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The Tibetan monk asked for a volunteer from the audience.
I felt a sudden impulse to go down, but the worry of looking foolish held me back. People shifted in their seats awkwardly and smiled at each other, but no one volunteered.
`In that case we will have a roll of the dice` Kamana laughed,
producing a dice from his pocket and throwing it to the ground. `Two`, he called,
then `One`, and then with a final roll of the dice he called out `Seven`. Kamana shouted
loud and clear ` will Simon Freeman in seat number 217, come to the stage
please`.
There was no getting out of it now, so I stood up, but as I went down the steps I called out `How did you know my name` ? All eyes turned to Kamana awaiting his reply. `Your seat number` he said.
Then people began to realize that as we had entered the hall, we had been asked to say our name and seat number to his assistants, who wrote it down.
Suddenly, a man stood up and shouted `I am seat number 97, what is my name` `Ralph Taylor`, answered Kamana instantly. There was cheering, and then shouts from all over as everyone wanted to test him. `694`, `Sarah Hollows`, `156`, `Jeremy Sokel`, `732`, `Tony Merritt`, `537`, `Linda Brennan` ..... after correctly answering about 30 of them Kamana laughed and threw his arms up `stop ... no more please ... enough` !
So my seat number was incredibly the only clue Kamana had needed to know my name.
`Ladies and gentlemen put your hands together for our brave young man Simon Freeman.` He gestured to the chair and I sat down. Then he stepped back and stared intently at me, his face beginning to beam with a huge smile of happy recognition. `I`ve seen you before Simon` `I don't think so I said. `Do you like poetry Simon?` `Yes`, `Were you at the open air poetry event at Centre Park last Sunday afternoon?` `Yes I was, how do you know that` `I was there too, and I can remember seeing you in the crowd. You were sitting on the grass with some friends`.
I looked at the audience to share my astonishment with them. `It`s true` I shouted `I was there, but so were a few hundred other people as well.`
Kamana let the applause subside and continued `from all the poems spoken on Sunday afternoon, was there any particular poem that you enjoyed most of all Simon?` `Yes, I replied, It would be the third poem, spoken by a lady with long dark hair.`
To my horror, Kamana looked to the audience and said ` would you all like Simon to recite the poem?` Of course they all said `yes`!
I can`t do it` I pleaded with Kamana, `I can`t remember it.`
Kamana looked at the audience in mock sadness `We are being unfair to Simon, the poem was said only once, and that was a few days ago, but I was there too, I heard it, so let me have a try, perhaps I can recall it`
He paused for a little while, and then he began.
`It is from Mahmud Shabistari, and it is called …God Wants The Heart.
Every particle of the world is a mirror,
in each atom lies the blazing light
of a thousand suns.
Cleave the heart of a rain - drop,
a hundred pure oceans will flow forth.
Look closely at a grain of sand,
the seed of a thousand beings can be seen.
Within the pulp of a millet seed
an entire universe can be found.
In the wing of a fly, an ocean of wonder;
In the pupil of the eye, an endless heaven.
Though the inner chamber of the heart is small,
The Lord of both worlds gladly makes His home there.
Then Kamana took a bow to the applause.
`Was that the poem that you heard Simon?` he said.` Yes` I replied.
`Did I say it correctly?` `Yes`.
`If I had made mistakes and said some of the words wrong, would you have realized it?` `Yes , even though I could not actually recall it well enough to speak it myself, I still somehow know that every word and phrase that you spoke was correct.`
`Well thank you Simon, ladies and gentlemen lets please have a big cheer for Simon`.
I thought Kamana had been amazing before I had gone to the stage, but now I was truly impressed. He had recalled seeing me, after just a fleeting glance, while at an event attended by hundreds of people. That was wonderful enough, but to be able, several days after the event, to repeat a beautiful poem, having heard it only once. !
This was an ability I would dearly like to have. Now he really did have my full attention.
Kamana looked at the audience and said `Now the point I am making, is that Simon actually has an amazing memory.…… yes he does … he knew every word of that poem. However, although the memory exists deep inside his mind, in this instance he was unable to fluently recall it. We all experience the same phenomenon when much to our annoyance we may not be able to properly sing the words of a song we have heard many times before, but would nevertheless still be able to instantly realize any errors should a musician sing and play it incorrectly.
Kamana began to explain `We all know that anxiety is one of the factors, as this causes panic, confusion and tension. In this mental state a student may `freeze` during a important exam, and yet after the exam be able to recall all the answers that should have been given.
So the problem is caused by `wrong thinking.`
The main reason a persons memory is prevented from functioning at its full potential ... is wrong thinking !
It begins in childhood when we experience a few knocks to our confidence.
Up to that moment our child's imagination made the world a magical place. We had never ending curiosity, a sense of wonder and a store of joyful self invented stories.
Imagination is a powerful thing. Evolution gave mankind imagination because it allows us to visualize different scenarios and possibilities. It allows us to think creatively and inventively, if we use it properly.
Imagination permits us to visualize what may be the outcome to a situation.
But imagination is not our mind, it is only an instrument. It is like a telescope with which to see the horizon and the way ahead. However, when we look through a telescope our vision is restricted. The telescope needs to be moved around in order to see the wider view.
In the same way our imagination can be focused on the wonder and beauty of life. Or it can be focused on life's misfortunes and tragedy.
A persons perception of what is happening in the world is not based on `true facts,` but on the thoughts and feelings that are felt at the moment when events are happening. Being told that somewhere in the world a baby is born every second, a person might think ` the world can`t cope, something needs to be done about the population explosion. Yet if we had just been informed that our wife or daughter had just given birth to a much wanted baby, then our thoughts, feelings and perception of this event would be completely different.
We perceive our own version of life and `reality` through a mental `screen,` or `filter` that our own mind has created. True facts and events are filtered and a distorted version of our experiences passes through our `mental screen` and on into our mind to then be compared with any recollections of similar past experiences. This is why it can be very difficult to treat phobic fears and compulsions.
We each form our own interpretations and emotional responses to events and experiences. Wonderful music to one person may be unbearable noise to another.
How we each interpret life is ten percent of what see and hear it to be, and ninety percent of what we imagine and feel it to be.
In right thinking we should see all the potential for positive good things to happen.
In wrong thinking we begin to feel anxiety, we anticipate failure, and we begin to expect failure.
Simon knew that poem, and the only thing that prevented him from recalling it .... was self - doubt. Simon does not fully believe in his abilities`.
Kamana gave me a reassuring look, and continued speaking to the audience. `Simon may not think he has a good memory, but I believe he has. I think that if Simon could absolutely believe in his abilities .... then he would be able to remember his poems`.
Then addressing the audience he said ` If Simon is willing to try it, shall we do an experiment .... shall we see if a little `zen meditation will unblock his memories.` ?
And amid shouts of `go on Simon, give it a try`. I got ready for my `zen` treatment.