The Triumph of Mentor-Disciple Spirit
“A mentor elevates us (his disciples) to a higher plane, keeps a constant watch on us and ensures that we lead the kind of life we should live,” shared Dr Neelakanta Radhakrishnan at the Sixth Youth Peace Lecture.
“The Triumph of Mentor-Disciple Spirit” was the theme of the Sixth Youth Peace Lecture delivered by Dr Neelakanta Radhakrishnan, Chairman of the Indian Council of Gandhian Studies, New Delhi held on June 10 at the Ikeda Culture Auditorium of SSA. Some 750 youths from SSA and their friends who attended the lecture were awestruck by the insightful thoughts and passionate words of Dr Radhakrishnan who inspired the audience by sharing his personal encounter with the world of “mentor and disciple” – a universal relationship characterised by the deepest and noblest of spiritual human bonds that could ever be forged among individuals working eternally together in one mind for a common great cause.
Dr Radhakrishnan also made it clear that a true mentor lives on through the disciple, and clarified that a disciple is not a replica of the mentor. Instead, a true disciple goes “beyond the original without damaging the original”. In fact, the greatness of the mentor can be reflected in the glory of the disciple. Dr Radhakrishnan’s no-holds-barred sharing galvanised his listeners into thinking deeply about the mentor-disciple spirit.
(SSA Times issue 240)
