The Truth About Mentors

A mentored man moves through life with clipped wings.

The wings are clipped in a way that gives him the illusion of flight. As his feet never leave the ground.

A man who assumes the role of “mentor,” is in a precarious position.

Though rare is the man who recognizes the precariousness of it. And it is this very fact that leads to the imprisonment of the one whom he “mentors.”

A human being who is a world class artist at his craft does not precisely know how he does what he does.

He senses a breath of wind when the forecast calls for none.

He sees a sparkle on the horizon that is invisible to the naked eye.

He feels that the time is Now when all the experts and the parameters state the opposite.

A world class artist is a man of Truth.

His interiority is tuned to the rotation of the earth.

He is what any sane mane would deem . . . Insane.

There is most certainly a fine line between genius and insanity.

Perhaps, in the end, genius proves itself to Be insanity.

When a world class artist is asked how he does what he does . . .

When he is asked for “advice,” . . .

He is put on the spot.

What he does at this critical juncture will prove his worth, or lack thereof, as a mentor.

If he speaks The Truth, he will be a reliable guide.

If he succumbs to the pressure of the moment, he will not.

The great irony is that if he speaks The Truth, he will no longer be sought out as a mentor.

And if he succumbs to the moment, his phone will not stop ringing.

If he speaks The Truth, he will state in no uncertain terms that he does not quite know how he knows what he knows, and how he does what he does.

If he feels the pressure of having been put on the spot, he will begin to provide a semblance of an explanation as to how he does what he does.

And in doing so, he will have lied. For he will have groped within the dark and mysterious corridors of his talent in order to scrape together a few “highlights.”

He will attempt to reduce his talent into the medium of words.

He will attempt to make that which he himself does not understand, understandable to those who are putting him on the spot.

When the music begins, he will begin to sing.

When the lights go on, he will begin to dance.

And he will provide for the crowd precisely what they are seeking:

An entertainment.

One may learn all there is to know about the human skeleton. But knowing the skeleton is a far cry from knowing The Human Body.

One may learn all there is to know about the X’s and the O’s. But knowing the X’s and the O’s is a far cry from learning The Alphabet.

One may learn all there is to know about painting a woman’s face on a white canvas. But painting a face on a white canvas is a far cry from painting it in such a way that makes the eyes of that woman look into soul of the one who passes by it.

Human beings tend to believe that True Knowledge can be had in bullet points.

Human beings tend to believe that it is the “physicality” of a movement leads to reproducible outcomes.

Human beings tend to believe that advice and mimicry lead to a prowess identical to the one who is advising, and the one being mimicked.

How cosmetic and shallow are the ways of this world.

How skeletal is its understanding.

The man who seeks a mentor, deserves one.

The man who seeks a mentor is engaging in a clever attempt to “buy success.”

Are there things that one can learn from a mentor?

Yes.

But the most valuable things to be learned are not “information,” but things that are Anti-Informative.

A man gains far less value from learning “how something is done,” than from “how difficult it is” for the world class artist to explain how he does it.

Straight lines give only the illusion of straightness.

A cause and effect that is visible to the naked eye is, in truth, a coincidence.

The one who is ripe for learning is the one seeks not The Way.

The one who is truly able to teach is the one who IS the teaching.

Namaste.