My dear friend and teacher, Mazé Kouyaté, died unexpectedly this week in Bamako. We suspect it was a cerebral hemmorhage.
Mazé was a very intuitive and powerful teacher. When I studied with him, he never said a word, or even used facial expressions, but would just demonstrate what he wanted me to do and wait until I got it. I will never forget what a thrill it was when it all finally clicked. I didn't know until afterwards that it was a thrill for him, too!
I came back from Mali with his drum, which was, for me, an extraordinary honor.
And while this is a profound personal loss, I also feel deeply grateful that I got a chance to study with and be friends with this gentle and wonderful man.
Tu me manques, mon cher. Toujours.
2 comments:
Sorry to hear this. The drum must be a comfort. It seems as though one doesn't learn a lot about Mali from the news - hopefully because the news is mainly good.
It happens that tomorrow I'm doing a guest post on someone who played a similar role for me. It was a single incident, but very instructive and with minimal words.
In my experience, effective spiritual teachers - I don't mean authors or public speakers here, but rather people who are effective in one on one encounters - are few and far between.
Paul,
Thank you for this.
All who knew him knew that Mazé was an extraordinary person.
Last week I utterly grief stricken.
Strangely, this week, all I feel is the joy of having known him, however briefly.
I can't help thinking that he, himself, has been praying for me.
Please post a link to your guest post. I'd love to check it out.
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