By The Big Gong Guru MATT OMO
Yeah, I’ve got a big gong and chicks dig it. My wife says I’m compensating for my little… ears… she did! She said I need a big gong so I can hear what I am playing with those little ears. Perhaps I am compensating for (and perhaps she was actually referring to) another body part… hmm.
Innuendos aside, I do use a big gong in my healing work and meditations. I have observed the overtones of this instrument causing people to experience various altered states of consciousness (where angels, unicorns and aliens reside, or so they report), orgasmic bliss, fits of anger, uncontrollable laughter, full body sobbing and so much more in a matter of seconds.
It always amazes me how powerful a little donging can be. If you haven’t had the gong at least you can understand the power of sound when you hear a siren wailing past you on the freeway or finger nails down a chalk board (Argghhh!). Or how a song can take you back to specific moment in time. Even just hearing the lyrics… Now, I’ve had the time of my life… Ladies come back from your 1987 dirty dancing fantasy!
I made the mistake last week of letting a client have a dong after a meditation. In her fit of excitement it only took one spastic thump and my gong sent out a wail so horrific I think my hairline receded another two inches. I grabbed her arm as she cocked it for a second blow, determined to send the entire room into instant baldness.
“What are you thinking?” I asked.
“ I just want to whack it,” she said with a smirk.
“Take it Easy,” I said.
She flopped the mallet on the face of the gong sending a muted hum into the room. I looked her in the eyes and guided her to take a deep breath. I told her to imagine the gong as a pool of healing water and you want to send the ripples of wellness to the edges without splashing and spilling it all over the place.
She looked at me as if I was a fool (surprisingly, it does happen occasionally) and then she took a deep breath, a smile slid across her face and she swung the head of the mallet toward the gong. It hummed a harmonious hymn that silenced the entire group. She then moved into a caressing rhythm that lulled us all into a chilled-out-bliss-state.
As the last hit diminished, I asked the room what was the difference in the last donging. They sat in a state of awe, until… she said, “the way I donged it?” I shook my head. “The speed of the donger?” she uttered quizzically.
“Yes but what caused that to change?” I asked.
“Me,” she said.
I nodded. “And what had changed?” I asked again.
“My intention,” she uttered.
“Yes, it doesn’t matter what you do or how you do it, it matters where you are inside yourself when you do it,” I added.
She handed me the mallet and nodded as if she understood. As she walked out of the room I thought this is one wise gong. Even in its silence it was teaching the truth of how it’s not so much the music we play (literal or not) but the stillness we hold and the intention we connect with as we allow the sound to expand uninhibited into the world.
So, as you go about your day and tick off that ‘To-Do’ list, notice where you are inside yourself when you are doing the things you do and observe how things come into a more harmonious state when YOU are in a harmonious state of being while you do it.
Gong or no Gong your state of being will resound into the things you do, the world you perceive and the life you lead.
It’s really not the size of the gong that matters… it’s the intention you hold as you dong it.
Soul Sessions salutes Matt Omo, The Gong Guru,
and the proud owner of Be Still & Chill
He will be using his big gong to open and close Session A Meaningful Life in Melbourne Feb 1
When and where will we meet again?
Tomorrow? Fresh soul for your hole here online daily ~ A Grand Love Story
Friday Feb 1? In person at our Melbourne launch Feb 1 ~ A Meaningful Life
Any time day or night? Soul Sessions Facebook page