Stop in the Name of Love
Students usually come to us to help them solve some specific problem; unaware that the problem they seek to solve, even if very painful or very serious is, in truth, simply a symptom.
If we encourage that misunderstanding by focusing too much on giving them what they want, without teaching them how to discover the truth of what they really need...
We run the risk of selling them short by simply improving their current condition, when there's a decent chance we could be helping them improve their entire life.
Life, itself, is rich, complex and way beyond challenging . So much so that our to do list grows larger and larger the more we mange to get things done.
You could say that our job as teachers is not so much to help our students achieve the ends they seek, no matter how desirable those things might be...
But rather to act as Cupids of Consciousness, firing tiny Arrows of Awareness causing them to fall hopelessly in love with the beauteous MeansWhereby.