What if there was a way for ALL of us to experience peace? Not just a select few individuals, but the whole of us here on this planet?
Is it possible?
That question has always interested me. It is what brought me to the study of Mahayana Buddhism and esoteric Buddhism almost 20 years ago. It started with a desire to feel peaceful in my own mind and heart during a time that was anything but that, during my residency training.
We all start at that place when we begin looking for something new...we are unsatisfied in some way and are looking to feel better in our own life.
During that time of initial exploration for myself, when I was studying in the Mahayana Buddhist lineage (the lineage of the Dalai Lama), I learned about something called Bodhichitta, which is the wish for all beings to be peaceful and free of suffering.
That idea of Bodhichitta really connected to something deep in my heart.
I learned about beings called Bodhisattvas who moved beyond the vision and path of personal peace and instead were dedicated to working for peace for ALL beings. These are beings who have achieved inner peace and chosen to stay here working in this world with a dedication to help others achieve peace....until ALL beings achieve inner peace. Or you could say Enlightenment. Until all beings are filled with Light...Enlightened.
(Thousand armed bodhisattva Quan Yin, the Bodhisattva of Compassion )
I also learned a new way of thinking about acceptance.
We often think acceptance is "agreeing with something", "condoning it", or, worse yet, doing nothing to act and just float along in life carried by the stream of events giving up our power to choose and create our life.
In my esoteric Buddhist studies I learned about the changing nature of this life. That all things change. Nothing stays the same. Nothing in this life is permanent. And that it is our attachment to the way things are or are not that disturbs our peace of mind the most. Wanting things we like to stay and clinging to them when they change, suffering as we lose them. Or running away from things we don't like, that are uncomfortable and fighting against the discomfort, and suffering through our aversions and resistance.
I learned a very developed concept that had to do with training the mind in order to transform the heart. It was my very favorite thing to teach, a topic called LoJong.
Lojong is an ancient teaching from Master Shantideva on training the mind to transform the heart. It encourages us to evaluate the boundaries of "Me". Where I think "me" ends and "other" begins. And how that boundary affects what we want to protect and how we treat others... how it causes us to prioritize "my wellbeing" over the wellbeing of others. Now I would say, how it also leads to the opposite but equally ineffective dynamic of prioritizing the well-being of others over our own wellbeing.
What if you didn't draw a line between Self and Other?
How would you treat yourself? What if you could extend the boundary of what you thought of as "me?" Like how a mother naturally extends the boundary of "me" to include her baby. Where does "me" end and "other" begin?
What determines that boundary in our minds?
How would that change the world if we understood "You are another me"??? 🤯
If we took that down the rabbit hole we would have a very different appreciation of the power and importance of really loving ourself, and THEN extending that boundary of love and care wider and wider.
Changing the Heart
It really transformed my thinking when I first received the teaching. Lo Jong, Developing the Good Heart, helped me begin to change how I was thinking about my life and all the people in it.
How could I love more? How could I feel more compassion and care for those who were suffering, even if their suffering was creating hard things in my life? How could I understand they were doing what they were doing out of their misunderstandings, driven by the desire to move away from what they perceived was causing their suffering?
How could I accept that we are all generally acting the way we do because we think it will bring us more happiness? Even when our actions are causing more suffering....Because we don't understand what is really causing our unhappiness? How can that lead me to greater Love and compassion for myself and others?
How can that lead me to both greater ACCEPTANCE AND a greater VISION? Peace for ALL of us! How can I use my life to contribute to that greater VISION in some way?
This is still very much a core part of who I am and what I want to focus on in my own life. And I am continuing to walk that journey, to work on being better at living that VISION.
That journey has brought me now to studying with the Modern Mystery School International and to doing the work I do as a Guide, teacher and healer to help others find their own healing through the path of spiritual initiation.
Look Even Deeper
Why? For me, all those teachings I received years ago in my esoteric Buddhist training were still missing something to get me beyond an intellectual understanding of peace to an experiential one.
I'm at Spring Programs in Toronto right now and yesterday I really enjoyed some teachings from Sovereign Ipsissimus Hideto Nakagome, who in addition to being an ordained esoteric Buddhist monk is also one of the Key leadership and lineage holders of the Modern Mystery School.
He said some things that really helped me create a bridge between this Bodhisattva idea and my previous Buddhist training, the path of peace, and the Modern Mystery School lineage (the lineage of King Salomon). It helped me better understand why I have experienced so many positive changes since receiving Life Activation and then choosing to embark on the path of initiation I first stepped onto with the Empower Thyself program.
I have been able to take what I learned before and move beyond/rise above the emotions and stories that thinking and using the mind alone couldn't achieve. That has brought me from an intellectual understanding of inner peace to a lived experience of what that feels like more and more. I now have more inner stillness in my mind than I was able to reach through meditation and logic alone.
And the mission of the Modern Mystery School is world peace....peace for EVERYONE, by creating peace one heart at a time.
I love that. Because this was the mission my heart connected with when I first heard about Bodhisattvas all those years ago.
SO, BACK TO ACCEPTANCE AND VISION
The way I would frame this now is that when we forget about the law of impermanence, we don't accept what is happening now, understanding "It's like this now" and resting in that space to explore what is here for me in this moment of learning outside of our own reactivity and drama.
We forget "this too shall pass", because everything is always changing. We recreate every moment by the way we think about it AND how we choose to act.
Acceptance of what IS allows us to explore the terrain of our mind, heart and emotions with curiosity and with a vision toward peace.
How do I use this information and this experience to create MORE peace in my life?
What needs to be adjusted?
How can I grow?
Where can I find Love and Compassion and the wish for others also to be free of their own suffering?
Where can I let go a little to create space to enjoy the things I enjoy and to relax and let the things I don't enjoy move through my life without creating a big story around them that disturbs my peace of mind?
That's all fine and Good, but How?!
Vital to our ability to do this effectively, there is an important component to all of this that helps us clean up our energy and up-level our operating system so we can operate from a higher level, above the drama.
We need more Light. In other words, we need more Good energy to support us in that growth. How do you get more Light, more Good energy? That is exactly why the path of initiation in the Mystery Schools exists. The first level of initiation, the Adept initiation you receive in the Empower Thyself Program, gives you 10 times more energy to make positive changes!
And we need ways to maintain that as we go out into our daily lives. In the Empower Thyself training you learn 6 rituals to help you maintain and grow that Light, that Good energy.
It's one thing to go to classes and retreats or sit in meditation and feel peaceful, accepting and connected to a higher vision for our life. It is another thing entirely to be able to live that as we move about this complex web of relationships and interactions that is life.
When we are operating on a higher level, with higher energy, we are better able to live with ACCEPTANCE, to choose to live outside the drama and direct our actions toward the fulfillment of a higher life mission that thinks bigger...beyond just "me" to include others in the sphere of my genuine caring and VISION.
My wish for you today:
To hold a higher VISION for yourself while you also ACCEPT where you are and what is happening for you now do that you can love yourself enough to change what needs to be changed in order to create a life of greater peace and wellbeing for yourself.
And then, from that place of Love, Compassion and acceptance for yourself that moves you toward a higher vision that is true to your heart, you can share that peace with others.
No matter what.
There are many opportunities for you to step into this new way of being in your life and explore what is possible for you. I offer healings, classes, workshops, spiritual activation and initiation according to ancient Mystery School tradition in order to help you take control of your life in positive ways and learn to create a better life for yourself.
Here are some places to get started:
Clarity Call - explore options and see if the healings and trainings I offer are what you are looking for
Life Activation - a single 2 hour session to activate your spiritual DNA, connecting you with more clarity to your inner guidance. The healing session itself is 60 minutes with a chat before and after. This is where I recommend most people start as a first step. There is no requirement to do anything else after this session.
EmpowerThyself Training and Initiation: pre-requisite: Life Activation. This is a 2-day workshop that I think of like a Spiritual MasterClass for the Soul. At the end of the training you receive a spiritual initiation to support you as you move forward in your life. This will help you and give you tools to support you in your life whether you choose to do any further study or not. There are no requirements to do anything else.
Spiritual and Energetic Healings to support you: I am also trained and certified in a number of lineage healing modalities including Ensofic Ray Reiki, Aura Healing, Personal Energy Clearing, Emotional Cord Cutting, and advanced King Salomon Healing Modalities.
Upcoming Workshops: Scroll through our Events Calendar to see Upcoming Events and Trainings
A workshop on Relationships with Dan and Erin Bannink.
June 1, 2024
This event is open to everyone. Registration is required to attend.
Max Meditation with Erin Bannink.
June 2
This is the lineage meditation designed to help you connect with stillness so you can calm the mind and experience deep relaxation.
This event is open to everyone. Please register ahead of time at the Giving Tree Collective.
Empower Thyself Training and Initiation
Next Opportunity:
July 27-28
(Contact me to schedule for June 8-9)
Deadline for Early Registration Discount to save $200 is July 1
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