09/03/2025
🙏 This wasn’t just a food offering. It was a mirror.
In the monastery, we didn’t earn our meals.
We received them — quietly, gratefully — from people who had far less than we did.
Each morning, villagers would rise before dawn to cook.
Not for recognition.
Not for reward.
Just to give.
And every time they bowed before us, something inside me would ache.
“Why are they bowing to me?”
“I haven’t done anything.”
“I should be bowing to them.”
But over time, I came to understand…
This exchange wasn’t about status.
It was about sincerity.
It was about offering what we each could — fully, wholeheartedly.
They gave rice.
We gave presence.
They offered nourishment.
We offered attention.
And in that mutual offering, something deeper was shared:
A reminder that we all serve in different ways — and all of it is sacred.
To the aspiring mindfulness teachers who feel like you have to “earn” your place…
Let me gently remind you:
You don’t need perfection to offer presence.
You don’t need to do more to be enough.
Sometimes the most powerful thing we can offer is our attention.
And that’s more than enough.
🧘♂️
If you feel called to serve — whether in quiet ways or through teaching — I’d love to support your journey.
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With respect,
Sean
