Acharya Prashant addresses a question about maintaining authenticity while being dependent on others for learning. He explains that one must see the whole picture. He uses an analogy: if you are young and cannot ride a bicycle, you are dependent on someone to take you places. This is one kind of dependency. Then, someone comes along and tells you that being dependent is a form of slavery and fear, and offers to teach you how to ride. While they are teaching you, holding the bicycle from behind, you are again dependent on them. You might think this is also a dependency, but you are forgetting the whole picture. This second dependency is a kind of dependency that will end your larger dependency. It is a dependency that you are using only as a method; it has not become your permanent state. This dependency is a temporary measure, an interim solution. You must constantly remember that this situation, where someone is holding your cycle to help you learn, should not last for many days. When you are dependent on someone for learning, as a student, do not curse them for making you dependent. They are not making you dependent; they are ending your dependency. A day will soon come when you will be riding the cycle yourself and will not need anyone. Therefore, when you have a relationship and dependency on others, you must check its direction. One direction is where the dependency remains as it is and, in fact, deepens with time. The other is where you are dependent, but the person you are with is your well-wisher and will not let you remain dependent on them for long. They will very soon make you self-reliant. You must keep checking whether your relationship with another is bringing self-reliance to you or if you are becoming more of a slave and dependent on the other.