My favourite teacher is a nine-year-old kid -my granddaughter, Arya. She has taught me so many things and she keeps on giving me new lessons every day. All I have to do is listen closely to what she says and the words of wisdom just keep pouring out.
One day, a friend said to her, “God is our father.”
Arya’s response was, “In that case, we are all brothers and sisters.”
This is indeed a perfect response to the statement, and it is something that only a child can say! Grown-ups simply cannot have this kind of vision, because I feel they have too much knowledge and end up thinking too much. They are not spiritual like little children.
Yet another time, I was telling a bedtime story to my granddaughter. Having run out of fictional stories, I decided to tell her a real story, describing my own life events. I talked about the time I was born, about my father and my mother, and about my brother who passed away when I was only a teenager. I added that I missed my brother too much, and I was very sorry that he passed away and he was no longer with me. Her response?
“But he is still your brother.”
That simple and beautiful response took away many years of sadness. It, of course, is completely true: he is still my brother, even if he is somewhere else. What could be more inspiring than this simple remark, something only a child can say?
You don’t need to go to school or college to find an inspiring teacher. They are all around us, sometimes hiding in the guise of little children.