The Master always insisted that we must learn by ourselves — teach ourselves — rather than depend on other people’s authority. This had its limits, of course, as when a bright young fellow was convinced he ought to try drugs as a means to mysticism — and “take the risk, for one can only learn by trial and error.”
That moved the Master to tell the old story of the nail and the screw: “Here is one way to find out whether what you need in a plank is a nail or a screw: Drive the nail in. If it splits the plank, you know you needed the screw.”
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“I wish to learn. Will you teach me?”
“I do not think that you know how to learn,” said the Master.
“Can you teach me how to learn?”
“Can you learn how to let me teach?”
To his bewildered disciples the Master later said: “Teaching only takes place when learning does. Learning only takes place when you teach something to yourself.”
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One disciple said: “I have no idea of what tomorrow will bring, so I wish to prepare for it.”
The master answered: “You fear tomorrow — not realizing that yesterday is just as dangerous.”
— Anthony de Mello
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