Being a spiritual teacher has continually frightened me. Not because I don’t want to do it but that I don’t feel adequate for the job. And yet, the role unwittingly is engaged by me as I seek out truths for our lives, who we are, what we’re here to do, and other such questions.
The biggest problem is that while it may be easy to tell someone what to do, we can often times recognize that doing it ourselves is not always so easy. This can be a good thing though for the teacher to experience. It permits the student the luxury of receiving compassion from a teacher who understands the difficulties that this quest will involve.
As I wondered today about some simple events leading to these thoughts, I found myself querying the lack of progress in my life in the past. What came up was, “Have I been paying attention?” I realized immediately that a significant part of the problem was that I had not been paying enough attention. For that matter, I think most of us don’t pay enough attention.
Paying attention to what? Good question to ask. I don’t think that we pay enough attention to ourselves. We’re so busy trying to do something, prepare for something, get ready for something, compete for something, to get ahead, to fit in, be a part of the crowd, wondering what other people think, that we forget to pay attention to the most important person in our life: Our own Self. How do you do that?
Oh… good question! Really good question! How do you pay attention to your own self? Well, I have noticed that when I stopped trying so hard and slowed down long enough to pay attention, I began to notice something extraordinary going on in my mind. Yes, many conversations happening within the creative mind: Interesting, conflicting, fearful, worrying, funny, fantastical conversations with two to three sides. Ever notice that? I’m sure you have.
Here’s the real kicker. When you can notice all these internal conversations that you’re having with yourself, try to notice the quiet one. There is another part of self that sits and watches all this crap going on and around “itself” inside your mind. Who do you think that quiet one is? Really? Who?
That’s the spiritual you. The one that wishes you’d stop bickering with your self, your life, and stop listening to all the crap the outside world fed you. That is the one that wants you to trust you – that quiet you – the one that knows who you are and what you are here for. Have you learned to trust that quiet one? We always seem to pay much more attention to the noisy shouters in our minds. I challenge you to pay closer attention to the real you.
