Advent Calendar 10: With Gratitude to a Sacred Teacher

          Many of you know that I have practiced Taoist Tai Chi for many years. Twenty-eight actually. Which means I have practiced it long enough to have been blessed by having met and learned from a Taoist monk named Master Moy Lin Shin, the founder of the Taoist Tai Chi Society. When I think of a sacred person I have met in my life, he immediately comes to mind.
         You can read his basic story and watch a video of him here. But it's my memories of him I want to share. I learned many things from Master Moy of the years -- the importance of community; that life means constant change so we need not only to learn to adapt to change but to embrace it; that there can be stillness in motion; that a smile can change your whole being; to watch each other, be yourself while at the same time moving together; that the mind and body are connected; that movement can be spiritual; to trust myself and what I feel and experience; that you can only learn what you are ready to learn; that the important thing is to help others -- and much more.
         In the Gospels, Mary and Joseph accepted the challenge given them by God, gave of themselves in their lives so that something holy, something sacred could be birthed in this world. Something that could be life-changing for others, something healing in a world full of brokenness. They didn't do it because they thought it would make them famous or rich. It wasn't about them at all. They allowed themselves to become vessels for the sacred, that through them God could work to heal the world.
          Moy Lin Shin wasn't a Christian, he would not have conceived of God in the same way as someone from the Judeo-Christian tradition. But from my experience of him, I believe he saw himself in much the same way -- as a vessel for the healing of others, and ultimately the world. When he taught, it wasn't about him -- it was about helping the student he was teaching. And he taught us to take what we learned and use it to help others. This was his calling, his vocation, his life. He slept on the floor of one of the Taoist Tai Chi Centers. Travelled around the world to teach, even when his health became poor in later years. His teaching, his knowledge and understanding and experience, were gifts and he just gave them away. All the time.
         In return, he didn't ask us to pay him -- he founded a non-profit organization instead -- but he asked us to pass it on. To give these gifts to others. And with each individual who is helped, the world is made a little better place. And so the world is healed -- one person at a time.
         Even at a high profile event, like the opening of a new center, he stayed in the background. It wasn't about him. And in all he did, he gave birth to an organization that has helped thousands, perhaps millions at this point, all around the world, improve their physical, mental, spiritual health.
         Master Moy Lin Shin was not a Christian, but practicing the arts he taught and learning from his example has made me a better Christian. I continue to mourn his passing, and strive to do what he asked -- pass it on, work to help others, heal the world. So for me, Master Moy was a sacred person like Mary and Joseph, because through his actions healing was brought to broken people and a broken world. But he was also a messenger of the sacred, like the angel who visited Mary and Joseph, whose teaching challenged, and continues to challenge me to do what I can to bring about healing and wholeness to my world. And I will be forever grateful.