Writing 101, Day Six: A Character-Building Experience
Who’s the most interesting person (or people) you’v met this year?
Today’s twist: Turn your post into a character study.
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_assignment/writing-101-day-six/
A Guru in Disguise
I am a shamanic singer. I work with intent and sound, singing things into existence. It’s a rather uncommon profession. People who are interested in my work typically belong to the esoterically minded (aka „woo-woo“) tribe, the type of person who reads channelings and meditates regularly. So when I received an e-mail from an unknown man requesting a session, that was the type of person I expected to meet.
Well, I was in for a big surprise. When the time of our appointment came and I opened the door, I saw a sturdy man not much taller than myself who was wearing coarse workclothes smeared with what looked like white paint and speaking in a broad Berlin dialect. He radiated a definite working-class aura. Not at all the kind of person I had been anticipating! Indicating the paintmarks on his trousers, I asked him if he did renovations or interior decoration, painting houses and suchlike. He replied that he did “building insulation” – stabilizing walls that had become porous with a silicone-like substance that hardened after it had been sprayed into the holes. He told me that he enjoyed his work very much but had left earlier today to enjoy a quiet hour by himself and a cup of coffee before coming to our session, adding that he was usually late, but was amazed at himself to be ten minutes early today. Then he went to the men’s room to change into fresh clothes whilst I prepared my audio equipment, feeling thoroughly confused.
Issues? What Issues?
My confusion grew more intense when we started the session and he told me about the “issues” that had brought him here. As I listened to him enumerating his perceived problems, I caught myself thinking, “That is not really an issue that needs any kind of treatment. What on earth did he come here for?” It was mostly the stuff of everyday life that many people live with, but it turned out he had been to many “self-awareness” seminars where they seemed to make a very serious issue of almost everything under the sun. Stuff you had to work on very hard to resolve it – even if there was nothing to resolve in the first place. 😉
He actually struck me as someone who didn’t need outside help at all to cope with his life. He was getting along just fine. He was open, friendly and communicative, and he had no problems with his work, relationships, finances or health. The only “problem” seemed to be a certain confusion about these issues he thought he was having. It seemed as if his teachers had convinced him that there was something wrong that needed to be fixed although I couldn’t really see what that might be. Slowly it dawned on me that my confusion in listening to him was caused by his own. He really didn’t need any help, although he thought he did.
Finding a Focus
However, following the meandering stream of his tales, gradually a theme emerged that seemed like a worthy pursuit. He told me that the question „What do you want?“ had come up several times recently, and it seemed like he could use some clarity on what he really wanted. So we agreed that the singing should be for him to gain clarity about what he wanted and what really mattered to him.
For those who aren’t familiar with creation through sound, I should explain at this point that it is vital to have a clear focus before you start singing. It’s important to know exactly what you intend to create through the sound, because if your intention is fuzzy or unclear, you might create stuff that isn’t really helpful and might even be detrimental. If I had just gone along with what he thought his “problem” was, chances are that the session would have produced the opposite effect from what he intended, creating a problem where none existed before. But when we hit on the topic of gaining clarity on what he wanted, there was an immediate resonance that “this was it” – this was what he had actually come for. (Or so we thought.)
Another Surprise
I had only been singing for a short while when suddenly this huge wave of love came through me for him. It seemed like there was a person or persons who wanted to send this love to him. It was overwhelming. Amazing. Just …. wow.
When I had finished he told me that he had seen himself standing on a mountain, or actually, a kind of mesa. At first he thought he was alone up there. Then he noticed there were people standing to his left and right. And then his gaze widened and he saw that he was standing in a huge circle of people! That he was not alone up there at all. That was the message for him.
They were his people from ancient times, and they seemed very happy that they had finally found a way to reach him. I told him that he could always contact them again, and he said he would.
Then it seemed as if there was something else waiting to be sung, so I started singing and felt the strong presence of a woman (of his people), who was grinning broadly and sending more love to him. It felt a bit as if she thought, “Well, let’s see if this will make him remember …” He told me afterwards that there had been still the same circle of people and one woman had stood up but he couldn’t see her clearly enough to recognize her. But he had felt the love she was sending him.
The next thing that happened was that really huge waves of love came through and I was supposed to just hold the energy in silence. No singing this time. It took everything I had to transmit this huge wave of love for him. And all the while I thought, what if he doesn’t notice anything? Am I doing this right? Am I even able to do this? Then I heard a reply inside of myself that this was my chance to let go of the little doubting self and embrace the big Self (capital S). I thought, well maybe that message is not just for me, and told him he could also release the small self now if he felt a resonance to that. He told me afterwards that he had been able to let it go quite peacefully. 🙂
The Hidden Master
After the session was finished, we talked some more and he told me he had done firewalks and had been not walking, but dancing on the burning coals without hurting his feet. I was impressed. Then he mentioned that he was a Reiki teacher. “I went through with it”, he said proudly. “After I discovered Reiki, I did my first degree, then the second. Then I pulled it through to get my master’s degree, and then finally I became Reiki teacher.” I was amazed that he thought he had to come to me if he had these abilities, and asked him if he had ever thought about becoming a professional healer. “Yes”, he said, “ I did it professionally for a while, but it just didn’t seem right. Something was missing. I need a practical activity as a balance. Just can’t live without it. I have a little garden outside of Berlin, and I have my job, and I love it this way. Working and doing my garden. I just have to do something practical. Then in the evenings and on weekends everyone who wants a Reiki session can come if they want to. That’s the way that feels right to me.” He reminded me of those spiritual healers in Brazil I had heard of who work in a day job and then do healings all night without ever getting tired. And I thought, wow, this man is not my client, he is my teacher. He came here to give something to me, not to get something from me. I felt thoroughly humbled.
But he must have gotten something from me too, because he said, “Well, this was definitely something special. It’s something I could do more often. It’s not like working on your issues. This is something completely different.” I felt grateful that I had helped to provide a special experience for him.
He gave me one last teaching, by paying me more than my regular fee. At first I thought he had made a mistake, but he said with a smile, “This is the figure that came up during the session, so I reckon it’s the right one.” I was so surprised that I could say nothing but, “Wow … thank you.” He said, “Well this was definitely not the last time we’ve met.” I said , “I surely hope so.”
Then he left, and I was left with a feeling of incredible joy in my heart and nobody to share it with …
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