Nothing Hidden
The Practice of Embodied Perspective Taking
Nothing Hidden
Public Talk, February 8th, Green Gulch Farm
Zen of Coaching
A Poem by Antonio Machado
What I’m Watching - Rental Family
For Warmth, by Thich Nhat Hanh
“I hold my face in my two hands.
No, I am not crying.
I hold my face in my two hands
to keep the loneliness warm—
two hands protecting,
two hands nourishing,
two hands preventing
my soul from leaving me
in anger.”
This poem expresses several potent images - holding my face, acknowledging loneliness, protecting and nourishing, and the image of my soul not leaving despite feelings of intense anger.
I’ve always appreciated Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Zen teacher who died three years ago — his voice, and his ability to speak about transforming pain to joy is powerful and credible, and feels relevant and important during these days with what is happening in our country and world.
He wrote this poem during the Vietnam War (which was known in Vietnam as the U.S. War) overhearing U.S. soldiers speaking about an incident when they said they had to kill everyone in a small village, including women, men, and children.
Holding our faces can be a simple and powerful practice -- in turning toward the immense challenges we face, and not running away.
I’ve recently had the opportunity to lead mindful leadership trainings with doctors, trauma surgeons, firefighters, business school students, as well as corporate leaders. The pain and confusion that people feel is palpable. The other strong feeling is the aspiration to connect, to be vulnerable, and to serve.
In some way we are are all doctors, trauma surgeons, fire fighters, MBA students, and corporate leaders.
Zen practice offers a radical perspective. It asks two valuable questions:
1) How can we keep our hearts open, especially during difficult times?
2) What is an “appropriate response” to what is happening in our lives and in the world?
Here is a portion of a poem by Rilke that expresses this practice of “nothing hidden”
I want to be with those who know secret things
Or else alone.
I want to be a mirror for your whole body,
And I never want to be blind, or to be too old
To hold up your heavy and swaying picture.
I want to unfold.
I don’t want to stay folded, there I am a lie.
And I want my grasp of things to be
True before you.
Practices:
In an essay by Dogen he provides a three-step practice for embodied perspective taking:
1) Study yourself - this is the core of “practice” -- mindfulness practice, self-awareness, being human.
2) Go beyond yourself - widen your world, widen your vision and your sense of identity and possibility
3) Let go of separateness - lean in, feel our profound connection with each other, with life
(Walking on a path this week near Muir Woods.)
Public Talk, Green Gulch Farm, Sunday, February 8th, 10:00 a.m. (in person and online)
I will be giving the public talk this Sunday at the San Francisco Zen Center’s Green Gulch Farm.
Zen of Coaching: For Executive Coaches
Transforming Others, Becoming Your Best Self, Changing The World
5 Online Sessions, Beginning May 8th.
Zen of Coaching is a transformational program for executive coaches and leaders who want to deepen their presence, expand their impact, and build a coaching practice rooted in wisdom, not just performance. Blending Zen principles, mindfulness, and real-world leadership experience, this course supports you in cultivating stillness, navigating complexity, and coaching with greater authenticity, clarity, and purpose.
For more information and to register.
A Poem, by Antonio Machado
Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that a spring was breaking
out in my heart.
I said: Along which secret aqueduct,
Oh water, are you coming to me,
water of a new life
that I have never drunk?
Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that I had a beehive
here inside my heart.
And the golden bees
were making white combs
and sweet honey
from my old failures.
Last night as I was sleeping,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that a fiery sun was giving
light inside my heart.
It was fiery because I felt
warmth as from a hearth,
and sun because it gave light
and brought tears to my eyes.
Last night as I slept,
I dreamt—marvelous error!—
that it was God I had
here inside my heart.
What I’m Watching
Rental Family - A gentle, quietly moving Japanese film about a man who runs a business renting himself out as a stand-in family member, revealing the power of loneliness, connection, and relationships.
Warmest regards,
Marc