On Teaching: "Attention and Non-resistance"

From time immemorial, spiritual teachers have taught that we should be attentive to the present moment, and lately I have been pondering some intriguing educational implications of this statement. First of all, it seems clear to me that attentiveness implies non-resistance. If I’m going to be truly attentive to the experience I am having at any given moment, than I must be willing to completely accept that experience. I can’t be attentive and resistant at the same time. This applies in an interesting way to my teaching. Occasionally things seem to go awry in my classroom, and when they do, I naturally give my “attention” to the skewed state of affairs in order to restore order and harmony. You might say I “attend” to the situation. What this implies, though, is that I not offer resistance to the situation, since I can’t be totally attentive to something and also resist it. If I hope to “take care of”, or attend to, the seemingly unpleasant circumstances, then I must be willing to thoroughly accept and embrace them, as one does when one truly takes care of something. An example: If a student begins talking without raising her hand, I can best attend to the situation by offering no resistance. Her behavior happened, it had to happen, there was something special and unique about it, and now another special and unique experience is happening. The river of life flows on. If I leap in and try to stop the flow of the river, I’ll only cause further confusion and exhaustion. What I need to do is pay attention to the flow in my classroom – observe it, appreciate it, and marvel at it. In that way, paradoxically, bad behavior will disappear far more quickly than if I vigorously resist it. By truly being attentive to the special magnificence of each present moment, my classes will shine with their natural power and beauty.