With the
Eyes of the
Heart
R
ecently, one of my
students told me
that from her study
of mythology she had learned
“. . . that life itself is a ma-
nifestation of eternity if seen
with the eyes of the heart.
With that idea, I have eterni-
ty in the reach of my hand
any time I wish it.” Regarding
her study of language and
writing, she told me, “I’ve
always known that a few
words well said can reach
someone’s heart. If one has
direct access to the path
towards the people’s heart,
then that person holds the
power to create a revolution,
to change the world.”
I became a teacher because
I enjoy being with young peo-
ple and talking about litera-
ture. I never thought that I
would be discussing the rela-
tionship between time and
eternity in a classroom. Nor
did I think I would ever be
discussing how to start a revo-
18 | CLN
lution. What I have learned
during my time at Los No-
gales is to throw away all my
ideas about what teaching is
and start over, and I’m thank-
ful that the school has allowed
me the academic freedom to
do that.
I have learned that educa-
tion, literally “the act or state
of leading out,” (e,out; duct,
lead; tion, act or state) is the
process of helping a young
person understand that he or
she has the ability to think
and observe independently.
True education, therefore, re-
quires every student to ques-
tion authority. And why
should authority not be ques-
tioned? Have the authorities
we have inherited provided us
with a peaceful, equitable,
just world? Maybe a revolu-
tion, a psychological or spiri-
tual one at least, is exactly
what we need.
I wonder how the world
would change if everyone be-
lieved
that
eternity—by
which I mean not everlasting
life, but that sphere of reality
that exists independent of
time and space—manifests it-
self in life and can be seen
with the eyes of the heart. I
wonder what would happen if
everyone believed in her pow-
er to create a revolution.
According to the philoso-
pher Jiddu Krishnamurti, the
function of education is not
to prepare us for a career, but
to help us to see reality clear-
ly, to penetrate the blindfold
of our social conditioning and
appreciate the immense mys-
tery that is life. Education, he
says, is impossible where
there is fear, for fear prevents
us from observing reality
clearly.
My job as I see it is to cre-
ate a space free of fear in
which both the students and
the teacher, the educator,
have the great freedom neces-
sary to observe reality, to see
ENSEÑANDO - aprendiendo - participando - liderando - creciendo - soñando