~ Transmission One and a half years ago in a NYC workshop, Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen talked gently about transmission. In a way we could use every day.
She placed her hands on my shoulder as I placed my hands on the shoulder of another. The three of us were trying to “remember” experientially how the arm grows in the embryo. How our arms grew. Little flexible flippers.
Bonnie was the only one who knew the experience--the only one who knew what she was talking about. The other woman and I only had Bonnie’s words and our own bodies to go on. But Bonnie could experience it in her body, and in my body. Her tuning in simply helped me feel it in my body. And then in the other woman’s body, so she could feel it, too. Bonnie almost whispered--not because it was a secret teaching but because it was such a simple, human fact-- "You see, it’s a transmission."
I would like to invite us all this month to play with transmitting…how? And what?
How is interesting because it is about receptivity instead of pushiness. And as we “send” we also receive. Sounds like the Tibetan practice of tonglen (literally "sending and receiving"), which we could play with this month. There are several guided meditations on the website if needed.
What is open…Physical presence. Feeling the feet in a room of too much thinking or arguing; sailing on the outbreath in a room of grief and holding on.
Emotional sanity. How contagious is joy while waiting in a line? Gratitude while cooking?
Deep spirit. Staying true to the untouchable human dignity and aliveness, no matter what is going on.
Love,
Jaya