What's Truth? Where is It?

Christians love to say, hate the sin, not the sinner.

Likewise, there is a common Buddhist parable story. My own version:

A Western student told his new Asian meditation teacher:

"Master, the reason I left the other teacher was that he exhorted us to be mindful and to be moderate, but he talked loudly while he ate and he ate like a pig and noisily. I have no respect for him. He doesn't practice what he teaches."

The new teacher said:

"I have nothing new to teach you. Go back to your old teacher. He was right about what he told you that you needed to cultivate mindfulness and moderation. Never mind that he could not practice what he taught. Only mind what he taught. Ask yourself what he taught was right and good, or bad and wrong. Didn't it ever occur to you that your teacher was aware of his lousy eating manners, was ashamed about them and of himself, and that he was trying hard to do something about those bad eating manners, but didn't feel like telling his students about his own struggles?

You are so ready to blame. You don't have a discerning mind. You don't have a loving heart. I cannot teach you. I won't teach you."

"But master", the Western student persisted, "aren't you a bit too harsh on me? Where is your own compassionate, loving heart?"

The new teacher smiled and said:

"You talked and argued too much. Instead of silently listening to what I just said, you tried to establish that you are right and superior to us. Why did you come all the way over here to learn when you already knew so much? You need to start your own school of meditation."

Open your heart. Be gentle with your teacher. Love him, trust him, trust your own intuition about him, your thinking that he had a good heart and soul. Don't put him down. Don't lecture him. Don't think you are his equal. You never were and never will be. That is a fact of life. But if you think you are that good, why did you come to see him in the first place?  Life is your teacher, the best of the best. That means you must be willing and ready to learn from everybody, from life experiences, not only of your own, but also those of other sentient beings. Use your eyes. Engage your brain. And once again, open your heart. Know your place in this world. Be honest, totally honest about yourself, about your worth. Don't inflate your worth. Don't deflate it either. Deal with facts and truths. Embrace them, not illusions and delusions. When things go wrong, don't be a child and automatically blame others and or the circumstances. Start with the nearest person to you, that means you. Ask yourself if you somehow were responsible for the outcome. Be strong-minded and fair-minded. 

Thus spoke Wissai, a disciple of Zarathustra.