I like this! What feels most exciting to me is to see what your Wild Panther wants to do — and how that untamed energy could be infused creatively into your facilitation style. The Black Panther has also been a shamanic ‘power animal’ for me — I can feel the fittingness for you.
I sense what you’re being called into asks you to relinquish the iconoclast more fully. The iconoclast is good at destroying but tends to have too much (subtle/unconscious) cynicism/resentment to build. For pure creation the inner child is needed.
Reminds me of Nietzsche’s 3 metamorphoses: for him the soul is first a Camel, a beast of burden and conformity. Then a Lion, who delivers a ‘sacred No’ to all external dictates in the loneliest desert. Then finally the soul becomes a Child who delivers the ‘sacred Yes’ to the play of life and becomes a self-propelled wheel of generativity.
Perhaps ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ holds more clues… 😊💙
Thanks Jordan. I don't think the iconoclast needs to be released, only integrated into a broader frame of expression. The Zen masters of old were all iconoclasts as well as facilitators. They routinely "killed the Buddha" so to speak even as they promoted the core thrust of his teachings.
That's a serendipitous coincidence you quoting Also Sprach Zarathustra as I had a clear image of Zarathustra coming down to the marketplace while writing the article.
I feel a different energy in my life compared to what came across in your post, a time of endings not new beginnings. And I wonder about your image of the panther, docile and fading. In your last post you spoke about taking on the heaviness of the whole heaving mass/mess of humanity and the collective unconscious, perhaps this is why the wild animal is subdued and fading, the shrinking wildness of the world? Still the very first dream and then a revisit from this friend seems like it has really shaken things up and unleashed some force.
I have not been tuning in to your writing for years as some of your readers have, but I am surprised to hear you say that you have withheld your fire, you come across as energised, real and raw, not constrained or held back in any way, but that’s just my take and on the level of living this can be different, i get that.
In my life a time of longing and yearning has come and gone. The unavoidable ordinariness of life seems to be the main game pushing itself forward atm and gratitude for what is, mixed in with some pain at not being able to change certain things but mostly resignation about this. But having said all that, I would still like to meet you and talk! so if there is a chance to be part of a group, then that would be really welcome. Alas being in Australia I am sad that we won’t ever likely meet in person, unless you and your family make a very big move after that election ;-)
Beautiful Renee. Thanks for sharing. The unavoidable ordinariness of life is where being reveals itself. Not in temples and churches, monasteries or yoga sanctuaries. Unfortunately, that ordinariness feels "mundane" and "dull" to most - not the miracle it is, vibrant and pulsating with mystery. That is the intention I am moving forward with - to point to the mystery within the mundane, the aliveness within the ordinary. In a way not much different than what I have always done through my writing, only in a more intimate format.
Yeh, I have come to the conclusion that I have been attempting to avoid the unavoidable ordinariness of life by by focusing on ‘something more’. And spiritually bypassing trauma in the process. I see so much humanness in all ‘awakened’ people. We all have to eat and shit. And yet there are the little moments of magic, like a wild flower or a bird that we take for granted.
Talking to others online might be useful; just to share the experience of being human.
Geeshhhh, I'm excited by what I just read. I don't know if I have anything to offer or contribute right now, other than genuine enthusiasm and encouragement for this project.
Something thoroughly "delightful" is stirring internally. Perhaps it's memories I've my own "call to the wild". I'm on board. Let's build this.
Enthusiasm and encouragement are plenty Mark. I know from the last time we spoke that you are in a similar space. All the best to you my friend and stay tuned
Yes. I feel called to build something like this, too. Perhaps we could collaborate.
I as well have been contemplating how I hide in the shadows and wish to take a bigger role but tend to hold back out of fear, or not knowing where to get started. Just a few days ago I had the idea to build a school of of living magic - but then I thought to myself, how can I do this? I have so much left to learn still, so much to remember and awaken to. But maybe that voice which presented itself as humility was just fear in disguise.
If you want there to be no teachers and only students, then it would make sense for there to be a natural selectivity for this school/community. If some members are at a far greater level of awakening and awareness than others then a natural hierarchy would probably form. A heart of oneness sees everyone included but those who are primarily led by ego or self-interest can potentially pull down the rest of the group - I've seen this happen before.
I envision a place where those who love and have the Divine at the center of their lives gather to support each other. To see each other with eyes of spirit and help each other with our shadow work in a way that common society cannot. Where not a human leads, but the Divine itself. Something that is timeless, where energy, frequency and love take the ascendancy over language, mind and separation.
Being has no hierarchy, egos do. And so the lifting up by some and the pulling down by others is all part and parcel of the dynamic. Lesson 1 of the Isness is to see things as they are rather than as we wish them to be. That includes living the scenarios out as they present themselves which may often not be how we plan them. The Divine exists in the uncomfortable conflicts we experience just as much as it does in the moments of camaraderie we share. It is again our ego that acts as the gatekeeper deciding when the divine is allowed to be seen and not.
Thank you for sharing your own vision Liana and I look forward to exploring this together
maya/Being, not-two. Maya is itself maya...YOU are You
YOU are the school. (...in whatever form maya dresses the window).
Once upon a time, in a dead log far away, the river swelled to overflow its banks, and carries that log to a larger river, and a larger one still, until... it floated in the ocean for a period of time ... until finally, washing up on the shore, it sat on a beach, at which point all the bugs and grubs inside tentatively crawled out.
And with great relief, they exclaimed to one another, "Wow! It's a good thing we knew how to steer!"
Nelson Mandela said: “Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us."
Sometimes we shrink not so that others won't feel insecure around us but so that we won't feel insecure around others. We are all learning lessons of courage in one way or another. Thanks for that beautiful quote.
What I've always liked and felt close to is the "iconoclast" part of you. The "guide"/"helper" part of Shiv is not really for me, I don't need it, but I know that that's your personality : you are both. So, even though I wish you good luck, I won't help build that new community or be part of it, but if Shiv the iconoclast is still present somewhere I'll keep enjoying his presence and contributions. 🙂 Peace. 🙏
Ah Cedric, the iconoclast of the iconoclast! Ironically my friend, as much as you appreciate the iconoclast in me, I appreciate the helper in you. I have not forgotten how I once claimed “love” was not the nature of reality and you challenged me on it. I reflected often afterwards on how I was wrong. You also helped me by frustrating me with your comments on many posts (some of which got you banned lol) but deep down I always appreciated you for the restlessness you evoked within me that caused me to take a deeper look into myself.
You say you prefer the iconoclast in me than the helper/guide, but the iconoclast and the helper/guide are one and the same - two faces of the same coin. For my iconoclasm has helped and guided. And my helping and guiding has many times challenged the status quo.
I say this not to convince you of anything. Years of interacting with you have taught me better! But only to say thank you. I know you see me friend. And I see you. And I appreciate you for always being here.
I think "life" made us meet to both challenge each other and both grow from those interactions. So you helped me as much as I helped you. And I consider you my friend too. 🙂
Isness/being is always here with unknown potential, but I am caught in trap of reading all of the online writers I have carefully curated for my...distraction. I say you are courageous and in integrity to reveal your call/invitation/vision. You are listening and responding.
Sometimes one trap is a tool to escape another. Distraction helps dose the confusion in our lives into bite sized digestible chunks. What may look like bypassing could be a form of processing. Give yourself the space to let it play out, Dawn. And thank you for your words of kindness and encouragement ❤️
I didn't reply to this when I read it, but I want to tell you that the compassion and spaciousness and acceptance of your response, in contrast to my own self-judgment, evoked a feeling of surprise and liberation, a loosening.
I always daydreamed what I would do when I finally reached my final goal of $10 million dollars, and creating a retreat center/ museum of mindfulness/ Xavier’s institute for mutants (awakened) was always a passion project for me. Osho’s rajneeshpuram was a bit extreme, but somewhere that facilitated a community for retreats, I know there’s a bunch in Mexico and Costa Rica and even Bali and Thailand. The Ayurvedic healing centers in India are also great. There’s a bunch scattered in Europe too. But yeah, it would be a really cool project, all it needs is funding $$$. One of my friends is actually cocreating something similar in Olat, Spain (just outside Barcelona) with the local government there. Looking forward to see how you develop this idea. 💡
Thanks Bhisham. I remember visiting the Rajneesh ashram in Pune as a kid and being blown away by the scale and beauty. Found the sannyasins fuckin weird tho lol!
The one in Pune is actually the Meditation Resort (beautiful place, I also visited about 7 years ago, everyone had to wear maroon robes, and you have to take a rapid HIV test to enter hehe), the rajneeshpuram was the entire town he tried to form in Oregon that caused that scandal in the Netflix documentary Wild Wild Country.
Look into Vishen Lakhiani, of Mindvalley. He created something kind of similar of what you’re talking about? But I never resonated with his work. At least you can see what you want to do similar and what you don’t want to do the same.
Yes I’m aware of the one in Oregon. A few of my readers are ex-sannyasins and have wild stories from the place lol. As for Vishen Lakhani - guy gives me serious tech bro vibes. Mind valley is not exactly what I have in mind ;)
“We must become that counterbalance.” Perception, my little i-ness says it is much easier and safer to do the inner work alone, picking and choosing who influences “me.” Yet this “we,” has been calling and then meeting you literally on the path yesterday and now reading this post, IS-ness will not let i win. There is no “later.” There is only This Now and I am in!
Thank you, Shiv, for your inspiring proposition and calling.
I recently listened with great interest to your interview with Jordan Bates.
I’m a 71-year-old frenchman living in France, engaged in supporting others, inspired by my life’s experiences and by maïeusthésie, a french practice that beautifully fosters the blossoming of beings. I’m also nurturing the early stages of a project for an intergenerational, semi-collective space that resonates with your vision for the School of Isness in some ways, yet differs in others.
From this place, I offer these questions in response to your calling:
1. How will you reconcile the acceptance of all that is with the stark opposition between Maya and Being, so that the School of Isness embraces illusion as a facet of truth?
2. You already inspire, or even guide, people through your writings, even if you resist or don’t fully recognize it — how will you embrace this implicit teaching role without shying away out of fear of ego?
3. How do you reconcile your emphasis on Being with your own active engagement — writing, calling, creating — in shaping the School of Isness? And how that might shape the School's approach to action ?
4. What tools will the School of Isness employ to transmute inevitable relational or group challenges into opportunities for learning and growth?
I like this! What feels most exciting to me is to see what your Wild Panther wants to do — and how that untamed energy could be infused creatively into your facilitation style. The Black Panther has also been a shamanic ‘power animal’ for me — I can feel the fittingness for you.
I sense what you’re being called into asks you to relinquish the iconoclast more fully. The iconoclast is good at destroying but tends to have too much (subtle/unconscious) cynicism/resentment to build. For pure creation the inner child is needed.
Reminds me of Nietzsche’s 3 metamorphoses: for him the soul is first a Camel, a beast of burden and conformity. Then a Lion, who delivers a ‘sacred No’ to all external dictates in the loneliest desert. Then finally the soul becomes a Child who delivers the ‘sacred Yes’ to the play of life and becomes a self-propelled wheel of generativity.
Perhaps ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ holds more clues… 😊💙
Thanks Jordan. I don't think the iconoclast needs to be released, only integrated into a broader frame of expression. The Zen masters of old were all iconoclasts as well as facilitators. They routinely "killed the Buddha" so to speak even as they promoted the core thrust of his teachings.
That's a serendipitous coincidence you quoting Also Sprach Zarathustra as I had a clear image of Zarathustra coming down to the marketplace while writing the article.
I feel a different energy in my life compared to what came across in your post, a time of endings not new beginnings. And I wonder about your image of the panther, docile and fading. In your last post you spoke about taking on the heaviness of the whole heaving mass/mess of humanity and the collective unconscious, perhaps this is why the wild animal is subdued and fading, the shrinking wildness of the world? Still the very first dream and then a revisit from this friend seems like it has really shaken things up and unleashed some force.
I have not been tuning in to your writing for years as some of your readers have, but I am surprised to hear you say that you have withheld your fire, you come across as energised, real and raw, not constrained or held back in any way, but that’s just my take and on the level of living this can be different, i get that.
In my life a time of longing and yearning has come and gone. The unavoidable ordinariness of life seems to be the main game pushing itself forward atm and gratitude for what is, mixed in with some pain at not being able to change certain things but mostly resignation about this. But having said all that, I would still like to meet you and talk! so if there is a chance to be part of a group, then that would be really welcome. Alas being in Australia I am sad that we won’t ever likely meet in person, unless you and your family make a very big move after that election ;-)
Beautiful Renee. Thanks for sharing. The unavoidable ordinariness of life is where being reveals itself. Not in temples and churches, monasteries or yoga sanctuaries. Unfortunately, that ordinariness feels "mundane" and "dull" to most - not the miracle it is, vibrant and pulsating with mystery. That is the intention I am moving forward with - to point to the mystery within the mundane, the aliveness within the ordinary. In a way not much different than what I have always done through my writing, only in a more intimate format.
Yeh, I have come to the conclusion that I have been attempting to avoid the unavoidable ordinariness of life by by focusing on ‘something more’. And spiritually bypassing trauma in the process. I see so much humanness in all ‘awakened’ people. We all have to eat and shit. And yet there are the little moments of magic, like a wild flower or a bird that we take for granted.
Talking to others online might be useful; just to share the experience of being human.
Geeshhhh, I'm excited by what I just read. I don't know if I have anything to offer or contribute right now, other than genuine enthusiasm and encouragement for this project.
Something thoroughly "delightful" is stirring internally. Perhaps it's memories I've my own "call to the wild". I'm on board. Let's build this.
Enthusiasm and encouragement are plenty Mark. I know from the last time we spoke that you are in a similar space. All the best to you my friend and stay tuned
Yes. I feel called to build something like this, too. Perhaps we could collaborate.
I as well have been contemplating how I hide in the shadows and wish to take a bigger role but tend to hold back out of fear, or not knowing where to get started. Just a few days ago I had the idea to build a school of of living magic - but then I thought to myself, how can I do this? I have so much left to learn still, so much to remember and awaken to. But maybe that voice which presented itself as humility was just fear in disguise.
If you want there to be no teachers and only students, then it would make sense for there to be a natural selectivity for this school/community. If some members are at a far greater level of awakening and awareness than others then a natural hierarchy would probably form. A heart of oneness sees everyone included but those who are primarily led by ego or self-interest can potentially pull down the rest of the group - I've seen this happen before.
I envision a place where those who love and have the Divine at the center of their lives gather to support each other. To see each other with eyes of spirit and help each other with our shadow work in a way that common society cannot. Where not a human leads, but the Divine itself. Something that is timeless, where energy, frequency and love take the ascendancy over language, mind and separation.
Being has no hierarchy, egos do. And so the lifting up by some and the pulling down by others is all part and parcel of the dynamic. Lesson 1 of the Isness is to see things as they are rather than as we wish them to be. That includes living the scenarios out as they present themselves which may often not be how we plan them. The Divine exists in the uncomfortable conflicts we experience just as much as it does in the moments of camaraderie we share. It is again our ego that acts as the gatekeeper deciding when the divine is allowed to be seen and not.
Thank you for sharing your own vision Liana and I look forward to exploring this together
maya/Being, not-two. Maya is itself maya...YOU are You
YOU are the school. (...in whatever form maya dresses the window).
Once upon a time, in a dead log far away, the river swelled to overflow its banks, and carries that log to a larger river, and a larger one still, until... it floated in the ocean for a period of time ... until finally, washing up on the shore, it sat on a beach, at which point all the bugs and grubs inside tentatively crawled out.
And with great relief, they exclaimed to one another, "Wow! It's a good thing we knew how to steer!"
That's a great story, Cheryl :)
Nelson Mandela said: “Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us."
Sometimes we shrink not so that others won't feel insecure around us but so that we won't feel insecure around others. We are all learning lessons of courage in one way or another. Thanks for that beautiful quote.
What I've always liked and felt close to is the "iconoclast" part of you. The "guide"/"helper" part of Shiv is not really for me, I don't need it, but I know that that's your personality : you are both. So, even though I wish you good luck, I won't help build that new community or be part of it, but if Shiv the iconoclast is still present somewhere I'll keep enjoying his presence and contributions. 🙂 Peace. 🙏
Ah Cedric, the iconoclast of the iconoclast! Ironically my friend, as much as you appreciate the iconoclast in me, I appreciate the helper in you. I have not forgotten how I once claimed “love” was not the nature of reality and you challenged me on it. I reflected often afterwards on how I was wrong. You also helped me by frustrating me with your comments on many posts (some of which got you banned lol) but deep down I always appreciated you for the restlessness you evoked within me that caused me to take a deeper look into myself.
You say you prefer the iconoclast in me than the helper/guide, but the iconoclast and the helper/guide are one and the same - two faces of the same coin. For my iconoclasm has helped and guided. And my helping and guiding has many times challenged the status quo.
I say this not to convince you of anything. Years of interacting with you have taught me better! But only to say thank you. I know you see me friend. And I see you. And I appreciate you for always being here.
I think "life" made us meet to both challenge each other and both grow from those interactions. So you helped me as much as I helped you. And I consider you my friend too. 🙂
All that comes to mind is, "Welcome Shiv."
And this ...
Welcome
To a world unknown
Yet known
A place for the first time
That doesn’t cost you a dime
Just a life
And a willingness for strife
Endure the pain
Not knowing it will wain
Suffering may ensue
But know this too
Shall pass
Won’t last
This place, no longer remembered
On the way, dismembered
Return as an unknown
Whose mind is blown
That place no longer resides
That place you hide
From the world to see
The calling to be
Coming forth so strong
You cannot last long
Keeping it at bay
Now all you say
Yes, I’ll do what I am shown
The catch, not done alone
A collective of minds alike
To counter the heavy strike
That affects one and all
Even those, that heed the call
And those, left in the wake
Unable to surface from the lake
Grab my hand never fear
Worry not, we are here
That’s an exquisite poem Allen. Hoping you will share more of these gifts with us in the future…
Thank you for the kind words. Your recent post and confession inspired me to write and share, which I rarely do with the poetry.
Isness/being is always here with unknown potential, but I am caught in trap of reading all of the online writers I have carefully curated for my...distraction. I say you are courageous and in integrity to reveal your call/invitation/vision. You are listening and responding.
Sometimes one trap is a tool to escape another. Distraction helps dose the confusion in our lives into bite sized digestible chunks. What may look like bypassing could be a form of processing. Give yourself the space to let it play out, Dawn. And thank you for your words of kindness and encouragement ❤️
I didn't reply to this when I read it, but I want to tell you that the compassion and spaciousness and acceptance of your response, in contrast to my own self-judgment, evoked a feeling of surprise and liberation, a loosening.
I always daydreamed what I would do when I finally reached my final goal of $10 million dollars, and creating a retreat center/ museum of mindfulness/ Xavier’s institute for mutants (awakened) was always a passion project for me. Osho’s rajneeshpuram was a bit extreme, but somewhere that facilitated a community for retreats, I know there’s a bunch in Mexico and Costa Rica and even Bali and Thailand. The Ayurvedic healing centers in India are also great. There’s a bunch scattered in Europe too. But yeah, it would be a really cool project, all it needs is funding $$$. One of my friends is actually cocreating something similar in Olat, Spain (just outside Barcelona) with the local government there. Looking forward to see how you develop this idea. 💡
Thanks Bhisham. I remember visiting the Rajneesh ashram in Pune as a kid and being blown away by the scale and beauty. Found the sannyasins fuckin weird tho lol!
The one in Pune is actually the Meditation Resort (beautiful place, I also visited about 7 years ago, everyone had to wear maroon robes, and you have to take a rapid HIV test to enter hehe), the rajneeshpuram was the entire town he tried to form in Oregon that caused that scandal in the Netflix documentary Wild Wild Country.
Look into Vishen Lakhiani, of Mindvalley. He created something kind of similar of what you’re talking about? But I never resonated with his work. At least you can see what you want to do similar and what you don’t want to do the same.
Yes I’m aware of the one in Oregon. A few of my readers are ex-sannyasins and have wild stories from the place lol. As for Vishen Lakhani - guy gives me serious tech bro vibes. Mind valley is not exactly what I have in mind ;)
Yeah I figured. School of Isness would be dope.
Osho was a sex cult leader!
“For when Being chooses you, Maya takes a special interest in you as well.” No kidding!
“We must become that counterbalance.” Perception, my little i-ness says it is much easier and safer to do the inner work alone, picking and choosing who influences “me.” Yet this “we,” has been calling and then meeting you literally on the path yesterday and now reading this post, IS-ness will not let i win. There is no “later.” There is only This Now and I am in!
Thank you, Shiv, for your inspiring proposition and calling.
I recently listened with great interest to your interview with Jordan Bates.
I’m a 71-year-old frenchman living in France, engaged in supporting others, inspired by my life’s experiences and by maïeusthésie, a french practice that beautifully fosters the blossoming of beings. I’m also nurturing the early stages of a project for an intergenerational, semi-collective space that resonates with your vision for the School of Isness in some ways, yet differs in others.
From this place, I offer these questions in response to your calling:
1. How will you reconcile the acceptance of all that is with the stark opposition between Maya and Being, so that the School of Isness embraces illusion as a facet of truth?
2. You already inspire, or even guide, people through your writings, even if you resist or don’t fully recognize it — how will you embrace this implicit teaching role without shying away out of fear of ego?
3. How do you reconcile your emphasis on Being with your own active engagement — writing, calling, creating — in shaping the School of Isness? And how that might shape the School's approach to action ?
4. What tools will the School of Isness employ to transmute inevitable relational or group challenges into opportunities for learning and growth?
Thank you for your questions, Jean. I felt they deserved their own article as a response:
https://shivsengupta.substack.com/p/real-face
And yes want to collaborate
Shiv all i can say is as a recovering advaitholics is that you saved me and u deserve a bigger stage
dear shiv,
thank you for sharing this.
i love this:
"Being doesn’t capture. It doesn’t demand. It doesn’t convince.
It invites."
and this:
"There are no teachers in this school - all are students. Being is the only teacher. My role is to facilitate.
The School of Isness."
it seems that the virtual version of this school already exists and we are all there already, are we not?
thank you for sharing and doing!
love
myq