If you are going to play a role in any civilization, you need to study those who have played the role before you, and find out the qualifications for that role, and the problems of that role, whether it is a public or private role.
Many roles in every society, many people have played before you, whether it's a president of a nation, a business professional, public or private, or an elementary school teacher. Even if you are playing the role of a mentor. This is also a role.
Before you go into any of these roles, if you know a person who is currently playing that role, and/or who has played the role historically before you, then try to find that person as a mentor (and that person might also have a mentor).
If you are playing a public historical role, for example--like perhaps you are playing a president, a senator, or a congressman. Who has played that role before you? Who are the current people playing that role? Who do you trust as a mentor?
Read books written about and by former presidents. Have advisors that understand the role on the professional level, who are experts in the role. Include among the experts people who have played the role before you, people who are currently playing the role.
If you are a president, for example, and you are also a spiritual person, then you can, as many presidents do, seek spiritual advice. You can have spiritual advisors as well as secular advisors. Even though you know there is a different between the secular and spiritual, and you understand that you are secular president, nevertheless because most people also have a spiritual role, you can certainly include a spiritual advisor among your secular advisors. This can also be a private matter.
Suppose for example, you have a Buddhist, even a Western-style Buddhist, who wants to be president. There are many things that presidents are required to do that for a Buddhist, even a Western-style Buddhist might be considered "corrupt." Does a Buddhist participate in corruption? Can a Buddhist truly say, like many American Christians, they are just doing their job?
There are some careers that you might have to decide, because of your commitment to a faith, that while others can assume those careers that you yourself might have to decline. Even though many want to be president, for example, because it's the most pretigious career, you might have to decide because there are many things that presidents are required to do that for you would be corrupt, even though the state demands these jobs, that you yourself cannot be president. Perhaps you can have an intellectual role, perhaps you can have a spiritual role, but you can't be president, unless you can accord, like many spiritual leaders, your faith with the presidency, your faith with politics.
These are some of the things that role-players have to consider.
Think of Nixon as a Quaker, for example, of Kennedy as a Catholic, of Jimmy Carter as a Christian. Americans have not yet had presidents who profess other faiths. Even Catholic they found problematic. Are we going to have the first Catholic president?
Nevertheless, whatever role you assume you need mentors, whether you are interested in the many secular roles in societies, whether you select an intellectual role, or whether you are a metaphysical type of person and want the many roles for metaphysical types, including the people who become Rabbis or Imams or Priests, even Popes. This depends upon the type of character that you have and the type of person that you are. Your role can also depend upon a society which allows or does not allow you to assume a role. Perhaps we have had many Africans qualified to be Pope, but is society going to accept an African as Pope? Would society allow an African this highest spiritual role in the Catholic church? There is a debate about whether a female ever became Pope? Pope Joan?
Then who are your mentors? Your historical and your contemporary mentors? Who are the best role models that you can find? Not only children need role models, but many times adults who go into roles also need to find the best and the most honorable role models that they can find--secular, intellectual, and/or spiritual.
These role models can be from the ancient world, the modern world, and/or the postmodern world. Then, of course, you can add your own notions of the role, your innovations on the role, if you think and truly believe that you are best at offering a new role model. And certainly you don't have to agree with everything these role models present, but you can learn from them, you can learn from their triumphs and you can also learn from their mistakes. Learning from their triumphs can help you. They can also teach you, if possible, to avoid the mistakes that they have made in the role. Of course, you have to certainly consider the times that you are playing the role in. How are things different? How are things the same?
