Posted this at Zen Forum International and thought I would post it here as well:
Should teachers be nice?
Why?
I can understand that "you can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar," but anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear and a nose to smell knows that there is plenty of vinegar in this life ... and why is vinegar less informative than honey?
Nice. Holy. Divine. Caring. Compassionate. Keen-eyed. ... don't we all seek out teachers who display such or similar attributes? Is it because we would like to feel safe and protected before we confront the various dangers and difficulties that deserve our attention?
What do you think? Is "nice" a prerequisite for the teachers and teachings we seek out and how well has that worked for you?
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For some reason the question immediately brought to mind a related or converse question, and that is should students be nice? If students should be nice is that because teachers would like to feel safe, protected, and not challenged in any way that might make them appear to loose their footing? Maybe feet occasionally get more attention than they deserve.
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