NATURE IS OUR TEACHER.

Guru Dattatreya is considered as the greatest teacher ever. Once when a King asked him who his teacher was, he replied he had 24 teachers. When asked to elaborate, he told 24 anecdotes about how and what he learnt from each of his teachers. Here is a brief about his teachers, who are aspects of NATURE.

1. Be tolerant – like the Earth. 
2. Be clear and cool – like water.
3. Keep nothing for the morrow – finish everything now - like fire.
4. Always be on the move – progress towards your goal - like air.
5. Be detached – like the sky.
6. Remain in one condition through cycles of happiness and misery – like the Moon.
7. Give out to others – like the Sun radiates.
8. Do not be attached – like the pigeons.
9. Do not be too much bothered about food – like the python.
10. Avoid changes in temperament – do not transgress your limits - like the sea.
11. Do not be enticed by attraction of beauty – like the fire-fly.
12. Gather a little from each place – like the butterfly.
13. Do not go for collection and storage without utilization – like the bees.
14. Do not ignore the pitfalls of sexual attraction – like the elephant.
15. Do not be swept off by any attraction – like the stag for his horns.
16. Do not be entrapped by tasty food – like the fish.
17. Benefit from dejection – like the prostitute who changed her life.
18. Shun worldly goods – like the kuru bird.
19. Be satisfied with what you get while hungry – like a child.
20. Be alone – like a maiden’s single bangle.
21. Do not be attached permanently to a house of your own – like the snake.
22. Cultivate the powers of concentration – like the artisan, who did not notice an Army passing by.
23. Do not be over ambitious – like the spider.
24. Share with others – like the Bhringi bird.