Workshop, Presentations

     

Creating the Sacred Life
The Christian Myth and Sacred Psychology
The Yoga of Relationship

     

Creating The Sacred Life
Creating the Sacred Life is a three-part series of weekly classes or weekend seminars designed to deepen inner awareness of each individual's True Self. In an age that has focused predominantly on the material world, many of us have found dissatisfaction with the goals and values of modern society. Some have responded to this by withdrawal and isolationism, seeking security in dogma and a return to old patterns that are an attempt to counter fear of the unknown. Sacred Psychology offers an alternative that seeks to heal the split between Inner and Outer Nature. Not through withdrawal from the world, but through participation in the world with awareness and compassion can each of us find our true calling and genuine joy in living. Since each of us bring unique gifts, it is essential that we explore our own depths with the intention of self-discovery in order to participate "fully in the sorrows of the world with joy".

This series is divided into three sections; Entering the Dreamworld; Myths, Life's Universal Language; and, The Wheel of Life, Archetypal Themes as Maps for the Soul. Each session is designed for full participation, building the foundation for a lifetime of joyful living. Participants should bring journals and be prepared to share a dream from the first session.

   

     

The Christian Myth and Sacred Psychology
As we approach the celebration of the birth of Christ, it can be useful to reassess this ritual for our individual and collective psychology. Joseph Campbell introduced many of us to the role of myth which is the foundation for this seminar. Just as a dream points to the myth that shapes an individual's life story, religion is a collective dream which shapes a culture. The common mistake of literalizing the details of the Story have led to the violation of the eternal truths that are the foundation for all religions. This seminar will reclaim the message of the Christ, offering it as a mirror for each of us to use. The goal is clearly stated in the Christian gospel, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind ... and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." If love is the goal, sacred psychology is one Path. As the Sufi mystic Rumi wrote, "For one human being to love another human being; that is perhaps the most difficult task that has been entrusted to us, the ultimate task, the final test and proof, the work for which all other work is merely preparation." Using the model offered by Campbell, Houston, and Jung, this workshop recognizes the shadow aspects of the influence of inconsistent theology that violates the message of love. The unconscious use of the Christian story appears in hate crimes at the gross level, arrogance and prejudice at the subtle level. Redeeming Christianity begins with individual reflection on how this teaching leads to becoming Christ that one might serve the greater good. This seminar is appropriate for all seekers, regardless of religious or philosophical persuasion. Living in a culture founded on Christian beliefs demands awareness of who the Christ is and what His message is for each of us in the present day. As my own teacher was taught by Him in her initial mystical experience, "Teach all ways for all ways are Mine." This weekend provides vehicles for transforming the negative experiences of dogmatic theology into the freedom of the experience of Love.

   

     

The Yoga of Relationship
The experience of being in a relationship begins before we re born. Regardless of one's belief in the idea of previous lifetimes it is apparent that the mother and embryo are in communion from early in the development of the fetus. If the father is fortunate, he also can begin to experience this child even before she is born. We begin in relationship which, I would offer, is a mirror for the primary relationship we all have to Mystery, or the Universe, or God, or whatever you would call that whic words. The recognition in the fields of biology and physics is that all phenomena, even beyond this living planet known as Gaia, is interdependent and connected as the ancient texts spoke of the Tantric Web. The Yoga of Relationship is the path, the discipline, the practice, and the meditation of relationship as a path to soul. What may not be considered is that this yoga applies to all relationships at all times. I would offer that each encounter is an opportunity to practice being free, to experience liberation. Just as with meditation, this yoga begins with failure. When one learns what the ancients taught, that is, to not be attached to either failure or success, then one becomes open to the education of the soul. It is in the spirit of that education that I offer guidance borrowed from the wisdom literature of spirituality and science, as well as observations of many in the therapeutic process that discover who they are through this most challenging yoga of relationship.

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