Stop reading and look at the moment

Stand up philosopher Tim Freke is a consumate scholar of philosophy and spirituality. He’s read thousands of books about the world’s religious and spiritual traditions and written a small library of his own expounding his views about them.

So it comes as somewhat of a shock when he tells us his breakthrough came “when I stopped reading books and instead started looking at my experience. Compared to sitting still and looking at the moment, books are just not interesting.”

What is this now?

Tim’s many years of study and reflection have led him to the conclusion that “the only thing I ultimately know is that I don’t know what this is. Underneath the life story, having read the books, what is this now, this moment right now? Everything we do know is based on the foundation that we don’t know.”

That’s a refreshing point of view in a world full of people who seem determined to present themselves as being absolutely certain about so many things.

Tim says: “I don’t think anyone knows what this is and the people who are most certain are usually furthest away – that’s where all the war and division is.”

It’s a promising start to a workshop entitled ‘Into the Mystery’.

The elephant in the room

Tim tells us, “Everyone is sucked into a story about what this is. Grown ups seem to have gone into a coma – not noticing the elephant in the room, life. I love words and thinking, but thinking and words are not going to resolve this.”

We have four hours with Tim taking us into the Mystery in his workshop at the Mind Body and Spirit Festival.  He promises that in that time, we will explore what happens when we do notice the elephant in the room, when we “come out of the words and thinking and into the mystery, the ‘isness’”.

Its about polarities. Tim wants us to experience ‘lucid living’, the ‘deep awake’ state when you are both aware of your story and the mystery at once.

“Nobody can or would occupy the same place in time and space as you – you are utterly individual, totally unique. Yet when we get lost in the dream of separateness, we just meet as separate. If we live lucidly we meet as separate and not separate.  What comes with that is love.

Love is…

“Love is how oneness feels. It’s unconditional because it couldn’t possibly have a reason.  If we can be conscious of our divinity we can finally come into our humanity. We can find a way through suffering because there’s love.”

Tim describes that love as ‘Big Love’. “When you feel the love, there’s no words to it, you just know you feel it,” he says.

To feel it, we don’t have to change anything or give anything up, we just have to be conscious of who we are, remembering that separateness is not the enemy it is the foundation – “awakening comes from paying attention”.

Feel Big Love

Tim takes us through exercises designed to help us feel Big Love. I’d like to tell you what we did, but it was time to put pen and paper down and experience it.  And anyway, your experience would be different to mine; how you experience going into the mystery is unique to you.

Tim’s work is experiential – you have to experience it for yourself. I wanted to do that because, my ‘ah ha’ moments have all come when a teacher writes or says something that just makes perfect sense to me – and Tim is one of those people.  He gives gentle encouragement to explore the mystery – not through more books but through being still, being in the moment, connecting with others. It’s important work.

Highly recommended

If you’ve not heard Tim speak – check his website for details and go see him. If you want to go ‘into the mystery’ in more depth, sign up for one of his Mystery Experience residential seminars. And if you want to know all about how he’s reached his conclusions, read one of his 30+ extremely illuminating books.

Tim Freke – highly recommended for those who’ve noticed the elephant in the room and want to move into the mystery and experience Big Love.

www.timfreke.com

Just get on with it

You can’t help but like Ali Campbell. He’s a life coach, NLP master practitioner and author of Just Get On With It – and he’s Hay House UK’s flavour of the moment.

As such, I went to his workshop at the London Mind Body and Spirit Festival with some scepticism. Life coaches and NLP practitioners are, frankly, both ten a penny these days. What makes him different?

Unassuming

Three floors up under the skylights of the Royal Horticultural Halls I found a young, slim, self-assured, yet unassuming man with quick Scottish humour and an easy manner reminiscent of his fellow countryman, author and speaker Dr David Hamilton.

Ali began his workshop with a question – what were we all looking for at the festival? Wisdom, insight, understanding, he mused. Heads nodded. We were quickly told – “you won’t find it here and you won’t find it in my book”. Fair enough!

Reconnect

Far from being self-effacing about what he teaches, this was simply a reminder from Ali that answers never lie outside of ourselves. What he does, he tells us, is help us to reconnect with our inner wisdom.

He talks in particular about thoughts and feelings. He exhorts us to “shut up the brass band” in our head so our intuition can come through. He wants us to break the habit of engaging with our thoughts to the extent at which we become “functionally stoned”.

Wants not shoulds

Ali contrasts the map of reference we’ve created from our logical learning – our history – with our inner knowing. He exhorts us to follow our ‘wants’ not our ‘shoulds’.

“If you do what you want rather than what you should, you’ll never struggle for motivation,” he explains. When planning our day, he suggests taking a look at what we actively want to do to nurture ourselves, improve our relationships and drive forward our careers.

Understanding that this is a busy world with many demands, Ali offers a real gem of advice for those of us with huge and complicated ‘to do’ lists.

Chunk it down

“There’s no task that can’t be chunked down so you can close off all the loops,” he says. “Chunk it down and just do it; there should be no more than three things on your list – do them.”

It’s important to finish our unfinished business, close off our loose ends, clear our clutter because if we do we’ll find peace, he explains.

Natural state

Our natural state is calm, relaxed, happy and confident. Unfortunately, we get caught up in the 50,000 thoughts we each have in a day – 1,000 unique thoughts that repeat.

Ali says that when we are caught in our thoughts we are hypnotising ourselves. Its powerful because its our voice. “You believe you. Your brain tries to make sense of your thoughts but your thoughts are not real.

“Who would you be if you didn’t have to do all the stuff in your head,” he asks.

Down to earth

Having “approached personal development from a principle of devout scepticism” (I like that!), Ali retains a refreshingly down to earth attitude. He admits: “I don’t claim to have it sorted. I’m maybe just a few steps ahead of you.”

He still has challenges – dealing with a terminally ill mother for one, but he knows to use his heart and his intuition to navigate through this difficult phase, rather than his thoughts. And he reminds us always to look after ourselves, so we can be of service to others.

Secret of success

“The secret of my success is being able to stay out of my own way long enough. If you don’t know its supposed to be difficult, you don’t know its difficult.

He asks us to ask ourselves: “What would you do if you didn’t know any better – what does anything other than the thoughts in my head tell me – the story has very little to do with the situation.”

He guides us to: “Take your situation and allow yourself to approach it from a different point of reference – without the map of logical reasoning and history. Decide from your heart and your intuition – use them to navigate your way forward.”

www.alicampbell.com

Could you live without money?

How would you survive if you had to get by without money? Impossible in this day and age? It certainly proved a stretch even for the affable and adaptable part time vicar and TV presenter Reverend Peter Owen Jones.

Having left the rich rewards of a central London advertising agency some years ago for a simpler life, he now ministers to three parishes in Sussex, from where his interest in the teachings of Saint Francis of Assisi lead him to investigate an even simpler way of life.

Intriguing questions

In the three part BBC series How to Live a Simple Life, we see Jones buying a last round the pub before handing over his wallet and cheque book to the accompanying TV crew for safekeeping – his challenge, to live without money for as long as possible.

This extremely enjoyable series raised some intriguing questions. Most tellingly in episode two, Jones muses with a Franciscan monk on the role ego plays in our dealings with money and with each other. We think how much money defines us – our status in society, our desire for independence, our need to contribute and be rewarded for it.

Seeing Jones wrestle with these issues, albeit in a rather contrived way, made for interesting viewing.

In the first episode he explores self sufficiency – growing his own veg, keeping chickens, helping on the farm and in the pub, gardening and labouring for whomever needs a hand in exchange for food and ale.

Home ground is not enough to test the concept sufficiently however, so Jones decides to travel west covering the 200 miles cross country from his home to Devon without money for food, shelter or transport.

Begging is illegal

Begging is illegal in the UK as Jones reminds us – yet he must ask for what he needs, overcoming his own embarrassment and resistance, as well as dealing with others’ reactions.

Now lets be honest – after two television series, Peter Owen Jones is not exactly an unknown face. It wasn’t entirely surprising therefore that relatively wealthy Waitrose customers four miles from his home were quick to supply him with the cheese and bananas he requested for a simple meal. It nonetheless made me squirm as I sensed him squirm when having to actually ask the question.

Support tribe

Continuing on foot, Jones needs a place to stay for the night and his attempts to gain accommodation on less familiar ground, sees him pulling out his mobile phone (not very St Francis!) to secure a sleep in a church on his first night away.

Deciding not to rely on his ‘tribe’ for support during the remainder of his trip, we follow him as he is filmed asking to sleep in sheds, outhouses and caravans with little luck. And I ask myself, what would I do if a slightly scruffy though kindly faced chap pitched up at my door in sturdy boots, jeans and fleece, with long black cassock belted over the top, a rucksack, travelling hat and walking stick?

Nation in fear

What would I say? I’d like to think I’d help, but would I? We are a nation in fear. Conmen (and women), yobs, terrorists and tricksters, asylum seekers, gypsies, rogue traders, addicts who’ll say anything to get cash for a fix– we’ve read all those stories in the popular press and we have become afraid. Very afraid. And its sad to see.

So as we now watch a weary Jones who has walked all day and needs to find a place to lay his head before night falls, we cringe in the knowledge that it could have been us making the decision and explaining, terribly nicely or somewhat more bluntly why, no, sorry, we could not assist. Or would we?

To be fair, Jones didn’t wear his dog collar so if you hadn’t seen the his programmes Around the world in 80 Faiths or Extreme Pilgrim, you would be unlikely to know he was a man of the cloth and a jolly nice chap to boot, rather than a cunningly concealed ruffian out to rob you.

Pleasures of giving

To hold the viewers interest, Jones’ journey is interspersed with a visit to an alternative community, a stay with a Muslim family and a meeting with a fan who hears of his trip and offers him a place to stay in return for prayer and spiritual succour. Tired but triumphant the Reverend, of course, reaches his destination.

In the last episode we see him back on home turf, exploring the pleasures of giving and being humbled by the outpourings of kindness from his parishioners as they fill his car with fuel and leave food on his doorstep, accustomed now to meeting his needs.

Scuppered

In the end its the car that scuppers the social experiment – or rather the car insurance – not something you can trade for a few hours graft or some not quite set home made grape jelly. The cheque book is returned and life returns to normal, almost.

You sense that the experience has been a humbling one for Jones. He benefits from great kindness and, as an able individual, has had enough of relying on that kindness.

The programme’s central message is that there’s a balance to be struck between the all consuming consumerism we were in danger of being consumed by and the austerity of a truly simple life.

Jones has a desire to earn an honest living and in turn takes pleasure in visiting a favourite antique shop or record store on occasion. You can’t fault that. His experiment gives us an insight into our society’s fears. His own lesson, if lesson he needed, is maybe that giving of itself without need for recompense brings rich rewards.

If you’re quick you’ll catch the series on BBC iPlayer.

Richard Bandler in London

I’ll be honest, I’m not quite sure what to make of Richard Bandler, co-founder of NLP (Neuro-linguistic Programming).

Striding on stage at London’s Friends Meeting House in Euston, his sharp, dark three piece suit with snazzy mauve shirt and colourful, multi-colour co-ordinated tie looked expensive and corporate. Launching into his story, jacket removed, sleeves rolled up, the entertainer emerged.

Ringmaster

Within minutes I was picturing him as a circus ringmaster with top hat and tails. No family show this though. “Fresh meat to carve,” he bellowed, his confident, experienced presence looming forwards, focusing hypnotist’s eyes on an audience, two thirds of whom had not seen him speak before.

What followed was a canter through his early explorations of psychology, punctuated by just as much ff-ing and blinding as a thoroughly non-prudish person known to utter the odd expletive herself, could stand.

His blustery, somewhat bombastic, bordering on sexist style of delivery, certainly contrasts with the usual, ultra-polite American personal development gurus who usually grace an Alternatives event.

But what exactly, for the uninitiated, is NLP, I wondered?  Not knowing what to expect or having any prior knowledge, I was interested to learn its origins, what it can do and whether it would benefit me to learn the techniques.

Anti-psychology

I learned that those NLP techniques were developed by Bandler and John Grinder over four decades of intensive research and practice, beginning with Bandler’s student days at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

He talked about his early influences and collaborations with psychiatrist Robert Spitzer, family therapist Virginia Satir and hypnotherapist and psychiatrist Milton Erikson.

Declaring himself anti-psychology, Bandler condemned psychiatry’s “big systematic theories”, electric shock and drug treatments used during the 70s. He vehemently disagreed with the belief that there is a root to all your problems, usually in your childhood and that you can sort those problems out out by revisiting and reliving those painful episodes.

Teaching disabilities

He wasn’t big on school systems either – at least those which tell children what they’re not – “I don’t think there are learning disabilities. I think there are teaching disabilities,” he railed as he discussed some of the ludicrous ways we use language to describe who we and others are and what we and others do.

“I’ve a built in bulls**t detector,” he growled. “I pay attention to what’s there, I look for what works” … and so the ringmaster went on, sharing numerous nuggets of knowledge – soundbites for his system.

Nuggets

“People are great learning machines. The brain learns very fast and if you don’t aim it, it will learn s****y stuff.”

“Phobias are there for a good reason… all fears, except loud noises and falling, are learned.”

“Bad memories are bad habits you need to stop – unconsciously.”

“Fear of success – you’re just too busy making stupid pictures instead of good ones. Change what you say and what you visualise. Become more stubborn.”

“Disappointment requires adequate planning.”

“They always tell you you’re gonna look back and laugh, my policy is why wait?”

But these, though good quotes, were nuggets. What is NLP? I kept asking myself.

Demo

There was a demonstration of sorts. Two people went on stage to deal with their bad memories, shrinking the picture and replacing it with a memory of feeling confident. Time appeared tight and this part of the show was rushed – neither appeared to leave looking convinced.

I wanted Bandler to stop feeling he had to entertain us all the time and just explain, simply, what NLP is, why it’s become such a popular technique, why it’s as vital today as ever.

That would however have distracted from what was, admittedly, an entertaining evening. So those questions remained largely unanswered in this two hour discourse. And that was a shame because I want to know more about NLP and I’d like to have learned it from him.

Authentic

In my view, there are few truly authentic, uncompromising, pioneering people left in the personal development arena – people who have not just jumped on a bandwagon, but people who have immersed themselves in their subject, studying and teaching in depth over many years. People who have lived their life to the full.

I may be wrong, but I have the feeling Bandler’s one of them.  There’s nothing fluffy. No BS. No political correctness. Just his version of what works and what does not work. There’s a hint he cares; there’s a strong sense he’s well aware of the circus that’s built up around him.

He’s obviously no angel- but there’s no attempt to compromise or get you to like him. He tells us straight he loves women. He smiles as he cites his ability in his university days to “be as high as a kite and people wouldn’t notice”.

According to wikipedia, his roller coaster of a life has also included multi-milion dollar law suits against his former business partner, even arrest for murder (he was acquitted).  This man has lived.

Presence

There’s just something about his presence, something in those hypnotist’s eyes and the uncompromisingness of the man that made me irritated to see a show rather than have the chance to really learn from him.

For that I guess I’d need to sign up to the training courses being promoted at the event – go to www.nlplifetraining.com – for 2010 Licenced NLP Practitioner and Master Practitioner training with Richard Bandler

www.richardbandler.com

Be kind, get happy

David Hamilton looks so happy!  Not a smug, self-satisfied happy, but an exuberant, glad to be alive, living life to the full kind of happy.

I guess, he should be. Hay House Publishing’s ‘author of the month’ was mid launch of his latest book – Why Kindness is Good for You – when he spoke at Alternatives in London and copies were being snapped up.

According to David, your level of happiness is linked to the practice of kindness, compassion, gratitude – and hugging – cue member of the audience to run up and hug him and for us all to be encouraged to hug the person next to us!

“When you show kindness to someone,” he says, “when, perhaps, you’re there for a friend or loved one in a time of need, or even when you let another driver in front of you on the road –you are causing changes in the chemistry of your brain.

“Endogenous opiates (the body’s natural version of morphine) flood into the prefrontal cortex of the brain (the bit above the eyes) and make you feel good. Dopamine also joins the party, making you feel positive about yourself, life and the universe.”

Flex your kindness muscles

David uses a lot of rather complicated scientific words and refers to numerous scientific studies to give credence to his discourse – but he never lets it become a bore. Nor do you need to have a phd, as he has, to understand his explanations. He reminds us during his talk to simply think how good we feel when we show someone a kindness, when we flex our kindness and gratitude ‘muscles’.

It was whilst working as a chemist developing drugs for cardiovascular disease and cancer, that David became interested in the power of the mind to heal the body. The placebo effect – why some people get well through the power of their mind rather than drugs. His first books focused on the theme of how the mind can heal the body and this new title moves from cure to prevention.

It’s the oxytosin that’s the key. This hormone causes lactation (production of milk) in women who have given birth but its present in us all. Its side effect not only makes you more generous and trusting but is a cardio-protective hormone, reducing free radicals in the body and lowering blood pressure to help keep your heart healthy.

Happiness is infectious

David’s happiness is infectious. He always seems to have a twinkle in his eye and a funny story at the ready. I don’t think I’ve seen him address a room full of people without them leaving feeling better than they did when they arrived.

He tells us that people mirror a happy person and explains the “empathy circuit”. Compassion grows out of empathy, which leads to kindness and happiness.

It’s all interesting stuff and you really need to take in the detail. So grab a copy of David’s book and check out his website for dates of when he’s speaking – you wouldn’t want to miss mirroring such a happy and contented man!

www.drdavidhamilton.com

Escape to The Hill That Breathes

Visiting John Parkin’s Italian retreat centre really did change my life. The first time I went – for one of the ‘Masters’ weeks with the Barefoot Doctor, opened my mind to all kinds of practical stuff that you just don’t get in the books.

I’ve met some incredible people, and experienced some serious shifts in perception. The accommodation isn’t 5 star (but nor is the price), but the fireflies, the massages, the peaceful surroundings, salt-water pool, and amazing locally sourced vegetarian seasonal Italian Food really are!

Whether you go for one of the Masters – Yoga, Breathwork, Tai Chi – or one of John & Gaia’s own ‘F**k It’ weeks this is one of the most amazing, relaxing, empowering places to visit.

F**k It – The Ultimate Spiritual Way

John is author of ‘F**k It – The Ultimate Spiritual Way’ – a book for those people in your life who would run a mile from the fluffy angels you usually get writing these sorts of things.

From the title onwards, John doesn’t pull any punches. His views are based on very old teachings of ‘non-attachment’ but in his case the Mantra is one you already know. Just looking at the book cover will make you smile, and once you realise that you can ‘F**k It’ to pretty much anything that causes you pain, and start to do more of what you want to do, and less of what you should.

Wooded loveliness

John and Gaia set up the The Hill That Breathes after deciding in 2002 that rather than live in a small flat in London, England, with two small children, they’d rather live in the mountains of Northern Italy. They found 100 acres of wooded loveliness with a farmhouse on it, and after a serious bit of renovating, The Hill That Breathes was born.

Just to visit there, in its peaceful surroundings, salt-water pool, and amazing locally sourced vegetarian seasonal Italian Food would be a wonderful holiday, but to combine that with a Yoga, Breathwork, Tai Chi or even one of John & Gaia’s own ‘F**k It’ weeks makes this one of the most amazing, relaxing, empowering places to visit.

I can’t really add to this opinion from The Barefoot Doctor – “amazingly good value for what must be one of the world’s best-run, most beautifully aspected and most effective healing and self-development retreat centres in the world”.

Check out the website at www.thehillthatbreathes.com

Brendan Johnson

www.outsidetheasylum.eu

School for Warriors changed my life

Deep gratitude to John Reilly, for voicing this heartfelt review of Barefoot Doctor’s School for Warriors 1 eight week online course. The course will be available again in June 2010.  Sue Okell

Before I began Barefoot’s School for Warriors course, I was really depressed. I was a virtual recluse, only making it down to the local shops for basic food and living in a paranoid state.

Due to a lifetime of anxiety and depression from a very difficult and dysfunctional childhood, I’ve spent most of my time battling with my negative thinking and non-existent self worth.

As I began the course, I was in my usual anxious state, spending most of my time in my head. Barefoot’s teachings allowed me to reconnect with my body by doing really simple quick exercises each day.

Subtle profound results

The results were subtle but profoundly effective. I noticed, even after the first week, a shift in my perception and my thinking just by using the exercises and the simple affirmations.

One of the best breakthroughs for me was the realisation of how breathing is fundamental to positive thinking. This, coupled with simple, straight forward posture realignment really helped me to become grounded and in control of my outside environment. I felt a great reconnection to the earth – I had no idea how calming this could be.

Another fantastic part of the course was the opening of the heart centre. This was astounding and, as I did this, I began to feel a great Love for myself and humanity.

Love & compassion

I could go out down the road and I found myself smiling at strangers and, when talking, I could look deeply into people’s eyes and feel an immense amount of Love and compassion for them. I never thought this would be possible for me.

Relationships with my friends and especially my daughter gained a depth, closeness and warmth that was sadly lacking beforehand. As if this wasn’t enough what came next was truly wonderful.

I was brought up in a household that taught a fear and guilt based religion. This created a major duality in my perception of the world and I still carried these subconscious beliefs around with me –ie, this is good/bad, that’s right/wrong, I’m good if I think that, I’m evil if I think this, and so on.

Shift in perception

The final week of the course taught me that everything is everything – it’s difficult to explain, but this profound shift in perception allowed me to see myself and the world around me with a new sense of wonder and a deeper understanding into myself and the human condition.

Most importantly the whole course gave me a groundedness, centredness and strength of belief in myself to finally look at my childhood trauma safely and fully. I truly believe I would not have been able to do this without Barefoot’s help.

Along with this, Barefoot offered extra help and advice whenever I needed it. I would wholeheartedly say to everyone to try the course – your Life will be changed for the better and you will experience levels of peace and happiness you never thought possible.

Information at www.school-for-warriors-blog.com

John Reilly

Abraham-Hicks conference, los angeles

Overall impression: Being in the ‘energetic’ presence of this experience along with 500 other people was an occurrence almost beyond description. But, not for what was happening around me, but what was happening within me!

For those who are not familiar with Abraham-Hicks’ phenomenon, try reading the book, Ask and It is Given by Jerry and Esther Hicks.

I have read all the books, heard dozens of the CDs, seen a limited number of DVDs but now it was time for the real live event itself. So I signed up and drove to LA from Oregon (1200+ miles round trip.)

Question: Was the cost (time and money) worth the benefits received?
Answer: Beyond a shadow of a doubt, one of the best investments I have ever made!

The Abraham phenomena

Why? Experiencing the energy in that conference room at an emotional level was a validation of the Abraham phenomena itself. For me, it was NOT an intellectual or even an informational experience, but something that touched me at the deepest core of my consciousness. I could “feel” the reality of the connection.

Living for 75 years in a culture that has invested its ALL in the domain of material reality, and now knowing that “Stuff” has no virtue what-so-ever, this experience validated the powerful meaning I have come to know through the very living of my life.

I am now at that point where I am starting to give away my stuff. Stuff has become an albatross to me, weighing down my spirit and shackling my soul. In the past, my stuff has owned me. No more!!!

The meaning of my life is not reflected in the stuff I have collected. It is now holding me back so I choose to let go of it as we all must do, sooner or later anyway! When all the stuff in my life is gone, what is left? Ah, that IS the question!

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

For details of Esther and Jerry Hicks 2010 tour, visit
http://www.hayhouse.com/tour_details.php?tour_id=52

Jim Fritz
www.cwgcoachingservices.com

What About Me?

What can I say about What About Me? except watch, listen and share its message NOW!

Brainchild of Faithless band member Jamie Catto and his film maker friend Duncan Bridgeman, What About Me? is the second project from 1 Giant Leap. Its an album, a film and a documentary series about the making of the album and film.

Five year project

In a nutshell, the five year project involved laying down backing tracks on computer and taking them to 50 locations on five continents in far flung and less far flung corners of the globe. There, the tracks are played to local musicians and celebrity musicians, who are asked to jam and compose and play and sing over the original tracks as they see fit.

The resulting mix is an eclectic collection of superb music that pulls at your heart strings, bids your feet tap the floor and motivates your mind and body to move and think.

Universal human themes

But this is not just a music project. What About Me? is also an examination of universal human themes, so over its soundtrack, the film has thoughts on life’s major issues from the man and woman on the street, musicians, Hollywood stars, comedians and some of the biggest names in modern day philosophy and spirituality.

This is something very unique. This is an exploration “through music of the complexities of human nature on a global scale… to reveal how we are all connected through our creativity and beliefs, but most of all through our collective insanity.”

Romance, rape, religion, God, sex, drugs and money are some of the diverse subjects covered by the film. Contributors include Noam Chomsky, Will Young, K D Laing, Eddi Reader, Susan Sarendon, Billy Connolly, Marianne Williamson, Tim Robbins, Michael Stipe, Eckhart Tolle, Neale Donald Walsch, Gabrielle Roth and Baabba Maai.

What About Me? made me think, made me dance and made me cry. Go buy.

www.whataboutme.tv

Deepak Chopra live in Manchester

Deepak took us along one of his journeys, a speeded view of us as biological wonders, successfully placed in our world, paradoxically destructive, consciounesses ready for perspective, and spiritual transformation.

He began as he does with what we are, precision manifestations, integrated tissue systems, underpinned by a quantum substrate; sub-atomic particles and energy blinking in out of the void.

He convincingly demonstrated that our consciousness has no space-time home, citing classical and modern brain- behaviour studies. He elegantly dispelled the notion that there is an us, here inside, and that there is a world out there, our senses creating an apparent universe.  We were presented with that age-old notion of the reverse being true, that the universe is in us.

Shocking bleakness

By implication, we were confronted by an existential and shocking bleakness, a universe of fluctuating energy, devoid of substance and shape, and a brief moment later we were free agents, our thoughts and the universe continuous, one and the same.

We were led through a guided meditation, beginning with an attitude of gratitude, to undermine the ego, followed by some mantra repetitions, to access pure, non-local, consciousness. We were told of Tibetan Buddhist meditation, contemplating compassion and equanimity, resulting in measurable changes in the size and functioning of the pre-frontal cortex and other far reaching medical breakthroughs available by regular spiritual practice.

Deepak was warm, relaxed, and matter-of-fact, sharing his elegant truisms, but they’re now only truisms because he introduced them to us in that way in his and our younger days.

Perspectives

The friend who accompanied me was a little disappointed, she would have preferred a more mythic version of the human story, visceral and earthly, to give us context and support in our personal development and evolution. Others have more powerfully inspired her, but each has his gift, and Deepak’s is his facility to communicate his perspectives and lovingly invert ours.

He ended his Manchester journey with an invitation to peruse his website and his offer of money for worthwhile community projects, matching sums up to $100,000, bringing us back to ‘real world’ solutions and the practical ways we can be of service to others.

Lawrence Yusupoff
www.lawrenceyusupoff.com
http://twitter.com/Lozeretski