Do you choose to be the Student? Where you take in the lessons, the information and knowledge. Or do you wish to be the Teacher? Choosing to share, guide and enlighten? Or do you choose to be the Observer? To allow the moment to unfold in front of you without the need to step in and take from it or give to it. Each one is as important as the other and each one deserves to be experienced without judgment. If you are the Teacher, is it for you to judge the Student who is choosing to learn and discover? And if you are the Student is it for you to judge the Observer for just “standing by”? And if you are the Observer, is it for you to judge what the Teacher is sharing?
Judgment is different than discernment. To judge is to run the situation through the filter of your ego. It’s your opinion. That's all. Does your opinion always matter? To discern is to ask. To ask, “Does this serve my highest wellbeing, and that of others, right now?” If it doesn't, then let it go. If it does, then consider your next action.
So let’s say you are the Student. Maybe at the time the Teacher is your little brother. Wait! Are you judging that? “How can my little brother teach me?!” Perhaps he is teaching you patience. Or maybe you just saw him stand-up for a friend. At that moment, you get to decide, or discern, if what was just taught is something you want to accept and learn from.
Now go on and see what it’s like to be the Teacher. Or challenge yourself to be the silent Observer in a situation you would have intervened in the past. All these roles come with great responsibility. Have fun with it and discover how your energy shifts when you are the compassionate Teacher or keen Observer.
