You know, sometimes we get so caught up with celebrity roshis, senseis, rinpoches, ajaahns, mindfulness instructors, coaches and so on, that we forget to notice the little guys in our business.
There they are, plugging away, fighting the good fight, and no one seems to pay much attention.
As a “coach of coaches” I feel obliged to help the many hidden talents out there, in whatever way I can, and some of them have benfitted enormously from these efforts.Still, I often wonder if there is anything else I can do.
Because while there are big guys like Jon and Ken, Marc and Genpo, Stephen and Think Not Hanh, there are plenty of other guys who deserve their time in the eternal sunshine of the spotless market. In a new series of posts, I want to bring your attention to a few brilliant, but sadly underrated individuals and organizations.
Today, I want to celebrate Rev. Mark “Biff” Knucklebone (a.k.a. “The Mindful Marine”), author of a deeply moving memoir, which you can order here.
Rev. Mark is resident pastor at Faithful Secularist Mindfulness Church, an independent Fundamental Mindfulness congregation that meets in the garage of Mark’s mother in a quiet suburb of Lima, Ohio. Many of you have noticed him on Secular Buddhist discussion boards where he’s been preaching the gospel of MBSR with mindful ferocity for years. Sadly, this truly brilliant and inspired pastor has been overshadowed by more charismatic Secularist Buddhist preachers such as Ted “The Busybody” Meissner, but if you don’t know him you are really missing out.
The following quote is taken from a recent sermon where Mark really showed his Dharma chops:
The conclusion of my MBSR group tonight was a contemplation of how fortunate we are to be able to practice, that there was someone to teach us, and someone to teach them. I reflected on the efforts of people like Ron Purser to snuff this practice out, and how fortunate I am to have been introduced to it before he has the chance to succeed. But then a voice in my heart said, “Trust me.” Yeah. The dharma is not some doctrine or ideology — it is the tendency of the human organism toward awareness. Thankfully, no one can kill that, regardless of how many blog posts they generate.
tuttejiorg 