The art of being a teacher

A while back, my teacher Jonathan Monks read out a quote from Yogi Manmoyanand in one of our sadhana course sessions. It relates to being a teacher. Because it was in a book about yoga, I guess he was talking about being a yoga teacher, but it's absolutely relevant to being any kind of teacher.

It's beautiful - I keep on thinking about it and re-reading it. As Jonathan said at the time, there's a great deal to chew on. How much of this can we put into practice in our daily teaching? Is it possible to be fully as he says in the Western world?

I'm not going to attempt to paraphrase - just read it.

"No matter how good or bad, wise or dumb the teacher may be, he always remains respectable in the eyes of the student.
A teacher never makes the student; it is always the student who makes a teacher.
A teacher is only a teacher for the purpose of the student.
A teacher does not claim himself as such; rather it is the student who recognises him as a teacher.

The answers from a student only reflect his recollection capacity, while his questions reveal the way he thinks, and this is precisely what the teacher is looking for.
The mode of questioning of a student always helps the teacher to modify his teaching, and thus allows the teacher to remain completely aware of the student's questioning pulse.
A teacher is never satisfied with the correct answers provided by the student; rather he looks for the correct questions from the student.

The teacher should never be jealous and protective about his teachings and should never attempt. To give his teachings a concrete shape in the mind of the student.
The teaching has to be perfectly fluid and flexible. Creating a rigid and concrete block in the mind of a student causes more damage then any long term benefit. Such kind of teaching is less teaching, more brain-washing. Hence, all attempts to create a solid 'belief' in the mind of a student must be avoided.

The teacher should bear in mind that he is only a passing phase in the student's life, and any attempt to hold onto that phase will only prove disastrous for the student.
A teacher has no right over the future of his student.
The teacher should be willing to pass away from the memory of his student.

The teaching is never judged on the basis of how much knowledge was imparted, but on the basis of how much knowledge was demanded.
A teacher can expect nothing from his students, though he deserves and is entitled to a 'tuition fee' from his students, which he can ask for only at the end of the teaching - not on the basis of how much he has given, but on the basis of how much the student has taken.
Greed and expectation always spoil and dilute the teacher-student relationship.
As long as the teacher has not embodied the correct mindset of teaching, he should not commence teaching." 

Sivananda Buried Yoga; Yogi Manmoyanand; O Books; 2008