Enlightenment Preview

Enlightenment Poetry

May 1-4 2008 Three Day Enlightenment Intensive In Northern California

Date
May 1-4, 2008
Thursday evening through Sunday evening (Sunday night stay overs are welcome)

Location & Facility
Retreat will be held at the Rambln Rose Ranch which sits on Chico Creek, 40 minutes east of Chico, California in the foothills of Forest Ranch.

Cost
$300 per person includes three vegetarian meals per day, snacks, tea and lodging. $25. discount if paid in full by April 1st. $10 extra for Sunday night stay over.

Registration
Space is limited to 20 participants.
To register send $50.00 deposit or payment in full to:

Adrienne Parker
341 Broadway Suite 409
Chico, CA 95928

Contact
For additional information contact:

Adrienne Parker 530-321-6148 tellmewhatanotheris@yahoo.com
Patrick Cole 530-864-6981 patrick@arcademe.com

Rambln Rose Ranch

Sweet Thisness

In dyad this morning, I was contemplating the question, What is Another? and my moment was filled with the sweet thisness of both Self and Another. I am awed at the beauty of this creative presence.

Enlightenment Intensives

I am uncertain as to who to give credit for this and I don't have an on-line source. I think it was probably written by Edrid or Osha Reader or perhaps both of them but I'm not sure. I'm posting it in it's entirety because it's a nice explanation of what Enlightenment Intensives are about.

Enlightenment Intensives

The Enlightenment Intensive is a 3-day residential workshop which provides an opportunity for you to come into conscious union with the truth of yourself, life, and others. The Enlightenment Intensive technique combines the age-old practice of reflective contemplation with verbal communication in a structured and non-distractive environment.

The Enlightenment Intensive format was developed in 1968 by Charles Berner after years of research into methods by which people could deepen and improve their relationships. To help people accelerate their process of self-discovery, Berner combined contemplation of the questions Who am I? What am I? What is life? and What is another? with one-to-one communication. Using this process he discovered that within periods of a few days, his students were having enlightenment experiences identical in kind to those described by people who had practiced silent meditation for many years. Since that time, thousands of participants have accelerated their awakening, increased their communication skills and personal happiness, and improved the quality of their lives through this dynamic and powerful technique.

There is no belief system or particular view of life taught during an Enlightenment Intensive. No one tells you what the truth is. The dyad format gives you an opportunity to go beyond mental constructs and bring your full consciousness into direct contact with the truth. During the Intensive you combine the steady contemplation of your question with responsible communication to a partner. You spend half the time contemplating and communicating and half the time receiving your partner's communication, working with a new partner every forty-five minutes. These dyad periods are balanced with meals, walks, physical exercise and rest, inspirational talks, and silent contemplation. However, the majority of the time is spent each day doing the Enlightenment technique described above. Vegetarian meals, snacks, vitamins, and sleeping space are provided Participants bring their own sleeping bags, pillows, towels, and personal necessities.

Enlightenment is not a far-away, esoteric experience attainable only by a few individuals willing to give up home, family and possessions and spend their lives in caves meditating. It is available to every individual, and it can completely change your life. Though enlightenment transcends definitions and has many levels, enlightened individuals agree that it is a direct experience of truth. Unlike insight, conclusion, or belief, it involves a fundamental shift in consciousness which is separate from thinking, feeling, believing, and reasoning. In enlightenment there is only union. It is absolute, timeless, and unchangeable. There is no way to make enlightenment happen, yet you can put yourself in an environment where it is most likely to happen. The Enlightenment Intensive provides such a environment. It is by no means the only way for yo to come into conscious union with the truth, but it is a proven and powerful way. It is a unique opportunity.

The value of directly experiencing and communicating the truth is that it enables you to live more consciously and effectively, and in closer contact with others. Enlightenment helps yo live life in harmony with the way things actually are and facilitates your progress toward personal and spiritual goals. It enhances any discipline or work you are currently doing, improves you relationships, and empowers you as an individual.

The Love Intensive follows the same basic format as the Enlightenment Intensive except that everyone works on the question, What is love?. The Love Intensive opens your heart and deepens your contact with others.

The Dyad Sesshin is a variation on the Enlightenment Intensive designed for individuals experienced in mediation who wish to deepen their experience of who and what they are and who benefit from additional contemplation periods and more physical exercise.

As Much As You Wanted That Breath

Adapted from one of Charles Berner's lectures:

Once there was a monk who had a master. And he’d been with him for two or three years, trying to get enlightened, and he wasn’t making it. So he said, “Oh master”, as they were going for a walk one day, “please tell me what I’m doing wrong? I’ve followed everything you said, and I still haven’t gotten enlightened. What should I do?” The master didn’t say a thing, he just kept on walking.

And after awhile they came to a stream, and they began to ford the stream. They got about halfway across, and suddenly the master stopped. The student thought, “Aha, I’m going to get a lesson, I know it. He’s going to teach me something. I know him.” And sure enough the master looked right at him, grabbed him around the neck and stuck his head under the water. “Huh? See? I knew it, he’s going to enlighten me thought the monk. So the monk is underneath the water waiting for the enlightenment experience. And he waits a little bit more, but nothing’s happening except he is getting a little bit short on breath. And he thinks, “Well, now, I have confidence in my teacher, and I know he’s going to get me enlightened, so I’m just not going to show any signs of strain here; and so I’ll just endure.” And so he’s under the water enduring.

The master still has him by the neck. Pretty soon, he really starts to get into trouble. “This is serious. I’m hurting. I could drown under here!” The master just holds him under the water.
“Well,” he thinks, “I don’t think my master understands my situation, so I better let a few bubbles up to let him know that I’m in trouble.” So he lets up a few bubbles, but the master just holds him right under the water and doesn’t budge an inch. The monk thinks, “Well, I don’t think he got it.” So he goes “bruummph”, and all the air comes up and he wiggles a little bit. And the master just holds him underneath.

The monk begins to think, “You know, I’m not so sure about my master. I don’t know if he knows what he’s doing.” The master keeps holding him under the water. He thinks, “I gotta get out of here, I gotta get out of here!” So he starts to really wiggle and struggle. The master just holds him firmer than ever underneath the water. He thinks, “You know, I think that guy’s a little batty! My master’s a nut! I always saw those little traits about him. I’m getting out of here. I don’t care what he says. Lesson or no lesson, I’m coming up.” So with all his might, he goes “Uggggh!” And the master, with superhuman strength, holds him there, locked. The monk thinks, “Well, I guess I’m going to die. I can’t get up. He’s got more strength than I’ve got. He’s got me in a hold. I’ve trusted him and he’s betrayed me completely, and I’m going to die.”

And so he starts to just let go. At that moment, the master hauls him out of the water, and he gasps for air: “AHHHHHH,” and the master says, “Now, when you want to get enlightened as much as you wanted that breath, you’ll make it.”

My Hole

While contemplating during a dyad at one Enlightenment Intensive, I found myself in a hole and realized how ridiculously pathetic I was. I was feeling so overwhelmingly stuck, you would have imagined that I was sitting at the bottom of the hole, twenty feet down and that it was dark and muddy and cold with no way out. My eyes were shut so I opened them and looked around. I found that the hole was indeed about twenty feet deep, but there was a ladder in it, and also the sun was shining a bright ray of light right down into the shaft and the walls of the hole were completely illuminated. Not only that, I was standing on a rung of the ladder, with my head about five feet from the top with the warm sun shining on my face.