Years ago, as a tennis player, I wondered if my game would suffer after not playing for a couple weeks. Instead I went to a woman’s professional tournament every day and watched. When I did go out again, I played the best tennis of my life.
I have been studying hip flexibility. Recently, I sat in on a conference call with a martial arts master discussing it. It was just a few small comments he made here and there. It was nothing that was not already in his book, but it was just something about the tone and inflection in his voice as he spoke the words. It made all the difference. I learned a tremendous amount in that forty-minute call.
My uncle was a cabinet maker. I remember as a kid noticing when he picked up what I recall being a 2×4 about two feet long as he contemplated his plans of what he would make out of it. The wood seemed to become clay in his hands… something he could mold however he chose. I learned more about woodworking in that moment than from anything else in my life.
My teacher gave great lectures, but it was what I experienced and observed in his presence that transformed me. It baffled me… how some would miss the very best of his teachings by ignoring all but the surface of his words. Really, ignorance (ignore-ance) is not a lack of facts. It is a state of mind. Many highly knowledgeable people remain quite ignorant. Yet there are those with little knowledge of a topic, who know it profoundly.
When people come to my lectures for facts and information, if they are not attentive, facts and information is about all they may take away. An attentive student would gain much more if we all just took a walk in the park. A chess master once said that an hour with a chess master is worth a lifetime of study.
Yes. This is why the six hour drive from Santa Barbara to Walnut Creek to attend a class with you feels like nothing; there’s joy even as I begin the journey. I start by preparing in silence for what will transpire, knowing as I sit in your presence, listening and hearing the inflections and tones as you speak, understandings will be created in me. This has been my experience. Even if you said nothing…understanding would come. I say this because when you hold pauses, create dynamic space, things seem to adjust in me finding better alignment or they just collapse upon themselves and are no more. In either case, I experience greater liberation from… or a better relationship with… or my Soul is less self-burdened ~
With deep appreciation to you Brahmarshi,
Gloria
Everyday I am reminded of your message during our last encounter “knowledge is in the gap”.
I stop and think of the possibilities in my everyday encounters.
Thanks
Amazing!!
How I wish..so very much.. that my family and friends could open up to the opportunity they have right at their finger tips. It may just be the nature of karma however I can still wish and take action to help them loosen the hold it has on their minds (as I am on my own) until the time comes when we return to only that.
I am grateful on a daily basis for your guidance Brahmarshi and also fully aware I have yet to take full advantage of my own opportunity however.. always moving forward.
I find the blogs so illuminating, even in the photos attached to each one. I would entitle this one “Artistry in the Eye of the Beholder”. I have been exploring the concept of space this week as I finally realized I don’t have to have and vocalize a response to everything. In the past, I held my silence as a great wounding. Even sending out a text response last week, I heard the little voice say ‘enough said’, so I deleted a but of what I was going to write.
Years ago, I spouted some venom as the “end” of our Surya course, saying I didn’t have time to sit at your feet for 6 weeks out of every year; now many years later I would like to say I’m sorry for that outburst and the energy I threw at you. I realize now that I was deeply angry at our relationship ending. It hasn’t. I am blessed to sit at your feet. Even an hour in the ashram dining hall, when your conversation may be with someone else is the greatest lesson.
I love this blog! It speaks so beautifully to the subtlety of the knowledge. That which I’ve always loved the most, yet often struggle with at the same time. Thank you, Brahmarshi, for your incredible patience!
Charlotte, I’d also like to thank you for your comment. I first didn’t trust my eyes when I read it. I remember this incident in Tiburon as if it was yesterday. I even remember that you were sitting up front on the left side in the room. When you said what you said back then, it broke my heart even though your comment wasn’t even directed at me. The incident got so deeply entrenched in my memory that I couldn’t forget about it for years, really to this day. Thank you for your honesty and courage to bring it up. It made me drastically aware of how my memory functions as a servant of my karma. And, btw, I’m really glad you are back and very much enjoy your blogs!