“Professional Distraction,” reads my business card.
To some, this may seem at odds with what I describe as my Bodhisattva aspiration to be of genuine benefit to sentient beings.
One of my Hustle Meditations was featured recently on a Buddhist blog called The Under 35 Project (featuring young Buddhist and Buddhist-inspired voices; check it out at www.under35project) One reader left a rather scathing comment, which included his shock
“…that the author considers her work to bring ‘genuine benefit to … others in all [her] interactions.’ While her work might bring momentary sensual arousal, I was under the impression that in buddhism we do not consider this a genuine benefit. To me she seems to be feeding people’s cycles of craving and desire, perpetuating their unhealthy habits of thought and feeling, causing the kleshas to burrow further into their beings.”
Additionally, I had a teacher recently who summed the entire first turning (teaching) of the Dharma as “training in not being distracted,” in using the practice of meditation to tame the mind so that one can focus, and eventually rest in the present moment. Without buying into patterns of craving and aversion, we might even experience ourselves on the spot as awake, and luminous.
How could one be helpful in waking people up to their own goodness, while billing herself as a distraction?
I concede that at first glance my self-created title may be a little misleading. Even as I smile at the cries of “blasphemy,” I’d like to clarify my intention and share some of my experience.
Plenty of my clients are coming to the club already rolling in kleshas (negative emotions or mental states that cloud the natural wakefulness of the mind) which could very well manifest in negative actions. I take the very fact that they have come to visit me as indication that they would rather not go and drive their fists into a wall, or pace grooves into their carpets, or scream at members of their family out of frustration at their day. They would rather not act out their mental stories of inadequacy or overwhelming emotion in harmful, possibly violent, ways. I see this when I look into their eyes. They would rather change their minds, connect with someone not quite so invested, be seen.
What if I were indeed a distraction, but what if I could distract one from the wearisome mental chatter left over from the week and day, giving one something lovely to engage with in the present moment? What if my smile, the movement of my dance, the delightful naked canvas of my body, could invite one to relax, soften, and even possibly let it go? What if our play could wake us up? From this perspective, perhaps these late night sessions might not be considered so harmful. Perhaps they could even be described as “therapeutic.” It wouldn’t be the first time I have heard that word in connection with what I do.
I strive to give my clients something present and delightful with which to engage. I try to see their goodness, which is often more than what anyone has done for them all day or week or month. I love talking about what is going on our lives, encouraging a perspective of gentleness and kindness. Certainly I am a story teller and a performer, but in my work I try not to lie or lead my clients to expect something I am not offering. We have interactions that have a clear beginning, middle, and end. On the spot. Many times, radiant.
