Mentorship is the transmission of more than knowledge — it is the passage of judgment, discernment, and what Aristotle called phronesis (practical wisdom) from one who has developed it to one who is developing it, through sustained relationship rather than formal instruction. The mentor does not merely answer questions but models the quality of mind and character that the questions are ultimately about. In this sense every genuine mentorship relationship is a form of guru-śiṣya paramparā — the transmission of understanding from the inside of one formed consciousness to the inside of one still forming.
Each step builds on the last.