Malcolm Holmes
Malcolm started his journey in 1990, when he started to explore Buddhism. In 2000, he joined the Triratna Buddhist Order, receiving the name, “Upayavira”. Joining the Order gave him exposure to regular teaching opportunities, both around meditation as well as Buddhism.
His exploration of meditation slowly made him aware of how much inner conflict and anxiety he had. The meditation he learned didn’t seem to help him with this, so with support from a friend, he carved his own approach. This was based upon based on releasing rather than the use of effort. Over time, he found others that used the same approach and discovered it was common outside of his own Buddhist tradition!
In 2003 after a period of deliberate homelessness, he experienced a small shift. He noticed that doubt in the efficacy of meditation had fallen. He knew it worked. Subsequently, in 2010, a single meditation changed his life. Through applying careful attention to a particular tension, he felt it release, and saw his experience change overnight from predominantly anxious to predominantly confident. He soon noticed people relating to him differently at work.
In 2013, others in his community started sharing a different approach to practice, formed around a practice called “Direct Pointing”. This helped him make sense of his previous shifts in experience. With guidance, he was able to bring about additional shifts in perspective, and from there to begin to formulate the Odoki Method: an approach to Deep Wellbeing that he hopes can become widespread and freely available to all.