It’s not often that I get to fly like the swallows, but at our last retreat I did and it felt wonderful. Have you ever watched the swallows fly? They swoop and dive and perform aerial acrobatics in perfect union with each other, they fly at incredible speed and miss each other by centimeters, but they never collide, their connection is so complete the whole flock is in perfect synergy as if all is one bird.
The swallows treated me to their display as I sat quietly in my hiding place. I watched thoughtless and perfectly still as they swooped and dived feeding off a cloud of tiny flies. Turning at speed they picked them from the air, playing as they hunted they were having so much fun
Then it occurred to me that this was serious work, the swallows have young to feed with ever demanding gaping beaks. They must be fed almost constantly to keep them alive and keeping them satisfied is an all consuming task. It’s the most serious issue for the swallows an issue of life and death importance, but they don’t worry or stress they just fly and delight in life whilst plucking food from the air. Unfettered by thought they are free, free to be.
My teaching is challenging and at times confrontational. My ego often tells me to tone it down, to ease people in gently, it tells me that i’ll upset people, that I should hold back and I should place restrictions on my teaching. it tells me that this is serious work, and if I am to be taken seriously I must be professional i should at least try pay some lip service to the illusion that is ordinary reality
It’s important that people know this stuff alright, it’s important that we wake up, that we wake up fast. Ordinary consciousness driven by ego will destroy us all unless we wake up, unless we learn to see beyond the illusion of our conditioned reality. Unless humanity wakes from the dream we’ll sleep walk into disaster. We must evolve to a new state of consciousness or like many millions of species before us pass on to extinction From humanities perspective, this is important work, a matter of life and death. Not of great significance on a cosmic scale, but pretty damn important to little me.
That’s when the swallows lesson sank in. If like the swallows I play in the now and let it flow I can fly an swoop, without fear of crashing. If I let the teaching flow I will on occasions upset some people and I make no apologies for that. I have devoted my life to easing human suffering, it is never my intention to cause harm and it is my nature to be kind and loving. But I don’t mind upsetting people in fact that is my job, my job is to upset you, my job is to turn your perception of reality on its head, to upset everything, to destroy illusion to help you see things as they really are.
I’m not afraid to destroy illusion I love it. That’s my job, to give you a shake and to wake you from the dream that is your own mind, to bring you wakefulness and see things as they are. Not everybody wants to hear what I have to tell , but tell you I must because for you to be free, the truth must be seen.
Only half way into the first teaching session and ive already told our guests that their past and future are just thoughts in their heads, that their identity is just a story and their beliefs are just pre programmed perceptions that distort reality and obscure the truth. And no protest from anyone. I’ve seen people shout and scream stomp off in disgust and even on one occasion throw things. Just a sea of smiling faces nodding in agreement as I destroy everything they believed in.
Encouraged by the absence of resistance I decided to fly like the swallows and pretty well every one there flew with me. A couple of our guest didn’t feel quite ready to leave the ground, but they flapped their wings anyway which is all I can ask of anyone. Thank you.
But all the others flew with me and it was wonderful. We swooped and dived and by Sunday the synergy was complete and we moved together in unison with the teaching and we were free to be.
We’ve had many mind blowing weekends down at Retreat Farm this summer each one special in its own way but this one stands out for me, it was the largest one so far and could potentially have been fragmented, but it wasn’t at all. There was still plenty of room for personal space, and personal space was enjoyed by many, but there was a synergy to the group, a collective flow and in a space of collective being huge shifts in awareness took place.
We had several guests who are well acquainted with our work who have been to our classes on previous retreats or had personal coaching, so are already well on their way with their practice, but each of them in that space found awareness blossoms. Karina shone, Tony forgot the world, Scoti discovered her energy body, Laurence discovered his reggae roots and Sophie you star what can I say? I won’t mention you all by name for fear of litigation, but you know who you are and I want to thank you for coming, for daring to take your feet off the ground and for flying with with me. Great innit Tikki?
It was really lovely to see Jan again, she was there right when we started and it was a joy to show her how our little project has grown and moved on.
We had some personal guests too this weekend, Teresa dragged her friend Alison along. I just love it when I see the penny drop. Great to be free of that one eh Alison! And we also had the pleasure of Tonia’s company. Tonia does the catering for our retreats, and her food is out of this world, she did her best to hide, but such was the volume that she couldn’t hide from all the compliments – much to her egos distress. Go on Tonia accept the compliments its only a reflection of the love you put into it.
What really made the weekend for me were the beginners, not that in truth they were really beginners, because although new to our work and even new to meditation they were already awake enough to be there, awake enough to shed preconceptions and open their minds. Either that or they were in such mental distress that they have no choice, which is even better!
But either way they these brave explorers flew with me into the unknown, they experienced something beyond what they thought they knew and discovered what it is to simply be. You’ll never be the same as you were, you can never unsee what you’ve seen. Your experience will deepen with or without us, but we are here to help you on your way if you choose.
We are also starting to attract people who have been looking for each other. Awareness is still so very rare and until very recently we’ve been largely waking up alone. It’s often easier to isolate ourselves from unconscious than to try and survive within it. When we no longer do our own head drama’s its hard to get involved in other people’s and sometimes head drama is all some people want to do. Solitude is not a problem for someone who has learned the art of being with themselves, but there comes a time when that urge to come together becomes a strong drive. I’m delighted that our retreats are increasingly becoming a sanctuary, a place where unconsciousness doesn’t prevail and a place of safety with like minds – correction no minds. It’s wonderful that we found each other because that’s what this little project is about, a coming together so just like the swallows we can fly and swoop and dive and be free to be.
We still have a few spaces on our last two retreats of the summer, the accommodation is pretty much fully booked, but if you don’t mind camping or staying in a local B&B we’d love to see you.
