People Captured by Foreign Tongues do not Listen or Act with Empathy
So it was very nice that one principal did respond to a letter that I wrote. I have not checked with the other yet at the other school. Sure, a few years ago, any whiff that someone was blogging about their workplace would be considered as inappropriate activity. I don't see why not: As a contractor, there is no one to represent me. Since I am at-will only, basically, the premise and attitude is that they can treat me however they want, or mistreat me, or overwork me, or provide impossible tasks.
Certainly I have to know my rights and assert them as well.
"I am hired as Certificated and that is all you need to know about me!"
If you say that loud enough, it will shut up the inquisitive information-digger, who is after all, just a version of the covert-narcissist exhibiting microaggression and passive-aggressiveness. The TA doesn't like you because you are not Latino and they have an unspoken Latino/Latina Pride. You can see it in how they hug the Latino kids but ignore the Asian kids.
Do I talk about that with her? Engage in oblique redirection
"I am always brushing up on my teaching skills. Do you speak any Hmong or Asian language?"
The trouble is ---and this maybe part of the Dunning-Kruger Effect--- I do have a tendency to play the gas-lighter enabler almost because I like to learn about people sometimes. I don't shut them down and I answer so many questions they soon know my entire life story without having disclosed or having any intention of disclosing anything about themselves.
"I'm a mom of three, and that has made me a good qualifying Educator, just because I'm a mom!"
Okay. Nothing in the books say that being a mom makes you a better educator! As a matter of fact, I personally know some moms who are very lousy parents, always screaming at their children, abusing them in public, but that makes them a good educator having all that noise?
Conversely, having certificates and being a mom still doesn't necessarily make you a better educator! You can be a dictatorial person in private, a complete narcissist, and abusive yet have a PhD in Education.
Everything really depends upon your philosophy and how you practice it in Life. This is what Master Cheng Yen of Tzu Chi mentions recently in the Tzu Chi Dharma videos available for free on Youtube.
Master Cheng Yen was praising the Tzu Chi Volunteers---she actually calls them her Bodhisattvas---for being the Living Sutra. What good is studying the Big Wheel or Diamond Sutra if you do not practice and apply what you learn? And as Tzu-Chi Missionaries do their work, they have ample opportunity to become the Living Word, while spreading the goodness of their charities.
In contrast those caught up in the name-fame-gain Karma wheel will not admit it, but you can also see the gaps in their logic, the omissions in their statements, in what they purposely leave out. It could be the Monopoly Game or Minecraft games they encourage the students to play... It doesn't not necessarily mean they hate you or lack faith or are consumed by greed or ignorance or pride....
More, it may mean that they are more easily controlled and manipulated by Cosmic Tongues, the psychobabble of Edutopia jargon and what passes for the doctoral level of administrative responsibility.
"You don't really matter because you are not a person of significance. You are only at-will hire. You are not at university and do not wield any social influence. I will ignore you if I like."
"I said that I will give you a break, but I didn't really mean it. I said that I care about this work, but I am going to make it hard for you by playing playtime videos while you are trying to tutor; or handing out candies while the student remains unfocused."
Or say, there is just a certain strange inflexibility in how the seating arrangements are. Well are they really just for alphabetical purposes when you know that T. is seated next to A. and they can barely get along to the point that A. is missing a lot of school? Or that M. is seated next to J. who is such a punk that it is a wonder M. can focus at all in doing any classwork?
We are what our philosophy is and that is really defined by how we spend our quality time and work and efforts. Master Li Hongzhi writes about that in the Cosmic Tongues of Lecture 3, that sometimes, people are just caught in "foreign voices" and yearning this level of "exotic expertise" that is grounded in Karma. It is not adding to wisdom but to pride and vanities.
Here is an excerpt:
Cosmic Tongues
"There is a phenomenon that’s sometimes referred to as speaking in “cosmic tongues.” It happens when a person is spontaneously able to speak a kind of confusing babble, which even he or she can’t understand. Someone with telepathic abilities might have a general sense for it, but won’t be able to make out the specifics of what’s being said. And some people can speak multiple languages. Some who do this think it’s a special power or gift, and take pride in it. But it’s not the kind of power or gift that a practitioner would have, and it doesn’t indicate spiritual achievement. So what is it, then? It is a case of one’s mind having been taken over by an entity from another dimension. And yet people may think it’s a great thing, be pleased to experience it, and be happy about it. Yet the happier they are, the tighter that entity’s grip on them becomes. I think you would have to agree it’s not befitting a practitioner to let something like that control you. And besides, those entities come from awfully low realms. Since we are people engaged in true spiritual practice, we don’t want to invite that kind of trouble."
Conclusion
People captured by nebulous interests, who seek to chase after the Daoist mastery, fascinated by the occult, or the shadow of abnormal philosophies will not be willing to listen or act with empathy or sincerity. They can cause a lot of negativity at the workplace while exhibiting their vanities. As a Buddhist and Christian, one realizes that these types are not willing followers of the Way. They will lead people on then off the track. They will toy with people's opportunities. They are acting in ways that are basically indirect manifestations of lack of faith and love. Adjust your behaviors and boundaries accordingly. It will not be easy because they resent your independent thinking and maturity and grace.
The most important thing is to reveal only what is necessary and nothing more so that your philosophy, your goals, your methods, and your wisdom does not become warped by theirs:
"You won’t experience any of the problems we just discussed while doing our practice, as long as you can keep your thoughts in check, since good is a far greater force than evil. But if you can’t keep your thoughts pure, and you have other intentions mixed in, then you are asking for trouble. Some people just can’t let go of what they formerly practiced. We teach that you have to commit to one practice, as any legitimate discipline will tell you. You shouldn’t think so highly of teachers of practices who have been published. I can tell you that in some cases their books are plagued by the same sorts of things that their practices are, such as snakes, foxes, and weasels. If you read those books, the animals will leap out from behind the words at you. As I’ve indicated, charlatans outnumber the true masters many times over, and you can’t tell them apart. It’s vital that you realize this. My point here isn’t that you have to practice Falun Dafa. It’s fine for you to do whatever practice you’d like. But there used to be a saying: better to go a thousand years without learning a true doctrine than spend one day practicing a false one. It’s advice you definitely want to heed. With real practice of the true Way, you don’t want to mix anything in—not even mental techniques. Some people’s falun have become deformed. If you probe why, they will say that they didn’t practice anything else, and wonder what happened. But the fact is, when they do our exercises they add things in with their minds from their former practices. And naturally that’s going to bring foreign things in. I’ll just say this much on the topic of entity attachment." ----- Master Li Hongzhi, "The Third Talk," Zhuan Falun
Artwork from Minghui.org