Here’s your weekly curiosity experiment:
Teachers are up for me this week. Today, I found myself struggling to trace the origin of the phrase, “What you resist, persists.” (Some say it was Eckhart Tolle, others Jung, still others the Buddha himself. I welcome other suggestions.) In doing so, I enjoyed following the branches of influence – the teaching lineage of each of these thinkers. And I realized the difficulty of pinning down a single source – while also recognizing how much I value conscientious attribution.
Conversations with friends led me to consider such teaching-related questions as the discipline of acknowledging one’s sources even when we don’t always consciously realize we’ve been influenced; and what our favourite teachers reflect about where our particular path lies. And in the spirit of citing one’s sources, I give credit and a deep bow of gratitude to my teacher-friends for this week’s questions: Trent Berry, Randi Buckley, Tanya Geisler, and Jen Louden, I’m looking at you (with a grateful smile).
- Think of three things you know to be true. Where did you learn them?
- If you could choose to study with two teachers right now, who would they be?
- What do you notice when you reflect on those teachers’ qualities, skills, and methods?