The special form of friendship and love which grows between teacher and pupil is simultaneously a bond of friendship between man and God. Such a process is the very reverse of hero-worship. The teacher systematically and very effectively rejects those manifestations from his charges which have their origins in the self. Pupils are weaned at the outset from the tendency to fixate and identify with authority figures. If this first lesson is not learnt, there are no others. The teacher is merely a channel of communication. His presence may elicit love and devotion from those around him, but these are destined not for himself but for the reality his teaching represents.

Hakim Sanai (circa 1080 – 1141), from The Walled Garden of Truth