This material is copyrighted by M. Kirby Moore. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited (just in case this gobble-dee-gook gets put into a book).
I have been asked to lead a group of seniors through some exercises for relaxation and stress-relief. At first I was asked to teach meditation, which I said “No” to. Then I decided I could work around my recommended limitations.
I just want to start out by stating very vehemently that No, Kirby Moore (the author) is not a meditation teacher!! Khenchen Konchog Gyaltsen made that very clear. He said, “you may be the organizer and the facilitator of the C’ville Sangha, but an older wiser person should lead the meditation if possible.” And I was like, “Yep!” (Thinking, Thank god!)
Therefore, when I was recently asked to lead a group of seniors through exercises for relaxing (and easing their apparent stress and tendency-toward-gossip…) Why did I say yes?! I have never met these people before. They probably suffer from a lot of stress and they may be incredibly skeptical that such a young looking man can teach them anything. And yet I asked the I Ching why I might possibly consider doing something like this. And it said, “Go for it!” Right now I dearly hope I did not misinterpret what it said. Maybe it actually said, “Are you crazy? Going for it (will lead to great unbearable troubles…)” Ugh!
I leave in one hour to drive down to Nelson County to lead this unknown group.
So, I’m nervous! And, I plan to be explicitly clear. Not only Khenchen la, but Julie Henderson, the creator of Zapchen Somatics, mentioned something similar – “You will not call yourself a Zapchen teacher as you do not have my blessing to do so.” Gotcha! That was sharp and nearly-painfully clear! But I do have her blessing to lead individuals through the basic exercises if I have received the transmissions to teach those particular moves.
And yes, I am still nervous! Thankfully I tend to do a good job of pretending or being-charming-on-the-fly (this is a great quality to have as a waiter by the way). Don’t get me wrong – I plan to be honest, explicitly honest, self-deprecatingly honest even. But after that I will be a calm, centered guy who has been studying Somatic Processing and meditation for seven years. And we shall see how it goes. Wish me luck!
And as I was laying down, pondering what to do and say this afternoon, I realized I should probably make an appeal to the wisdom beings (I try to work with Dakas and Dakinis, Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, as I am a Buddhist practitioners, but you can substitute the words Angels or Light Beings or whoever wishes happiness toward all sentient beings).
I said, “Wisdom beings, can you please surround me this afternoon? Can you go ahead of me and clear the space wherever I am going to be teaching? Can you make whoever attends be open and may they err on the side of kindness and gentleness? Please!”
Oh, and I also had the thought, as my ego can sometimes grow to gargantuan proportions, “Wisdom beings, can you please support me, lift me up when / where I am weak, and bonk me on the head where I am too strong or prideful?”
I think they listened and honored my request, but I have no way of knowing exactly.
Stay tuned and thanks for reading.
Meditation Informs Healing Facilitation 