There is only one teacher.
There is only one teacher. What is that teacher? Life itself. And of course each one of us is a manifestation of life; we couldn't be anything else. Now life happens to be both a severe and an endlessly kind teacher. It's the only authority that you need to trust. And this teacher, this authority, is everywhere. You don't have to go to some special place to find this incomparable teacher, you don't have to have some especially quiet or ideal situation: in fact, the messier it is, the better. The average office is a great place. The average home is perfect. Such places are pretty messy most of the time--we all know from firsthand experience! That is where the authority, the teacher is.
Charlotte Joko Beck, in Everyday Zen from Everyday Mind, edited by Jean Smith, a Tricycle book
http://www.tricycle.com/issues/2_71/dailydharma/3089-1.html
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