One of the most beautiful aspects of the Eastern master-disciple system, through which knowledge is transmitted individually along a lineage dating back to time immemorial, is that the master endures and lives on in the disciple, without losing his own identity or overshadowing the disciple’s personality. As we read the stories, we are impressed by the achievements of all the masters, and it seems that the idea of comparing them to determine which was greater never crosses our minds. There is no rivalry; rather, there is a tradition that lives in all of them and continues to manifest itself in new forms, in response to specific circumstances, through individual acts.