At this point, I had received so much benefit from my meditation teachers and practice that I started to feel ready and willing to give back. I looked into programs that would give me opportunities to grow as a practitioner and to teach eventually. In 2011 I joined the two-year long Dedicated Practitioner Program (DPP) offered by Spirit Rock in Marin County, California. It was the first time we, the practitioners, were allowed, even required, to interact with each other instead of staying in silence (except for direct communication with a teacher). Silence between meditators is the norm, in order to prevent the comparing mind from grasping at others’ experiences and accomplishments.
Until I started the DPP at Spirit Rock, I had absolutely no idea of the experiences of other practitioners. The downside is that it leaves us unprepared to teach since we only have our own experience to rely on. We don’t know what is “normal” and what needs remedying and how. It was quite an eye-opening experience when we were expected to share our own experience in small groups in the DPP. We were exposed to many ways of interacting skillfully with the other participants, such as checking in at the beginning of each group meeting, and taking turns talking about our own experience in groups of 2-10 participants. I have introduced these practices to groups I have led ever since.