. He played well once. Then his guru requested him to play again and again and again. He lost his patience became angry and thrown his violin and started leaving the place with displeasure. Then his guru told him look my boy earlier you have played very well no doubt in that. When I am asking you to play repeatedly you are still playing in a better way. I still wanted to see how best you can play. That is my intention.

His mission on this earth was to worship Goddess gayatry through Nada yoga and attain salvation and to propagate the philosophy of Gayatry through music. Due to this he was the first saint Composer Of Carnatac Music In the history of carnatac Music to who has composed songs in Praise of Gayatry and who has propagated her philosophy throughout his life.

He has left his concert carrier also on the advice of his spiritual guru only when he was at the peak of his carrier as a vocalist and moved into seclusion at KOVVUR, WEST GODAVARI DISTRICT, ANDHRA PRADESH.

He uses to say that our pujas, japams, homas and yagnas will reach god like an ordinary post card. If we sing a song with devotion with pricipled life that will reach god like a fax message. Whenever we send a fax we write reply by return fax.

In his case when ever there is a need he uses to send his requests to mother Gayatry through a song. After seeing and receiving the song Gaytry uses to reply to his song. When there is sufficient time she uses to appear to him in dreams and solves his problems.
When there is no time she was forced to come down to earth for his rescue.

For him cocerts are not important. He never allowed his disciples to go on cocerts. He was more interested in their spiritual progress. Spiritually he keeps total control on his disciples even though they are very much capable of giving concerts with very good of music.

For me he was more than spiritual guru. I have learnt his compositions from him diretly without any basic training in music. He taught me directly his compositions without teaching any saraliswaras, varnams etc.

I am not a professional musician. But because of his divine blessings and miracles he is showing in my life some he brings some persons to me and make me to teach them his songs. If I want to put in the other way what I my experience was I feeel he hmself teaches my disciples through my body.


After 25 Years of my spiritual journey in the path shown by him I feel to day for me singing his songs means it is a hot line connection with divine mother Gayatry . They will take care of all the reqirements of life automatically. Every day will pass with new spiritual experirences.
This is all due to the kindness and blessings of my guru H H BHAKTA GNANANANDA TIRTHA.

I know now a days it is very difficult to get such a great guru a PARAMAHAMSA who has seen Gayatry in living things, non living things , in saguna and nirguna forms and who has attained kamini kamchana vijayam like sri RAMAKRISHNA PARAMAHAMSA.

JAYA GURUDEV.

O S RAMAKRISHNA

[VK RAMAN]

Under the present "man eat man world", the requirement for guru as suggested by ogirala sri ramakrishna is of tall order and is this achievable?

[srikrishna]

a

[ogirala sri ramakrishna]

Yes it is achievable. Without guru there is no life. If guru is there every thing is there and he will take care of all the things . For this we have to leave the driving seat of our life to guru/ god ie total surrender at the holy feet of guru/ god. This like a train journey. After boarding the train every body leaves the all the luggages on the train. No body carry the luggage on their head or shoulder or in hand. Similarly we have to leave every thing to god and should do our duty with out ant attachment to karma this is called NISHKAMA BHAKTI YOGA , BHAKTI WITHOUT ANY DESIRES this was the philosophy follwed and practised and preached by my guru H H BHAKTA GNANANANDA TIRTHA .

o s ramakrishna

[msakella]

Hi all.
Physical life is entrirely different with spiritual life. Even Shri Saibaba of Shiridi told his disciples to be very careful while selecting a good Guru in spiritual life. Even if it is so in spiritual life we must be very careful in selecting a Guru even in our physical life. Even though we all believe that every thing has already been destined, that is our primary duty to be careful to the maximum extent possible. Even as per my personal experience what our sister-member, santharama, wrote ‘at the same time a very talented famous artist may not be a good teacher’ is absolutely true. For example Akella Mallikarjuna Sharma (msakella) may be a great artist but it is absolutely foolish to take all the relatives, friends and neighbours also with prefix or suffix of ‘akella’, along with him, are great teachers. No, not at all. When even msakella himself may be a good artist but may not be a good teacher what about others of him. The duties of the artist who is only performer differs with the duties of a teacher who strives hard to shape the future of the persons. The duties of the teacher are far more responsible than a selfish performer who works all the time for himself only. All the more the abilities of a teacher should always be adjudged by the end-results of his teaching making the process very quick and efficient to the aspirants.

As my aim always is to enlighten the people as far as I can in respect of the art of teaching music I post the relevant posts also in the sub-thread, AMS Easy Methods-2007 - Teaching & Learning Methods by A.M.Sharma under the main thread Sangitakalalaya for the benefit of the aspirants. amsharma

[VK RAMAN]

I wish we had a standard operating procedure for human life, every one can follow

[msakella]

Dear brother-member, VK RAMAN, Even each and every operating procedure of every facet of huanlife is standardised everything tends to differ from person to person and from place to place etc., etc. Upto some extent even though we can standardise the operating procedures it is always better to deal with persons individually and formulate the procedures basing upon person-wise merits and de-metis and also basing upon the end-results. amsharma

[coolkarni]

..

[msakella]

Dear Coolji, Even though I can see myself among the loud and aggressive persons and though not vexatious to the spirit as you wrote, I thank you for your enlightening post. amsharma

[VK RAMAN]

If SOP is there and we agree with Coolkarniji, I see traffic light operation Red/green/yellow

[coolkarni]

..

[girish_a]

Coolji, that prayer makes me marvel at the power of simple words. No scholarship there, no high-sounding words, just simple sentences, and yet, how powerful they are!

And since we are discussing teachers, it is apt to recall Abraham Lincoln's letter to his son's teacher here. How inspiring!


He will have to learn,
I know, that all men are not just,
all men are not true.
But teach him also that for every scoundrel there is a hero;
that for every selfish Politician, there is a dedicated leader...
Teach him for every enemy there is a friend,

Steer him away from envy,
if you can, teach him the secret of quiet laughter.

Let him learn early that the bullies are the easiest to lick...
Teach him, if you can, the wonder of books...
But also give him quiet time to ponder
the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun,
and the flowers on a green hillside.

In the school teach him it is far honourable to fail than to cheat...
Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if everyone tells him they are wrong... Teach him to be gentle with gentle people, and tough with the tough.

Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd
when everyone is getting on the band wagon...

Teach him to listen to all men...
but teach him also to filter all he hears on a screen of truth,
and take only the good that comes through.

Teach him if you can, how to laugh when he is sad...
Teach him there is no shame in tears,
Teach him to scoff at cynics and to beware of too much sweetness...
Teach him to sell his brawn and brain to the highest bidders
but never to put a price-tag on his heart and soul.

Teach him to close his ears to a howling mob
and to stand and fight if he thinks he's right.
Treat him gently, but do not cuddle him,
because only the test of fire makes fine steel.
Let him have the courage to be impatient...
let him have the patience to be brave.
Teach him always to have sublime faith in himself,
because then he will have sublime faith in mankind.

This is a big order, but see what you can do... He is such a fine fellow, my son!

[vasanthakokilam]

That fantastic inspirational 'recipe for living' poem shared by Cool is called Desiderata by Max Ehrmann. Here is another one by him with his take on the word 'happiness'.

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To be without desire is to be content. But contentment is not happiness. And in contentment there is no progress. Happiness is to desire something, to work for it, and to obtain at least a part of it. In the pursuit of beloved labor the busy days pass cheerfully employed, and the still nights in peaceful sleep.

For labor born of desire is not drudgerey, but manly play. Success brings hope, hope inspires fresh desire, and desire gives zest to life and joy to labor. This is true whether your days be spent in the palaces of the powerful or in some little green byway of the world.

Therefore, while yet you have the strength, cherish a desire to do some useful work in your little corner of the world, and have the steadfastness to labor. For this is the way to the happy life; with health and endearing ties, it is the way to the glorious life.

Max Ehrmann
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[msakella]

While yet you have the strength, cherish a desire to do some useful work in your little corner of the world, and have the steadfastness to labor. For this is the way to the happy life; with health and endearing ties, it is the way to the glorious life.

Dear brother-member, vasanthakokilam, As mentioned in this above para every human being must work hard for the benefit of our society as the part and parcel of the society. amsharma

[coolkarni]

..

[VK RAMAN]

If you give enough of what others want, others will give enough of what you want!

[msakella]

‘Just as the midwife assists the body to give birth to new life, so the teacher assists the mind to deliver itself of ideas, knowledge, and understanding.

The teacher does not produce knowledge or stuff ideas into an empty, passive mind. It is the learner, not the teacher, who is the active producer of knowledge and ideas.
Teaching, like farming and healing, is a cooperative art which helps nature do what it can do itself -- though not as well without it. We have all learned many things without the aid of a teacher. Some exceptional individuals have acquired wide learning and deep insight with very little formal schooling. But for most of us the process of learning is made more certain and less painful when we have a teacher's help. His methodical guidance makes our learning -- and it is still ours -- easier and more effective.
Teaching always involves a relation between the mind of one person and the mind of another. The teacher is not merely a talking book, an animated phonograph record, broadcast to an unknown audience. He enters into a dialogue with his student. This dialogue goes far beyond mere "talk," for a good deal of what is taught is transmitted almost unconsciously in the personal interchange between teacher and student.
This is a two-way relation. The teacher gives, and the student receives aid and guidance. The student is a "disciple"; that is, he accepts and follows the discipline prescribed by the teacher for the development of his mind. This is not a passive submission to arbitrary authority. It is an active appropriation by the student of the directions indicated by the teacher. The good student uses his teacher just as a child uses his parents, as a means of attaining maturity and independence. The recalcitrant student, who spurns a teacher's help, is wasteful and self-destructive.
Speaking simply and in the broadest sense, the teacher shows the student how to discern, evaluate, judge, and recognize the truth. He does not impose a fixed content of ideas and doctrines that the student must learn by rote. He teaches the student how to learn and think for himself. He encourages rather than suppresses a critical and intelligent response.
The student's response and growth is the only reward suitable for such a labor of love. Teaching, the highest of the ministerial or cooperative arts, is devoted to the good of others. It is an act of supreme generosity. St. Augustine calls it the greatest act of charity.’

Dear Coolji, I am very thankful to you for this link you have very kindly provided. I have posted above some of the very important excerpts of it which help to remind the duties of our teachers in the high interest of the aspirants. amsharma