Meet MA member and Patron Ian Gawler
I began teaching meditation in 1981 and teach Mindfulness-Based Stillness Meditation – MBSM. This has 5 steps that all flow on sequentially: preparation, relaxation, mindfulness, awareness and stillness. These days I teach online in retreats and for Rigpa – a Tibetan Buddhist organisation based upon dzogchen and founded by Sogyal Rinpoche, author of the Tibetan Book of Living and Dying.
I taught for decades at the Yarra Valley Living Centre, and still present retreats and Meditation Teacher Training residential programs there. I teach everyone who is interested 🙂
As a teacher of meditation what have you learned that makes you a better teacher? Most important – my own study and practice. I have been deeply blessed with great teachers, and with having the good circumstances to attend many retreats and to have time for my own practice. On the job? Listening to students and adapting the teachings to their needs, while not abrogating what I hold dear and to be true, is crucial.
What’s the story behind your first meditation experience?
Having read a good deal about meditation and being intrigued and attracted as a teenager, it was not until a life threatening illness changed my life dramatically when 24, that I first took up meditation. There was the good fortune to be introduced by Dr Ainslie Meares, Melbourne 1975. Next major teacher – my main teacher – was Sogyal Rinpoche whom I met in 1985 in Melbourne. Studied and practiced with many other great teachers; happily learnt something from all of them. Very significantly, have learnt so much that is practical and applicable from the many people who have travelled along the meditation path with me and provided feedback regarding what they found to be helpful…
What or who inspires you?
What inspires me? One book that stands out from amongst so many great books written on meditation? Sogyal Rinpoche’s book The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. While much more than “just” a meditation book, it does provide in-depth directions. I read it every year, and am amazed how it leads me deeper and deeper each time. Ground breaking book. Change publishing – was the first spiritual “blockbuster”, and has sold over 3.5M copies around the world.
Cushion time: How long did you meditate for today?
Meditate regularly – on a cushion and then lying down at the end of the day to rest and re-align my back
Meditation Apps, yes or no?
Am involved with the Meditation Community – an online space where meditators gather to learn, deepen, practice and support each other. https://www.skool.com/themeditationcommunity. Also, the Meditation Teacher’s Community – another aligned online community specifically designed to support the development of meditation teachers – with live peer support and professional development, mentoring, and the opportunity to practice and develop skills while teaching live on the Meditation Community. Many here have trained with myself and wife Ruth and our colleague Melissa Borich, but those who trained elsewhere are welcomed https://www.skool.com/mtc
The getting of wisdom: What’s the best, or most important thing, you’ve learned as a meditation teacher?
Teaching meditation is probably the most meaningful vocation there is. Not easy to find a way in. Not easy to find a way to make a living. But such a delight…
What makes your heart sing and what have you come to value most?
Recently, it has been heartening indeed to observe people who have trained with myself and Ruth, and our colleague Melissa Borich, convert their aspirations into reality and to begin their own teaching careers on the Meditation Community. Such a wonderful group of people; highly motivated with good intentions, skilled and willing to face their fears, make a start and demonstrate their capacities…
The best thing today: What’s the most inspiring or loveliest thing you’ve seen or experienced today?
Left Melbourne in an aeroplane today. Just as the plane moved with apparent ease through the clouds and emerged into the vast, pristine openness of the blue sky, it occurred to me: May my mind flow on past its own thoughts and rest in its own natural, pure awareness – vast, pristine. Beyond limits. Beyond description.
Connect:
https://iangawler.com
Plus The Meditation Community https://www.skool.com/themeditationcommunity
The Meditation Teacher’s Community https://www.skool.com/mtc