The shy abbot

     There seems to be some nervous tension in the room. The leader draws out some more discussion while glancing around nervously and commenting that the abbot is expected any minute now. Finally he shuffles in slowly, moves to the stage up front and quietly sits in the half lotus position. Apparently this is his last week at this site, and he usually does not perform guided meditation. Was he nervous, or was it my imagination? He walked us through the paces of guided and then silent meditation and then it was question and answer time again. “Why do you meditate?”, he asked. Was this a rhetorical question, or was he looking for an answer? I now knew even if he was expecting an answer, it wasn’t going to be me. He continued on, and I was glad I had kept quiet. This time, it was less questions and more teaching. He seemed to be ramping up. This shy abbot had a lot on his mind he wanted to share.