It's been challenging to get the news about this retreat out! Somehow, the fact of having Jesus in the title seemed to cause some fear and trepidation in me, and it took me a while to finally feel ready to put it out there into cyber space.
I knew, from having spoken to two of the speakers, Francis Bennett and David Alsobrook, that they had gotten some flak for introducing Christian language and thoughts into the nondual community. Somewhat predictably, there seems to be some reactive response to doing this. But this was just an outer concern.
More interestingly, there was a very visceral 'No, you can't do that' in response to the retreat title when it came up as a theme. What is this fear? Today, I came across a website about a film called Liberating Jesus, based on a play written by a spiritual teacher, Leonard Jacobson. He reports a similar visceral response which stopped him for a number of years (click HERE for his account). What is it that makes the topic of Jesus so fearful? Is it a fear lodged in the collective unconscious dating back to the persecution of the early Christians? Is it a fear about touching on a topic that's not very 'cool' in spiritual circles?
Whatever it is, it's interesting to see it arise... I hold it with compassion, and I do what I must...
I knew, from having spoken to two of the speakers, Francis Bennett and David Alsobrook, that they had gotten some flak for introducing Christian language and thoughts into the nondual community. Somewhat predictably, there seems to be some reactive response to doing this. But this was just an outer concern.
More interestingly, there was a very visceral 'No, you can't do that' in response to the retreat title when it came up as a theme. What is this fear? Today, I came across a website about a film called Liberating Jesus, based on a play written by a spiritual teacher, Leonard Jacobson. He reports a similar visceral response which stopped him for a number of years (click HERE for his account). What is it that makes the topic of Jesus so fearful? Is it a fear lodged in the collective unconscious dating back to the persecution of the early Christians? Is it a fear about touching on a topic that's not very 'cool' in spiritual circles?
Whatever it is, it's interesting to see it arise... I hold it with compassion, and I do what I must...
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