He will be handicapped to some extent by a consciousness of the difficulty of securing adequate loyalty to a teacher who refuses to surround himself with all the paraphernalia of ashrams and all the trappings of guru-worship--both of which are repugnant to him. There are excellent reasons in the student's own interest--and perhaps to some degree in the teacher's, too--why in this case such personal loyalty must be emphatically insisted on. The pupil's allegiance will sooner or later be subjected to the unexpected strain of severe tests. The adept possesses far too sensitive a temperament and far too strong an independence to endure with indifference the telepathic reflections of this strain, which are invariably produced when the relationship effectively exists with the profound obligations on both sides which it entails. He may be philosophic enough to smile at misunderstanding or desertion but he will also be human enough to be sensitive to them. For even were a student to break with him he could never break with the student. His own conception of loyalty embraces a wider stretch than the frail seekers are likely to understand. Some indeed have been so deceived by the compulsions of personal karma and the logic of mere appearances as to imagine that he is devoid of human sympathy and indifferent to human feelings.
-- Notebooks Category 1: Overview of the Quest > Chapter 6 : Student-Teacher > # 610
