Mind Chatter #174 (July, 2007) (PDF) - Centerpoint Research Institute

coach’s corner» MARC GILSONSACRED SPACINGBy Marc GilsonMarc Gilson started his career at Centerpointe over 10 yearsago, when the office was still located in Bill’s basement.Since then, he has established himself as one of the mostknowledgeable individuals in the world of meditation,both traditional and technical. His expertise in the fields ofcoaching and neurotechnology have made him invaluable,and his natural wisdom and compassion for other beingshave made him the heart and soul of the Centerpointe office.One early morning, several years ago, a homeless manapproached me on a downtown street asking for fifty cents.He smelled of cheap wine and the stench that comes fromdays and nights on streets and under bridges. I reachedinto my pocket and realized I had no change; but I had afew dollars. I handed him two one-dollar bills, hoping he’dlet me get on with my walk. His eyes lit-up and he quicklyreached into his coat pocket and retrieved a small object.Looking into his grubby hands I noticed that it was a ringmade of thick copper wire with an empty mounting ontop. He explained that he had just made it the previousday.He handed it to me and had me hold it up in the mistymorning light.“See there,” he said pointing to the top of the ring,“that’s where the diamond would go!”I looked at him standing there, smiling at me proudlyfrom under his dirty gray beard. I smiled back, handedhim the ring, and began to walk away.“Wait!” he said. “It’s yours.”“Thanks,” I said, “but you keep it.”He stepped in front of me, “But this could be a diamondring, you know. All it needs is the diamond!” He held thering in front of my eyes as if displaying a priceless pieceof real jewelry. Then it occurred to me—it was indeed apriceless piece of jewelry.I smiled at him and said, “Well, it’s an original, isn’t it?”He put the ring in my hand and began to walk away.“There’s not another one like it!” he said as he headeddown the sidewalk.I called out, “Thank you,” and went on my way.I’ve encountered several such people before. But thisone man sticks in my mind. For him, the reality of nothaving a diamond to go in his ring was not a problem.Rather, he found happiness in creating a spot for thediamond—a place for value and beauty, a space forsomething of worth.He could have just made a simple band with noplace for a stone, since he had none. Or he might havesubstituted something for a gem, a marble or piece of glass.But his satisfaction came from his effort to make a spacefor something valuable, not from investing it with falsewealth or fake riches.I imagine that while he was making the ring he didso with a sense of the value and meaning of what he wascreating; a value and meaning far beyond what societywould usually define as valuable. And when he offered methe ring—nothing more than a piece of copper wire with14 MINDCHATTER July 2007