The Mirror and the Mask: On Whiteness, the Work, and a Moment in the Classroom
On seeing clearly, shifting the burden, and scaling transformation through the Model for Perpetual Growth and Progress.
Author’s Note
Before I begin, a word of care. The reflection that follows arises from a moment in my classroom—an exchange that, while specific, is neither here shared to single out nor condemn an individual student. To do so would compromise the trust and safety that must undergird any space of learning.
Instead, I offer this moment as a mirror of something larger: the ways whiteness operates, often unconsciously, in educational settings and in society at large. What unfolded that day was not the failing of a student, but the surfacing of a system—one that shapes perception, speech, and silence in ways that wound and obscure.
My aim is not to cast blame, but to name dynamics as they arise, so that we might see them more clearly and work together toward transformation. In doing so, I write not against a student, but for the integrity of the work: the ongoing labour of naming, dismantling, and healing in the face of whiteness.
There are moments in teaching that linger—not because they were loud or public, but because they revealed something so deeply embedded in the social unconscious that even silence seemed to echo.
It was three years ago. The class being held via Zoom was mid-discussion on structural racism and Black perseverance—more specifically, on the enduring psychological and material barriers faced by Black Americans as they navigate institutions that were not built with them in mind. A white female student raised her hand and said, with what I believe was sincere concern:
“I wish we could blind Black children so they wouldn’t have to see racism.”
There was a moment of pause. Not the kind that signals confusion, but the kind that settles like fog in a room that had suddenly become too still. My teaching assistant caught my eye, the recognition instantaneous. I returned my attention to the student, and calmly responded:
“That is an interesting strategy you propose to address structural racism and the actions of bad actors. Why not direct your attention to those perpetrators of racism and racist actions instead of maiming Black children?”
She fell silent—not because she had been chastised, but because she had been awakened. The class that followed was not loud. No arguments broke out. No defenses were raised. There was only a reckoning. For many, it was the first time they had seen the scaffolding behind their so-called solutions.
And for me, it was another reminder of something I have come to understand not just as an educator, but as a scholar of consciousness and transformation: the work of dismantling racism cannot be placed on the shoulders of those most harmed by it. Nor can it be approached as a kindness done to the oppressed. Rather, it must be understood as a return journey—one that white Americans must make, back through the architecture they inherited and too often ignore.
This is not merely a political demand. It is a developmental one. A spiritual one. And it is precisely here that the Model for Perpetual Growth and Progress comes into play.
The Model Beyond the Individual
When I first developed the Model for Perpetual Growth and Progress, it was designed to help individuals and small groups initiate a process of deep, conscious transformation. Structured in stages and informed by Vedic philosophy, neuroscience, and Masonic ritual, the model was not intended to offer comfort—but challenge, illumination, and ultimately freedom.
But my recent reflection on the incident with my student forced a re-evaluation of the model’s scale. If a single misdirected comment can reveal so much about the collective programming of whiteness, might not a single, scalable framework offer a pathway out of it?
The answer, I have come to believe, is yes.
Because the work of confronting and undoing racism is not about shame or spectacle. It is about alignment—between belief and behavior, awareness and action, self and system.
And alignment, as the model suggests, is not a fixed state. It is a process of unfoldment.
The Architecture of the Error
To understand what happened that day is to understand the architecture of race in America. My student’s comment was not malicious. It was, in her mind, compassionate. But it revealed the deeply embedded assumption that the problem lies not with the perpetrator of racism, but with the experience of the victim.
This is the paradox of whiteness as constructed in America: it defines itself through innocence, even when confronted with systems of harm it benefits from. The default assumption becomes: “How do we protect Black children from racism?”—not “How do we end the conditions that require such protection in the first place?”
In that Zoom classroom, I realized again what James Baldwin knew: that white people are trapped in a history they do not understand, and until they understand it, they cannot be released from it.
What Will It Take?
So what will it take for white Americans, writ large, to recognize their role in dismantling the very social construct that positions them at the top of the racial hierarchy?
The answer is not a simple call to “do better.” It requires a reworking of the moral, intellectual, and emotional scaffolding that supports the construct of race. And that work must be intentional.
Here, the Model offers something instructive.
1. Recognition of Ignorance as a Starting Point
The first degree of Masonic initiation—Entered Apprentice—begins with the acknowledgment that one does not yet know. In the context of race, this means abandoning the illusion that good intentions are enough, or that proximity to Blackness (through music, friendship, or even family) is equivalent to understanding the systems that enforce whiteness as norm.
The first work is unlearning.
2. Illumination through Education and Exposure
The second degree—Fellow Craft—demands study and reflection. This is where texts, testimonies, and histories matter. Not as academic exercises, but as tools for awakening. White Americans must be exposed to narratives that do not center their comfort. They must read Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Ibram X. Kendi, Layla Saad, Robin DiAngelo, Dr. Stacey Patton—not to feel informed, but to be directly disoriented in service of becoming oriented anew.
3. The Work of Transformation (Mastery through Action)
The third degree—Master Mason—is not about perfection. It is about responsibility. Having recognized ignorance and pursued knowledge, the work becomes one of action. This includes:
Calling out racism in white spaces without deferring to people of color.
Redistributing resources.
Risking comfort and social capital for the sake of moral clarity.
This is not heroism. It is maturity.
The Mirror and the Mask
What my student encountered in that moment was a mirror. What whiteness so often seeks is a mask.
To look clearly at the systems that sustain racial inequality is to risk seeing oneself not as a benevolent bystander, but as a participant. The psychological distance between “I want to help” and “I have benefitted” is vast—but crossing this psych-social Rubicon is the price of transformation.
The Model for Perpetual Growth and Progress is not a model for Black liberation alone. It is a model for human development—and its real power lies in its adaptability. It provides not just insight, but steps. Not just critique, but a way forward.
And it begins with the simple, sacred, and often shattering work of seeing clearly.
For Those Who Are Ready
For readers—particularly those of European descent—who find themselves stirred by this reflection, I offer the following as a place to begin. Not as a checklist, but as a catalyst.
Suggested Readings
The New Jim Crow – Michelle Alexander
White Fragility – Robin DiAngelo
Stamped from the Beginning – Ibram X. Kendi
Jesus and the Disinherited – Howard Thurman, PhD
Me and White Supremacy – Layla F. Saad
The Fire Next Time – James Baldwin
Sister Outsider – Audre Lorde
The Racial Healing Handbook – Anneliese A. Singh
Reflective Questions (Rooted in the Model)
What unearned privileges do I carry that I rarely interrogate?
When was the last time I challenged racism among other white people?
Do I seek to protect my image, or to be of service to justice?
Where does my discomfort signal the beginning of real growth?
How can I engage in the work of transformation without centering myself?
Closing Reflection
That day in the classroom reminded me why the work we do is urgent and why frameworks like the Model for Perpetual Growth and Progress are not merely philosophical—they are blueprints for becoming. If we are to build a world where the next generation of Black children need not be blinded to survive, then the adults around them must commit—earnestly, humbly, and perpetually—to seeing at last.
More than half a century ago, in an interview with Ebony Magazine (May 1968), Maharishi Mahesh Yogi remarked that “Meditation can solve the race problem.” At first glance, such a claim may seem startling, even naïve. Yet when viewed through the lens of Pure Consciousness, it points toward something deeper: the possibility of dissolving ignorance at its root, where prejudice is formed and sustained. If, as history has repeatedly shown, we have continually tried the opposite—with policies, arguments, and partial remedies—what might be gained by taking a closer look at the inner dimension of transformation?
Perhaps the answer is nothing less than a better lived reality for all: a society where the scaffolding of whiteness is dismantled not only through structural change, but through the awakening of the human heart and mind. Therefore, let us commit to both envisioning and working tirelessly to bring about a better world for all.
We can do it!
Final Benediction
From the silence of Pure Consciousness, may new structures arise—structures rooted not in fear or hierarchy, but in truth, compassion, and awakening.
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Dr. Baruti KMT-Sisouvong is a consciousness scholar, executive coach, and Certified Teacher of Transcendental Meditation® based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His work—spanning the Model for Perpetual Growth and Progress and the Seven Layers of Manifestation framework—explores how Pure Consciousness, neuroscience, and social systems transformation intersect in the evolution of both the individual and society. Alongside his wife, Mina, he co-directs the Cambridge and Metropolitan Boston TM Program, where they have taught thousands the art and science of meditation.
An author of several forthcoming works on the future of consciousness in an age shaped by technology, he writes and teaches from the conviction that the most important race is not between nations or machines, but between the conditioned mind and the awakening soul. They are the proud parents of four children. To learn more about him, visit: https://www.barutikmtsisouvong.com/.