He became one of my teachers

 Recently I was listening again to the 10% Happier Podcast with Thubten Chodron ("What's Your Motivation?").  At one point she says, "He became one of my teachers...."  I don't recall who the teacher was, but I was struck by the familiar way she said the phrase.  

He became one of my teachers.... it's different than a high school kid saying "he was my biology teacher" or "I was in his class."  It's more like an acceptance of someone as a teacher. (Sometimes your assigned teacher is probably not actually one of your real teachers.)

Recently, also, I noted that T-Bone Burnett, in his SXSW keynote, said that artists main job is to find out what they like.  

Maybe the job of humans is to find out who their teachers are.  

"What book are you reading right now?" could become "Who are your current teachers?"  

Recently I watched an Oliver Sacks documentary on PBS.  I was inspired by it.  Does that make him a teacher?  Maybe there's something more you need to do to acknowledge who your teachers are.  It probably demands a longer time period than a two-hour TV show.

Certainly the series of 40-meditation lessons that I did with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield count as teachers.  Fred Rogers, an obsession from a year ago who I watched a documentary 3-times about counts.  

What about real people?

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3/25/23  found this Wendell Berry quote

There is finally the pride of thinking oneself without teachers. 

The teachers are everywhere. What is wanted is a learner.