Yesterday in London, I traveled with friends Blake Ludwig, Ann-Mari Freebairn and Alan Smith to film us meditating near the protest site at St Paul’s cathedral. With specially designed “Occupy Zero” sweatshirts the three of us sat down motionless in the midst of a chaotic and restless demonstration scene.

What happened then was really miraculous and unexpected. First of all, we all experienced in a similar way the sense of going very deep into stillness and ease very quickly when we sat down to meditate. It was like a magnetic pull compelling us to let go and be completely undefended in an unusually profound way. This seemed to cause somewhat of a scene in and of itself, as nearly everyone else was running around and quite agitated – the protest rally was just about to take off down the street as hundreds gathered forces at the steps of the cathedral. So the pure fact of being completely still caused us to stand out enormously! Apparently 20-25 people took photos of us during this relatively short sitting period as well. Secondly there was the very strong sense of community and good will amongst everyone there, even with the police. People were very interested in what we were doing, asking us what “Occupy Zero” was all about, and even wanting to know where to buy the tops we were wearing. This was a great opportunity to speak about meditation, the benefits of practising it for ourselves and the people around us, and also the 24-hour meditation marathon that EnlightenNext is hosting on 10th-11th December.

It was an interesting experience being there as I could feel the excitement of change in the air and people caring for our future. What was fascinating was how inclusive it was. We were totally embraced and even applauded for our efforts for standing behind this “Occupy Zero” cause. There wasn’t a hint of suspicion, or judgment from people– we were all one group of people together wanting to make a difference. The Occupy movement globally feels like a response to a system that isn’t working. What’s amazing about it is to see that people, to varying degrees, only seem to have a small part of the bigger picture, and many groups are jumping on the bandwagon so to speak about all sorts of issues, but that together the call for change comes from a care to create a better future for us all– which is really wholesome! The pace and complexity of life seems to be quickening and deepening everyday. The problems we face are enormous and overwhelming as a species – everyone knows this. What we do need is a new and fresh way to approach them, a way of working together and responding from a deeper and freer place to find creative solutions – to find a way beyond separation from and fear of the life process and each other. This is what the sincere practice of meditation can open up for us.

Join us on 10th December for the 3rd Annual EnlightenNext Meditation Marathon – so we can “Occupy Zero” together, for a brighter future!

And you can view the video we made here:

Last weekend, I travelled with Patrick Bryson, a senior student of spiritual teacher Andrew Cohen’s, from London to Dorset to facilitate a day event. This was a gathering of the South West Integral/Evolutionary group, organised very generously by Ralph Cree, so this day was organised for us to go into the teachings and practises of Evolutionary Enlightenment together. We were also lucky enough to stay over the night before, so had a chance to spend more time in a more informal way.
We were 17 in total and from the get go on the day itself I was moved by the level of interest, authenticity and openness in the group. The theme of the day was the 3-step process that Andrew Cohen outlined on his last long retreat in Tuscany this year. We listened to a powerful audio of Andrew outlining these steps, which are:

1) Realising that you are largely unenlightened and that there is somewhere to go
2) Letting go of everything (Meditation)
3) Re-engaging with the world/life/self from a deeper and free place

After listening to the audio, I became aware of a very powerful field in the room and then Patrick set the context for a period of meditation, which seemed a lot easier after what just happened. After this we broke off into smaller groups to discuss what it means to let go of everything. It was very interesting to explore how it’s a lot easier to understand letting go of particular ‘things’ or thoughts, than to even begin to grapple with this deeper letting go. But what’s extraordinary about it is that it’s only this deeper letting go that puts any of us in the position to be able to enquire freely about our experience.
After an engaging lunch period we gathered again in the afternoon for another mediation period followed by questions. After that we moved swiftly into exploring the unique philosophy of Evolutionary Enlightenment and another audio with Andrew Cohen. He was explaining how to engage our minds with the biggest and most significant idea of our time – Evolution. So much happened in the morning session that it felt like hard to keep up! And in this environment learning takes on a very deep and multidimensional nature. Insights were popping into my head that I just knew I would not come to on my own…it’s was a truly magical atmosphere! We explored many topics for the rest of the day around the evolution of consciousness and culture, with an underlying simplicity that emerged from the morning. It became clearer to me how we see and interpret life through perspectives and that the fact that we can cognise our own development in this way IS a product of evolution itself – and that is extraordinary! Patrick and I are looking forward to doing more of these days in the future.

Testimonials from the day: -

1) Andy Jukes
“Yes, the day was great and both Jayne and myself really enjoyed it.
I guess there are a couple of really significant things that continues to amaze and inspire me about the Being and Becoming distinction/method/teaching. First is the incredible depth and power that it has as a potential and at the same time the immediacy and simplicity of the practice.
The second is that the practice of enlightened dialogue between people really does enable me to experience myself and others in a totally new and much more profound way. Just by following a few simple instructions I have been able to experience a new way of relating to myself and others that is very liberating and seems to point in a new direction. This really is the experience of culture evolving rather than merely a noble aspiration or concept.
These were the most powerful insights I had reflecting on the day and I would just like to say thanks again to you and Patrick for the gift of your presence and skilful facilitation.”

2) Tania Barker
“Yes, sunday was fabulous and just the boost I needed. Thank you for yours and Patrick’s presence. I really appreciate the importance of having a supportive community that is sustaining on this evolutionary journey of ours”

3) Marcus Podilchuk
“attended an amazing mini Being & Becoming retreat in Dorset this weekend led by David Leckenby and Patrick Bryson of EnlightenNext London (https://www.facebook.com/EnlightenNextUK). I arrived the night before and got a bonus prequel with the leaders who were also staying over. Not sure if ‘retreat’ is the best title… it felt more like we were running towards something rather than away from anything?”
“I’m hearing very glowing afterthoughts from others and I think the biggest impact on me, beyond even the learning, was to experience the first time for myself a bit of the ‘collective engagement’ effect. But the evening before, close-up with you and Patrick was also unique, a chance to engage kind of self-centredly rather than as part of a group. So – the weekend provided a wonderful best of both worlds!”

This week’s Enlightened Evening topic that we looked into was “The Nature of Consciousness is Lightness of Being and Joy”.

Patrick Bryson, one of Andrew Cohen’s senior students, led the group of us gathered in the EnlighenNext Centre in London into a deeply intimate investigation of consciousness and also more subtle and profound perspectives on our experience. After he set some initial context as to how the evenings usually proceed, and the vision and mission of EnlightenNext, he then played a very moving audio of Andrew Cohen speaking about this topic from the last Being and Becoming retreat in Tuscany. Andrew was saying in the dialogue that the nature of consciousness IS joy and lightness of being and that we will experience that if we simply put our attention on that and not on the movement and meanderings of our own minds. He went on to say however that if we do put our attention on the movement of our minds, we would NOT experience lightness of being and joy. It’s pretty simple and easy to understand this, but it’s challenging and subtle when you actually try to do it!

And that’s exactly what we did next. We all then sat very still, with the express aim to have no relationship to our minds and to directly experience the nature of consciousness for ourselves. When Patrick ended the period of silence I felt like I was in another dimension, where I lost track of time, felt very light, and yes very joyous! What was also interesting was when we attempted to speak about it together afterwards. The more we made the effort to really articulate our deepest experience it became clearer and more obvious that consciousness and this inner dimension is something we actually share – and talking about it together revealed more facets and dimensions of it. Looking forward to continuing next week!

At this time many of us here at EnlightenNext are thinking about and eagerly anticipating the upcoming long retreat with Andrew Cohen this August. The Being and Becoming Retreat is a major milestone in EnlightenNext’s yearly calendar. This year it will be held in the beautiful hills of Tuscany. You can read all the details here

To focus our collective attention on the power and purpose of going on retreat, we’ve decided to devote next Tuesday’s Evolution and Meditation night at the London Centre (14th June 2011) to a discussion about going on retreat and its benefits. This evening will be FREE for anyone so please do consider joining us. We will be able to engage together, watch some great clips from last year’s retreat and get a deeper sense of what it means to be able to transform our lives in order to create a better future for humanity.

So please do come along! And invite anyone else who you think may be interested and wants to learn more. If you live too far away to come on Tuesday, don’t hesitate to get in touch to discuss any questions you may have or simply to speak together more fully.

From Nothing Came Something – featuring Andrew Cohen , music by David Leckenby

I love listening to and creating music. Ever since I was a boy playing classical guitar, to being in rock bands in my teens, to my many electronic music productions to date, I have as long as I can remember been inspired to do this. Being brought up in a very post-modern suburban Australian lifestyle I found that, even though I had some high achievements in my life at that time, like being a national tae kwon do champion, and also some minor musical success in terms of an EP release and some good live gigs (sort of strange combination you might think…but they actually are very related ☺) – I was convinced that something was deeply wrong and very much missing in my life. From then a search for meaning led me from psychology to new age shamanism, to self help techniques, but it wasn’t until I heard spiritual teacher Andrew Cohen speak that I knew that I had finally found what I was looking for. I was so profoundly moved by how Andrew expressed such a deep humanity, joy, freedom, and creative spontaneity. He was showing many of us how to be completely free from the world and everything – completely free and unattached! Leading up until this time I had given away my musical and career ambitions in the belief that it was all ego baggage to be transcended.

A few years later I was stunned and very inspired when I found out that Andrew was also a drummer in a kick-ass jazz funk rock band called the Unfulfilled Desires! This was the start of an ongoing recognition of the life positive and life embracing nature of the Evolutionary Enlightenment, and a time when the bug of this infectious creativity began to bite me again and I pursued music once more in earnest. You can hear/purchase any of my production works here. Since then my own deep appreciation for Andrew and this profoundly life positive path for human development and evolution has only grown.

Creativity in art, music, or in any form, can be understood as the same driving force that created all of manifestation and the universe itself! And is the expression of any person at a particular stage of development striving and grappling to understand and integrate reality – to express the deep joy, depth, yearning and beauty of life itself.

I think the artistic and musical expressions of a new stage of consciousness and culture beyond postmodernism are only barely beginning to be seen, and it’s a very exciting time to be exploring this with other like-minded people at the moment. I don’t really know what it will look or sound like really, but I do feel that it’s going to be awe-inspiring…

For the past several weeks on Tuesday evenings we’ve been exploring the topic of ‘spiritual self-confidence’. This collective conversation has yielded many rewards in terms of being able to discriminate between a confidence that comes from outside oneself and one that comes from a deeper awakening to or knowing of cosmic truth, of the nature of Life in its fullest dimension. This past week in keeping with that inquiry we discussed the concept of faith and what it means in an evolutionary context. A totally fascinating investigation into a very charged word!!

In this short audio clip of Chris Parish, Managing Director of EnlightenNext UK, who facilitated the evening conversation along with Kyrsten Perry, you’ll get a sense of the terrain we covered—a source of a conviction that cannot be shaken because it is based on our own deepest recognition.

The dining room was buzzing like an electric generator after an incredible day.

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to have been a part of an incredibly inspiring and uplifting event held at the EnlightenNext UK Centre in Islington, London . It was a collaboration between Freemind, with founder and visionary Tom Fortes Mayer, and EnlightenNext UK. I have known Tom for many years and consider him to be a spiritual brother of mine. Yesterday was a testament to what’s possible when two organisations and individuals, with very different practices and focus, who care passionately about creating a better future, come together. As we all witnessed a miraculous synergy can occur.

Tom’s work revolves around what he calls emotional intelligence in which people are encouraged to allow everything to be exactly as it is in their own experience without any judgments—to truly come into the moment. Then he inspires people with another possibility—to live a truly courageous life in which positivity, inspiration and love are valued, supported and given expression. He brings together inspiring speakers, artists and musicians in order to create these experiences and combines them with music and film that are educational and help reveal untapped (and often outrageous) human potentials.

Yesterday, after everyone had drawn an image of what they thought 2011 would look like, the afternoon took off with a profoundly beautiful, subtle and moving hang drum performance by Ann Malone; her playing set the tone for what was to come.
Tom emphasised the importance of community, and how we need each other in order to hold the vision, support the best in each other, and help each other through the challenges of life.

After more inspiring talks and videos, I introduced and welcomed the 45 participants to EnlightenNext. I explained that the beautiful building in which we were was designed as a hub for just this kind of future-focused community. I also explained that spiritual practice and growth and meditation take place regularly at EnlightenNext within a big context: we change culture through our own change. As a part of creating a new culture, I have been experimenting for many years with an electronic music and media group by the name of ‘Kosmic Fire’, which then performed our latest piece for the group.

Lastly, the day finished with a truly outstanding performance by the Janna Goodwille band. I found it hard to define their style, although they have jazz influences. They were a sheer delight to experience!
Tom deliberately kept the day very open in terms of structure, and yet it managed to fall together in the most fantastic and fluid way. I am looking forward to more in the future.
Thank you to all who came!

INFORMATION AND LINKS

If you would like to know more about Freemind and the work of Tom Fortes Mayer please follow the link.
If you would like to know more about EnlightenNext UK and our local events click here.
ALSO! – Andrew Cohen, the founder of EnlightenNext, is in London at the EnlightenNext centre on the 6th Feb for a half day seminar. Please follow the link to find out more.

Links to musician’s sites:
Anni Malone
Janna Goodwille band
Kosmic Fire (David Leckenby and Jody Paterson)

We are now up to the last class in our five-week course of ‘Living Enlightenment’ and it’s been a tremendous journey for all of us. In the first class we looked at where we are as a culture generally, and a lot of our conditioned beliefs, and in the second where we are attempting to go on the path of Evolutionary Enlightenment. This means going from a post-modern ‘world centred’ perspective to one where we know we are the cosmic process itself and in no way separate from it. The last part of the course (classes 3-5) really look at the ‘how to’…the path itself. Click here to read more about it…

This week Kyrsten Perry led the weekly Tuesday night session at the EnlightenNext UK Centre. In these sessions, people are introduced to the teachings of evolutionary enlightenment and, through discussing their experience with others, get a sense of what an evolutionary perspective on life means.

I go almost weekly and the format isn’t always the same.  This week we began with an audio clip from the source and inspiration of Evolutionary Enlightenment, Andrew Cohen, who was giving a short talk on evolution as part of an online course entitled The evolutionaries guide to changing the world.

In this talk, Andrew asked his listeners if they believed evolution was really possible. He said that it isn’t difficult to believe in evolution that happens outside of ourselves (I can say that is definitely true). Most of us have been taught about the evolution of the cosmos in school and about the emergence of life and of human beings during that process.  We’re taught that evolution is a physical, material process that happens outside of ourselves and is separate from our internal experience.

But what about the evolution of the human being, Andrew asks? What about the evolution of you and me? What about our interior evolution: emotional, psychological, intellectual, and, dare I say, moral and spiritual development? How much do we believe that we can really change? Change our values, beliefs and the relationships that we have with others? Do we believe that our own evolution is not separate from the evolution of culture? And how much do we recognize that these dimensions of evolution are not separate from the vast cosmic process of evolution that we are all intrinsically part of?

Kyrsten led the discussion that followed this short audio.  As each person spoke about his or her understanding and experience of what Andrew was talking about, there was a deepening recognition of the complexity of the process that we are in the midst of—its interior and exterior dimensions—and the fact that each of us is right in the centre of this process.  Evolution is happening through us! We could all see that materialistic values are very much part of the culture that we live in and have profoundly shaped us as 21^st Century human beings. But in spite of this, we found, and continue to find, somewhere inside ourselves that we are compelled and inspired to go beyond all our material values towards something deeper and truer to our experience of the simple fact of being human. This IS evolution in action.