Joyfully Together

While the books I chose to read and comment on first for my 14 mindfulness trainings studies have been in the mail I read Joyfully Together by Thich Nhat Hanh. There was particular significance for me in the story of how the Buddha told a horse trainer what he did when a monk or nun was unteachable. He told the horse trainer that he "killed" that particular monk on nun, which meant that they were asked to leave the Sangha. The point of this story was to illustrate how loving kindness is not always gentle.

I think that I have probably been too gentle with my students at times. I have let them take advantage of me and treat me rudely without rebuking them for that. I thought that I was being patient and compassionate towards them, but in reality I was probably injuring our relationship and their relationships with others as well as the community as a whole. I think I was afraid that the constructive criticism I could give them would not be done skillfully enough for them to learn from it. So, it comes down to an issue of me trusting myself.

There were many other sections of this book that provided clarity for me regarding my relationships with my students. The 17 points of reflection could not have better articulated many of the problems I have had with some of my students. It is clear that the first Sangha of the Buddha had the same issues as the community of teachers I am working with.

A couple of the practices mentioned in the book are very applicable to my students, such as Shinning Light and the Second Body system. I will be very careful about using the Shinning Light practice becasue I see that the time and the atmosphere must be right for that practice to be a positive experience. The Second Body system although seems to be something that I could begin to employ immediately.

As the rain falls,

Sam