Clarity for Teachers: Day 7

‘There will always be more to do. Don’t try to do everything.’

This set of short pieces of advice — originating in the teachings of a Bengali Buddhist master a thousand years ago, arriving at their current form through the work of my old friend Charlie Davies — comes as a deck of cards in a little black box. Each day, I draw the next card, working through them in sequence.

Today, for the first time, my reaction on seeing the advice was pure relief. I can never hear it too many times: Don’t try to do everything. Done in the right spirit, there can be a kindness in telling someone what they already knew. You’re not giving knowledge, you’re giving permission.

As it happens, I need this permission just now, because life is getting in the way of things I feel I should be doing. First, my son came home sick from kindergarten — and now, just as he is getting better, I’m coming down with a fever and a headache. (It can’t be chickenpox, but is it flu? Or did I manage to pick up Corona virus on last week’s trip into Stockholm?)

Whatever the case, it looks like I’m due some self-isolation and some more time not doing things I’d planned on doing in the days ahead. Let’s see if I keep up this small daily writing practice, or if I need to put it on pause — but today’s card came as a kindness, wherever this is headed.

Västerås, 10 March, 2020

This is the seventh in a series of commentaries on ‘A teacher’s advice on how to be clear’, Charlie Davies’s reworking of the 1000-year-old Buddhist text, ‘Advice from Atisha’s Heart’. I’m writing these as I take part in Clarity for Teachers, a course that Charlie is leading. You can find out more on the How To Be Clearwebsite.