master & disciple

It is natural during our long search for enlightenment that we seek out others who have already found the conclusion to that search. And if they are teaching, if they are willing to teach us, they take on the role of a master, and we are the disciple. It is a highly asymmetrical relationship: somehow the master seems superior, from the perspective of the disciple. It seems they have found something which we have not yet found. They seem to be living on another plane, higher, more noble.

All of this is projected by the disciple. Everything that he sees in the master is actually that which is within himself, but that he has not yet recognised, acknowledged. And so this great duality – of master and disciple – has to end at some point. It can be a tough hurdle, a barrier to break through, that is very difficult for some people: those who are naturally followers, who like to have a figure of authority to look up to, to tell them what is right and wrong, to advise them as to what to do. But all of this has to end. We have to reach that point where we are our own master, where we do not look anywhere else for authority, to determine what is right and wrong, what is good and bad. These things all drop away and the need for a master drops away with it. And eventually, there is no distinction, and one sees that the disciple is a master too, and the master is no different from the rest of us.

So when the time is right, allow it to drop away, this notion of a master, and with it, the notion of a disciple will drop away too. They support each other, and they have a role to play along the way. But when the time is right, this duality must cease, and every being can be seen, then, in the same light. For we are all buddhas by nature. We are all enlightened at our core. So if you feel ready, then drop it: go beyond the master-disciple duality and enter this space where all of life is divine, where every being is holy and complete.