I'm writing this to pass on a message to you from my 87-year-old mother.
What you should know about my Mom is that over her lifetime she has created her own set of spiritual practices that help her and the people around her. One of these practices I call "Holding Vigil" and it goes like this: whenever she thinks of a person, be it family or friend or some person or group of people that she knows is suffering, she pauses in the middle of what she is doing, focuses her attention on them, feels respect and love and appreciation for them, wishes them the very best, and then goes on about her day. So my mother holds vigil for people many times throughout the day.
When I told my mother we were going to do a firewalk during this retreat she wasn't too uncomfortable with it because she knows some people in her community who have done it. However she said, "While I know I don't have to do something like that and I'm glad I don't, I hope you learn what you want to and I'm going to hold many vigils for you and the other men."
I just got off the phone with Mom. She said she just needed to call to make sure I was okay. I could tell she was relieved that we were all safe. She said that she held many vigils for us and awoke a few extra times at night. She asked how it went. I told her we had a great time, that we were well prepared and, even more importantly, that we all helped each other. She said, "Well please tell those good men, 'Thank you,' for helping my son and making sure he got home safe."
Thank you for helping me.
I love you with all of my heart, brothers,
Tom Couper
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Stephen-
Words won't express the gratitude I have for you especially and for all the staff who shape the experience you have created up on the mountain. I think Tom said it best on Sunday when he acknowledged you as "the father of our retreat". As all of us have fathers or are fathers and stepfathers, you mindfully, compassionately and lovingly touched so many men's lives and the lives of those around them by association while building a lasting men's community and legacy for generations to come.
Please accept these photos and others that will be sent shortly to Grant for the website in time for the November newsletter. If some photos are blurry it's because I prefer to capture the spirit of the moment in natural light rather than disrupt the vibe with distracting flashes, especially during more private intimate, breakthrough moments. On firewalk night, when other flashes started firing, I decided to take a few when the guys started requesting individual souvenirs.
This retreat was yet another "full emotional discharge / full emotional recharge" for me and so many others. As many men stated, it really was "the best retreat yet" on so many levels. I agree.
Tommy quipped that it was a real "barn-burner" and I believe he was right, literally and figuratively, now wasn't he?
Thank you so much Stephen,
Love,
Rob Bruce
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I’ve just come down the mountain from probably the most profoundly transformative three-day experience I have ever had.
This was my fourth retreat in a row, and although each and every prior one has been a deeply moving and mind- and heart-expanding experience, this weekend's retreat just hit the mark on so many levels for me. The theme, "Phoenix Rising," and the opportunity to firewalk as a demonstration of how one's mind can be trained to accomplish the extraordinary really resonated with me. I have wished to release beliefs and behaviors that have limited me in achieving my purpose and true contentment for so long.
The sweat lodge ceremony has been an event that I've looked forward to at each retreat since my first time, and I always love how Andrew incorporates the ancient traditions into an examination of the confusing world we live in today. The temporary discomfort of "suffering while we can," while praying for that which blocks us and holds us back from obtaining what we really desire to be left behind, is a small price to pay. I truly love the beauty and mysticism of this ceremony. And I was so honored to be included among men who others have said are needed to steer us into and through the tremendous changes that are on our not too distant horizon. The experience left me humbled and grateful beyond words.
The series of events on Saturday that precipitated that evening's firewalk unfolded in a manner that could only have been led by a divine hand, from Christo's energizing movement session to Dr. Johnson's morning message on faith, to community time that included the most powerful exchange between a son and his father I have ever witnessed. The firewalk preparation we received, orchestrated with perfection and executed with unbelievable love and compassion, energized us so that we could all be 100% conscious, committed and ready to take that first step onto the hot coals. I watched each man cross that bed of fire, cheering him on as he went, and celebrating with him in the joy of accomplishment - just as my brothers had done for me.
I truly feel blessed to have been a participant in this retreat. I now feel that I really am a member of this community of fine men. I thank all the men who work tirelessly to organize, staff and lead this remarkable event. Your love and welcoming acceptance is appreciated more than mere words could ever express.
In brotherhood,
Sterling Meredith
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Overall the 2010 Fall Sacred Path Retreat was really the “Best Ever” in the eighteen years that I have been attending the retreats. I have come out of this retreat with a feeling of accomplishment and restored energy like no other. I can't say enough on how well this retreat went. Great work...
Have a wonderful day.
Namaste,
Your Brother Dan Stanton
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I have been on two retreats. During the first retreat I experienced fear about every challenge, and occasionally that fear was paralyzing. Even though I knew there was going to be a firewalk challenge this retreat, I did not feel fear. I did the firewalk, and looking back I can honestly say that for the first time in my life I had faith that I would be safe, and I was.
Gary Kress
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Brother Tom:
I want to take a moment to again thank you for being the driving force behind the firewalk. As I look back on it now, though the walk itself was anticlimactic, what the men achieved as a whole was beyond measure. Jose sweated, broke wood, walked on glass and 1000-degree ash, and the love and support that surrounded these moments was off the scale. I witnessed emotional releases on a scale I have not seen in the previous retreats, and was humbled by them. The sharing of Aubry and Scott and the bonding I witnessed fills my eyes with tears even now in the memory of it. My walks and discussions with Soldier Bear are smooth whispers of the gentleness of that soul, and the moments shared are diamonds in my heart's treasure chest. My talks with other men there gave me support in my own task of looking deep...deeper. My experiences during the Retreat are still under review and assimilation. But I needed to share this with you after I read your last email.
Were it not for your drive, this Retreat would not have been what it became. I started out to the Retreat with fear in my heart and my spirit unsure of what the next step was, or if it should ever be taken. The sky was overcast and rain was in the wind. Sunday morning as I walked about the Retreat area, I was overwhelmed with a profound sadness I have not previously experienced. Tears leaped to my eyes as I walked and realized it was over. I had to leave. I had to go back down. I had thought that I had packed it away until Tommy started singing in the Container, and being me, I allowed it to stand forth. When I backed out of the Container, it was one of the hardest departures I have ever experienced in my life. When I left, the sky was clear and sunny, my spirit rode a winged horse, and the fear was gone.
When I came home and was able to adjust again to this zone of time, I looked in my journal and found the following poem. I thought it summarized the Retreat for me very well:
Hollow is the call to the soul
Wreakless the need to pursue;
Unknown the merit of its mere
Quietly heart – step soft the halls
Let no echo of thy want come forth
No hint of what the soul recalls
Raise ocean of thought, wave of feeling
Allow once more your full being
To flow to Spirit’s wholeness
Thanks again. Because of your drive, this Retreat for me was the best. You have my love and blessing, brother, this you know. The gift I gave you in the Container was partial payment for the Retreat you gave me.
Love,
Phillip Jennings
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Hello Brothers,
Where should I start? I would like to point out that this was the most moving experience of my life, both in terms of not being afraid to do anything that’s presented to me or put in front of me on my path in becoming the best I can be in life. The things in which we all took part reflect my whole past/history and help me deal with the future. Not only have I realized that my life is more and more important as each day passes, but that my life means a lot to others. In addition, there are a lot of people like all of my brothers from the retreat who have genuine hearts and that will listen, show their emotions, and not judge me or their brothers. I must admit I feel that I am not just part of a team, but part of a group of men that I feel will be with me for the rest of my life. It’s something no one can ever take away from me. I will have you all in my heart from now forward, whether we see each other at the retreats every 6 months or not (God forbid). The memories will always be with me, and nothing can ever take them away. Thank you for being so kind, and most of all, SO REAL and not fake like so many people are in this world. The stories everyone shared were so moving that many times I couldn’t hold back my emotions as they spoke to my heart and I cried like a kid. I learn from all of your stories, and they help me in my life. I respect all of you for being as strong as you are to get up and be open to the deepest, most personal things in your lives. That means so much to me, and I think, to everyone else at the retreat. Dr. Johnson and your entire staff, you are so amazing! You are special human beings of whom I consider a few souls in a million can be. I see that what you do is strictly from your heart, and that’s what makes these retreats and all of you so special to me in my life and my spiritual journey. I Love You ALL and I thank you very much from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to be part of something so special!
Manny Valencia
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I have just returned from the Fall 2010 Sacred Path Men's Retreat. I am rejuvenated and inspired. Our weekend of activities included a "sweat lodge," "walking on fire" (not as scary as it sounds) and communal meetings where we "take the talking stick" and "speak from the heart" about our experiences as men. It is there in this magnificent array that we can open up and share our deepest concerns, our failed dreams, and our hopes for the future. We find that we are not alone in our fears and that our childhood wounds that often involve our fathers (and sometime mothers) are not unique to us. We learn about ourselves and we heal in the company of good men.
There's plenty of fun as well, with glorious trails for vigorous hikes up the mountain, Sunday morning meditation on the point overlooking the vast Pacific Ocean and even a ropes course for the man who craves that "thrill." We are also treated to amazing meals that provide another wonderful opportunity to gather and get to know each other better. This was my 6th retreat and once again, I met some terrific men whom I know will become lifelong friends.
At the Sacred Path Retreat, I am finally among a community of men where I feel that I belong, where I can open up and be myself. I have truly found the feeling of acceptance and brotherhood that I did not have as a young boy. I was not close to my Dad and, as a result I could not find myself or my place in this world as a man. It affected my relationships with both men and women. I am slowly healing myself in this unique world of "a community of good men" that Dr. Stephen Johnson has created with the Men's Center of Los Angeles and the Sacred Path Retreats. It is not a "cure-all" and there is much I need to do individually, but it is a place to go to... to reflect, to listen, to give myself permission to be who I am. It is the home I did not have.
Jeffery Passero
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