A Teacher

In her book Hand Wash Cold, Karen Maezen Miller tells of seeking a teacher, and of discovering what she now knows about a teacher:

"A book may teach, but a book is not a teacher.

"A teacher may find fame, but a teacher is not a celebrity.

"A teacher comes from a line of teachers and completes a length of training that he or she freely admits is never complete.

"A teacher is rarely found and yet astonishes you with his or her complete availability.

"A teacher doesn't ask much of you— not your life, not your loyalty, and not a high fee for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"A teacher waits." (52)

"A true teacher is likely to be the most ordinary person you'll ever meet." (53)

"Choosing the wrong teacher is worse than having no teacher at all." (54)

Miller is speaking specifically of a Roshi, an "old teacher" of the Zen tradition. I've looked at the list, though, and by its standards I know I've had a few good people as trained teachers in my life.

And then there's every daily life experience that comes to me, each with its lesson, every day full of newness and things to notice in ways I never before have noticed. The natural world, the objects of my life, and all the pets and people, when they are predictable and when they are unpredictable. Again and again I am learning to laugh and otherwise just learning.