Melanie Sponholz
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Toni, what a wonderful perspective! I love the perspective that by staying with the technique, we can leave our doubts and limitations out of it. Such a powerful perspective: )
Kat, I am right there with you! I believe we can be on our own path of self-discovery AND be able to share what we have learned with others on their own paths. You say all this with such beautiful self awareness and transparency. Thank you for sharing.
Colin, so much of what you have shared resonates with me. I too feel that there is “more I need to gather.” But I also appreciate the sentiment that you’ll never feel ready…and like you, I will place my trust in the technique to help me take the leap of faith. Really appreciate the way you’ve expressed all of this: )
This question is simple, but not easy. At a fundamental level, yes, I feel prepared to offer instruction. Every week I grow more comfortable with guiding a student through the practice. In thinking about this, right intention and right speech came forward in my mind. I am clear in my intention for offering instruction, which is to be of benefit–to share the beauty and alchemy of this profound practice with other seekers. With regard to right speech, I think that our meditation instructor training has helped open my awareness to how much more I have to learn and how much work I have to do to be a better listener. I trust that my awareness of my limitations will help me stay within the bounds of what I can confidently offer to a student. I can offer the foundational instruction on how to meditate, and respond to the FAQ that we have spent time reviewing and discussing. I am also aware of my own novice status in the grand scheme of things, and I am totally comfortable saying, “that’s a great question, and one that is beyond my ability to answer.”
I am so grateful for having encountered this practice and having the opportunity share it with others. I am at the beginning of what I believe will be a lifetime (many lifetime?) journey of exploring the dharma, and I do feel prepared to help someone else dip their toe in these waters. I am confident that I understand my limitations and trust myself to honor them and to offer what I am able, for the right reasons. I also know, from teaching in other capacities, that teaching will teach me.
Jo, I appreciate your thoughtful response. One of my best friends is a teacher, and we have had many conversations about the frequent under-valuing of the skill required to do the job well. I like the connection of meditation to right livelihood—seems legit to me! And love McMindfulness, LOL.
Hi MaryBeth. I agree, context is everything! We all have responsibilities and needs, and I agree that there is no shame in making the money you need. Reading your response made me think about right intention with regard to the question of earning money for meditation instruction. If the intention is being able to keep food on the table and pay the bills, while also being able to share meditation instruction, I would say that’s an honorable/right intention. And I am going to check out your facebook page: )
Rosie, I like your thoughtful one-size-does-not-fit-all approach to getting compensated as a therapist. It helps ensure you meet your own needs and those of many different clients. Thank you for sharing: )
I believe it is rational and acceptable to charge a fee for teaching meditation. Of course, my main experience with respect to this is the programs with Susan. My thoughts about this are mainly that when a teacher (like Susan) has such a gift of ability to share the dharma, it is right to compensate them for their work, since it enables them to devote their time and talents to that effort. Without this compensation, they would need to divert their time and efforts to some other means of generating support, and this would be a great loss to us as students. This comes from my perspective as a member of our Western, consumerist society, and also as a member of the householder path–I am not viewing this as a monastic. I am also an Enneagram self-preservation subtype, and I identify with the need to generate income to feel “safe,” in a comfortable home, with good food, and good healthcare. I am also on board with offering scholarships and other opportunities to make sure meditation is available to those with lesser means. I feel very straight-forward and at peace with this approach, although this may be in part because I do not plan to instruct as a source of income? I always write my response before reading the others, so I am not influenced by what I’ve just read, so I am curious to go back now and read what everyone else has said—maybe it will change my perspective!
Niki, your descriptions made me feel like I was in the spaces with you! You spurred me to think about how optimal learning is a magical combination of right teacher, right place, and right point in our own evolution. I too will be much more intentional about the learning environment I create, where in the past I think I have focused almost entirely on the content/material. Thank you for sharing in a way that helped me see that!
Liana, I felt anxious reading about those negative environments. How impossible it is to learn when we don’t feel safe! Your thoughts about positive experiences resonated with me, because I too wrongly believed I didn’t have the aptitude for certain subjects, only to find out otherwise when I experienced them in a different environment, with a new instructor. How quick we are to criticize ourselves, when it may be more constructive to explore the “why” behind our struggle. You’ve got me thinking! Thank you: )
Glenn, I have similarly experience the dampening of learning in environments where mistakes are catastrophized. I appreciate your illustrations about how much more potential is unlocked in settings where creativity and independent thinking are supported!
Cheryl, I could feel the beauty and love of your childhood home in your description of learning from your parents. What an amazing gift to learn that practical magic about baking, sewing, and tending to a garden. I can imagine that your home now–despite the efforts of your rigid organizer–is probably a welcoming place because of your learning inheritance. There is something so sweet and tender about cooking a recipe or cutting cloth and feeling our parents working through our eyes and hands. Thank you so much for sharing this.
Rosie, I have second-hand anxiety just reading about your bad experience! I’m so glad you came back to meditation: )
The retreats I have attended with Susan in Austin provided an ideal learning environment. I have no doubt that every element of the schedule and environment was intentional and reflected Susan’s consideration of and caring for the group’s diverse personalities and needs. Reflecting on one retreat that included meditation and learning about the Enneagram, the whole of our time together–both the formal content and the lived experience–was instructional. When Susan was talking this week about the importance of creating an environment for learning that was safe and comfortable for all students, I was visualizing her home in Austin. There was just the right spot for each of us to land and settle. Everything was bright, and clean, and comfortable, and welcoming. Great care went into maintaining balance, between interaction and introspection, dialogue and silence, work and rest. The sunrise swims at Barton Springs are magical. I am incredibly blessed in this life to be able to break from routine and spend time in such a lovingly and intentionally constructed container for growth with other seekers. I learned so much about the dharma, the enneagram, myself, the power of curiousity, and and the immeasurable value of attention to the present moment and life lived intentionally. Could go on for pages: )
Less ideal learning environment? Flash back to returning to school when I decided to change lanes from working in publishing to working in health care. I enrolled in Columbia’s post-bac premed program, where we were in classes with the pre-med undergrads. Hello, forced curves and cut-throat competition. I remember leaving my first exam thinking, “I definitely got a D on that.” Yup, got a score in the 60s, but that was a B+. Crazy town. Everyone there was marinating in anxiety and coffee. Good times. I did learn a lot, no doubt. Many brilliant professors, and thankfully I did find “my people,” mostly other slightly older students, who enjoyed collaboration. But there was very little joy in the experience, and every step felt like a hurdle between us and “winning” the race to grad school admission.
