“We can only make things worse”

Any act of creation should involve a recognition - there is already an essence/nature pre-existing your intention. Your work is to take this essence which exists in some form, and cultivate it towards some direction. The true skill of the craftsman is in setting the intention, and not letting the intention destroy the process.

Someone who prepares coffee described this in the context of his craft: he can only make the coffee worse.

It’s not just him - every step of the way from cultivation of bean to preparation of cup, where an act of “creation”, of reforming the energy… the essence can only be degraded. Not improved upon. In fact, even HOW the coffee is drank, mindlessly or with intention, will destroy or sustain this essence. What you do with the energy the coffee gives you, etc…

So the craftsman can only worsen the creation. But without the craftsman, there is no creation at all. His presence/intention introduces an active force, which necessitates the response from the universe - resistance comes into being.

This gives a succinct definition of quality - creating without destroying the essence.

And this applies to the role of the teacher: recognizing that you cannot take people to an end-point, but only facilitate their own unfolding. A teacher can never improve another - they can only help clear certain things so the “natural” essence of the individual can blossom.

And these two, the intentional creation and the essence… they are best served by appreciating the other. Creation is always better executed in the context of understanding the essence of the energy; and the nature of a thing to grow will always be able to move further, will be given more room, when something external to it helps it.

And why is that? Because only something external to the object is knowledgeable of the outside conditions, in a way the object can never be. It can never be subject to itself. Hence, relationship becomes pivotal.