”

“The results of the work of a man who takes on himself the role of teacher do not
depend on whether or not he knows exactly the origin of what he teaches, but very
much depends on whether or not his ideas come in actual fact from the esoteric center
and whether he himself understands and can distinguish esoteric ideas, that is, ideas
of objective knowledge, from subjective, scientific, and philosophical ideas.
“So far I have spoken of the right magnetic center, of the right guide, and of the
right way. But a situation is possible in which the magnetic center has been wrongly
formed. It may be divided in itself, that is, it may include contradictions. In it,
moreover, may enter influences of the first kind, that is, those created in life, under
the guise of influences of the second kind, or the traces of influences of the second
kind but distorted to such an extent that they have become their own opposite. Such a
wrongly formed magnetic center cannot give a right orientation. A man with a wrong
magnetic center of this kind may also look for the way and he may meet another man
who will call himself a teacher and will say that he knows the way and that he is
connected with a center standing outside the law of accident. But in reality he may not
know the way and may not be connected with such a center. Moreover here again
there are many possibilities:
“1. He may be genuinely mistaken and think that he knows something,
when in reality he knows nothing. “2. He may believe another man, who in his
turn may be mistaken. “3. He may deceive consciously.
“Then if the man who is seeking the way believes him, he may lead him in a quite
different direction and not where he promises; he may lead him very far from the right
way and bring him to results directly opposite to the results of the right way.
“But fortunately this happens very rarely, that is, wrong ways are very numerous
but in the majority of cases they do not lead anywhere. And a man simply turns circles
on the same spot and thinks that he is going somewhere.”
“How can a wrong way be recognized?” asked somebody.
“How can it be recognized?” said G. “It is. impossible to recognize a wrong way
without knowing the right way. This means that it is no use troubling oneself how to
recognize a wrong way. One must think of how to find the right way. This is what we
are speaking about all the time. It cannot be said in two words. But from what I have
said you can draw many useful conclusions if you remember everything that has been
said and everything which follows from it. For example, you can see that the teacher
always corresponds to the level of the pupil. The higher the pupil, the higher can be
the teacher. But a pupil of a level which is not particularly high cannot count on a
teacher of a very high level. Actually, a pupil can never see the level of the teacher.
This is a law. No one can see higher than his own level. But usually people not only
do not know this, but, on the contrary, the lower they are themselves, the higher the
teacher they demand. The right understanding of this point is already a very considerable
understanding. But it occurs very seldom. Usually, the man himself is not worth
a brass farthing but he must have as teacher no other than Jesus Christ. To less he will
not agree. And it never enters his head that even if he were to meet such a teacher as
Jesus Christ, taking him as he is described in the Gospels, he would never be able to
follow him because it would be necessary to be on the level of an apostle in order to
be a pupil of Jesus Christ. Here is a definite law. The higher the teacher, the more
difficult for the pupil. And if the difference in the levels of the teacher and pupil go
beyond a certain limit, then the difficulties in the path of the pupil become
insuperable. It is exactly in connection with this law that there occurs one of the
fundamental rules of the fourth way. On the fourth way there is not one teacher.
Whoever is the elder, he is the teacher. And as the teacher is indispensable to the
pupil, so also is the pupil indispensable to the teacher. The pupil cannot go on without
the teacher, and the teacher cannot go on without the pupil or pupils. And this is not a
general consideration but an indispensable and quite concrete rule on which is based
the law of a man’s ascending.”
( P.D.Ouspensky In Search of the Miraculous pages 209-210 pdf from the internet 202-203 in the book)