There is a few moments pause and then Sonya conveys something about her unique perspective on personal coaching:
“I am a personal coach and am pleased to be able to work with you if you find my perspective to be of benefit to you. Let me first indicate that I have studies with a very wise gentleman from India called Krishnamurti. If you want me to assist you then you need to know about bit about the approach that he would take and I will take in working with you.
Krishnamurti often told a tale about three men. One of the men was someone who renounced the world as it now exists. He was deeply involved in spiritual devotion, preparing himself for his next life. The second man was devoted to the improvement of humankind through engaging other people and himself in sustained spiritual practice. He was very wise and devoted to improving his own spiritual maturity. The third man was a social reformer. He was committed to building a new Utopia where all humankind would be free and caring. All three of these men were living for the future. They were all sacrificing the present day on behalf of some future. Each of these men identified themselves with some cause or belief system.
Having described these three men and spun-out stories about their perspectives and practices, Krishnamurti would pause. He would then talk about what these three men were missing in their life. He spoke about the importance of remaining present in the current moment. Our journey should not be focused on the future. It should instead be focused on the present. It is a journey into self-awareness and love; it is not a journey into forging some identity or embracing an identity that someone else has imposed on us or convinced us to adopt. Krishnamurti would suggest that an identity as something or other is a straitjacket that limits our freedom and our capacity to reach out with sensitivity and love to other people.
So, Katherine, are you in a position to forgo your own search for a future and for a new identity? Instead, I will assist you on your journey into the unique, true and deep self that you are right now. Would you like my assistance in this regard?”
Katherine doesn’t say anything for about 30 seconds. She then responds to Sonya:
“Whew. This does take me in a different direction from what I had expected to focus on my work with you as a personal coach. I do kind of identify with the third man. I was drawn to college administration because I believed that our society would be improved if our young people were better educated and if all of us became lifelong learners. Like all three of your men, I have sacrificed a lot on behalf of this dream of a well-educated citizenry.
I think my devotion to the cause of education contributed to the breakup of my marriage. I spent too many hours at my office at the college, and attended too many events at the college, at the expense of my marriage and my caring for our two children. In recent years, I must admit that I have grown disillusioned with the operation of my college. Everything seems to revolve around petty politics. There hasn’t been a new idea posed for many years by either our faculty or our upper-level leaders. I think that is the major reason I have wanted to explore other pathways in my life.
