Posts Tagged ‘Freedom’
Friday, March 25th, 2011
An excerpt from a Life Mastery Program (LMP) group coaching call conducted by David Wolf, Ph.D.
David:
“On our first call we spoke about living our lives so that when we’re a hundred years old we look back without regrets. It’s about living with a sense of urgency. Urgency doesn’t mean anxiety, it’s not about living with panic and pressure; in fact, it’s just the opposite. When I’m living with urgency, I’m fully present in whatever I’m doing, whether I’m with my kids, reading a book, walking down the street, teaching a seminar, at my job. Whatever it is, I’m fully present, because life is precious and I don’t want to lose a moment worrying about the future or wallowing in the past. When we’re living with urgency, anxiety disappears. We’re not lamenting about the past or worrying about the future, though living in the present may involve planning for the future or productively analyzing the past. It’s actually freeing to be 100% present in each moment. It involves being available with our experience, with all our faculties. We’re talking about a conscious way of living. It’s not whimsical, it’s not reckless. There’s a difference between living in the moment and living for the moment. Living in the moment is with urgency. Living for the moment indicates living for some shallow purpose. I ask that at this point in the program we take a look at the extent to which we’re living with urgency, so that when I look back I’ll have no regrets. I’d like to read something by Martin Buber about presence. “In spite of all similarities, every living situation has, like a newborn child, a new face, that has never been before and will never come again. It demands of you a reaction that cannot be prepared beforehand. It demands nothing of what is past. It demands presence, responsibility; it demands you.”
Tags: David Wolf, Freedom, mastery, responsibility, urgency
Posted in Excerpts From Life Coaching Letters, Life Coaching, Transformative Communication | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011
“In our lives, change is unavoidable, loss is unavoidable. In the adaptability and ease with which we experience change, lies our happiness and freedom.”
Buddha
Tags: adaptability, buddha, change, Freedom, happiness, loss
Posted in Quotes | No Comments »
Saturday, December 18th, 2010
“This Satvatove 3 was similar to the first two seminars in some ways, but very different in many other ways. And I am hopeful that my sharing about it will attract others to do it themselves, because it’s not just more of the same (although that would also be great): it’s a whole other experience, on a new and different level.
It has catalyzed my being more the master and source of my experience: what I might call the freedom and creativity arising from taking responsibility for my life. In the seminar, there were structures, agreements, and ground rules in place, but I didn’t feel the strictness, or ‘pressure’, from the facilitators to follow them, as I had in the Advanced Course. Whether it was conscious or not (and I haven’t asked them yet), David and Marie seemed to be respecting – almost expecting us – and calling us in that way, to be in charge of our own time, punctuality, commitments, and agreements. I felt empowered and encouraged, respectfully, lovingly and firmly, to go beyond where I’d been; to be the leader I want to be; the creator and master of my own results.
The following statement is becoming more true for me because of that mood in the seminar: ‘Some people regard discipline as a chore. For me, it is a kind of order that sets me free to fly.’ The name of the seminar, ‘An Adventure in Conscious Living’, suits it to the ‘T’. I got new tools – and experiences of applying them – that will serve me the rest of my life!
Since the seminar, I’ve had many realisations and breakthroughs. Something unique with this one, is that it’s been more deep, subtle and gradual than with the first two. It has been building, and manifesting little by little (and often not so little). Probably one reason that it’s been like this, is because I got in touch with my courage, and saw more clearly that I had been choosing my fear over the courage. The result is that I’ve been more in action, and this has been snowballing.
Almost immediately, I started a new 12-session coaching package with David and Marie. That may not sound so surprising or ‘big’, but considering I’d been procrastinating about it, and giving into the fear around that, for more than a year, it’s very significant; especially when I’ve known all that time that it was the best thing I could do. Another thing I’m doing now, is to delete – or unsubscribe to – at least 50% of the e-mails I get, instead of letting them sit there, forever, thinking ‘Oh, one day I’m going to read this…’ This is apparently small, but it’s indicative of the clarity & decisiveness that started manifesting in the seminar, and is building.
I have never been in a seminar in which the two Satvatove co-founders were facilitating together. Although I know that behind the scenes they’re always collaborating deeply and powerfully, to be with them in the seminar and see them in action together was hugely inspiring and encouraging. To see these two highly committed, focused, powerful and loving personalities together, was an experience in itself, a model of the seminar’s name in action. And to see how sometimes their different, individual approaches came out, and how they spontaneously handled that.
There’s lots more, but I’ll finish here. I thank you, deeply, David and Marie, and Fayenen, for giving me such a rewarding opportunity. I will also be offering ideas and suggestions on possible ways to improve this new seminar, because I know that’s what you all want, and that that is the way that Satvatove works.”
David Aycrigg
Satvatove 3: An Adventure in Conscious Living – September 2010
Tags: Commitment, Conscious Living, courage, EST, Freedom, power, responsibility
Posted in Satvatove 3, Testimonials | No Comments »
Sunday, May 4th, 2008
I conduct Life Transformation Skills seminars. These seminars provide an environment for spiritually-based personal development. During one part of the training we ask the participants what are some tangible, material things for which people strive. Typically the resulting list looks something like this: cars, computers, a big house, attractive spouse, children, job, jewelry and vacation time. Then we ask why people endeavor for such things. The resulting list includes experiences such as happiness, security, power, intimacy, fulfillment, balance, love, vitality, freedom, strength, courage, joy and affection.
There Is No Intrinsic Connection Between The Things We Strive For And Our Experience
Next, by observing the two lists we consider whether there are persons who possess a large house, a big car and a prestigious job, but who do not experience much joy, power or fulfillment in their lives. Certainly there are. And we consider whether there are persons who experience an abundance of happiness, intimacy and vitality in their lives, although they don’t have the items on the other list. Clearly, such persons exist. The conclusion is that there is no intrinsic connection between the two lists. Although they sometimes overlap, there is no inherent causal link.
Tamas
With reference to the three gunas, let’s look at the lack of innate correlation between the “things” column and the “experience” column. Tamas is a mode of inertia, where our consciousness clings to a paradigm that may be called Have-Do-Be. In this paradigm we think, “If I could just have $100,000 in the bank, a nicer car, a job with paid vacation…then I could do what I want to do, and then I would be happy, satisfied, appreciated, vibrant…” “If I could just have a nicer boss, then I would be content and peaceful.” In this mindset, our experience is dependent on having. The saying, “What profits a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his soul?” indicates the difficulty with this attitude.
Rajas
Rajas is the mode of activity, where we adhere to the framework of Do-Have-Be. In this way of thinking we consider that if I could just do what I want to do, then I’ll have what I want, and then I would be free, strong, giving and vital. Our consciousness starts from the point of activity, and experience is contingent upon that.
Sattva
Sattva guna corresponds with enlightenment. Sattvic consciousness is the natural state of the authentic self. Steady in sattva we live in the paradigm of Be-Do-Have. Fixed in this way of being, experiencing strength, beauty, security, intimacy, warmth, freedom, etc., is not dependent on doing or having. I don’t need to do or have anything to experience satisfaction, aliveness, courage, clarity, etc., because these qualities are who I am, they are my essential nature. It’s not that, in a Be-Do-Have paradigm, there isn’t doing or having. Rather, our doing and having assume full potency, compared with tamasic or rajasic perspectives, because what we do and have flow naturally from our being. They are not separate endeavors. To experience joy, closeness, radiance, and all other qualities of our self is not dependent on what we do or have. In Be-Do-Have, we naturally do things that bold, enlivened, successful people do, because our nature is bold, enlivened and successful. And naturally we’ll have things that powerful, confident, and trusting people have, such as abundance, rewarding activity and fulfilling relationships.
Personal Development Entails Uncovering Qualities of Our Self
Bhagavad-gita, presenting the essence of Vedic teachings, delineates a Be-Do-Have approach to life. In that book Sri Krsna encourages Arjuna to “Be transcendental..be free from dualities…be without anxiety…and be established in the self.” The process of personal development entails uncovering qualities of our self, our being, that have been covered, and fully manifesting them in our lives.
With one coaching client with whom I was working we specifically focused on him being patient and peaceful, qualities that were missing in his life, and which he wanted to cultivate. With earnest he connected with the patience and calm that are inherent to his being. During our next coaching session he described, with surprise, that his supervisor asked him to accept a position with increased responsibility, involving training others. She particularly mentioned that she offered this because of his patience and ability to be calm in stressful situations. Being patient and peaceful naturally resulted in acting in ways that patient and peaceful act, in this instance a more rewarding career activity, and having things that patient and peaceful people have, in this example an increased income. Be-Do-Have.
Tags: Be Transcendental, Bhagavat Gita, Freedom, Human Nature, increased confidence, Living an Authentic Life, Managing Stress, Personal Development, personal transformation, Personality Assesment, Qualities of Our Self, Raja, Rewarding Career, Sattva, Spiritual principles, Success, Tamas, Transformative Communication, Vedic, Vedic Personality
Posted in Articles, Conscious Living, Featured, Living an Authentic Life, North Florida, Personal Development, Personal Development in Florida, Personal Growth, Spiritual Growth | 1 Comment »
