This week I knelt down next to a two-month old boy and had an epiphany. Actually two. His eyes were so wide-open, absorbing experience, gazing unfiltered to and through me at a world of wonder. Two thoughts emerged. First, how each of us is hard-wired to learn (The SCI principle: “The nature of life is to grow.”). It’s inherent, it’s irresistible, it’s satisfying, it’s life-long. Second, how deeply the student-teacher relationship is embedded in human nature. A lifetime of learning is ahead of him, guided first by his parents, always his most important teachers. And then to school, where others will open windows to worlds within worlds:
Teachers expand our awareness, but they are also role models. We admire their passion and wisdom. They awaken impulses and interests within us. They serve as conduits between our innate potential—unshaped and even unknown—and what we will become.
So, this Thanksgiving I'm thankful that we are born to learn.
I’m thankful for teachers, in all shapes and forms, formal and informal, but especially those whose dharma is to educate, literally “to lead out” from within.
I’m thankful for schools, especially ours, where learning extends vertically from the surface of life to its transcendental source. Where we were blessed with an extraordinary teacher who found a way to open our lives to learning on every level, in every fiber of our being, and to teach whole societies about consciousness and connections.
I hope your Thanksgiving will be a wonderful gathering of family and friends, of shared blessings. And that each of us will say a special thanks to the teachers who changed our lives and those who are dedicated to unfolding the wonders of life and learning in each of our students.
Jai Guru Dev
Richard