A perfect teacher

Last Sunday my sister said someone from the temple asked a question about who is your best friend (善知识) on the Dharma path? This makes me think about a perfect teacher. A perfect teacher and a best friend has the same meaning in this context.

A perfect teacher

Years ago I was looking for a perfect teacher. I told myself I would take my refuge in triple gems when my perfect teacher appears. But then I was thinking take refuge in triple gems and a perfect teacher are two different things. Why link them together? So I took my refuge before my perfect teacher appears. Several years gone by and the perfect teacher I was waiting for did not appear. At the end I realize there isn’t one. I hopped around from temple to temple to look for my perfect teacher and at the end I earned my name as a temple hopper. Finally I realize all people and things that I come across are my teachers and none of them are perfect. My children are my teachers. They teach me patience, toleration, love and how to be a mother. My children are not perfect. My parents are my teachers. They teach me how to be a good person. They are not perfect. My husband is my teacher. He teaches me the survival skill in now a day technology, forgiveness and compassion. My siblings are my teachers. My friends are my teachers. They teach me trust, faithful and worthy. The monks and nuns are my teachers. They teach me Buddha’s teachings. A flower, the sky, a cloud, a river, a tree, a pebble, natural disasters and so on teach me the law of impermanent. The four seasons teach me the beauty of impermanent. My little dog teaches me compassion and loving kindness. I, myself is a teacher to myself. I am not perfect. I am full of ignorance (without mindful), greed (can’t control myself) and hatred (hot temper). I just can’t name them all. All these imperfect and perfect teachings from the phenomena become A Perfect Teacher for me. I am no longer looking for a perfect teacher because I see them around me every single day. 

I met a Western Buddhist monk few years back. Some people warned me he was a bit extreme. Through his extreme, he helped me to see Buddhism in different angle. He helped me to ripe through all the layers of rituals, traditions, customs and so forth to see the essence of Buddha’s teachings. He kept telling me nuns, monks and any type of gurus are human beings, and they are not perfect. He let me challenge him. He taught me so much. Through his departure, he taught me life is full of suffering but with Buddha’s teachings we could turn the suffering into pure-land. He taught me how to face death. He taught me how to turn my grief into wisdom. I don’t know what I have done to have a great teacher like this. Here is one of his favourite sayings:

In the black, there is some white

In the wrong, there is some right

In the dark, there is some light

In the blind, there is some sight