Thom Knoles

I've been going to Thom's follow-up Vedic Meditation course this week. It's good to get a refresher on the basics every once in a while. I found myself laughing more than once at the meetings because no matter how many times you hear it, or how long you live it, the information is always somehow freshly relevant.

Sweet!

At the Feet

Tonight I'm heading over to Hancock Park to hear what Thom has to say. It's always good to sit at the feet of a fellow teacher and listen to their wisdom. There are times it would be nice to be able to go back and say to a particular teacher / role model "hey remember when you told me X...can I get a playback of that?"

I do think that one of the signs of a successful teacher is that the student is able to hold the knowledge and when they need to "check" on something, they simply look within. Having said that, I also think that part of being a successful student is the willingness to show up and sit reverently at the feet of those who taught you in the past and acknowledge that the information imparted is still relevant.

The most successful relationship between teacher and student is marked by separation and the latter moving beyond the knowledge of his/her mentor.

Iowa Intro Talk

I woke up thinking about Iowa this morning. I leave on August 7 and am giving an Introduction to Vedic Meditation in Des Moines on August 8.

I love that I'm able to pick up and go where there is a demand for the knowledge - worthy inquiry - and can't wait to be in the midwest again. I miss the plains, clean air and wide open spaces.

Time is Relative

Days and nights pass inexorably by...you feel the stress of not enough time but you keep putting off learning meditation. It's alright. You know where to find me when you're ready.

Radiance

One of the little known benefits of teaching someone meditation is the student's newly acquired radiance. It begins to appear the very first day. I see it immediately. But what's even more wonderful is that people around them begin commenting on their appearance. I have my new students fill out forms at their follow up meetings and almost everyone writes "People have been complimenting me this week."

The same thing happened to me when I first learned - I had people ask me if I'd done something different with my hair. They knew something was different but they couldn't put their finger on it.

Now that I'm teaching, I watch the transformation happen before my eyes. It's quite astonishing and yes, satisfying, because I helped bring that radiance to the surface.

Hiking the Hills

When I think the sanskrit word sukha - "happiness" in English, I picture myself walking along the market streets of Rishikesh. When I say market streets, I should explain that they're dirt roads and just before the cybercafe is a cow and her calf, lying in the doorway next to it, just hanging out. I would go in every other morning, and greet her on my way to check for messages from the states.

It's been 5 months and ten days since my return from India and I find that the images and feelings evoiked by those colors and sounds and smells (of mud, of animals, of spices cooking on outdoor fires) have been recently growing stronger.

Lately I've been hiking 4 miles in the hills near my home and I feel India creeping from my psyche into my physiology. It is a feeling of contentment and aknowledgment that there is only one thing -- the cow & her calf, the cybercafe & the smell of spice. It is me as I walk.