Integrating Spirituality

As I noted in the sidebar last month, something new is on the horizon; supportive weekly gatherings for those who are attracted to the work of dismantling the self-created illusions and living an integrated spiritual life.

Today we are privy to all kinds of wonderful spiritual ideas and the realizations of others who generously share their experiences. Yet there is something missing in all that if our desire is indeed to live a fully integrated spiritual experience in every moment.

When I was active in a spiritual community as minister I shared what I learned from books and other teachers and some of what I experienced personally since my life was really grist for the mill as I did my best to implement what I learned and taught. Useful to a point but never fully satisfying for me because there always seemed to be a disconnect between hearing or reading what seemed like great ideas and actually living them. It's one thing to espouse all kinds of beliefs about oneness and love but it is quite another to live them. So, as many of you know, I left church ministry and took several months to basically focus on the process of taking apart my belief systems which had really begun in earnest a year or so prior to my leaving the church. I admit it was a pretty disorienting time as the anchors really began falling away and the process continues though I don't find it as discombobulating as it once was. After several months of working on my own I was led to start sharing my work; that was a year ago.

It's been quite a journey for me since I first set up my website and started with these monthly newsletters. The work developed into a basic 4 part process I call The Liberation Process which I have been teaching through workshops, classes and one on one coaching. I absolutely love the work; I love doing it for myself, I love teaching it, I love supporting people in implementing it into their lives and I love the challenges all that presents me. I have come to realize this isn't simply a practice, it is a lifestyle. You see, as far as I can tell, there is no separation between what you might call 'spiritual' and what we experience in everyday life; thus the title integrating spirituality. Even that isn't accurate, words never are, because we are already integrated beings, we just don't realize it for the most part. That's what The Liberation Process is all about, taking apart the illusion that keeps us from realizing fully that there is no separate 'me', there's only Life. What we call 'me' is really an aggregate of beliefs and assumptions we operate through which we become so totally identified with that we think it's what we are. What if that isn't the truth?

So there you have it, the crux of what the gatherings will be about starting Sunday May 6th; supporting one another in taking apart those beliefs and thought patterns that do not serve us in living an integrated spiritual life. Even though the gatherings will be on Sunday mornings, they are not Sunday 'services'. This is not about religion and it is not about more conceptualizing and reciting affirmations and singing songs to feel better for a few minutes. I don't mean to denigrate church services, they are very helpful for many people, I'm just interested in going deeper.

To this end, chances are pretty good that if I'm doing my job you may just feel worse for a while, or at least it will seem so if you actually make the shift from avoiding the emotional pain and unreconciled memories to moving toward them with compassion and understanding on the journey Home. This is really what the process of integration is about, moving toward what we have been avoiding, instead of doing what is often referred to as 'spiritual by-pass'. We integrate our past by making peace with it while realizing that what we think about it is really where the falsehood of separation lies. In so doing we come to know that we are already perfect, whole and complete. There is Life beyond our beliefs, life abundant.

There a great quote from the Gospel of Thomas that seems to speak directly to this process, Jesus said, "Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over the All."

Let's be astonished together as we move beyond the 'normal' into the Real. Go to http://www.meetup.com/Integrating-Spirituality-Meetup-Edmonton/ to sign up. There will be at least 1 Sunday per month when there won't be a gathering so be sure to sign up at the meetup site for current information.

For those of you who are not in the Edmonton area but are interested in learning more, stay tuned, I'm working on developing ways to share more of the process through online resources. In the meantime you are all welcome to stay in touch through my blog at www.yvonneracine.blogspot.com. Your comments and questions are encouraged and welcome there. I'm also always available for one on one coaching in person, by phone or via Skype.

May you be blessed all ways on your journey.


Namaste,

 

Contact Info:
Website: www.dismantlingtheillusion.com
email: yvonne@dismantlingtheillusion.com
Phone: 780-913-6466
Skype: yvonne.racine