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are passed on to the current century, through the teacher, as needed by the society. This is needed because the old structure, the vested interests connected with that structure, and the blind beliefs established in that structure, do not want to die. They want to continue to live within the society.
Because of the job done by the teacher, he is respected. Without flattering the teacher and without respecting the teacher, it is not possible to ask for this work from him. That is why it is said that the teacher is a guru, respectable, and his advice must be listened to. Why? -- because the society wants to bequeath its whole pattern of beliefs to its children through the teacher.
The Hindu father wants to make his son a Hindu, and a Mohammedan father wants to make his son a Mohammedan before he dies. The Hindu father also wants to bequeath to his children the dispute with the Mohammedans. Who will do this? The teacher will do it. The old generation wants to impose its blind beliefs on the new generation. Its scriptures, its priests and everything else is to be imposed. It gets this work done through the teacher, but what is the result?
The result is that material wealth is increasing in the world, but mental faculties do not develop. As long as there is that great burden of old thoughts on the minds of the children, their mental faculties cannot develop. In a small child there is the burden of a culture five thousand years old. The very life of that child is crushed under that burden. Because of this, the flame of consciousness cannot be lit and the individuality of the child cannot develop.
The material wealth increases because whatever is left by the parents is increased or improved upon by their children. But their mental faculties cannot develop because the children are conditioned in that respect. The child adds, without any hesitation, one more floor onto the building bequeathed to him. He is pleased to do it. And the father is also pleased that his son has added one more floor. But if anyone improves upon the ideas already narrated in the Gita, then those who have inherited Mahavira's, Buddha's, Krishna's and Rama's ideas, will
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