When Is Someone Ready To Teach?

[Raptorsin7]

Hi, so I've reached a point in my practice where I believe I'm capable of helping others but I have some questions and would appreciate feed back on my situation.

Basically, I realize that I am conscious presence. I am almost certain that this is the essence of self inquiry, just simply abiding as your self as this aware presence. I don't consider myself finished on the path or anything, but my relationship to seeking is different now, and I am content just letting my emotional traumas and tensions of the body unwind on their own, the more I live from this place of simple presence. 

I am confident that I can help people become aware of the significance of their own presence, and basically give anyone who is open to meditation a simple self inquiry instruction. I know my limitations, and I have a good grasp on what I can and can't help people with, but the way I see it if I could have spoken to myself 4-5 years ago when I started meditation, I would have been incredibly helpful to my past self.

I'm concerned that I still have a lot of emotional baggage and trauma, but I have very high self awareness, and I am confident that if I were to help a person with meditation I can behave as a professional despite my own psychological flaws. 

I spent some time answering questions on the Healthy Gamer discord about meditation, and it was really awesome. I've talked to a few spiritual teachers these past few years, and I really like any conversations about the path, enlightenment etc. 

I noticed that when I was trying to answer people's questions about meditation, I am essentially responding as this conscious presence. The act of helping really brought me intune with myself, and it was very cool to witness this happen. It makes me think i'm on the right track, and I may be ready to teach in some capacity.

I know that at some point I want to share my understanding with others, but I'm not sure if I should wait or if I am ready as I am. It's clear to me that my character/perspectives will change pretty quickly as I spend more time living from this conscious presence, but I'm not sure if I should just do something else first and then come back to teach in a few years. 

I know we have some teachers on the forum @Nahm @Moksha

Thanks everyone

[Raptorsin7]

This is a little exchange I had with someone on the Healthy Gamer discord that I was really proud of. 

My part of the convo is in Bold, and the guy asking questions is in italics 

I have ADHD and I am trying to get better at my meditation practice. When I meditate it sometimes feels like i would need something to ground myselfe before starting. DrK talked about using breathing techniques right before meditation. Is there any pranyama you can reccomend especially for ADHD and Meditation in the morning?

What kind of practice are you doing?

Currently I am just doing Mindfulness Practice. I am really new to Meditation so I started my Jounrey with the Headspace App. Currently doing an Anxiety-Course

I learned that this might not be the best practice for me, but this is what is suggested to me most often.

That's cool you're just getting into it, and mindfulness can be fun to start meditation with it's very simple but of course at first there is always more to learn in a sense

When you're doing mindfulness, try to really notice your own awareness notice how there's this always this sense of yourself being present and aware of what's happening

I just have the feeling that Mindfulness and sitting still is especially challenging with an ADHD Mind. Sometimes I zone out so hard I only come back when the session is about to close. No chance to "gently pull my thoughts back". It feels like I miss the whole practice by drifting off. On other days though I kind of manage what you just described.

 

I hear you

can you notice how right now you are aware of your entire experience as a person as you read this?

mindfulness is actually effortless because we are always mindful no matter is happening, there's always a background sense of being aware of what's happening

even when you're zoing out, or feeling very agitated etc, you are always where you are, just being yourself experiencing what's happening

the essence of mindfulness is just to notice this inherent sense of being aware all the time

 

oh wow. that is actually a very interesting perspecitve.

haha wow I feel kinda mind blown by this. This makes sense and I think might be really helpful

haha awesome, I know it's so incredibly subtle and simple

it is

yet very profound

I really like listening to speakers like rupert spira and loch kelly

they give a similar pointer

Thank you, i think that perspective helps me alot

Well I guess one thing I learned about me is that I always try to do the most optimized, perfet thing. And I fear that the meditation pratice I do is not the correct one.

No problem my pleasure

if you continue contemplate and learn more about awareness and your own conscious presence that by itself is the only practice you will ever need

Yeah but the perspective helps me alot. Since I actually know that you cant "win" at meditation, but sometimes I feel like I wasted a session when I do not manage to focus on beeing present. Its hard to describe and english is not my native language so I hope you kinda understand what I mean

So you think I am on the right path here? For a start, learn with the Headspace App and when I learn more about myselfe, discover different techniques?

 

Yeah it sounds like you are open minded and eager to explore meditation

Keep exploring other speakers etc, but if you feel better from using head space keep up with it

I really like non duality speakers over specific techniques, but techniques have there place too I guess

It's all about understanding the importance of your own conscious experience

we are conscious as we read this, it's so simple, yet everyone over looks it

that is the essential part of life and meditation, this conscious awareness of what's happening

Thanks alot for your help!

But would you suggest any breathing techniques before meditation to calm the ADHD mind? Or would you say its ok to have an uncalm mind, since its part of the experience?

I would say that an uncalm mind is okay, because the mind is secondary to the awareness of what's happening

you can always go prior to the mind, to the simple conscious presence of ourselves

but at the same time, breathing exercises can work well for people so I wouldn't go so far to say they are not useful

But notice that no matter what the state of your mind is, the sense of being present as yourself and being aware of what's happening, is always the same and constant

 

[Jakuchu]

When one doesn't ask whether he/she is ready to teach or not 

[Raptorsin7]

@Jakuchu Yeah that's a good point

[Waken]

I think if it feels good for you to share and help, then why not? If you're excited/happy about something that you developed, then why wouldn't there be people that can benefit from your knowledge and experience. You probably have explored and experienced quite a bit to assist people that are less advanced than you in what you like to help others with. You don't need to be all perfect of course. I started helping people on another forum to get certain insights perhaps 6 years ago, I found that very rewarding. I definitely wasn't all that mature at that point and still very much finding my way. Nevertheless, I was able to help people and that was probably good for me as well

Edited September 30, 2021 by Waken

[Raptorsin7]

@Waken This is what I was thinking too.

I definitely believe I have a good enough level of understanding to point some people in the right direction and improve their practice. 

The thing is, I know I have some character issues and I don't know if they will come back to bite me, but at the same time I think I could be a really effective teacher for some people

[allislove]

2 hours ago, Waken said:

I think if it feels good for you to share and help, then why not?

Exactly 

Quote

When Is Someone Ready To Teach?

If it comes to spirituality you are ready to be a teacher when you don't see yourself as a teacher 

[gettoefl]

when you stop talking to yourself you can start talking to others

[Endangered-EGO]

@Raptorsin7 When the student is ready, the teacher shows up.

When the teacher is ready the students show up.

That's it. You're never really ready and you have to know your limitations.

I told people to meditate before I was even aware of how the path can look like. That was stupid, I regret doing it and fortunately people were stubborn and didn't listen to me.

[Inliytened1]

1 hour ago, Raptorsin7 said:

 

The thing is, I know I have some character issues and I don't know if they will come back to bite me, but at the same time I think I could be a really effective teacher for some people

Character "issues" have nothing to do with the teachings themselves.  No teacher is perfect.  All teachers are finite.  And besides the teachings aren't about you.

[Thought Art]

Depends on how you go about teaching...

Can you create real tangible, positive results in someones life consistently? Are you grounded, and in integrity? Are you knowledgeable?

You don't need to be certified, but are you?

You can teach what you know... and learn as you teach.

Edited September 30, 2021 by Thought Art

[Raptorsin7]

@Endangered-EGO I have a good sense of my limits. I wouldn't talk outside what i've directly experienced.

@Inliytened1 Yeah that's a good point, the teaching is what matters and I get that. 

[Raptorsin7]

@Thought Art I'm pretty confident I could show an open minded person that they are conscious presence. But I wouldn't know until I talked to more people.

Lot's of people are interested in learning basic meditations nowadays, and I was thinking I could recommend a simple self inquiry. If you have a 1-1 convo with someone I think you can point them to themselves pretty reliably. 

And I don't have any certification or anything, I basically just have my direct experience and confidence in my understanding based on what i've learned from other teachers

[RMQualtrough]

I share my ideas on this topic often and freely. I suppose if my concepts and metaphors were very good like Rupert Spira, I might amass a following and then be considered a teacher.

It's probably not something a person decides to become, it's probably more that others decide to follow them and their words because they make sense etc.

[Thought Art]

6 minutes ago, Raptorsin7 said:

@Thought Art I'm pretty confident I could show an open minded person that they are conscious presence. But I wouldn't know until I talked to more people.

Lot's of people are interested in learning basic meditations nowadays, and I was thinking I could recommend a simple self inquiry. If you have a 1-1 convo with someone I think you can point them to themselves pretty reliably. 

And I don't have any certification or anything, I basically just have my direct experience and confidence in my understanding based on what i've learned from other teachers

It is worth learning some of the meditation techniques, guided visualizations, etc to give people a well tested toolkit. But, it's sort of up to you. It's a wild west.

https://mindisthemaster.com/the-5-best-online-meditation-teacher-courses/

Edited September 30, 2021 by Thought Art

[SamC]

You will know when you're ready. Trust your intuition.

[Raptorsin7]

@Thought Art I'm not a big fan of trainings like that, unless the technique is very unique and effective. 

I believe I can just speak from direct experience and that will be enough

[Thought Art]

1 minute ago, Raptorsin7 said:

@Thought Art I'm not a big fan of trainings like that, unless the technique is very unique and effective. 

I believe I can just speak from direct experience and that will be enough

Do You

I am biased towards learning the hard and soft skills of certified experts.

But there is no NEED it just helps imo

Edited September 30, 2021 by Thought Art

[Snuitje]

5 hours ago, Jakuchu said:

When one doesn't ask whether he/she is ready to teach or not 

 

1 hour ago, Endangered-EGO said:

When the student is ready, the teacher shows up.

When the teacher is ready the students show up.

 

31 minutes ago, SamC said:

You will know when you're ready. Trust your intuition.

This. This is all beautiful said. When you feel/think you're ready drop little nuggets of wisdom here and there and see how people react to it. Build a website, start a blog or whatever just so you can start teaching.

[roopepa]

If you give good advice, if your words resonate, if people find your message valuable, they will come to you. That has nothing to do with being a teacher.

Just express what you want, how you want. You are your own student/teacher.

Edited September 30, 2021 by roopepa