Looking for that Repeat Experience

From the mail box today, a question…

“I may have told you that I had some amazing experiences with sound; gong, and shruti box in the past and I was able to get to a pure kundalini/shakti state from this work from a teacher in the past but I cannot seem to get there since (which was a few years back).”

I think we’ve all had peak experiences that are difficult to recreate or repeat. I know that I have. Two things come to mind here:

1) While experiences like these are amazing, they can’t be repeated, at least not exactly. A big thing is to allow each experience be its own experience.

2) Being relaxed and open is important. And again, being open to whatever experience happens, rather than ‘hoping for’ a repeat of a past experience. One doesn’t want to repeat the experience as much as to be able to repeat the conditions that allowed the experience to happen. A big part of my human side longs to repeat many of the great experiences of my past, but I have found each one to be unique, especially when playing the Gongs. I know that if I expect things, or try to make things happen, that they don’t. 
The more things stay the same, the more they change

This is one reason each of my sessions is different. I don’t follow a script because I have found that doesn’t work. Rather, I have learned over time to trust myself (to make the right ‘sound’ choices), trust the Gongs/Bowls/Bells (to make the right sounds), and trust the people attending to create the right conditions to allow a unique experience. 

This is all similar to what athletes work at, to be able to recreate the mind set/openness that lead to a peak performance. There are many good books out there on “Flow” and “Peak Experiences.” 





Zen in the Art of Archery


When you are focused on winning (or some other desired outcome), you have already lost. Focus instead on the act itself, rather than the desired outcome. Focusing on the act frees you from desire, frees you from letting that desire get in the way of just being and acting. This is not to say that you shouldn't want to have similar experiences as you have had in the past, just realize that they may happen and be different in many ways. We all need to learn to let each experience be its own and, to value each one because it is unique.

 In the end, it becomes a situation of working hard at not working hard—one of life’s conundrums.

~ MB
Chop Wood / Carry water /Play Gongs™


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