TEACHING WITHOUT TEACHING

I have been contemplating for some years now the provocative words of Swami Paramahansa Yogananda, 

“An educational system that does not present Spirit as the central Fact of our existence is offering “avidya,” false knowledge.”

And I find this so intriguing because I don’t know precisely how to do it! The minute you talk about spirit (especially with a capital “S”) – the room seems to divide into people who want to see this as endorsement of their particular religion or world-view, then others who think you shouldn’t be talking about such things in a massage class, and then others who just see me as a new-age fool!  And sometimes I feel like one too!

This week I happened to open up the Tao Te Ching at random and the poem it opened to was #72

When they lose their sense of awe,
people turn to religion.
When they no longer trust themselves,
they begin to depend on authority.

Therefore the master steps back
so that people won’t be confused.
He teaches without teaching,
so that people will have nothing to learn.

So it occurs to me that if I teach without teaching, if I just step back and am simply a person alongside the students exploring – then maybe that’s a way to present Spirit. As Martin Buber said in his essay, “The Education of Character,” “It is not the educational intention but it is the meeting which is educationally fruitful.” 

When so-called teachers are truly present - not “teaching” - just meeting the students where they’re at -  then the students may be free to also contemplate themselves and their subjects with a sense of awe. And in the experience of awe there is nothing to learn, just perhaps that sense of wonder. That’s maybe a good way to approach Spirit – with a shared sense of wonder in the classroom.

 Reminds me of Van Morrison’s song, “Sense of Wonder.”