Show and Tell

As a 7^th grade English teacher, I work with and am one of those people who aims to control. I would not say I am what many have coined a “control freak,” but some days I come close. In a classroom setting, teachers are told, they must have control of their class. This can look lots of ways, but most importantly, when teachers do not have the students’ attention, they are not really teaching anything at all. And it appears that what they have to say is not worth the listen, though in most cases, this is very far from the truth.

There really is no way to control another being, to make someone listen or do what you say. We can influence, but we can not control. Even in the penal system, control of the inmates is not really that. It is an influencing, if the listener decides that the speaker has something that is needed. Still, the listener may not do what is being asked, but the seed was planted. This is the case with most things: People speak; we listen or not. We speak; people listen or not. But seeds are planted. Exchanges are made.

We have control over our breath; for the most part, we have some ability to control our body’s movements. We influence the rest. What I have discovered is that trying to control things, like thoughts or visions that arise in meditation, I can’t really control, means shoving them down. The classic case of shutting out things always leads to a breakdown when the things appear again. When they finally do get their say, they are bigger and stronger and can have life-shattering effects. 

When we try to control that which can not be controlled, we fail to make sense of our influence to acknowledge the things that arise. More often because we have not been taught beyond this faulty action, we shove things down within the psyche, hoping to never see them again. This is a hopeless enterprise. Attempting to control, instead of just acknowledging the substance that desires your attention, is fruitless. To acknowledge what these things show and tell is obtaining the fruit that is ripe on the tree.

The Practice

So, let’s play the game. I used to love show and tell. Bring in an object that represents you. Show it to the class, who all sits expectantly waiting for the reveal. Allow the object to be seen. Look at and uncover its many sides.

You are the class. Observe well. Let the ideas, emotions, objects, pains in your body, people, all which represent aspects of your experience, be seen and heard. Do not try to control them or shove them away or down. They are not really you; you do not have to be scared of them. They just show up to teach you, and what they have to say is important. Even if you were able to, for a minute, put them out of scope, you’d see them again later. They’ll manifest in a different way to get your attention once again.

In meditation take time to play show and tell. When an idea, emotion, object, pain in your body, people… arise, acknowledge them and then let this, which is not you, go. The object here is not to sit with them as anything other than seeing and acknowledging their presence. Be the observer and attach not to the things that you observe. Remember that these things or people are not you. They are aiding you. They are teaching you, the class.

Use your breath. Inhale and exhale, which you can control, and when things arise for the show and tell, take your inhale to see and acknowledge.  Take your exhale to let the apparition pass. It will pass, leaving you clearer. You may not know why it appeared. That is not the point here. You may not have always understood the object that was brought to class, but you can acknowledge that the homework was done.

If you want to explore the ideas that come, do so later, journal about them, but know that these things are not you. They are here for show and tell. Because we take in so many images and emotions from moment to moment, there may be no telling where everything that arises originates. Glory, Glory, you don’t have to. For whatever reason it has come, it just wants to be acknowledged. Like the teacher or the student, they just want to know they have been seen. You don’t have to control them. Take attendance and watch the class within you unfold. You don’t have to investigate further beyond that. Be the class, listening and observing, and then let the class conclude.

When you realize these thoughts outside of the self, there is ease. You are good. You are divine. Nothing can take that away from you. Then you can flow into and out of these experiences knowing that no matter what arises, the very essence of you remains intact.