Mindfulness: The Teacher Question (Part 1)

[deannaburkett]

Some really interesting and helpful responses here. Thank you for the thoughtful consideration and for sharing the words of your own experience and your teachers. My intention is definitely to highlight the need for a teacher to have a personal practice. Some of what you guys have offered really speaks to how this personal practice guides the teaching and keeps it from being just a collection of ideas. :~)

Gareth, something stood out to me in one of your posts--that you thought who could teach mindfulness effectively depends wholly on the student. Could you say more about that?

[Gareth]

I never had a teacher, I taught myself what I know from books. But we meet people all the time on this forum who definitely respond better to a human teacher, and the support of a class environment.

Also I believe that different people will respond better to different teachers. Personality, teaching style probably make a massive difference to the ability of people to take this up.

So the right teacher depends on the right student is what I'm saying.

[deannaburkett]

Yes, I see. . . . A few months ago I was asked to visit a man in his home because he was too sick to come to the group classes we teach. He was in his 80s and was suffering from pancreatic cancer. He was in a lot of pain and facing death in the coming months. I was not the teacher he was looking for. It was sad and frustrating for both of us, I think. Thank you for illuminating this facet of the "teacher question." The teacher question contains the "student question," and vice-versa.

This has also made me look back at the teachers who have come into my life . . . so amazing--the diversity of people who have "reached" me and at what point in my life.

Thank you!
Deanna