THE QUALITY OF MY INVOLVEMENT...

A line that I keep using is: “It is not the number of sessions/classes a student attends, it is the quality of his involvement… Yes, whether the course/class will be effective or not will depend on that.”

I have been teaching for years. Thousands of students have come and gone. There have been students who have learnt from me for five continuous years. .. and, there are students who have come to me for a very brief period, maybe for a couple of hours or days or a week.

In the same manner, whenever we conduct the two-month summer programme (PD), we have many doing it for two full months. Some join us in between… and, some just are there for a session or two. 

The question that is asked is invariably this: “Sir, will it be effective? Will I benefit from it? Won’t I miss anything, if I join now?”

And, my answer to the kids, or their parents - 

yes, invariably – is a self-assuring smile. 

“It is not the number of sessions/classes 

a student attends,” 

I tell them from all my experience, 

“It is the ‘quality’ of his involvement… 

that counts.”

I, sometimes, feel sorry for some of those who have been with me for years. “What have I contributed to these souls?” I wonder. It gives me a feeling of being leading a ‘herd’. I feel the drudgery, the monotony, the shallowness of life… It is just uninspiring. “Why am I doing all this with these kids?” Yes, this thought haunts me, often. Fortunately, not all give me this feeling… A section of my students… and, I believe, Life is so for all of us. All apples are not alike…

Then, there are those who just come into my life for a brief while. For just an hour or a day, or a week or a month… Many of them last in my life! Some of the finest relations have sprung from such brief encounters. I feel glad, grateful and proud for being their teacher or mentor or whatever… I feel a part of their success… I feel the depth of friendship, the awe and pride. Yes, I feel very inspired, very motivated to be a part of their journey.

Well, ‘journey’ I said.

So, the same thought shifts to other areas of my life. For years and years I have lived with my dearest people… and, I do, often, take them for granted. I feel the monotony, the drudgery… the ‘herd mentality’… the uninspiring atmosphere. What applies in one area, applies in other areas too. I may visit my church or temple and come out like a herd. With a dumb experience! I may travel around the world – even to exotic places – with a mind like that. I many cook food, I may gym, I may swim, I may train, I may do business, I may preach, I may heal or counsel… Yes, a teacher and a student… the giver and the receiver, both – may go about this way: like a herd. Yes, like a herd in life!

Our daily shower rarely becomes our Buddha experience…!

We rarely ‘experience’ the glory of either the Sunrise or the Sunset!

We rarely ‘involve’… with Life!

GERALD D’CUNHA

Pics.: Gloria Pinto