I was actually thinking about problems I'm having when you're talking about the happiness, because I'm a teacher in high school, a math teacher, so there's many times where I have to employ some kind of structure and discipline in my classroom and, you know, I'll get, you know, sometimes I'll get angry and I'll kind of condemn myself for getting angry and sometimes
Even employing the discipline, it's like an area of what's right, am I doing things wrong?
Some of the biggest views that I might be confused about, but they kind of make me think, like, am I doing the right way?
Well, from what I remember from high school, the best teachers had the hardest job.
Because when you give people somehow freedom, right?
If you're a good person, there's going to be people to take advantage of it.
And you're going to have to deal with a lot more, because you're trying to do something that most teachers don't try to do.
If you're just oppressive, repressive, and structured,
too much, then you don't actually allow the students to think, right?
You don't actually allow them to think outside the box and become part of the system that drives people away from public education.
Math teachers, I think, have it the worst because how many people like math?
There's not a lot.
No, but
But I gave my math teachers a really hard time.
It was awful.
It can be a hard subject to keep the motivation going through the whole period.
But you know what I say, because I remember a couple of math teachers.
And one of the math teachers, at some point, he would just say, OK, break.
Everybody put your pen down and take a rest, because that's just too much thinking.
Right.
So they stop us from doing too much work.
And I have two classes that are kind of lower level and very unruly.
So I know if I give them the freedom, you know, it'll be chaos.
And that's usually the...
Some of the things I have to deal with, the struggles of weighing things out.
You can be very structured about it, knowing without getting angry.
I mean, that's your struggle, right?
Yes.
How to discipline them without getting angry.
Right.
It's the wanting them to be a certain way, not so that I
I'm getting a certain way about it.
Indeed.
I could never... I don't think I could ever imagine teaching children again.
Because sometimes they bring kids to me to teach them meditation, and it's just the most horrible experience, because the kids aren't interested.
They're not looking for me to teach them meditation.
there was one case where this mother really good person really she's a wonderful really have the greatest appreciation for her and she has two kids young kids and she had gained so much from the meditation that she was so keen to pass it on to them and so she made a a bargain with her son
that I can't remember what it was.
She would do something for him if he came and spent a day with me.
I think I was a part of the bargain.
I must have talked to her about it.
And this isn't at all related to what we're talking about, is it?
But it's a funny story.
And I had him in my room.
I was hanging out with this kid all day.
And I was doing my thing.
I was sitting in meditation with him, or I was answering emails, or whatever I was doing.
And I think I left the room at some point.
But his job was to do walking and sitting, walking and sitting for the whole day.
That kind of worked.
But I think my point was that that was kind of the exception.
The point was that he had some impetus for doing, it was kind of like the carrot.
He had a carrot leading him on.
For most kids, there isn't that.
So they bring a whole group of kids to me and say, well, now you have to do this meditation.
And they're not really interested in it.
They're not there because they want to practice.
They're there because part of the curriculum.
And that's really tough.
So when you've got these kids in math class, well, do any of them want to learn math?
Probably very few.
That's really the whole problem with the public school system is that the kids don't want to learn.
They don't want these.
They don't care.
I think that's maybe the point, is you have to address that.
You have to instill a sense of care, which some parents, I think, are successful with, by fear or by carrots or sticks.
Like this whole idea that, well, if you work hard in school, you can get a job and make lots of money.
That's what turned me off of school the most, is that I didn't want a job and I didn't want money.
couldn't imagine, oh my dear sweet God, I don't know what to say, what do Buddhists say?
Oh dear me, goodness me, that's not what I want.
That was the most horrific thing in the world, to think that I would have to get into the, not to think that I have to get a job, I don't mean it in terms of being lazy, it was just getting stuck, that was the whole point.
But that's
carrot doesn't seem to be that effective it's effective in keeping kids in school but it doesn't make them want to learn math anymore so I don't know if this isn't related to the original question but I think it's kind of useful for teachers is to think about that how do you get them to want to learn math how do you make it something that is of interest to them well I mean there's
ways of teaching it that I guess more interesting than others, but when you get down to it, it's still math.
And the hard part is when you do have kids that do, or trying to, you know, understand it, and then you have a different section who are impeding that by way of distractions and stuff, and that's where you get tested a lot, too.
But you want to help the kids that want to get it, and at the same time you don't want to
you know, get angry or hurt in any way.
The ones that don't want to do it, but... Just thought I'd ask if there was any views on that.
Have a meditation session before class.
Spend the first ten minutes meditating.
Can't you do that?
Yes, I've tried that.
Some classes it works better than others, but I'll do like two, three minutes of just
You know, focusing on the belly or sometimes I let them choose a sound maybe, the clock ticking, just something to put their mind on.
Hearing, one of the senses.
But again, like you said, when the kids really don't want to do it.
Yeah, I mean, sometimes you can say, you can even, I've heard, I remember a couple of teachers saying that, you know, look, I know you don't want to do it, but I have a job to do here.
I know this is not interesting to you, but can we just, you know, have an agreement that this is my class and you're not going to disrupt it, kind of thing.
I don't know, somehow reach out to them and make it practical and look, this is painful for you and painful for me, but can we not try to get through it together or something?
I don't know.
How do you reach these kids?
There's got to be a way.
But for sure, teachers have it the hardest.
A teacher is... That's why it makes an excellent precursor to meditation.
I don't have... It makes sense, but objectively or empirically...
The observation is that people who are public school teachers, teachers of anything, tend to have a much easier time in meditation because of what they had to put up with and because of the goodness that comes from it.
You're really helping people.
You're changing them much more than most professions.
You're really doing good deeds for the kids, not just by giving them math, but by being their teacher.
You're their mentor.
You're someone, you're molding them, you're shaping them, you're helping them cultivate the ability to learn.
A good teacher is someone who teaches kids how to learn.
It doesn't just give them information, but teaches them some very valuable skills.