Wise Reflections from a Beloved Teacher

Category: Personal Development for Adults

A wise elder teacher offered a powerful image to everyone committed to raising children. Always view the child through a layer of gold leaf. Seen in this way, the child feels encouraged. Imagination and creativity can unfold freely, and the child grows.

“The Golden Leaf”

"In the depths of the human heart, fidelity reveals itself in the encounter with another person and in the feeling of that wondrous inner meeting. Fidelity means sensing and cherishing the radiance of that being. Fidelity means holding fast to an inner relationship with the child, as when one first perceives the child's golden aura. A newborn is like the whole sky cradled in my hands, the very divinity of creation. It is pure gold, and I see it. When the child grows and that first image is clouded, when the child tries my patience, I, as the adult, am responsible for restoring the image of that time when everything shone with gold. My will must see more than my eyes. So I lay on a sheet of gold leaf, for I remain loyal to the inner picture. In the moment when the gold is hidden, I must call it back. To see it, I must shape it with imagination. This is not imagination alone. It is our encounter, a confirmation of what I hold to be true. I must keep a living awareness of the gold. A child is a golden being.

Think of the tale of Snow White and Rose Red, when the bear caught on a bramble and his fur was torn, and beneath his hide the gold was revealed. Beneath every coat there is gold. In every person there is gold. At times the gold lies far from sight, yet what must never happen is that I stop seeking it. I must always venture into that relationship and choose whether I will look for the gold or only see the soiled fur.

The first step in observing a child can be to seek the golden aura, then to hold fast to that star bright instant when I saw the child at their most beautiful. There is no child without a spark. I may see it more clearly in some than in others. If the glow was fainter in a particular child, I create the image within myself through conscious inner activity and add more light. I continue to build the picture to which I choose to remain faithful. It is a loss when I do not perceive the gold, yet through spiritual practice I can mend that lack. I can make the effort to recall a moment and then develop the image further, so that I may cultivate fidelity. This is one element of the art of education. In this way we find paths to a truly individual meeting, and we strive, with full awareness, to meet one another upon the field of gold.

Through this golden image, the child is formed."