Conversations with Nana

Light teachers point me to the light, give guidance, encouragement, direction, support, inspiration, thoughts to ponder, new information that resonates within me. They are helpful, kind, generous, patient, non-judgmental. I don’t end up feeling deficient, slow, competitive, inadequate, resistant. Light teachers appear, sometimes uninvited, and offer what is needed, sometimes only planting a seed because I am not able to hear it all now. They have faith that I will hear, at my own pace, and when I do, if they are still around, they do not hold the truth as if it were their own. They don’t say, “I told you so.” They simply hear me with a welcoming attitude as if to say, “We are one in this.”

Dark teachers also point to the light, or sometimes ‘a’ light. Their teaching is sometimes simplistic, usually in response to my words or actions. Dark teachers correct, direct, do not ask for my meaning or intention, assume my words are precise and reflect exactly what I mean. They react, intending to improve my thinking and behavior for the better, but without considering my pace. They tend to move quickly, sometimes impatiently when a lesson needs to be repeated.

It is important to note that the dark teachers are equal to the light ones, have the same essential intentions and ultimate good will. They are dark for me because I must listen through them rather than to them. Otherwise, I end up feeling wrong, judged, foolish, childish – a child needing instruction – and my reaction (rather than response) is to crawl into my dark cave of self-doubt, lowered esteem, embarrassment, and even depression.

So, while the light teachers are showing me the light, and I am learning more of the source, the dark teachers are showing me the areas I need to work on, the dark cave that pulls me down and keeps me from embracing spirit. The light teachers are guides; the dark teachers are true teachers because I learn about my reactive self and how much work I have yet to do.

I can choose just the light teachers and feel wise and holy and complete. What I learn comes to me at the pace I set. But silence and solitude are only part of the constructive tools; without the other, darker truths, I am not really fully growing. I must invite and receive the dark teachers, too.

2008

This entry was posted on Monday, June 27th, 2011 at 12:25 pm and is filed under Essays. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.