This is a little write up on a view I teach about learning. I base this view on three principles I use in Aikido and as I call call it three parts of self. Ie:Heart, spirit and soul.
Anyway suffice to say what it leads to is that I say you are therefor responsible for three parts of yourself and in the field of study, in the field of learning then there are three of you within yourself to take account of.
So when you go to study something you are starting off obviously as a student. So there you are being a student. This is a function of heart, love. Always open, open to learn, to perceive, to embrace. So far so good, all makes sense.
So now I'll move on to spirit. Spirit is the discipline part of you but the disciplined energy, the doer, the rule giver according to which you flow your enrgy and put effort into. So the one who is interested in the rules and the doing, that's spirit. Funny thing is that's also the teacher.
So part of you is also the teacher. You are in yourself both student and teacher. Now you may have a teacher telling you what to do but you the student is taking in the instruction and then you the teacher is saying yep, so lets do it.
We are responsible for both parts in equal measure. Much is said in Martial arts about student teacher relationships and indeed in life and schooling but actually we are both within ourselves so fundamentally we can look at our own relationship within ourselves. It's no good concluding I'm a useless student but good at teaching or that I think I am a good student but wouldn't be any good at teaching for all we are saying is that part of ourselves needs addressing for we can't escape it.
Now, what I introduce into the equation in the third character. The charachter based on soul. What is soul? Well I say that when we talk about intuition or such like we are talking about soul. When we talk about conscience then we are talking about soul. We are talking about that overseeing part of us that looks at the results of what we do and tells us if it's any good or good enough etc. We are talking about the supervisor.
So not only are you the student and the teacher but you are also the supervisor.
The supervisor takes in the whole scene and the aim of the supervisor is harmony ie: all going well. Student doing well, spirit and thus discipline doing well and results good and as expected. In studying and practice in Aikido for example we are always reviewing and going over the movements and repeating and practicing so it's a good example of the overviewing part of ourselves, the supervisor.
So then we can look at the different qualities of each and thus start to polish them.For example the highest quality of spirit, how to stay focused, active, energetic, disciplined is actually non-resistance. The more non-resistant we are the less reasons we are giving ourselves why we can't do. The more positive we are.
The more loving we are the more perceptive, the more all embracing, the less blinkered. Thus the more open to learning.
The more patient and calm we are the more we can receive and take into account and oversee the whole. Thus each character has it's own beneficial qualities to offer. A supervisor with no patience is basically a pain in the ****. A doer or teacher who is short tempered and full of blameing everything and everyone for things going wrong or people not listening is just a pain in the ***** for he lacks that non-resistance.
And so on. I find this method of approach very rewarding and have used it many years helping others with their problems in study etc. Hope you like it and maybe find something that helps you.
Peace.G.
