Clif Cannon

[Clif Cannon]

Hi Niki. Thanks so much for your essay – one of the things I really appreciate is the parallel nature of accompanying (teaching) someone on their journey as being the “WE discover new too.” Of course, it is mutuality. I have also heard it said, that “we teach what we need to learn.” This is certainly true for me. Thank you. 🙏

[Clif Cannon]

MaryBeth, thank you for your essay. So much to like here. I love this: “Questions help us scan our inner and outer worlds for evidence of what we seek.” what wisdom – thank you. 🙏

[Clif Cannon]

Hey Jo. I really appreciate your clarity and the tools you’ve identified. I found myself nodding, and smiling as I read about relationship, and you reminded me of the mutuality of the relationship – honesty, transparency and that this relationship with our students is one of peers and is co-created. It is not a relationship of hierarchy. Your warmth and caring comes through your clarity of tools, principles, and path. I can feel your heart. Your essay also weaves together the fabric of the tools so nicely, like weaving a container in which students can be held and feel safe enough, or brave enough to explore. Thank you for this.

[Clif Cannon]

A quick look at a thesaurus shows some synonyms for “discovery” as: “locating, uncovering, and, unearthing.” Each of these points to a quality directly related to our practice and teaching of meditation – discovering something that is already there – our own Buddha-nature.

Unearthing or uncovering conjures a vision of being “cushion-to-cushion”, with our students to see what treasure they might discover. As teachers we know that the “gold” is there through our own training and experience, as mysterious as it is. And, each journey is different, and what is revealed and its expression is unique to the “discoverer.” This work of discovery requires bravery and courage to take the first step (or seat) to look, and to try something new. Discovery requires a “discoverer,” and it is our role to support our students in their exploration. How do we do this?

Here are some primary tools I’ve identified (I am sure there are more):
1. Stability, trust and faith in one’s own practice. In order to accompany students on their journeys, we must have enough in our own experience to know ourselves in order to come alongside our students and sit in the fire with them (doubts, fears, self-judgment, emotions, etc.). If we haven’t worked with ourselves, (knowing ourselves) we risk not supporting, but adding to difficult or challenging experiences. This runs counter to supporting discovery.
2. A stance of humility, while also acknowledging our skills, knowledge and training as a teacher. This includes a stance of unconditional positive regard, non-judgment (of ourselves and our students) and the belief that each student is creative, resourceful, and whole and has everything they need, with proper and clear support, to embark on a fruitful journey of discovery for themselves. This humility coupled with skillful means helps convey that it is “safe” to explore. It helps set the “container” in which exploration can take place. I am not here to “teach” or to “tell” but to help set the conditions favorable to discovery.
3. Having received and understood good meditation instruction, from the view of our lineage, we know and are able to explain instructions clearly (“taking one’s seat”, posture, breath focus, gaze, etc.). This helps students to feel “held” in the space to explore. As teachers we are keeping an eye on things (time, form, etc.), so that they can “let go” of needing to manage or worry about anything other than their exploration.
4. Someone offered me the saying “keep it light and tight.” I like this – keeping it light – a gentle touch on the guidance and instruction; and, keeping it tight, clarity of what we are up to and where we are going (e.g., we’ll have instruction/teaching, then we will sit for xx minutes, then we’ll come back together for questions/sharing, and we’ll close with a dedication of merit, and honoring time commitments) provides students with a container and roadmap for our time together. They can relax into the container.
5. Remembering and touching into our early experiences of meditation and the feelings and thoughts we had as we were starting out bring us into a place of tenderness for what our students might be experiencing.

As teachers, through confidence in our training, our experience as practitioners, our Dharma education, and our authentic presence, we set a field of possibility that holds the space for students to explore and discover what arises on the cushion.

[Clif Cannon]

Hi

Champa Choga / Clif
I live in Portland, Oregon
I’m most grateful for my practice, study of the Dharma, and moments of sanity.
I’d like to change whatever inner turmoil, judgments, small-mindedness arises to calm abiding and equanimity.

Books
The Heart of The Buddha’s Teachings, Thich Nhat Hanh
Shambhala: the Sacred Path of the Warrior, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche
Who Do We Choose to Be, Margaret Wheatley

Recordings
I have arrived, I am home…,Thich Nhat Hanh
Shambhala Warrior Training, Cynthia Kneen
How We Live is How we Die, Pema Chödrön

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