Mistaken Hesitation

There was an instance in which a resident at MAPLE had inappropriately added themselves back into the interview rotation. Interviews at MAPLE are one-on-one or group meetings between teacher and student wherein the student receives teachings in the Dharma directly as it applies to their meditation practice. These interviews are considered sacred encounters and held as one of the most significant aspects of the training.

In this particular case, the resident had made a significant error by inappropriately adding themselves to the interview order rotation; this decision caused a downstream impact on the order of interviews and therefore everyone involved in the interview rotation that morning. Furthermore, correcting the mistake required both myself and Forall spending time understanding why this situation occurred and how to respond. The time we spent resulted in fewer students receiving interviews that morning.

Later that evening, Forall asked that I speak with the resident about the severity of their mistake. Thinking that this conversation needed to be done with patience and care, I decided to wait until the following afternoon. However, I was mistaken. The next morning, Forall asked how the conversation went. It was after his asking that I realized my error.

There was no legitimate reason to wait discussing the matter. Any waiting was really just a form of hesitation; the fact of the matter was that these interviews are sacred offerings and a breach in procedure was a serious matter that should be dealt with as swiftly as possible, certainly before the next interview session. Forall made clear that the resident should be informed in that moment and so I ran down to the lower zendo to let them know about the severity of the error.