Our summer issue is out now…We speak to Lee Harris, intuitive guide, channeler, teacher & speaker. He speaks about his relationship with beings he channels called the Z’s and their important messages they have for us here on Earth.
Dive on in to learn more…
World-renowned meditation and spiritual teacher davidji is returning to Dublin this month to offer an amazing weekend retreat called ‘Saoirse 2019 – Power, Presence and Grace.’ It’s all about helping you to step into your truth as a spiritual warrior … and Positive Life readers are offered a special discount on the ticket price! We wanted to share a video that explains the purpose of davidji’s work in greater detail. Read on to learn more.
World-renowned meditation and spiritual teacher davidji is returning to Dublin this month to offer an amazing weekend retreat called ‘Saoirse 2019 – Power, Presence and Grace.’ It’s all about helping you to step into your truth as a spiritual warrior … and Positive Life readers are offered a special discount on the ticket price! Intrigued? Read on to learn more.
Our Summer 2018 issue has officially hit the shelves, and we couldn’t be more excited! We wanted to share an exclusive sneak peek of our interview with the world-renowned spiritual teacher Adyashanti (this issue’s cover star). He spoke to us about awakening on different levels of our being, the student-teacher relationship, and what Ireland means to him. Adyashanti and his wife Mukti will be visiting Dublin this August. To read the full interview, pick up a copy of the Summer issue in your local stockist, or subscribe online today.
by Aisling Cronin
Interviewers: Daizan Kaarlenkaski and Paul Congdon
Adyashanti is an American-born spiritual teacher who is devoted to serving the awakening of all beings. He promotes non-dual teachings, based on recognising both the infinite spiritual possibilities and the everyday simplicity of our lives. He is the author of a number of successful spiritual titles, including The Way of Liberation, Resurrecting Jesus and Falling into Grace. We were thrilled to interview him recently and hear about his thoughts on the student-teacher relationship, his relationship with his wife Mukti, working with his father, and what Ireland means to him.
Could you tell us about the way you share your dharma teachings? For example, you never answer questions directly, but instead offer questions for people to ask themselves.
When I am dialoguing with somebody, my goal is to help them discover an answer or a resolution inside themselves, for themselves. All true realisations come from within the individual. In my style of teaching, I put a lot of responsibility on the students because I think that in the spiritual community, the students are far too often infantilised and treated like children. It is often encouraged for students to relate to the teacher as a child would, rather than interacting as two adults in a state of mutual trust. Grown-ups make their own decisions.
Do you think there can come a point when the student-teacher relationship needs to evolve for the student to gain true autonomy?
Yes, I think if a student has too much projection around the teacher – if they’re projecting all of their own holiness and light onto them – then the teacher does become a barrier. People put these projections onto the teacher because they hope that the teacher is going to be able to ‘save’ them. To the extent that we allow ourselves to become involved in that projection, the projection is what becomes a barrier. I was with my teacher for about fourteen years before she asked me to teach, and I noticed then that our relationship changed. I was still open to what she had to say, and open to her direction and guidance, but I related to her as an adult and not as a child. Teachers are best regarded as mentors, rather than as ‘gods.’
How do your teachings translate into your day-to-day life, in terms of your relationships?
Mukti and I have one of the most harmonious relationships that I know. I’m not saying it’s the most harmonious relationship in the world or anything, but it’s always been something that comes relatively naturally to both of us, which is really lucky. It has felt so natural for us to be together and part of that may be because we never imagined that it was the other person’s responsibility to ‘make me happy’. It has certainly matured over time. It had a lot of those effortless qualities from the very beginning, but nothing stays static – you are either maturing or regressing, one or the other. For twenty-two years, I have kept thinking to myself, ‘it can’t get any more profound than this’ and the next year, I find myself thinking, ‘wow, it did!’ Relationships can be one of the greatest areas of growth there is. To have a successful relationship, you’ve got to be a clear, adult, mature human being. That applies to relationships of all kinds: lovers, friends, family, even strangers.
Adyashanti and Mukti will be visiting Dublin this August for a Special Intensive teaching event. This will take place from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday August 19th, in the Gibson Hotel, Point Square, North Dock, Dublin 1. For details, go to: www.adyashanti.org
Fran Bennett is a spiritual teacher who spent many years as a Roman Catholic Trappist monk. She has also led a number of retreat programmes in both the Vipassana Buddhist tradition and the Christian mystical/contemplative tradition. During a Church service in 2010, she had a transformative experience that she describes as “a radical perceptual shift in consciousness”, when she discovered a presence of spacious, pure awareness within herself. Fran is holding a special talk called ‘Full Circle Awakening’ on Tuesday March 27th, from 7.00 p.m. to 9.30 p.m., at the Talbot Hotel, Stillorgan Road, Co.Dublin. You can book tickets at Seminars.ie.
by Aisling Cronin
Many spiritual seekers are aware of the apparent conflict that can arise when we attempt to access the transcendent parts of ourselves, while also dealing with the reality of ourselves as complex, multifaceted human beings who experience a variety of struggles in our everyday lives. Many spiritual teachings talk only about rising above our personal human identities and dwelling in the absolute. For Fran Bennett, however, this dual understanding of who we are – encompassing both the transcendent and the personal – need not be a source of conflict or confusion. During her talk in Dublin, Full Circle Awakening, she will discuss the integral journey of both transcendence and embodiment, and why the transpersonal must also include the personal.
Fran is well-equipped to discuss this topic. She spent many years in monastic orders, living a life of contemplation, surrender and service, while searching for the presence of God. She lived in two monasteries of the Roman Catholic Trappist Order in the U.S., and was also a member of an urban contemplative monastic community originally founded in Paris, France in 1975. Fran received five and a half years of monastic/spiritual formation with the Trappists before making her vows as a monk at Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky.
Fran graduated from the Pontifical College Josephinum with a B.A. in Philosophy and completed a two year residency in Clinical Pastoral Education with Ohio Health Hospital System in Columbus, Ohio in 2004. She has worked in ministry in the area of pastoral care in the hospice movement, as a hospital chaplain, and a pastoral carer of the sick and dying in parish settings. During her time as a monk, Fran also studied the Zen meditation tradition and the Thervadan Buddhist practice of Vipassana.
During a Church service in one of her former monasteries in Montreal, Canada, in 2010, Fran suddenly experienced what she has described as “a radical perceptual shift in consciousness.” She discovered the presence of spacious, pure awareness within herself, and came to see that this sense of unbounded awareness was actually the unchanging essence of who she really is and always has been: “the Supreme Self, talked about by many sages and saints from many spiritual traditions down through the ages.”
Following this experience, Fran left her monastery and embarked upon a “new incarnation” as a spiritual teacher. She offers guidance and instruction in the Buddhist traditions she has studied, the contemplative Christian mystical tradition she experienced during her many years in monastic life, and the Hindu Advaita-Vedanta teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi (which have had a profound effect on her life).
Fran also has a great interest in offering spiritual accompaniment, encouragement and teaching to the LGBT+ community, following her decision to come out as transgender in 2016. She was prompted to do this after discovering that her chromosomes did not fit either the typical XY or XX profiles that most people possess.
At that time, she said, “Normally, males have an XY chromosomal profile and females have an XX chromosomal profile. But some people who are born outwardly ‘male’ or ‘female’ can have various chromosomal aberrations that are not the simple binary XX or XY. It turns out I am one of those people. Discovering this was actually a huge relief. It’s helped me understand what I have been unknowingly dealing with my whole life.”
Fran felt that her decision to whole-heartedly embrace her true gender identity was a catalyst for further advancing her own spiritual growth and her understanding of herself. She explained: “I have felt some hesitation and concern about a public disclosure concerning all this and have wondered how it might effect my relationships with my family and friends, and my teaching career. But I have come to see that if I am to teach others about life and authenticity, integration and integrity, I myself must be a living example of it.”
These principles of honesty, integration and integrity – principles that allow Fran to fully accept her personal self, while also living with the awareness of her transcendent self – permeate every aspect of her teachings today. Her talk in Dublin is sure to be a fascinating event.
Fran Bennett’s talk, ‘Full Circle Awakening’, will take place at the Talbot Hotel, Stillorgan Road, Co. Dublin, on Tuesday March 27th 2018, from 7.30 to 9.30 p.m. Tickets can be booked on the Seminars.ie website here. More information about Fran can be found at her website, findinggraceatthecenter.com.
By: Aisling Cronin / Interviewer: Paul Congdon
Eckhart Tolle is a well-known writer and spiritual teacher, whose books ‘The Power of Now’ and ‘A New Earth’ have become seminal works within the field of self-development. Ahead of his planned appearance in Dublin in September, we heard about his thoughts on Jesus, his love of dogs, and his experiment with LSD.
Last time we spoke, you mentioned that you were writing a book on Jesus. How has that evolved and what are you currently working on?
I can’t say exactly when my writings are going to evolve into a book. There are many aspects of Jesus that are very important to understand: the actual person, the mythological figure, and the spiritual teacher, for example. However, I can say that Jesus’ teachings have more depth than, perhaps, many regular churchgoers realise. The essence of Jesus’ teachings is the transformation of human consciousness, and a recognition that there is a dysfunction within it. ‘Salvation’, in the terminology that he uses, is transcending the dysfunction that we inherit, which is sometimes referred to in Christianity as ‘Original Sin’. You can see that dysfunction clearly when you read history or watch the news tonight.
A lot has happened since we last spoke in 2015, and we have seen an increase in fear based politics in the USA and Britain. How can we navigate times like these?
The main thing is not to be drawn too much into reactivity, believing that the problem lies within individual people or groups. What we see on the news are movements of underlying unconsciousness that have to come to the surface to play themselves out. Unconsciousness always has to come to the surface. If it is not recognised within oneself, it is experienced as an outer event. The external world becomes a reflection of your inner world. This applies both to the individual and the collective. These events can definitely seem negative from one perspective, but seen from a higher spiritual perspective, they are necessary for the awakening of humanity.
Many people felt that the world was a kinder place at the time of Barack Obama’s inauguration, and that we have moved backwards since then. During the 1960s, a similar feeling of positivity and upward movement existed: a sense that peace really was coming. What is your feeling on this?
The evolution of consciousness is not a straight upward movement. It is cyclical, and always involves a regressive period. After a regressive period, you move forward again – further than you had done before. I believe that we are now experiencing a regressive movement, but not every individual alive now will be drawn into that movement. Those humans who are completely unconscious will have to go through that experience of suffering most strongly. Simply be as conscious as you can, and do not make any human being or group of human beings into ‘the enemy’. On social media, for example, you can see an enormous amount of reactivity and anger, so it is particularly important to bring the bright light of consciousness into all of your online interactions.
When you see someone close to you – perhaps a friend or family member – behave unconsciously, how best can you call that person out for their behaviour?
It is vital that when you do that, you yourself are free of reactivity or aggressiveness, and that you are not demonising the other person or making them ‘wrong’. You must communicate with the person while they are relatively conscious. All humans exhibit various degrees of unconsciousness at different times and in different ways, and it is a very delicate thing to point out to somebody that they have been behaving unconsciously. The most important thing is that you need to be totally present and conscious when you point it out … otherwise, you will be drawn into a fight.
When you had your spiritual awakening, you said that you had experienced an ’80% reduction’ in your thoughts. Has that level been maintained?
Oh yes. The most wonderful thing about that shift in consciousness – the transformation that I continue to experience every day – is that I am no longer tortured by my mind. For example, when I go to bed and I close my eyes, I can immediately dismiss all thought and simply be present in my body. There are also many times during the day when there is nothing much to think about, and I simply enjoy sensory experiences like looking out at the sky and the trees.
Do you spend a lot of time in nature?
Yes, I do. Here in Vancouver, I live in an apartment building right next to a nature spot. When I look out of the window right now, I see huge, wonderful trees, snowcapped mountains in the background, and a clear blue sky. It’s wonderful just to sit here and contemplate. I often go for walks in the forest or on the beach.
We’ve heard that you are a huge fan of dogs. Do you have a dog who accompanies you on those nature walks?
At the moment, I do not have a dog, but sometimes I look after other people’s dogs. I do love their wonderful rootedness – how they are so firmly centred in the present moment – and the joy they exhibit. A dog does not constantly ask themselves, “Do I love myself? Do I hate myself? Do I have a complicated relationship with myself?” A dog just is. Animals are conscious, but do not have a stream of conceptual thought running through their heads all the time. They haven’t arrived at thinking yet, and they are still more rooted in being. Once humans transcend the level of thought, we return to that state, but with an added dimension of awareness that the dog does not have. However, it is true to say that for many people, their cat or dog keeps them sane, as they simply accept them the way they are, without interference from the conceptual, judgemental mind.
Recently in the spiritual community, there has been a lot of talk about plant medicine. Do you see it as a road to enlightenment?
I don’t see it as a road to true and lasting awakening, but it can give people a glimpse of freedom from the prison of their conceptual mind. Years ago, I was asked a lot of questions about LSD and acid, so I tried acid because I couldn’t really answer the questions if I didn’t! I’ve never felt the desire to repeat that experience, but I could see that for some people, the enormous amplification of sensory experience – as if somebody had ‘turned up the volume’, not only on hearing but also on smell and colour – would give them very little room for compulsive thought. The use of plant medicine can be an opening for some people, but ultimately, from there, you have to go to ‘presence practice’ in your daily life, and not be dependent on any substance.
What is your advice for people who want to bring themselves into the present moment?
Don’t wait for some imagined future state of liberation or awakening that you want to achieve. Simply accept what is, in the present moment. Accept each moment as if you had chosen it, and then you will already be liberated. You will already be awakened. There is nothing to look for anymore.
What advice would you give to parents on how to help their children?
The most important thing is to give them attention. Much of the time, when parents think they are giving attention to their children, they are doing so through the medium of ‘do this’ or ‘don’t do that’. Giving attention means to look at a child and to listen: to truly be present and communicate with that child. Give your child the gift of your presence. In that way, your essence will reach the child’s essence, and they will feel truly recognised.
Eckhart Tolle will be speaking in Dublin on September 9th in the RDS, Ballsbridge, Dublin. For more information about the talk, go to: seminars.ie
This is a sneak peek from our Summer 2017 issue Inspiring interview with Eckhart Tolle. The issue is out now. Pick one up free in one of our stockists all over Ireland to read the full article, or subscribe to have it delivered.
By: Aisling Cronin / Interviewer: Paul Congdon
Eckhart Tolle is a well-known writer and spiritual teacher, whose books ‘The Power of Now’ and ‘A New Earth’ have become seminal works within the field of self-development. Ahead of his planned appearance in Dublin in September, we heard about his thoughts on Jesus, his love of dogs, and his experiment with LSD.
Last time we spoke, you mentioned that you were writing a book on Jesus. How has that evolved and what are you currently working on?
I can’t say exactly when my writings are going to evolve into a book. There are many aspects of Jesus that are very important to understand: the actual person, the mythological figure, and the spiritual teacher, for example. However, I can say that Jesus’ teachings have more depth than, perhaps, many regular churchgoers realise. The essence of Jesus’ teachings is the transformation of human consciousness, and a recognition that there is a dysfunction within it. ‘Salvation’, in the terminology that he uses, is transcending the dysfunction that we inherit, which is sometimes referred to in Christianity as ‘Original Sin’. You can see that dysfunction clearly when you read history or watch the news tonight.
A lot has happened since we last spoke in 2015, and we have seen an increase in fear based politics in the USA and Britain. How can we navigate times like these?
The main thing is not to be drawn too much into reactivity, believing that the problem lies within individual people or groups. What we see on the news are movements of underlying unconsciousness that have to come to the surface to play themselves out. Unconsciousness always has to come to the surface. If it is not recognised within oneself, it is experienced as an outer event. The external world becomes a reflection of your inner world. This applies both to the individual and the collective. These events can definitely seem negative from one perspective, but seen from a higher spiritual perspective, they are necessary for the awakening of humanity.
This is a sneak peek from our Summer 2017 issue Inspiring interview with Eckhart Tolle. The issue is out now. Pick one up free in one of our stockists all over Ireland to read the full article, or subscribe to have it delivered.
Eckhart Tolle will be speaking in Dublin on September 9th in the RDS, Ballsbridge, Dublin. For more information about the talk, go to: seminars.ie
Facebook Page | Thursday, March 3oth, 2017, 7:30pm | Eur 20 / 15 euros concession | Location: The Powerscourt Theatre, Dublin 2.
Please note, this is a especial event, best is to book your tickets in advance!
Our guest Jan Esmann from Denmark will be in conversation with Paul Congdon.
He is an enlightened teacher who doesn’t speak much in public. So this evening is a rare opportunity to find out what it’s like to be enlightened and to live in bliss every day.
For those of you who know Mother Amma (Hugging Amma) Jan related to her as a spiritual master, meeting her regularly for 15 years; he is still deeply connected with her as a guiding light within. Jan became enlightened in 1985.
He is one of the few persons in Western world, who can give a very sacred and very rare Shaktipat initiation. More information about Shaktipat is available here.
Delicious natural juices to be provided by Cornucopia Dublin at the break.
Click here to buy your tickets in advance!
Jan Esmann is an enlightened Shaktipat master living in Copenhagen, Denmark. He teaches, transmits and gives Shaktipat. The highest teachings are transmitted in silence during meditation or afterwards. Jan is not part of any tradition or represents a lineage.
You can check out a very interesting interview with Jan here.
If you want to learn more about Jan you can check his sites: lovebliss.eu & shaktipat.eu
In the course you will:
After five days dedicated to your soul journey you’ll return home with a stronger connection to the spirit world, a fuller awareness that there is no death, and a deeper sense of how spirit works with you on a daily basis to bring forth light and healing to all who encounter you.
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