The Listening Space: December Gathering

On Being a Student

In last month’s Listening Space, we explored the qualities that shape a teacher — steadiness, discernment, clarity, and compassion — and how these qualities live not only in those who guide us, but also within ourselves. We reflected on the presence of an inner teacher: that quiet, steady knowing that emerges when we are attentive and sincere.

This Sunday, we turn to the natural counterpart of that inquiry: what it means to be a student.

Being a student requires willingness

Willingness to arrive as we are.

Willingness to recognise that understanding unfolds gradually.

Willingness to meet the unfamiliar without defensiveness or expectation.

Reflection: Where in my life am I being asked to arrive more honestly, without needing to already understand?

Being a student asks for discernment

The clarity we recognised in the inner teacher also lives in the student. Studentship is not passive; it invites us to listen closely, to sense what is true, and to recognise what supports our growth.

Reflection: What helps me distinguish between what nourishes me and what I can gently release?

Being a student is an act of humility

To be a student is to acknowledge the simple truth that we do not yet know — and that this not-knowing is fertile ground. Humility opens the way for genuine learning, unburdened by performance or certainty.

Reflection: How do I respond to moments of not-knowing? Can I soften into them rather than fill the space immediately?

Being a student is relational

We learn through encounter: with one another, with the teachings, with our own lived experience. Studentship reminds us that learning is not solitary; it unfolds in connection and dialogue.

Reflection: Who or what has been a teacher to me recently — perhaps without intending to be? What did I learn from that encounter?

Returning to the Listening Space

As always, this session requires no preparation. It is an opportunity to pause, reflect, and listen — to ourselves and to each other — as we consider how the posture of the student shapes our practice and our lives.

Reflection:

What quality of studentship do I most want to cultivate at this moment in my life?

The Listening Space — Sunday, December 7 at 12:30