Circle of Good Will - The World Teacher Trust

Lord Krishna saw the situation. He once came tothe royal court and asked the adviser, “How muchof your advice is followed by the king?” The adviserhad no answer. Then it came into the adviser’smind: ”Why am I giving advice here, when it is notfollowed?” He immediately divested himself of thecrown of adviser, kept it at the feet of the king andleft. That is how Vidura was saved by Lord Krishnato become the Mahachohan for this cycle. A man ofknowledge, when his knowledge is not appropriatelyused, he cannot continue to stay there. These are alldimensions relating to giving advice and receivinginstruction.I give one more dimension: People come and seekadvice in a particular way. The adviser should bealert to know that the seeker has already a way to dothings and he was only coming to receive an approvalstamp from the adviser. When the adviser is anxiousto advise he will miss this hidden dimension in theseeker. Many would like to receive a pleasant answerthrough an advice, a convenient way, according tothem. If the adviser’s advice is not so very convenient,the seeker will even try to suggest better things to theadviser, only to drive home what he would like tolisten. So, not all are ready to really receive instruction.Many times the receivers win over their advisers inabstracting an advice according to their liking.There is another dimension to this. Even if the adviceis received, the receiver of the advice interprets it inhis own way saying that it was how he was advised.Many great Teachers and Masters suffered with thiskind of mutilation of the advice given. The advisersays one thing, and the seeker interprets and transmitsit as something else. Indeed it is a difficult task foran adviser to advise. Innocent are those who do notsee these dimensions of the seekers. There are manyadvisers who are anxious to advise, but the anxietycomes from the knowledge they have, which is notsought by the surroundings. When someone knowsand is capable of advising, but no one asked him foradvice, imagine the fight of such a one.But the law is: Do not advise unless sincerelysought! Likewise the second part of the law is: Do notseek anywhere and everywhere! The seeker should alsoknow where to seek, when to seek, from whom to seek.One should be fairly sure whom to seek. One cannot goto a bank and ask for a postcard. One cannot go to thepost office and ask for vegetables. These fundamentalsare generally forgotten. Do not ask for the sake ofasking! Be sincere in asking! Be adequately thoughtfulof whom you ask!Then the next step: Where to ask? When somebodyhas decided upon a person from whom he seeks advice,he cannot seek it straight away, wherever he finds him.98 99