"What Teachers Make", Taylor Mali & Prayer addressing Teachers/Guru

In a video posted on TED.com, Taylor Mali speaks on "What teachers make". In this material world, where the importance of teachers (anyone who lives and acts like Gurus or Brahmins) is undermined, the metrics of success are falsely related to monetary gains only, Taylor reminds us of why we used to (and why we must) merit Guru or Teacher above everyone and everything.

Taylor Mali is one of the finest slam poets of the United States. I interacted with him at the Summer seminar for Writers at Sarah Lawrence College, in 2008. He gave tutorials on how to recite your work with right posture, pitch, tone and performance as opposed to mumbling in name of poetry reading. In a stellar performance there, he created a composite poem from works of all the poets and writers who read before him one evening. The three minutes from TED.com display every element of the poet's skill and teacher's will that Taylor wants us to emulate.

I am reminded of the classic Sanskrit hymn or shaloka:

गुरुर ब्रह्मा, गुरुर विष्णु, गुरुर देवो महेश्वरः |

गुरु शाक्षात परम ब्रह्मा, तस्मै श्री गुरुवे नमः ||

Gurur Brahma Gurur Vishnu, Gurur Devo Maheshvarah. Guru Shakshat Para Brahma, Tasmai Shri Guruve Namah. OR Teacher is like Brahma, Vishnu, Mahesh (i.e. Generator, Operator, Destroyer [of humanity, knowledge, everything]), is like the manifest Ultimate Brahma/God (Satchitananda: all Truth, Joy, Beauty, Knowledge), (Teacher takes away  our ignorance, darkness & enlightens us); You should pray and give reverence to Guru /Teacher. 

I know many of you will suggest that Guru must have the ability, the character, the stature to merit such regard... my opinion is: whoever teaches you anything, deserves gratitude and reverence. We are all guilty of forgetting how our own progress in life is in many ways fruition of the efforts of the unsung heroes of our life: our teachers. Praise be to them!