“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear” – An old saying.
Kabir Day 34:
The couplet transliterated:
Guru bichara kya kare, sabad na laage ang |
Kahe Kabir maili gaji, kaise jaage rang ||
Translation:
What can the teacher do if the student is not ready to learn?
Says Kabir, on dirty cloth, the dye will not stick ||
My understanding:
Kabir here has laid out the responsibility of the student in the teacher-student relationship. The student has to open his mind to receive knowledge and learning, before the teacher can be effective.
The best of teachers fail when the student is not ready to accept the offering of the teacher. When cloth is not cleaned before applying the dye, the dye will fail to take hold in all those spots where dirt exists – ending up with a cloth looking very different from what was intended. Similarly, when the student and teacher are not on the same page, what is learnt will not match or map into what was the intent of the teaching.
And hence the quote above – the student needs to be ready before the teacher can teach what the student needs to be taught.