Don't block the bridge for others || Acharya Prashant (2017)

Questioner (Q): Acharya Ji, if one is attached to the Teacher, then he blocks the bridge for others.

Acharya Prashant (AP):

Yes, of course.

The Teacher is the bridge – a bridge between dimensions.

One end of the bridge is this world – space and time, thoughts, emotions, appearances. The other end of the bridge is another dimension – silence, no space, no time, no movement. But the movement into timelessness begins from a point, that is time-bound.

The one who is ushering you into the Timeless is himself time-bound.

The Atman might be immortal, the body of the Teacher is mortal. The Truth might be timeless, but the Teacher, as a body, has only definite time. He uses that time. And that is the only proper use of anybody’s time – to move into the Timeless. That is the proper use of life in this dualistic world – to move into That, which is beyond duality. So, the Guru, the Teacher, spends his life, spends his time, holding the hands of others, ushering them, escorting them into the Timeless. That is the use of his time.

But he has limited time.

To encroach upon his time, to impinge upon his time, is, therefore, a greater fault than encroaching upon a so-called normal individual’s time.

The time of the Teacher is sacred. The time of the Teacher is very-very precious. We use our time to extend and continue time, he uses his time to terminate time. Terminate time, not only for himself but for the entire humanity.

The time of the Guru is most precious. The mental space of the Guru is most sacred because he uses that mental space to take everybody beyond the mind. But remember, he exists as a body, as a human being. So, he has only limited time, and limited mental space. His resources are demarcated.

Therefore, being attached to the Teacher is not only a personal fault, it is actually a disservice to mankind.

If you are attached to a Teacher, then you are first of all doing yourself a disservice, because by being attached to the Teacher you will prevent him from doing good to you. Secondly, because you are attached to the Teacher, you will start consuming, sucking his time. And his time is precious.

Because you are attached to the Teacher, so you will want to occupy his mental space. And his mental space is sacred.

Hence, you block the bridge for everybody.

Is that clear?

Wasting your own time is bad enough, but worse than wasting your time, is when you start taking the time of the Teacher. That is an even worse thing to do.

Every minute of the life of the Teacher is worth centuries. The proof is that, that without the Teacher, it would have taken you centuries to understand, what he just easily and readily brought to you. His one minute is not just ‘one minute’.

Before you take just one minute of the Teacher’s time, ask yourself, “Is my need really so important, that I must sacrifice the interests of so many people?”

There is a great lake, but a narrow path, and only a narrow path leads to that lake. You cannot block the lake, the lake is immense. And the lake is so immense, that a thousand people can simultaneously drink and draw from the lake. The lake has enough depth to provide for a countless number of people.

But only a narrow path leads to that lake. Would you want to block that path?

That narrow path is the Teacher’s time, that narrow path is the Teacher’s personal life.

Don’t block it.

You block it because of fear. You think that the lake is shallow. No, the lake is not shallow. The lake is Total, the lake is Infinite. There would always be enough for you. But when you block the path, you do not allow the others to drink. And mind you, when you are blocking the path, you too are not drinking from the lake.

Being attached to the Teacher, you prevent others from benefiting from the Teacher. And you too do not benefit from the Teacher.

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