How tobegin? I've been saying he's like Yoda, Obi Wan Kenobi and Mr. Miyagi mixed with a completely insane person. Allie made it pretty clear before we went that Pichest is completely nuts. But he's also quite a brilliant healer.
He is 50 years old but looks 40. He's fairly skinny and, to my syrprise, a chain smoker. Even while showing us some differnt movements he had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. His English was fairly understandable, but also fairly broken. To describe what he says let alone how he says it would take skills far beyond mine. I'm just going to go for a list:
A lot of wht he talks about is incorporating Buddhist principles in practicing Thai massage.
Think less and feel more.
Don't lose your dhamma.
Don't cave in to the "I likes"--to this end he references 7-11; always able to get what we want when we want it.
Heal yourself to heal others.
Think less, worry less.
Any kind of complication=headache
Instead of carrying baggage he calls any unnecessary worry or emotion a backpack.
There is so much more but I am just ill equipped to write it down in any kind of a way that does it justice. You should know that as serious as all of those things sound, he always speaks with a smile on his face. And he gigles after almost every story he tells and lesson he teaches. If you are working too hard (pushing your body too far, thinking too much) he knocks on your head as though it was a door to either an empty room or an overly full closet and says, "poke poke!".
When addressing the class from his pillow next to the alter he has several walking sticks to choose from to shake at us when he says, "polk, polk!". They are all gifts from previous students, walking sticks and canes from all over the world. You should know that Pichest has no trouble walking at all, these sticks and canes are solely for emphasizing his words.
That all said, he is actually quite kind and gentle...not soft spoken by any means, but he is a Buddhist in every way. There is much more to him and this week's lesson but I'm still digesting everything and honestly, it would take me quite some time to paint a complete portrait of Pichest with words if I could do it at all.
On a much lighter note, tonight is our last night in Chiang Mai before heading to Bangkok tomorrow. We are going out with Del, Tuppany and Awoo for dinner and whatever adventures (troubles;) we can find/stir up. I also have to say that the song Safety Dance by Men Without Hats has been in my head for over 2 weeks now. I just thought you all should know that.
Sawat dee ka
Andrea
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