Who's your teacher?
I believe this is the right causal sequence for achieving good results in life:
Teacher ---> Knowledge ---> Actions ---> Results
Using this framework, you can easily see the cause of people's failures or successes.
Always, failure happens because the above process broke down at one point or another:
A few exceptional people (Bruce Lee, Leonardo Da Vinci, etc.) are gifted; they are self-learners. They are their own teachers and masters. But for the rest of us, we all need good teachers.
Sometimes, even a movie can be a teaching tool.
George Lucas' Magnum Opus, the Star Wars bi-trilogy, is one such instructional tool. In his mythical story, he shows us how having a bad teacher can have catastrophic consequences for the galaxy.
Palpatine ---> Evil/bad knowledge ---> Evil/bad actions ---> Evil/bad results
(Notice that Anakin had two "masters" guiding him; unfortunately, Obi-Wan was less skilled linguistically than Palpatine, and also had less leverage (for example, he could not promise Anakin that he could save Padme from death).
On the other hand, he also shows the opposite:
Qui-Gon / Yoda ---> Good knowledge ---> Good actions ---> Good results
The ultimate good result is that Obi-Wan was able to achieve such self-mastery that he could decide to merge with the universe (that is, to go from life to death by merely closing his eyelids!). The even more amazing thing is that he did so at a moment when his two greatest apprentices (father and son) were watching him. Perhaps he wanted to teach them one last lesson before moving into the world of Spirit. Perhaps he wanted to teach them both the art of fearlessness, which is the key to mastering life. (Of course, at the end of the episode The Return of the Jedi, we see that his two former students actually became fearless).
Obi-Wan epitomizes the quintessential Jedi philosophy: that one acquires power through understanding. (The Sith, of course, espouse the opposite philosophy: that one acquires understanding through power).
Another movie that I found quite instructional is Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Li Mu Bai, the enlightened master, tries to get the young, beautiful, aristocratic Jen to become his disciple.
Yet, she refuses to submit to his teaching. She only wants power, in the form of Green Destiny, the famed sword.
I guess the success secret is to realize that knowledge is power, and that the more we adopt an attitude of respect, reverence and obedience toward Knowledge, the more likely we will succeed in any worthy endeavour.
Teacher ---> Knowledge ---> Actions ---> Results
Using this framework, you can easily see the cause of people's failures or successes.
Always, failure happens because the above process broke down at one point or another:
- Even with a good teacher, you might misunderstand and acquire the wrong knowledge
- Even with good knowledge, you might misinterpret and execute the wrong (or badly timed) actions
- Even with correct actions, you might get bad results because you misread the situation or failed to adapt your actions to the prevailing circumstances
A few exceptional people (Bruce Lee, Leonardo Da Vinci, etc.) are gifted; they are self-learners. They are their own teachers and masters. But for the rest of us, we all need good teachers.
Sometimes, even a movie can be a teaching tool.
George Lucas' Magnum Opus, the Star Wars bi-trilogy, is one such instructional tool. In his mythical story, he shows us how having a bad teacher can have catastrophic consequences for the galaxy.
Palpatine ---> Evil/bad knowledge ---> Evil/bad actions ---> Evil/bad results
(Notice that Anakin had two "masters" guiding him; unfortunately, Obi-Wan was less skilled linguistically than Palpatine, and also had less leverage (for example, he could not promise Anakin that he could save Padme from death).
On the other hand, he also shows the opposite:
Qui-Gon / Yoda ---> Good knowledge ---> Good actions ---> Good results
The ultimate good result is that Obi-Wan was able to achieve such self-mastery that he could decide to merge with the universe (that is, to go from life to death by merely closing his eyelids!). The even more amazing thing is that he did so at a moment when his two greatest apprentices (father and son) were watching him. Perhaps he wanted to teach them one last lesson before moving into the world of Spirit. Perhaps he wanted to teach them both the art of fearlessness, which is the key to mastering life. (Of course, at the end of the episode The Return of the Jedi, we see that his two former students actually became fearless).
Obi-Wan epitomizes the quintessential Jedi philosophy: that one acquires power through understanding. (The Sith, of course, espouse the opposite philosophy: that one acquires understanding through power).
Another movie that I found quite instructional is Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Li Mu Bai, the enlightened master, tries to get the young, beautiful, aristocratic Jen to become his disciple.
Yet, she refuses to submit to his teaching. She only wants power, in the form of Green Destiny, the famed sword.
I guess the success secret is to realize that knowledge is power, and that the more we adopt an attitude of respect, reverence and obedience toward Knowledge, the more likely we will succeed in any worthy endeavour.
posted by Super Peter at 11:55 AM
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