After 4 months of work, travel,passion,intensity,excitement and fear and everything in between. I started my first eecourse in Edinburgh. There were twelve people people there that had decided to take the course and it was great to just be there going on a journey of transformation. About ten minutes before the class was about to start someone pressed the wrong button on the digital projector and the writing turned to chinese ;) we could not understand how to change it back to English. But after frantically pressing lots of buttons all at once we finally got the show up and running just in time. After the course had finished I learned that someone on the course could read chinese( how amazing is that).

The first part of the class was exploring the difference beetween depth of experience and perspective ( or interpretation) I am constantly amazed how important this distinction is and that what makes us interpret our experience is normaly totally influence by the context in which we are viewing ourself in relationship to.I was reading a piece by Ken Wilber today and stumbled on something he wrote in his book brief history of everything " All surfaces can be seen but all depth must be interpreted. And how we interpret depth is cucially important for the birth of that depth itself. Gracefull and well rounded interpretations of spirit facilitate spirits further descent. Gracefully unpacking the intuition, interpreting the intuition facilitates the emergence of that new spiritual depth.
 On the other hand ungraceful interpretations tend to prevent or abort further spiritual intuitions.Frail or shallow or fragmented interpretations derail the spiritual progress".

Then we explored the idea that enlightenment is not only an experience but a perspective we can choose to take through all changing emotional states. (very important distinction to get and put into practice) Then we looked at how our culture is infected by nascisissm and how that affects us by being overly concerned with ourleves and our little stories. So in-turn this small context for our lives affects the way we interpret our experiance.

Then we explored how we can discover the subject by turning our attention in on itself and dis-identifiying with little objects that arise in our field of attention. This is a profound exercise to do constantly to keep reminding yourself you are not prisoner to your own mind or emotions.

Then we discussed diffenernt types of develpoment and that and that this teaching is concerned with the development of the subject of pure awareness.

I thought that everyone responded well to the class and the material. I am looking forward to going even further in the next class. Remember this is a journey of tensfomation and change and we have only just scratched the surface of human potential.

                                                   CLASS 2 - Context is everything

When I contemplate the word context I regognize that it is one of the most profound topics one can endeavor to explore in ones experience.

In this class I was attempting to communicate ,were as a species we have been in the past ,were we are now and to deliver some sense of what is possible for us in the future.And my god it was challenging to stand up in front of people and attempt to articulate simply and authentically the fact that we are living in and simultaneously are an evolutionary process that is developing over time.

The start of the class was pretty difficult and I was kind of digging deep to find ways to follow on from the audios.But after about an hour I think something really kind of broke through in the class and I found  access to more of a flow. A depth of consciousness started to emerge in the class and there was definitely more of tuning in to something higher.

I think now because this is the second week the people in the class are much more at ease in the environment and people were engaging more which created lively dialog.I think some people were really trying to expand the context in which they see themselves in to a more universal perspective, then contemplating the fact that they could be that universal intelligence awakening to itself and trying to let that fact in on a soul level. It is so sacred.
As Andrew said if we let this big perspective in it should be enough to set us free.

This teaching of evolutionary enlightenment is more about the development of the field of consciousness that exists between us and my hope now is that this will happen more as the the next few weeks unfold (very exciting).

As most people know  meditation can be a helpful tool in aiding the discovery of depth.But as this class emphasised  the context in which we practice meditation is essential if we are to get powerful results.
Andrew  instructions are be still, relax and pay attention and let everything be as it is.
But these insructions are in an absolute context which means if we are to let everything be as it is it means we are to let absolutelyeverything be as it is without exception.
This is very simple and if one is willing to follow these instructions absolutely one will get extraordinary results.The problem is is that most people are more concerned and preoccupied with the content of their experience rather than their relationship to it.
In this class we also were looking into no relationship to thought and the content of consciousness and I was explaining that some people interpret no relationship as something negative but nothing could be further from the truth in my own experience it is absolute positivity. 
I thought everyone in the class were engaged and interested and I hope totally inspired to meditate. The atmosphere of the class is becoming really fused the more we look into these teachings and I hope it continues.
My mum is in the class and I know she has never really practiced meditation but I was compleltely amazed when she told me she got a sense of infinity and her thoughts just stopped. How cool!

Thanks for the surprise birthday cake it was allot of fun!
Looking forward to the next class

As a perfect follow on from class 3 this class was all about exploring the differences experientially between the two fundamental and opposite dimensions of human nature.

In class 3 we were discovering the ground of all being or the meditative experience.But in Evolutionary Enlightenment  the meditation experience is not an end in itself but a tool we can use to discover the authentic self. One way to describe the authentic self is that it is the pure urge to create the divine principle right now on earth or it is consciousness that exploded out of the void of meditation.Or it is dynamic compulsion to become more conscious.

There are many ways to talk about this but when we look directly at what the qualities of this experience are then we will find that  they are only life affirming, positive and truly amazing.
On the other hand when we look at the qualities of ego then we will find that they are the opposite.

So as this class continued we were going back and forward between these parts of the self and learning how to discriminate between the two.
I was also putting emphasis on that these parts of the self are like two parallel line that never meet and that the only way to get from the ego to the authentic self is to realize that there is a choosing faculty inside us that is choosing to be the person you are being.
So if we want to experience and become the authentic self we have to CHOOSE to adopt the perspective of the authentic self no matter how our ego happens to feel about it, because our ego will never feel happy about it.

I am really happy with the positivity and the development of how the class participants are engaging with me and each other. In-fact I am overwhelmed with it and I am sure it is having a big effect.

The next class will be about the 5 tenants of enlightenment. And this answers the question how to live according to the principles of the authentic self.

This is a copy of an essay I received from one of the course participants. 
               EVOLUTIONARY ENLIGHTENMENT

       Being so objective that we view ourselves as a process seemed
>cold and harsh to me, but the more I practice it, the more I am                                              freed from my egos fears and desires, which allows something truly
>natural.....tender, yet strong to emerge. I feel more LOVE towards
>myself and others - a warmth and wholesomeness that is beyond the
>grasping, adolescent demands which we have all experienced.
>
>Contemplating the evolutionary process is so mind-blowing......all
>the experience that has gone before us, developing us into this
>form, in this place, at this time NOW - a sense of wonder and
>child-like awe manifests as wide-eyed attention to LIFE.
>
>     The stress that our world eco-system is under is immense - we
>have created that stress, and we must evolve to a point that we no
>longer prioritise appearance, wealth and fame over alleviating
>suffering. Where we act out of compassion, not only a passive state
>of being, but action. The way our society can consciously evolve is
>through expanding our awareness and acceptance of other cultures and
>religions. As Ken Wilber would say, going from an ethno to world
>centric view point or context, and then from there to a kosmo
>centric level - expanding our consciousness to intend to encompass
>the entirety of the manifest realm, although the lower or conceptual
>mind cannot do this, a higher part of us experiences it - a deep
>knowing of every atom of the manifest - total connection which I'm
>sure can be experienced to deeper and deeper levels. We are all made
>of the same stuff - the entirety of the manifest is one.... then
>letting go of this to reveal the NO-THING screen on which all is
>projected - The Ground of Being.
>
>        The only reason we fight each other is because we are at war
>with ourselves. The less we pay attention and buy into the egos pain
>and suffering, the less we cause pain and suffering to others. This
>is the Path of Enlightenment - we have to consciously choose this
>way of being until we realise that this is our natural state to such
>a degree that the fears and desires of suffering can no longer tempt
>us - we have shone the LIGHT on them, their pointlessness revealed,
>their existence eliminated. Until that point, which is always
>potential in every moment, we must choose to act from our Higher or
>Authentic Self.
>
>       This part of us is evolving, as the rest of our being/planet
>is, as well as our interpretation of it. As we let go of past rigid
>ideas, structure of our society, personal opinions of ourselves, we
>allow for the potential of NOW to spring forth, forming inclusive
>yet advanced structures which humanity will grow/expand into.
>Recognising this aspect of ourselves and acting from there instead
>of our exclusive, small, separating needs, will indeed CHANGE THE
>WORLD.
>
>        I can feel it, experience it day to day, more and more. We
>have to wake up to SAVE OUR SOULS and OUR PLANET.
>