It’s been a long road getting to there from here?
Thursday, June 4th, 2009 3:20 PM
I am excited to see the developing discussion on Spirituality in today’s career management scenario and the interest that is being shown by other professionals in the field. The experiences within my own development have indicated to me that religion is but the stormy doorway to truth guarded by the various priests of the western religions as they try to prevent seekers from passing over the apparent threshold to possible Samadhi, awakening, liberation, self realisation, embodiment and eventual enlightenment.
The western priests are, in the great majority of cases unaware of the cultural heritage and the richness of the spiritual paths inherent within the eastern philosophies, shamanic cultures and even the western approaches to meditation inherent within the Julian Groups movement or the intense spiritual unfolding that can be triggered by the Taize meditative chanting.
For about 10 years from age 35 I spent my time as a voluntary retreat leader with the Anglican Church. Utilising the MBTI and the Enneagram in the shared discovery of prayer styles, pathways to personal growth, PCC team building. This was brought about by two significant events, within the space of 3 months,
1) The birth of our first and only child, and
2) My death and subsequent recovery from an operation for neural cancer that went very wrong. I am officially known as a “flat liner” in that I was given up for dead and then came back.
In Geoffrey Ashe’s book “The Finger and the Moon” there is a quote, perhaps from Zen, which is as follows, “There is a wrongness that leads to rightness that is better than rightness itself”.
Those two incidents changed my world forever and my personality type from ENTJ to ENFP over night. Rebirth, reset, renewal?
It’s been a long road getting to there from here, which has included a whole range of significant events, aha moments, actions I applaud, those I wish I could undo, opportunities taken and those ignored or passed by on the path.
A significant moment for me, at age 45, was on a retreat that I was co focalising with a mature Anglican priest, who I deeply respected and was dying of prostate cancer. It was one of those leaning on a five bar gate on a beautiful summer evening occurrences. “Tell me Father John”, I asked, “How did Christ do what he did?” He did not answer immediately, he did not answer for a good few minutes and his answer, from the helpless tone of his voice, for me said it all. “I don’t know John, I have never known. I wish I knew and all I can offer to you is faith”.
I thanked him, and wished him well for at that moment I left the Church, left organised religion, moved onto the quest to find the answer to that simple question.
I could write a book on my journey that has included the search for self discovery that has encompassed, Silva Mind Control, TM, Ascension techniques, scuba diving at night in the full moon over coral reefs, meditations at dawn on Greek Islands with other spiritual seekers, darshan with Amma, NLP, Timeline Therapy, Hypnotherapy and Coaching, plus healing modalities including Holosync, Reiki and VortexHealing®.
However most significant yet on the spiritual path has been the awakening and at 17.15 on 22nd June 2006 at the Columbia Hotel in London among my awakened friends, amidst much laughter of liberation “I”, got the cosmic joke and woke up.
For more information see http://www.theopensecret.com/ or http://www.adyashanti.org/
The paradox is that there is no person that becomes enlightened. No-one awakens. Awakening is the absence of the illusion of individuality. Already there is only awakeness, oneness, timeless being, and radical aliveness. When the dream seeker ~ who was “I” ~ is no more it is seen (by no-one) that there is nothing to seek and no-one to become liberated.
There is no attachment to the drama of others and the hooks have gone or are going, so when realised dissolve back into the Divine.
This is a permanent state, rather than an early temporary Samadhi which occurred 12 years ago during an intensive 10 day NLP traing called "Tranceformation" when for the first time “I” entered a state when “I” was not thinking, yet thought was arising for no one.
It is useful on this journey to have others, friends and spiritual folks who are awake and are able to test and add confirmation. Though deepening, settling and coming to terms with it all, even 3 years after the event, are still occurring.
Recommend “Sudden Awakening” by Eli Jaxon-Bear, or “A New Earth” by Eckhart Tolle, or The End of Your World by Adyashanti.
As the Zen saying goes, “Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water.”
All is the same and yet all is different! Because now there is no one experiencing all that is.
John Fielder is an experienced and accredited Master Coach, certified NLP Coach, NLP Master and NLP Trainer.
He is also a Chartered HR and Management professional (MCIPD & FCMI) with proven expertise in coaching, training, transition management, assessment centres and career development.
You can contact him at 01344 303370, http://www.johnfielder.holisticlocal.co.uk/or johnfielder@btopenworld.com
