SHADING THE SUN

Shading the Sun

It's an adage that's taken on mythic importance in spiritual circles. It's a principle in the Hermetic teaches of Hermes Trismegistus, the "Thrice Great" Hermes. The common phrase most of us know is, "When the student is ready, the teacher appears." But the principle in the old treatises reads, "When the ears of the student are ready to hear, then cometh the lips to fill them with Wisdom."

So who are these teachers? Where do they come from? And what do they do for us? They are the teachers great and small, who inspire us. They make us strive for greatness. They encourage us to be the best we can be. They advise us and they guide us. They can be spiritual mentors - our parents - certain friends - a grandmother - a beloved teacher - or even a casual meeting with someone briefly met. Yet, their influence is extraordinary because in some way meeting them changes the course of our lives.

Other than family members, quite often these teachers seem to appear unbidden. They come with the brilliance of the sun, illuminating everything we are and everything we do. Even those who come for just a short time leave a mark that's remembered long after their departure. Some come to derail our assumptions and beliefs, leaving us like a tattered garment. Yet, in all cases WE summoned them.  So how is it then that the student was ready but zealously shades the sun of the teacher?

There's an electric charge when the teacher appears. The student resonates in harmony with the teacher and the teachings. They're drawn like a moth to light. Whatever the teacher says, the student absorbs and makes it her own. The teacher is put on a pedestal shining brilliantly for the student. This goes on for some time until one day the student becomes disillusioned for some perceived slight or misunderstanding. Most times this is due to the "human-ness" of the teacher or the student's belief in their own "self-importance." The student puts up a barrier distancing themselves from the teacher and the teachings and in effect, Shading the Sun. 

The student is seldom mature enough to understand that it's not the teacher's failings  that have caused the distance. Rather the challenges or disappointments the student feels are a direct tool to further their understanding and evolution. Nonetheless, the student goes looking from place to place for another teacher. Eventually, they will find the teacher because it is the law of attraction, of cause and effect, that brings the next teacher forward.

Eventually, after running from place to place, searching for the ideal teacher, the student will realize there is only one teacher. With that maturity she will become the teacher some other student is looking for. The cycle will continue, the student will be ready and the teacher will appear. And the Shade on the Sun will be lifted once more.

 

                                                                                                 Jo Mooy - April 2016