The following is an excerpt from my book - The Six Processes of Life, Love, and Awakening: And other esoteric teachings made accessible
I was on the last chapter of the last book, and for the first time in two years, had no other book to turn to when I was finished. I remember feeling a sense of panic as the pages dwindled down. I was reading a book called The Nature of the Psyche by Jane Roberts. It seemed like all of my previous studies, all my attempts at meditation and stillness, had funneled me to this point. And yet after two years I was still the same confused person, sitting alone on a park bench somewhere praying there was something more out there that until now I had been missing.
It was open-mic poetry night at a coffee shop tucked away in the northwest corner of the country. I never enjoyed open-mic night and usually would be one of the first to leave after I got tired of the predictable ranting. This particular night the place was packed as full as I had ever seen it. I took my seat off in the corner of the cafe with my mandatory beverage and I think a piece of focaccia bread so as to pay for my stay. The poetry went on as usual, people in love with the sound of their own voice while no one in the audience knew what they were talking about for sure. This week's poets seemed like they were carbon copies of the week before, either fuming or overly emotional, it was some kind of desperate search for meaning and attention. Of course that is an oversimplification but that is what I remember feeling at the time.
What was different about that night was that a man was asked to speak on the microphone who didn't look like the other hipster or college types getting the call up. He was about 30 years older and quite a few stones heavier than any of them. He was reluctant to speak; not knowing that others he came with had signed his name on the list of poets. Nevertheless he made his way slowly to the stage, dressed in a clean white shirt, red handkerchief around his neck, and a light brown walking stick. From the back of the room I could barely see his big gray and white beard through the standing crowd of tattoos and leather jackets. As he began to speak I remember observing the fact that practically no one was listening to him. And why would they? He was not their age, their weight, their style, their nationality, nor was he speaking in poems.
I put my book down and I tried to make out his words. He said something along the lines of that he appreciated the poetry that he'd heard. He said that he understood the resentment that it contained for the oppressive nature of their culture. Then he reminded the audience that there was much wisdom and beauty in Western culture, and that it contained a tradition of esoteric knowledge waiting to be discovered. That is all that I recall from his speech, and still I'm sure it is more than most people who were there. I remember feeling sympathy for him because he was like 300lbs of invisibility. He fascinated me by his calm demeanor and his courage to be himself in the midst of the counterculture.
After he was finished speaking I returned to my book and was planning on leaving soon when I noticed the large bearded man walking towards my table. The guy across from me, whom I didn't know, stood up and walked out the door as if he was making room for the Irishman in white. Later I came to find out it was just coincidence that the only seat to become available happened to be across from me. As if with perfect timing, one man got up and the other sat down. There were people there with him but they were content with standing and walking around. He sat across from me looking slowly around the room with his hands folded over the top of his cane. For some reason I felt I had to ask him if he was a teacher, and so I did. This was our first conversation. Little did I know it would change my life.
I looked over at him and asked, "Sir, are you a teacher?"
"Why yes I am," he said with a deep Irish accent through his thick beard.
"But you aren't a professor or a regular teacher though are you?" I replied.
"No, I am not. Can I ask you what book you are reading there young man?"
"It's called The Nature of the Psyche."
"May I ask what you want from reading that book?"
"You know I really like Ralph Waldo Emerson and I think he writes from a place of inner peace. I guess I want to be able to find that place."
He was calm, relaxed, and seemed pleased at my answer. "Well, I can tell you that you won't find it in that book." He then asked me a question whose answer I would spend my life understanding. "Do you want to know what the great secret is?"
"Sure," I said, and in only a few minutes of sitting across from this man I somehow already trusted him as if I had known him before.
"The great secret my friend is that mankind is asleep. After a pause he continued, "We have been left clues, roadmaps, of how to awaken. I can teach you how to read those maps. I can take you there, but it is you who has to open the door. I will be in town for the next two days if you would like to learn more."
"Sure, okay," I said, not quite comprehending but still sensing truth.
He then turned and looked over his shoulder at the woman behind him. "Ok, Maria, Maria, do you have a card or something that you could give this young man?"
She took from her purse a simple white business card and handed it to me. "Yes, here you go. You know he's only here for a couple more days so please do call if you want to see him."
The next day I called the number on the card and was invited to have wine with this strange type of group or school that these people belonged to. I really didn't know intellectually what it was but I remember feeling that it was honest and safe. I was a poor college student at the time and so I felt a little nervous and out of place being invited to have wine in what seemed to be such sophisticated company. I dressed nice but casual, bought a bottle of wine that seemed sufficiently classy, and arrived at a large beautiful home overlooking a picturesque lake. When I walked in I was greeted with warmth and kindness. I was made to feel like an invited guest instead of an outsider. The Irishman, who I will call Mervyn, sat on the couch with a glass of wine and perhaps five or six students around him. To be honest, most of the night is remembered as just a feeling instead of a word for word memory. But I do remember Mervyn asking for a certain track to be played on the CD player after he had spoken for 45 minutes or so.
As the music began to play the room fell incredibly still and there was no pressure from anyone to speak. It was the type of comfortable silence that most people never experience when sitting in a group. I began to feel a light pressure in my eyes and temples and felt attached to the moment. I will never forget what happened next. I lifted my head slightly to look around the room and all of the sudden I felt a slow electric pulse move through me up to my head and stay there, as if a higher level of consciousness had entered my body. As this sensation arrived Mervyn turned to me and said, "Ray, you are home." No matter what else was said or described to me that evening, nothing was more important than that higher state that I experienced.
As I said my goodbyes and thanked everyone for the evening, Mervyn said to me, "The next time we meet you will have a whole new vocabulary to speak to me with. I leave you with great teachers. They will teach you 90% of what you need to know and I will come around and teach you the rest." And so they did, and so he did. I was fortunate enough to be the only student of Mervyn's two oldest teachers who had moved to Washington State and for the most part were carrying on their teaching and learning long-distance or between the two of them. I spent much of the next three years with them learning a new system of thought unlike anything I had ever encountered in the dusty corridors of academia. In fact, it was this system of knowledge, this new understanding of meditation and stillness, which enabled me to even get through university life and to use it for a higher purpose. I realized that what I was learning was a sample of teachings of an ancient importance. My old paradigm began to rapidly crumble and a whole new model of what was and what was possible started to form. When I would return to my university classrooms it all felt like such a trivial game. I hungered for real wisdom in all its simplicity, even more so because of all the empty hurdles of the academic diet.
As I write this today it has been over ten years since the first day I sat in meditation with Mervyn, six since I last saw him, five since I decided to leave his school, and four since he passed away. In those years the system handed to me has since become my own, expanded and filtered through personal struggles and verifications. My goal in writing this book is to share some simple wisdom in the hopes that it will help you to understand your life, your relationships, and your spiritual growth. What people are lacking the most is an accurate framework to help them interpret the world around them and within them. If this book is successful it will do just that, allow you to see your world in a new way that you only needed to be reminded of again.
I have broken up the book into three main sections. The first is a description of the Six Processes that operate in all living things, including our living relationships and our spiritual development. I have seen people so confused in their relationships who have gained instant clarity from this system of knowledge. The Six Processes are like a user's manual for tuning up your relationship and examining your own well being. Like any living organism, when there is a problem in one of these processes the result will be imbalance, disease and possibly death. If the problem's roots can be identified, whether they stem from the process of Growth, Digestion, Elimination, Corruption, Healing, or Regeneration, then real progress can be made. These tools will help you to repair and enrich your life without having to be disillusioned by those who benefit from keeping you coming back for weekly sessions. This is simple empowering knowledge to be used instantly and effectively.
In section two I focus on the Aspects and Features of the Machine. I will introduce you to an incredible system for understanding human body types, personality types, and alchemical comfort zones. I want you to move away from being a blindfolded Cupid, running into love with whomever your arrow hits, and instead give you a toolbox for finding the right person, learning to love and accept those around you, and most importantly to help you to know yourself a little better.
I began my academic career with a focus on psychology, but sitting through class after class about mice brains and catalogues of disorders, I decided to switch paths. I remember being introduced in college to "body typing" systems. Usually there would be three to six categories having to do with your shape or weight, or with your learning style, or whatever. I have to admit I have blocked most of it out of my mind. The point is that all of them are extremely incomplete and very general. This system that I will introduce to you will allow you to identify your type and those around you out of a possible 336 specific combinations (even more depending on whether you count combination types). You will be able to know what your maximum attractions are, your maximum repulsions, your ideal career area, as well as gain a deeper understanding of how and why people act the way they do.
In the third section of the book we will go more into detail into the Power of Presence, meditation, overcoming obstacles to awakening, and advice for starting a spiritual group. I put this section third because the other two sections are needed to give you the tools to protect yourself and to be able to balance your life as much as possible so your spiritual practices can flourish. When a person is working sincerely to grow spiritually but does so without an understanding of the world around them it is like sending out a happy, singing, and tasty lamb to the wolves. The world of wolves is one of sleep, ever trying to take you away from the moment and who you really are. With this understanding you will stand a better chance of keeping your stillness in the midst of the crowds, becoming closer to those you love, and accepting yourself in all your mechanical and spiritual aspects.
This book is not based on the hope that you will believe, but instead that you will take it upon yourself to build a foundation of wisdom off of your verifications. You will hear many things throughout this book that will take time and effort for you to verify. Until that happens it is best to hold onto the information until it is tested. Your verifications are extremely valuable and it is in them, and in the trust that your life is connected to a Higher Power, where your faith comes into play. Have faith that what has helped you to get this far in your spiritual journey will not abandon you now, no matter what condition you feel you are currently in. Without verification, knowledge does not transform into wisdom and wisdom does not transform into consciousness.
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