Conflict as a Spiritual Process                            with Laura Chapman                                     May 12, 2009

     Laura began her presentation with the Latin origin of the word “Conflict” which is “the act of striking together.”  Hence, its definitions today as an actual armed battle or personal opposition of interests (external and internal). She suggested that personal conflict is “the complete entrance into our spiritual life” since it is an ongoing process of the human spirit which always has a lot “aliveness and life-force.”  For sure, conflict creates cognitive dissonance. But this situation may remain  especially painful only if we focus on identifying with one side, e.g. being “In the Light.”  What if we don’t identify with either side, but “stand in the middle;” then continue “slow by slow.”

     Around that point in her presentation, Vic Leanza asked Laura, “Did anyone tell you about Shadybrook?”  Many readers may know of, or were participants in, a recent series of “conflict resolution” programs available to the Board of Trustees and   interested members. I attended half of them, so I laughed. I also wrote a script about Shadybrook’s history for our 50^th Anniversary program in 2005. So, I know well that Shadybrook  is still a thriving organization because it has continued to   acknowledge and explore the theme of “conflict as possibility  and transformation.”

     Laura asked the group, “What is your personal story about change?  And, what is the statement behind the question? Discomfort?  Loss?” She suggested we practice not holding onto our beliefs about “the other” even though we feel compelled to support our own “who I am” structure.

     We each made a list of the behaviors or qualities we disliked in other people and she listed them on the board. She then challenged us to re-imagine each one as “positive.” For example, “opinionated” can be construed as “forthright and self-confident.”

    Often we hold the tension of opposition below a level of consciousness or try to disown the “shadow energy.” Jung’s description of the holding is the two  serpents winding together; he felt this opposition is the dilemma of being human. To activate the psychic energy that conflict releases, we need to sit with it and incubate or percolate with it and have a willingness to be inside ourselves as an “entrance to our humanness.” Laura’s advice:  Stay with the heart if you want transformation. When you encounter a conflict with another as unacceptable or uneasy, try to meet it and stay open. Hold the notion that this conflict may be an opening to your unrealized potential.

     I was reminded of the analogy Jan Phillips uses about personal conflict in her book The Art of Original Thinking: The Making of a Thought Leader. In a car battery, positive and negative charges are in opposition. But, their juxtaposition creates a transformation to a new form, a spark.

     Laura also shared some adventures that she had in Tibet and India helping set up and operate a dispensary. As a traveler who was in India and Nepal in the 70’s, I was really intrigued by them and I wanted to hear more of those stories. Perhaps that could be another program.

Review by Linda Durnbaugh

Sacred Sites and

World Healing   

with Ken Harsh                 

April 14, 2009

     Ken opened by suggesting that many people have “Nature Attention Deficit Disorder.”  How else to explain the destruction of the natural world all over the planet?  He exhorted us to “renew our earth connections, lessons, and ideas” so we can awaken to the miraculous which will foster “the opening of all planet beings to live in harmony.”  He reminded us that we all have both a call and a responsibility to heal the world.

     How do we know we’re at a sacred site? As the website that Ken recommended explains: “Ancient legends and modern-day reports tell of extraordinary experiences that people have had while visiting these holy and magical places. Different sacred sites have the power to heal the body, enlighten the mind, increase creativity, develop psychic abilities, and awaken the soul to a knowing of its true purpose in life.”  These special places have a spiritual magnetism and an energy field that extends in space and continues in time. Alteration of this space and time can result in an experience that can sometimes make us invisible.

     Ken guides tours to many sacred sites around the U.S. and the world to offer ceremony and honor the sites. We experienced a slide show which featured many of them with Ken’s non-stop           explanation of their geological, historical, and mythological stories, as well as personal encounters he or tour participants had                 experienced. Among the sites: Glastonbury in England, Haiakala on Maui, the Canyonlands in Utah, Antelope Canyon in Arizona,  a petroglyph in the Sahara Desert, the Grotto of Redemption in Iowa, Serpent Mound in Ohio as well as sites (both natural and man-made) in Egypt, Peru, Mexico, Turkey, and India.

     He also shared information about leylines, chakras, arches as doorways, and prophecies as guidelines. This information can help us humans assist in the creation of planetary balance so the sacred sites, as places of power and peace, can co-create with us transformation. I had previously only experienced Ken’s programs and workshops which were focused on stones and gems where he begins his presentation by throwing significant stones to each person in the audience. For this particular Shadybrook program, he threw at our audience a rapid-fire delivery of information and stories which accompanied his slides, even as he suggested that we “listen to voices in our mind’s eye.”

     In addition to recommending the website www.sacredsites.com created by Martin Grey, Ken distributed handouts with maps of leylines, Egyptian sculpture, and his schedule of upcoming events and tours.  September 11-13, he will be at the Journey Expo at Lakeland Community College in Kirtland and his upcoming tours for the rest of 2009 through 2011 include adventures to some Ohio mounds, Tucson, Sandusky, Iowa, Canada, Egypt, Belize, the Yucatan, and China. Interested in joining him?  You can contact Ken at                           KarmaKenHa @aol.com.

 Review by Linda Durnbaugh

Luminous Relationships                           with Ron Bracale                          March, 10 2009

     Part of Ron Bracale’s program reminded me of this quote from Jean Pierre de Caussade (1675-1751):

Come, not to study the map of spiritual terrain,
but to possess it for yourself;
to walk about in it without fear of going astray.
Why learn the theory of Divine Grace,
and what it has been doing throughout history,
when you can become the very instrument of its operation? 

     Bracale asserted that spouting spiritual principles is not helpful unless the theories are practical for everyday use, aiding people in improving their lives. He then described various spiritual paths, among them montheism, as opposed to monotheism (where there is God and that which is not God) or    polytheism (many gods). Bracale stated that he believes we are whole unto ourselves and in relationship as aspects of the One, although the mind wants to divide us into separate beings in order to function in the world. We want and need to use the mind to reach infinite reality and yet the mind really can not touch  infinite unified reality, only our luminous spirits can. He asserted that the microcosm is as the macrocosm through loving relationship. Thus, each of us is a universe, parallel to all others, with our own beliefs, our own perceivers, sensing the universe around us and within us as well as perceiving ourselves, our actions and thoughts, the observers of our daily lives.

     Bracale described the various levels between the infinity of concrete Earth and Infinite Sky, including the fact that the body is designed to connect to the earth, such as when we lie on the earth to enable us to heal. The middle place within this continuum is the place of freedom.

     He suggested an interesting view of the chakra system, but the view is well worth a look and is described in full on one of his  websites, www.SpiritinService.com. His chakra connections, taught to him long ago, are quite possibly different from your own system. The luminous light strands, creating the luminous relationships we have, connect through energy wheels or the seven main and many other chakras of the light body system within the human and thus, through the luminous system, we are within one another through the light body or energy system. This is most obvious in relationships with loved ones.

     If we choose to work within the luminous space, we can go into the luminosity to let go of hurts, and to pursue soul retrieval to reconnect our bits and pieces of Self, some of which were left behind in the past. While we have a fluid consciousness, a lot of consciousness is trapped in the past so that we have difficulty being fully in the present with each other. Choosing to release the past and connect our parts increases our availability in the present to our various luminous relationships.

     Bracale also brought some of his photography, fractal art, and music CD’s to share with the group. To find more on Bracale’s spiritual work you can visit (www.spiritinservice.com); for his art (www.bracaleart.com); or for Ridge Haven Farm where he and his wife Beth live and work (www.ourridgehaven.com).

Review by Barbara E.T. Douglass