A genuine teacher who is sincere, competent, kindly, and illumined will know this truth--that groups of the same grade reincarnate together--and, knowing it, will himself expect and accept only his "own." For if, through sentimental soft-heartedness, he yields to the importunities of those who are not in inner harmony with him, then either the flow of events or the disharmony of the student will break the relation and separate them. Similarly, an earnest aspirant who feels that his inner life belongs to a particular teacher will, if he is wise, desist from making experiments or from wandering to other hearths, and remain loyal to this teacher. For if, through emotional enthusiasms or through misunderstandings arising from his own limitations, he strays elsewhere, then the ultimate sense of inner dissatisfaction or the unexpected pressure of outer disillusionment will turn his feet homeward again.
-- Notebooks Category 1: Overview of the Quest > Chapter 6 : Student-Teacher > # 648
