TEACHING

Then said a teacher, "Speak to us of Teaching."

And he said:

"No man can reveal to you aught
but that which already lies half asleep
in the dawning of our knowledge.

The teacher who walks in the shadow of the temple,
among his followers, gives not of his wisdom
but rather of his faith and his lovingness.

If he is indeed wise he does not bid you enter
the house of wisdom, but rather leads you to
the threshold of your own mind.

The astronomer may speak to you of his
understanding of space, but he cannot
give you his understanding.

The musician may sing to you of the rhythm
which is in all space, but he cannot give you the ear
which arrests the rhythm nor the voice that echoes it.

And he who is versed in the science of numbers
can tell of the regions of weight and measure,
but he cannot conduct you thither.

For the vision of one man lends
not its wings to another man.

And even as each one of you stands alone
in God's knowledge, so must each one of
you be alone in his knowledge of God and
in his understanding of the earth."