Mary chose our instructors with such wisdom, and we are blessed to have access to their thoughts. Each one is happy to share their journey with us so that we may KNOW MYSELF BE IT IS, IS.

Michael Hakuzan Wenninger shares part of his awareness and understanding with us in the Fall 2009, issue Number 66, of The Main Central Jin Shin Jyutsu Newsletter. You may obtain your own personal copy at http://www.jsjinc.net.

Kindness

“The only breath we can ever be is the breath we are.”

Even today, I vividly remember my first meeting with Mary some 13 years ago. The occasion started with a phone call from David. He said a slot had opened up and would I be interested in receiving a week of sessions with Mary. There are special moments in one’s life where the right combination of forces comes together and creates openings for us, and this was indeed one. So in short order I was off to Scottsdale filled with anticipation, for I was to see and be seen by Mary. I had seen Mary in classes before, but I knew this was going to be fundamentally and functionally different. I arrived early (if I couldn’t be on time for this appointment, when would I?), and took a seat in the waiting room. Shortly, I could hear the door knob turn, and Mary entered the room. She walked over and had a look at me. That “look” was felt in the deepest part of my being, and I knew she was seeing “me” in a way no other had. And then something magical happened. She smiled. Not an ear-to-ear smile, but a smile with just the slightest upward turn at the corners of her mouth. There it was…unconditional kindness, a knowingness that transcends time and space. No labels, no judgments, no shoulds…just complete acceptance of who I was. After an eternal moment, she walked over to the window sill, came back with a tissue, placed the tissue in my hand, listened to my my pulses, patted my hands and started the session. No words were spoken that day nor none needed. Each day, Mary would enter the room, we would exchange “our Smile” and she would continue our sessions.

The days moved one to another, the week ended and I returned home; but within that week with Mary something had shifted inside me in ways that would take years to comprehend and realize. That “Smile” on that day cannot be described or explained because what happened went beyond words. There would be other teachers and other moments, but her teaching of unconditional kindness revealed in that “Smile” was the first and continues as a transitional moment of my practice.

As my journey evolves, her teaching of unconditional kindness continues to reveal ITself in deeper and deeper meanings and manifestations. Now I understand the quotes from What Mary Says: “Little can be done for others until I really know myself.”…and “Be the Smile.”

Thank you, Michael.

Thank you, Mary.

Thank you, David.

Gassho, Namaste, Blessings