Greetings, Sacred Path Community,
Out of the 55 men who registered for the 24th Annual Fall Sacred Path Men’s Retreat, 51 were able to participate. The age range was from 19 to 81. We had a number of young men in their 20’s who have participated several times in past retreats and show an obvious connection to the community. Along with all of the great men who comprise the Wisdom Council, Andrew and Thomas poured water for Inipi Sweat Lodges, and we welcomed back Grandfather Soldier Bear, a Lakota Elder who came from South Dakota to participate for his second retreat. Dr. Ron Holman gave a presentation on his journey through India to meet Holy men and master teachers. He spoke about the power of setting intentions, and brought a gift of Navapasahanam water for any of the men who wanted to utilize it to anchor their intentions. This highly charged water is credited as being an elixir of life. The story behind the water is most fascinating and can be found in the October blog.
Men traveled from the east coast, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Arizona, South Dakota and outlying areas of California to attend. Clayton Norcross, who had been in Italy for a year and a half, was able to join us before returning to Europe. This was a very powerful retreat, and a lot of deep work took place on the mountain. There were fathers with their sons and the spirit of brotherhood was bountiful.
Mark your calendars for the 25th Annual Sacred Path Call to Adventure Rites of Passage Retreat, April 12-15. This retreat will welcome fathers and sons, uncles and nephews, grandfathers, mentors and young men wanting to be in the presence of good men. We will create a profound experience as we provide some initiation of the younger men into conscious manhood.
Mark your calendars as well for the next Men’s Center event that is scheduled for the weekend of February 18, 2012. It will be open to men and women and will take place at Holy Spirit Retreat Center in Encino. We are considering facilitating a two-day workshop that weekend. We’ll have more information later this month.
We’re bringing Leonard Orr back for an evening presentation on Friday, June 8th, followed by a workshop on Saturday for those wanting to deepen their Conscious Breathing experience, and then an event on Sunday for those that simply want to go through the process. We had 50 in attendance last June and many are working with the recommendations that Leonard offered for making spiritual purification an important part of one’s life.
As we are closing out 2011 and getting ready to enter 2012, a year that promises to present many more changes on the individual as well as global fronts, I want to wish you and your loved ones a very Happy Thanksgiving. In the spirit of giving, please consider making a donation to Sacred Path so that we can provide scholarships for the young men who will attend the Call to Adventure Retreat in April.
In brotherhood,
Stephen
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Openings Available in Dr. Johnson's Evening Men's Groups
Currently openings are available in Dr. Johnson's Tuesday evening Beverly Hills group and his Wednesday evening Woodland Hills group. To obtain more information, e-mail Dr. J. at: DrJ@DrStephenJohnson.com, or call (818) 348-8948.
Comments on the Fall 2011 Sacred Path "Ashes" Retreat
Dear Brothers,
Some years ago Bob Fimiani gave voice to a sense of separation that I believe we all carry with us up to the mountain - he called it, "The Two Kingdoms". This split has many other names:
Masculine and Feminine
Sacred and Profane
Earthly and Heavenly
Visible and Invisible
Shadow and Light
Mountain and Valley
and so on...I'm sure you're adding to this list even as you read it...
These various distinctions attempt to give expression to a deep and profound sense of separation we carry as a fundamental element of our humanity, as well as a reflection of the journey we are taking, consciously or unconsciously, back home to our Oneness with all Life.
An exquisite result of that explosion we experienced years ago is that it brought this mostly unconscious split back into the light of awareness so we could give it meaningful and mindful attention.
Over the course of this last retreat I repeatedly observed and felt a current of bringing separated pieces back into wholeness. For example, I've noticed that Andrew and Thomas have chosen and worked to be integral parts of the community. When not conducting ceremony they are participating with us. Likewise, various splits between men, within men, between fathers and sons, were all being worked in conscious and extraordinary ways throughout retreat.
While I believe the sense of two kingdoms is inherent (or inherited?) in our nature, I'm delightfully participating with a group of men doing their work to dissolve separation and experience and express the deeper truth of our essential wholeness. I am very grateful. Thank you.
Wopila,
Tom Couper
Stephen and other brothers,
Words can’t fully express my gratitude to you, Steve B. and everyone for yet another
profoundly healing and rejuvenating retreat experience...Perhaps the expression on everyone's face can.
Here is the first of what I intend and trust will be a bi-annual group photo taken at 2PM every Sunday before closing ceremony.
Wopela,
Rob Bruce
Usually when we gather to end a Retreat there is music, and each man decides when he will leave the Container and return once more to the world below. At the end of this last Retreat, we had no music that was heard by the physical ear; a higher melody was playing. We gathered into a circle within the Container, arms around shoulder or waist; connected in an imperfect circle of life. Within was he who was physically challenged with each step, yet voiced the words of spirit that called the heart and soul. Within was he who was blind to the world; yet saw further than my eyes could see the horizon. Within were recent blooms of manhood with tales of the struggle of being a man, standing beside Redwoods of Life with tales of the glory of age. Within stood representatives of mankind as shown on the Medicine Wheel we studied in physical form and representatives of knowledge both near and far. In the formation of that imperfect circle we were the world in all its harmonious glory: One man holding up another with love, with honor and brotherhood. Tears came to my eyes then as they do now. There are rare moments when human hearts sing the same song – for me that was one of them.
I thank you for a most successful Retreat. It outdid April's. Scott, Tom and Grant - brothers what may I say: wopila, wopila, wopila.
Love,
Phillip Jennings
Dear brothers,
This retreat was my first after an absence of several years, and I felt a strong sense of love and belonging that I hadn’t experienced in quite a long time. I was overjoyed to see most of the same men with whom I shared my very first retreat and laughed harder and longer than ever before or since. I felt back at home in the rebuilt lodge that had burned to the ground and had been lovingly replaced. In many ways I needed time away in which to grow and learn to mesh with the spirit of the retreat in a brand new way, with openness, acceptance and a peaceful heart. In the past I was anxious to take the talking stick and speak; this time I was content to listen and soak in the deep energy shared so eloquently in the container. I also had the honor to room with Michael Tapia and learn from his experience in dealing with his vision loss. I’ve never seen a human being so energetic and involved with life! I am so glad to be back at the retreats once more, and just glad to be.
Namaste,
Rich Manners
Some years ago Bob Fimiani gave voice to a sense of separation that I believe we all carry with us up to the mountain - he called it, "The Two Kingdoms". This split has many other names:
Masculine and Feminine
Sacred and Profane
Earthly and Heavenly
Visible and Invisible
Shadow and Light
Mountain and Valley
and so on...I'm sure you're adding to this list even as you read it...
These various distinctions attempt to give expression to a deep and profound sense of separation we carry as a fundamental element of our humanity, as well as a reflection of the journey we are taking, consciously or unconsciously, back home to our Oneness with all Life.
An exquisite result of that explosion we experienced years ago is that it brought this mostly unconscious split back into the light of awareness so we could give it meaningful and mindful attention.
Over the course of this last retreat I repeatedly observed and felt a current of bringing separated pieces back into wholeness. For example, I've noticed that Andrew and Thomas have chosen and worked to be integral parts of the community. When not conducting ceremony they are participating with us. Likewise, various splits between men, within men, between fathers and sons, were all being worked in conscious and extraordinary ways throughout retreat.
While I believe the sense of two kingdoms is inherent (or inherited?) in our nature, I'm delightfully participating with a group of men doing their work to dissolve separation and experience and express the deeper truth of our essential wholeness. I am very grateful. Thank you.
Wopila,
Tom Couper
~~~~~~~
Stephen and other brothers,
Words can’t fully express my gratitude to you, Steve B. and everyone for yet another
profoundly healing and rejuvenating retreat experience...Perhaps the expression on everyone's face can.
Here is the first of what I intend and trust will be a bi-annual group photo taken at 2PM every Sunday before closing ceremony.
Wopela,
Rob Bruce
~~~~~~~
Usually when we gather to end a Retreat there is music, and each man decides when he will leave the Container and return once more to the world below. At the end of this last Retreat, we had no music that was heard by the physical ear; a higher melody was playing. We gathered into a circle within the Container, arms around shoulder or waist; connected in an imperfect circle of life. Within was he who was physically challenged with each step, yet voiced the words of spirit that called the heart and soul. Within was he who was blind to the world; yet saw further than my eyes could see the horizon. Within were recent blooms of manhood with tales of the struggle of being a man, standing beside Redwoods of Life with tales of the glory of age. Within stood representatives of mankind as shown on the Medicine Wheel we studied in physical form and representatives of knowledge both near and far. In the formation of that imperfect circle we were the world in all its harmonious glory: One man holding up another with love, with honor and brotherhood. Tears came to my eyes then as they do now. There are rare moments when human hearts sing the same song – for me that was one of them.
I thank you for a most successful Retreat. It outdid April's. Scott, Tom and Grant - brothers what may I say: wopila, wopila, wopila.
Love,
Phillip Jennings
~~~~~~~
Dear brothers,
This retreat was my first after an absence of several years, and I felt a strong sense of love and belonging that I hadn’t experienced in quite a long time. I was overjoyed to see most of the same men with whom I shared my very first retreat and laughed harder and longer than ever before or since. I felt back at home in the rebuilt lodge that had burned to the ground and had been lovingly replaced. In many ways I needed time away in which to grow and learn to mesh with the spirit of the retreat in a brand new way, with openness, acceptance and a peaceful heart. In the past I was anxious to take the talking stick and speak; this time I was content to listen and soak in the deep energy shared so eloquently in the container. I also had the honor to room with Michael Tapia and learn from his experience in dealing with his vision loss. I’ve never seen a human being so energetic and involved with life! I am so glad to be back at the retreats once more, and just glad to be.
Namaste,
Rich Manners
Blind Perspective - Volume 1
by Michael Tapia, longtime member of Sacred Path
[The following articles comprise a chronology of Michael's progressive loss of his eyesight. They form a remarkable story of courage and an indomitable will to live.]
This is a true story. It was a balmy August night in Silver Lake Hills, California. The year was 1993. Sitting at my desk, I was reviewing my notes from the Rachel Rosenthal workshop I had attended that previous weekend on Performance Art.
All the remarkable people, men and women, living with HIV and AIDS had shared so much talent. What struck me in the notes was Rosenthal’s quote, “Every challenge in life is a prop, and it’s up to us to decide how to react to it.”
I thought of all the people I had served as a hospice worker for five years and all the props they had to negotiate. I crawled into bed and could smell the jasmine I had planted the previous spring. I heard wind chimes singing in the distance and fell asleep smiling.
The next morning I awoke, the mockingbird making a big fuss as usual at 5 AM, when I felt my right eye throb. I opened it, and to my shock, I couldn’t see a thing.
“Oh my God!” I yelled. “What the hell?” I kept blinking, thinking it would clear up somehow, but to no avail. I called my friend Mauricio, and he agreed to take me to the emergency room at Cedars-Sinai. By the time Mauricio had arrived, my other eye began to cloud up and I was totally blind. He helped me into the car in a panic as I tried to calm him down.
The experience was surreal. I thought I’d wake up from this bad dream at any moment. I wasn’t in the darkness one reads about, not some dark void; it was more like a very thick fog with the light trickling through it.
From the ER I was wheeled to the elevator, and I was tempted to feel the Braille by the numbers, but I refused to entertain the thought. Surely I wouldn’t need to learn that. We arrived at the ophthalmologist’s office and waited patiently for my name to be called, and I finally found myself face to face with another invisible doctor. He was rather matter-of-fact when he said, “You have uveitis from an adverse drug combination. Your vision will return in ten days.” I received a prescription for eye drops and was to return in 12 days. He recommended I stay close to home during that time. I reassured him that I wasn’t planning to drive or go dancing anytime soon. He chuckled, and we were on our way home.
“How can you joke at a time like this?” Mauri asked. “Mauri, it’s just a temporary challenge – a prop. We’ll get through this,” I assured him. We drove home. I took a deep breath, reached for his hand. We both grew quiet – the silence was deafening.
[The following articles comprise a chronology of Michael's progressive loss of his eyesight. They form a remarkable story of courage and an indomitable will to live.]
This is a true story. It was a balmy August night in Silver Lake Hills, California. The year was 1993. Sitting at my desk, I was reviewing my notes from the Rachel Rosenthal workshop I had attended that previous weekend on Performance Art.
All the remarkable people, men and women, living with HIV and AIDS had shared so much talent. What struck me in the notes was Rosenthal’s quote, “Every challenge in life is a prop, and it’s up to us to decide how to react to it.”
I thought of all the people I had served as a hospice worker for five years and all the props they had to negotiate. I crawled into bed and could smell the jasmine I had planted the previous spring. I heard wind chimes singing in the distance and fell asleep smiling.
The next morning I awoke, the mockingbird making a big fuss as usual at 5 AM, when I felt my right eye throb. I opened it, and to my shock, I couldn’t see a thing.
“Oh my God!” I yelled. “What the hell?” I kept blinking, thinking it would clear up somehow, but to no avail. I called my friend Mauricio, and he agreed to take me to the emergency room at Cedars-Sinai. By the time Mauricio had arrived, my other eye began to cloud up and I was totally blind. He helped me into the car in a panic as I tried to calm him down.
The experience was surreal. I thought I’d wake up from this bad dream at any moment. I wasn’t in the darkness one reads about, not some dark void; it was more like a very thick fog with the light trickling through it.
From the ER I was wheeled to the elevator, and I was tempted to feel the Braille by the numbers, but I refused to entertain the thought. Surely I wouldn’t need to learn that. We arrived at the ophthalmologist’s office and waited patiently for my name to be called, and I finally found myself face to face with another invisible doctor. He was rather matter-of-fact when he said, “You have uveitis from an adverse drug combination. Your vision will return in ten days.” I received a prescription for eye drops and was to return in 12 days. He recommended I stay close to home during that time. I reassured him that I wasn’t planning to drive or go dancing anytime soon. He chuckled, and we were on our way home.
“How can you joke at a time like this?” Mauri asked. “Mauri, it’s just a temporary challenge – a prop. We’ll get through this,” I assured him. We drove home. I took a deep breath, reached for his hand. We both grew quiet – the silence was deafening.
(To be continued next issue)
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