Learn how to incorporate the Zen Enso Circle Exercise into your MARI practice:
I developed the Enso Exercise in 2017 as a way to help MARI teachers introduce the process of pairing a symbol with a color and amplify the meaning. The exercise effectively demonstrates a Stage 0 Self-symbol and experience for the creator of the Enso. The Enso circle as a whole can then be “read” by the MARI practitioner using the template of The Great Round of MARI.
I have recently added the practice of incorporating the MARI colors and symbols as an extended form of the Guidance Cards process to the Enso exercise. This offers a Meta-Guidance experience for the participant.
The Enso MARI Exercise is an example of incorporating the MARI as an ongoing process of engaging with wholeness in your healing-arts practice. For more information about becoming a certified MARI Practitioner, please visit: www.marigoldmethods.com
The ensō is a sacred symbol in Zen Buddhism meaning circle. The practice of drawing an ensō is meditative. The artist uses only one brushstroke. She lets go of the mind and allows the body to create. Although the ensō may seem like a misshapen circle, it is a manifestation of the artist at the moment it is drawn. After the circle is drawn, there can be no modification. It is what it is.
The ensō and the act of drawing the ensō symbolize many things:
· the beauty in imperfection
· the art of letting go of expectations
· creation, the circle of life, connection
· the acceptance of our innermost self.
· strength, elegance, and one-mindedness.
This practice demonstrates the Zen idea of the wabi-sabi, the beauty of imperfection. Since the artist cannot create the perfect circle, she must accept that the very imperfections and contours that prevent perfection are exactly what makes the ensō and her beautiful. (Contibuted by Dr. Nancy Gedney)
To learn more about this dynamic process and to experience a personal Enso-Meta-Guidance session, please contact Karla Hankes: karlalaland@gmail.com
Stream of Consciousness Response to Amplification of Color, the first step in the Enso Exercise:
1-30-2019
~ Caelum ~
calming
azure
still deep sky,
Tucson blue sky with a touch of green
beautiful
could sink into, could be absorbed by
this color
soft, restful, delightful
alluring
Want to wrap myself in it and never wear any other color
it is me
it is my soul
it is the color that I am on the inside
Virgin Mary tenderness
watchfulness
special for me -for others
who suffer
full of light in soothing space
deep deep space
traveling into infinity away
from chaos
mesmerizing
hypnotizing
especially in the middle of the day
right up above my head
want to soar
space
space
space
can’t think of how delicious that would be to be
a goose soaring
and calling
and free
without any restrictions
– Dr. Nancy-Nan Gedney
—-
*Caelem is Latin for sky, heaven, Heaven, also chisel.