Being a Student

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Learning to be a Student

There are many books, paths and guides about how to look for the right teacher. Very few of these assistants explain how to be a good or better spiritual student. Or, shall we say, one who accepts spiritual teachings and learns to apply them.

What does it take to be a ‘proper’ student?

The first thing is to understand, as a student, is that you know all the wrong things, and that everything you have learned and think you know is not going to help you.

As a student you must come in to the classroom naked, empty, and accept that you have made a mess of your life. When you do, you will see instead of having free will, you are a puppet, and your attachments, family, culture and ego are all pulling your strings.

If you think this is free will, well, you are mistaken. You dance to the forces of peer pressure, job security, cultural paradigms and family/tribal protocols. Some cultures tell you that you must get married, that you must Baptise or follow certain naming customs. Free will happens when you face each one of these puppet strings and cut them. Cutting hurts. Letting go, as a concept and wordy-thinky thing sounds nice. Makes a great song. But it is not comfortable. It is not safe to step away from what you know, even though the thing itself might be painful. Comfort is what keeps us dead. Growing is painful but freeing. If you want free will, you have to cut the attachments, one at a time.

Part of this process is to apologise for hurting others because of your self-centeredness.

A student who wants to grow and leave all that ego aside must go through their experiences and determine exactly what they have learned. There are all kinds of tools available to do that, depending on the length and depth of the experience.

If you have studied an instrument or sport for many years, had a coach or teacher who you worked with through all your ups and downs, frustrations and elations, then you begin to understand how this applies to spiritual teachings. If you have not seriously practiced a discipline like music, art, craft or sport for several years, then spiritual training will be a big shock. Because it is exactly like any of those activities: it is about PRACTICE. Practicing every day, and in doing such, getting bored, getting frustrated, crying, laughing - all the while you are transforming into something completely other.

Being a student means surrendering your silly little will and your twisted misconception of what free will is, and alchemizing into someone who is mature, patient, humble, sincere and adept at being a human being.

If you want to grow your spirituality, you need to put on your adult pants, and learn to fail big time. You will need to accept being laughed at, probably crying a bit, dealing with anger and family - whatever it takes for you to start again, but this time with an understanding that it is all about love. Because your heart needs to take root in good soil, and grow deep roots. The deeper the roots, the higher the heart can grow, and brighter it can glow.

Salaam Alaykum, murids, seekers, curious and interested listeners,

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