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CHAPTER 12
THE TRUE TEACHERS
All
According to the Jaina view the true teacher should have at least two qualifications: he should be omniscient and absolutely devoid of a motive. He who is not allknowing is bound to be in error on some point or other, and will just mislead us there. He who is not absolutely devoid of a motive is also sure to mislead us where and when his personal interests are concerned. things cannot be known by a finite embodied intellect. It is therefore necessary to rely upon the knowledge of an all-knowing teacher. The true teacher never teaches anything in allegory, and he will never use expression which is liable to mislead, immediately or in the remote future. When such a teacher is found the only question which can arise about His teaching can be whether or not any particular passage ascribed to Him is really the one which emanated from Him, assuming that He is not present Himself and His word is only preserved in books or orally by tradition. But once it is proved that a particular passage emanates from a real omniscient teacher, no further question about its authenticity or value can arise. The word of a true teacher can never be at variance with the facts of observation or legitimate inferences which they give rise to. All mystic and mystifying writings are to be avoided as they are conducive only, or at least chiefly, to our misunderstandings.
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