The amount of effort it requires to teach is unbelievable...
Voici un extrait qui donne à réféchir, d'autant que c'est en principe comme ça que ça se passe. Un jour j'avais lu l'histoire d'une personne qui avait gagné au loto et décidé d'aider tous ses amis, mais tout avait très mal tourné, les gens avaient dilapidé l'argent, et lui en avaient voulu bien sûr. Par exemple, untel qui avait ouvert un bar avait fait faillite. Il ne s'agissait pas de donner de l'argent juste comme ça, mais d'aider les gens à réaliser leur rêve, comme de monter une entreprise ou autre, et c'était devenu un cauchemar.
La question qu'on pourrait se poser, c'est de savoir s'il n'aurait pas pu les choisir mieux etc... mais finalement s'il avait passé une annonce en demandant aux gens de monter des dossiers, pour récompenser les dossiers ayant une chance de réussir, il aurait donné de l'argent à des gens qui s'en seraient sortis de toutes façons.
Bon, il y a d'autres questions intéressantes qui sont soulevées, mais je ne vais pas commenter pour le moment.
"The amount of effort it requires to teach is unbelievable," said Rudi as we sat outside the store one cloudy day. "If there were any other way for me to grow, I would take it. But there isn't. In fact, if all my students disappeared, I would line up six chimpanzees and work with them. I don't know if it would help them any, but it would sure be good for me."
Two early students, George and Charlie, were examples of the ends to which Rudi was prepared to go in fulfilling the role of teacher.
George had been in the Gurdjieff work, and had emerged charred and drained. Charlie had not been in any work. He was a pleasant, detached character. Both were at loose ends. Rudi suggested that they prepare themselves for some business or profession. He recommended chiropractic school. Neither of them had any money. Unknown to me, Rudi paid for their schooling.
Charlie got through the first year and then flunked out. Shortly thereafter, he drifted away. George was more persistent. He eventually completed school and obtained his license. But he was constantly getting involved in personal situations from which Rudi periodically had to save him.
"You have to understand your position, George," he would say on such occasions. "It is fine to wish to help someone whom you care for, but you can't afford it now. You don't have the energy or the detachment. It doesn't do them any good, except that they temporarily feel better. And it does you harm because they suck you dry."
"I can't see where trying to help another human being can be bad," said George.
"If your children were hungry and you gambled away your weekly paycheck, would that be right? Even if you gave it away to a beggar in need? Your first responsibility is to your own. And that is you. If and when you get stronger the day will come when you can share from your own abundance, not from your weakness. That will be good for others and for you. But if you keep up what you are doing now, you will never grow because you are giving away the energy which I am giving you. That is not what I am giving it to you for. If you continue to act so irresponsibly I am just going to kick you out."
George looked crestfallen, but held his peace.
"I appreciate your motives," Rudi continued. "But what you are doing is a cheap substitute for the effort required to grow. I know you are lonely and want some situations in which to be involved. But you have to be more objective. You are not a normal person. You are recuperating from years of emotional malnutrition and tension. Save your vitality for yourself, or you will never get well."
It was hard for me to understand at the time why Rudi was willing to invest so much money in George and Charlie. Neither one of them seemed to have exceptional potential, or even to represent a good gamble. One day while they were both in school, I said to Rudi,
"Don't take this wrong, but why are you putting Charlie and George through school?"
"Sometimes I wonder myself," said Rudi, smiling. "Somebody has to do something. They need to be able to support themselves if they are ever to have any kind of life."
"But why you?"
"Who else is there? It's my money, I enjoy spending it this way. Much as I love art I would rather invest in people than anything else. Maybe it will all come to nothing. But I can afford the money, and this way I won't be haunted with the question of whether I might have turned their situation around if I had been willing to help."
"But what teacher gives his own money to his students?" I asked.
"None," he said, "They hate me in India because I do things like this. It is always the students who support the teacher. I don't want that. It would limit me. I want to be responsible for my own material existence and not depend on anyone who is dependent on me.
"But it's partly a question of tradition. In the East, particularly in India, it would be unseemly for a holy man to support himself. He's expected to devote his life to sacred matters. But if you are paid for teaching spiritually, it exerts a subtle influence. The students have an image of the guru and his teaching. The teacher is supported, in part, to help to fulfill that fantasy. But inevitably there comes a moment when the teacher must destroy the dream. He may not do it, or delay doing it, if his livelihood depends on the good will of his students. It is better that the issue should never arise.
"In any case money has no value unless it is used. The saddest spectacle in the world is an insecure millionaire who hordes his fortune. It serves nothing, except to allay his own fears. I would rather give than hold back. Fortunately I can afford to do it. But when I have to hold back I can do that too, sometimes for a very long time."
"It won't bother you then if the money you are investing in Charlie and George comes to nothing?" I asked.
"I almost have to assume it will come to nothing in order to be able to give it. I don't want them to be beholden to me for the rest of their lives. It's a gift. If they choose to receive it they can do with it as they wish. It's the only way to give. Otherwise it would drive me crazy and weaken them. If I truly thought they had no chance I wouldn't give it. But there is a chance, and who am I to judge? I have a certain sense of the future. I can detect a possible turning point in a person's life. But I cannot foretell just who will come through and to what extent any more than a farmer can tell the fate of an individual seed when he sows the field. It doesn't matter! You use the best seed that is available, do what is necessary, and then wait to see which sprouts. It is the harvest that counts.
/https%3A%2F%2Fassets.over-blog.com%2Ft%2Fcedistic%2Fcamera.png)
