Random comment I found on the interwebs that I thought was interesting and shows how, if we are conscious, our teachers are all around us.
I remember reading a very funny book (Thank You and Okay: An American Zen Failure in Japan by David Chadwick) about an American who went off to study at a Zen Buddhist abbey in Japan. He was over 6 foot tall and the ancient building he was living in had low ceilings and large wooden crossbeams which hung down low enough that he kept smacking his head into them when he wasn’t paying attention and forgot to duck his head down – a problem which the sub-6-foot Japanese monks didn’t have. When he complained about the low hanging beams, the abbot replied “those beams are your teachers†(meaning in so many words: “stay more mindful of your surroundings, dumbassâ€).
I might have to check out that book. Anyone read it?
