speech practice / elocution - Craig Thompson: Alexander Technique and Mindfulness

My Shambhala name

Elocution
At the bottom are videos and the Manual.
My teacher, the Vidydhara the Venerable Chogyam Trungpa, a great bodhisattva constantly working for the benefit of his students and all beings, strongly encouraged us to work with our bodies, speech, and minds to create the most auspicious conditions for positive development.
In the last 50 evenings I spent with him, 45 were devoted either primarily or as a secondary activity to the practice of elocution.
Elocution is practicing Oxonian English, english as spoken at the highest level, presumably.
I think it is the most powerful and transformative spiritual practice that I have ever done. It’s not the most obvious thing but when one does it, one sees immediate, subtle, and not so subtle, changes in one’s behavior, speech, and thinking.
I think mainly one envinces a little gap in one’s speech which allows a lot of wisdom to come up. One is becoming more conscious. More mindful of speech.
People view us largely by our speech and it shifts our speech to a higher level. A level of leadership, power, and wisdom.
The point is not to speak Oxonian English all the time or even ever, really. The point is that Americans are quite lazy about how they talk. Where there should be space it is run together. Where there should be crispness, there is no precision. Just more and more casualness for a casual lifestyle.
This is really a lot of fun. It is the most fun thing ever, really. Endlessly entertaining.
It quickly and radically changes how we interact with others. There is more room for our gentleness, precision, kindness, and humor to be present.
I am one of the most unlikely people to be doing this. My speech patterns don’t exactly inspire credulity on this. But that’s the point, really. You don’t have to do that.
You sort of need to see it done so I have included some video. Hilarious, no doubt.

The following is the Elocution Manual.