"In Taipei, Elisha and I sat down with the retreatants, and we asked questions and were asked questions. We listened and connected to people while they expressed their problems in life and business. We tried our best to figure out the cause together, and make changes to eliminate the problems. People left with with a short list of dos, changes in behavior to improve their lives. It was really amazing to see..."
"For me, the highlight has been debating with GM on stage during the public talks; i love the photo Jamie has of GM in the air getting ready to clap. Priceless. :-) Also, i thought of one story... i was answering one woman's question at dinner during the retreat and after i gave her some advice, she said, "after I heard your answer I knew in my heart that it was true." I thought that was really beautiful. :-)"
"Traveling in Asia is, as usual, an exhilarating and wondrous experience. It is, however, not without its hazards. Should you ever find yourself at a table full of exuberant and open hearted Asian people, be very careful about what you say. Should you even accidentally mention that you like something, such as mochi, you will soon find yourself inundated in whatever it is you happen to like. Be especially careful of claiming to like things you aren't really all that interested in, as your refusal to publicly partake in the mountain of gifts you have now found yourself underneath, will not be taken lightly."
"The really cool thing here is that instead of the old format where the presenters just sit on stage and talk, Geshe la has completely turned it around. He started right off insisting on calling us DM Teachers, and putting all of us in the program. The new public talk consists of short segments with him talking, interspersed with DM Teachers debating about the pen, leading tonglen meditations, and answering questions. So the first day we were in Taiwan, we all had to perform in front of an audience of 1200 people, with only about 10 minutes advance notice. And what that does is that before you can even have time to get nervous, you've already done it, and after that, you can look back and say, 'Well, I was onstage in front of 1200 people, and it wasn't bad at all.' So that empowers all of us DM Teachers forever after this as well not to be afraid to get up and present what we already know so well.
"And since we're being treated as teachers, we're thinking like teachers, and acting like teachers. Some of us had many students before, but mostly we've been students, some of us for many years. We see each other every day and think of each other as peers, and so we have been missing the extraordinary potential that all of us have developed. We really are highly trained and uniquely qualified to do this work, and suddenly we're starting to recognize what we have to offer the world. And not only that, but we're seeing an amazing response, that people are recognizing the value of what we have to offer and clamoring for more."
