The Purpose of an Enlightenment Intensive

If you are serious about your personal Awakening, about making progress on your own spiritual path no matter where you are on it, toward that which is Infinite and Eternal, an Enlightenment Intensive is a GREAT place to go.

In everyday language, an Enlightenment Intensive is a spiritual awakening retreat in the purest sense of that phrase. It is spiritual because the work is aimed at that part of us that is beyond mind and body, beyond personality and ego - that part of us that was never born nor will ever die, often referred to as "spirit".  Awakening refers to this being a "breakthrough" process. We set out to shift into an undeniable higher level of consciousness (but always by way of the truth as it is for each of us in each moment). It's a retreat, not a workshop or course or seminar. Those things are fine, but that isn't what this is. This isn't a place to go to gather information from someone or something outside yourself, nor is it a place where you will work with others in any sort of "social" way, as takes place in workshops. This retreat will remove all societal distractions and social interactions that you find in daily life, thus greatly increasing the opportunity for you to retreat within yourself. An Enlightenment Intensive is highly experiential.

One wonderful thing about an EI is that it is something the vast majority of people can do. It's not easy, but it's very simple in a sense. Because the majority of work is done in dyads (more on dyads later) whereby you are sitting with another participant, taking turns expressing yourself and listening, in that sense it's a natural thing for humans to do. You don't have to sit perfectly still in a meditation posture while being silent for hours and days. You aren't under the influence of a plant medicine that you have absolutely no control over. You aren't asked to engage in extreme physical activities that can seem impossible to some. (And again, all those experiences can be amazing. I've done them all myself! :-) This isn't to say that an EI is easy, but to say that the work is accessible to a broad range of people from all walks of life and with a wide variety of abilities. Turns out that what makes it so accessible is also what makes it so effective: authentic relating. It starts out as a kind of good old fashion, honest, heart-to-heart sharing with another human being, however that looks. Some are bubbly and gregarious, some more careful and reserved. As the intensive moves along, and progress is made, communication becomes more raw, real, and honest, as trust builds. There's nothing quite like it. Many say they never experience that kind of sincerity when relating with others anywhere else. Eventually, some may even begin to literally flow forth as "the living truth".

In form, the Enlightenment Intensive is a container, a vessel, a safe and sacred space.  You might think of it as a ship, a Self-Discovery ship, built to boldly go where no one has gone before. We're never quite sure what we will discover, but we know that whatever it is, it will be just that, and that will be the truth. She's one of if not the best ship in the galaxy, with the most advanced shield and weapons system, and warp speed. And all on board are like the crew of the EI Enterprise, some highly experienced, others making their first voyage. But all are fully committed to the search for Truth. 

There are agreements we all make... to follow rules, a schedule, and a common aim: the truth. This is a silent retreat. Except for communicating to the listening partners in the dyads, participants do not speak to each other. But the staff are always available to talk to. We are formally trained and deeply devoted to supporting you through your struggles and in the direction of your truth and the Truth Itself. We are there for you 24/7, no-matter-what. 

Participants begin to sense this safety, this sacred space created. They start to let down their guard, to speak their mind and pour their heart out... to release what weighs them down. They simply tell the truth. Though it is not therapy, it is highly therapeutic. At some point, often on the second day, the sincere and hard-working participant will put all their story behind them, and in the face of fear or whatever else arises, they dig into to this thing right here and now: reality itself. Things often start to get quite interesting at this point. Communicating one rising experience after another, letting nothing (including nothing) stop them from the business at hand, this participant stays steadily poised in pure self-awareness... noticing what's true, communicating that, noticing... communicating... all the while opening and intending to Directly Experience the Absolute Truth.

In essence, the EI is a journey... an adventurous, exciting, challenging, and wonderfully rewarding journey within. We are all in it together, set out for this heralded realm called Truth. And yet, the journey is our very own. 

There is no doctrine or teaching to believe in. The only thing taught is a technique that points the participant directly at the truth of who or what they are, and also how to get through the barriers that will come up as a result of doing the technique... because in that process - that pursuit - beliefs, baggage, and the entire array programming picked up throughout our lives is confronted. It is literally "run into" as a result of going directly for the Truth of You. Or perhaps it's all around you, like quicksand. Or it seems it permeates you. However it seems, it's in the way of progress.  Maybe it seems like it's you at the time, but you just don't know because you can't quite put your finger on it. It's sometimes elusive and unknown to you. It's a barrier between who or what you identify as or indirectly experience yourself to be and You Realizing Who or What You Truly Are. By inquiring deep into who or what is experiencing this, persisting with determination and/or devotion, (however it is for you), and opening to it,  eventually it surfaces and becomes known to you. 

Then by expressing it to your dyad partner so they too know what it's like for you, now yours and another's combined light shine on it,  and it's true nature becomes fully revealed. If it's true nature is illusory, then it is now known as that, and thus it just dissolves because it's not true. But if it's true nature is Truth, then it expands, and this is a very beautiful, powerful thing to both experience and witness. Time and again, we express what we become aware of to another, in a dyad.

You may have noticed that when reading texts from almost every spiritual tradition, from the east to the west, old and new, the question "Who am I?" is often mentioned. It's at the root of all true spiritual practice, and it is the heart of Enlightenment Intensives. It's the question that first time participants contemplate in almost every case. On an EI you are often reminded to "stay with your question." Whether it's your turn to contemplate in a dyad, or if you're out on a walk, or simply folding a blanket, this question is what's kept in mind, and contemplated in every moment as best you can. "Who am I? Who feels the breeze on my face? Who is it that has these thoughts, that feels this way? Who hears the birds singing?" A surprisingly effective technique is taught that brings you into deeper and deeper self-awareness as the retreat moves along. 

Many believe that humanity is right now in a powerful time of spiritual transformation, a major shift in our collective consciousness. You don't have to believe this to feel called to this work and to get the value. But if you happen to believe this, or perhaps you even sense it, this method of self-inquiry using questions like "Who am I?" or "What am I?" is known as a "direct path" method for a reason. It's very efficient comparatively speaking. It makes sense that self-inquiry works so well in such a time as this collective shift, and the coming home to our own sovereignty, for as the Hopi elders say:

"We are the Ones we've been waiting for."