From Student to Teacher

I have never considered myself a teacher and have voiced that a lot. Truth is that I didn’t feel like I would ever make the grade. I am learning so much about myself during this long Covid-19 Era and lately I am realizing that both student and teacher are inside.

As I am waltzing through my late seventies, I learn new things about myself in the slow movements of this era. It is easy to see that I am a student and harder to see that I am also a teacher.

First I was a student of Vernon Howard and then he died. I continued to study and still study on a daily basis. But now the studies have been internalized and crystalized. And guess what, I am also a teacher.

If I am not a student/teacher, why am I so dedicated to serving Truth with a capital T, as Vernon would say. By the way, one of the Boulder City students told me that every time Vernon used the word Truth, he meant Christ. He was, after all, teaching esoteric Christianity.

Why do I have so many books on the subject of spirituality? Why have I spent hours upon hours meditating? Why do I examine the contents of my mind instead of being totally mechanical?

I now read The New Testament with a different “I.” Jesus said that He was the Way, the Truth and the Life.” He was conscious. Now I am able to see that the “I” awareness is in me just like it was in Him.

This is something to celebrate. Just like me growing out my hair and feeling good about it, I also feel good about being a teacher. I will never hang out a shingle. I just keep a small blog where I post these essays. (I have also learned that I am an essayist by nature. I used to sell one-liners to comedians before I morphed into a full-time teacher/writer. ) Teachers always remain students because there is no end to our learning, but our learning now is done consciously.

Do not take this the wrong way when I say I am a teacher. What I mean is that things change, evidence mounts up and there is a shift that happens and it is undeniable. It is what it is and I still forget and have to start remembering all over again. This is due to grace.

Vicki Woodyard