4 things I learnt from my meditation teacher Tim Brown
Wisha, Val, Sim, Me and Timbo meditating in the cave.
It’s funny how we tend to grasp at memories when a person has gone from our lives and in the case of Tim Brown, it’s no different.
Instead of trying to “make sense” of things during the grieving period, I am choosing to embark on a journey of honouring and remembering the teacher, mentor and man that he was to me.
On our year-long teacher training course, we often joked at all the ‘Tim-isms’ we would find ourselves repeating to each other during our study sessions.
Lately I find myself smiling when I remember these often hour long tangents he would embark on when explaining the Vedic perspective of things and how to integrate it into our own lives. My favourite memory is how he would chuckle at himself when he realised and say ‘now where were we?’ to come back on course. This is how I remember him. Humble, honest, real and always ready to laugh. These are qualities that I hold highly in my list of values, both as a teacher and human being and in my attempt to some how do justice to his wonderful personality, I will share:
4 things that he taught me.
1. Keep the camera rolling.
An absolute favourite of his. Whenever we came to him with a troubled relationship question or a question on how to navigate a certain situation in our lives - he would often say “You know what to do Maddy, keep the camera rolling”. Meaning don’t get stuck on the snapshot of what is happening in this moment. Life is a play, in Sanskrit the word is Lila, that will unfold as you live it. Don’t remain focused on one single event or interaction that has left you perplexed. Keep the camera rolling, keep on being and doing, the rest will unfold as it should.
2. It’s all about the people.
Tim’s kids joke that the daily commute from the beach after his morning swim back to his home, which was about 350 metres in distance, took about an hour because Tim would stop and talk to everyone he knew along the way and if he didn’t know someone, he’d strike up a conversation and within minutes, they were no longer strangers. He always made people feel valued and worthy of his time. He seemed to have time for everyone, a rare quality especially in the midst of a busy Sydney lifestyle. So, next time your waiting in line for a coffee, strike up a conversation with the person in front of you, or the barista, find out their name and introduce yourself to them, you never know what is going to come from that interaction
3. Smile big, often.
Another thing Tim taught us beyond his words was the effect of a smile. In my mind’s eye, Tim’s face as he walked towards me on the beach with this huge beaming smile will be forever imprinted in my brain. Whenever I think of that image, it makes me smile.
Studies have shown that smiling releases brain chemicals that make you feel good from head to toe, elevate your mood, relax your body and reduce physical pain. And if you smile at someone, they get the benefit too. So, smile big, often.
4. The reality is….
Tim used to say this often. Whenever we’d come at him with some big idea or cosmic way of thinking about something he’d say ‘that’s all well and good but the reality is…..’ He was all about integration into daily life. This doesn't mean you can’t grow, evolve and have big ideas, but often being present and taking the next right action will lead you the best results… so start where you are now and go from there…
So here we are. Starting this blog from right here now. It’s not perfect, nor is it award winning writing, but I will say this: I will do my best to share what has helped me and others as we learnt o navigate this wonderful ride we call life.
