One of the most important skills to learn is to perceive thought as it creates the world we inhabit. This can be accomplished by cultivating perception through sensory awareness rather than through conceptual thinking. As we see how thought creates the world we inhabit, we drop the naïve realist view of seeing phenomena as having inherent existence. Instead, we come to see how phenomena only exist in dependence upon each other. This is the realisation of the true nature of reality spoken of in Buddhist philosophy.

David Bohm
Thought creates the world, and then says: “I didn’t do it”

Umberto Maturana
We do not see the world as it is, but as we are

Learning objectives

• Exploring the somatic experience of clear perception
• Distinguishing between somatic perception and interpretation
• Surfacing and evaluating preferences
• Surfacing and evaluating assumptions
• Mapping inner experience in space – parts work
• Mapping inner experience in time – reactivity suspension

Dates: Jan 10 & 24, Feb 7 & 21 (Wednesday evenings 5-8 pm UK time / 18-21 CET)

As one learns to perceive the participation of one’s thoughts in the creation of one’s experience, it becomes possible to see things more objectively and less influenced by fixation in memory. The more this happens, the more our perception brings true guidance. The clearer the perception the more it becomes the true friend, bringing revelations, direct knowing, and refined intuition. It enables us to recognise the guidance life is constantly providing. It is the compass guiding us in the unknown.

“If God said, ‘Rumi pay homage
to everything that has helped you enter my arms,’
there would not be one experience of my life,
not one thought, not one feeling, nor any act,
I would not bow to.”
– Rumi

Learning objectives

• Exploring the somatic experience of guidance
• Understanding somatic templates as somatically based guiding assumptions
• Working with the somatic templates of pushing away and grasping
• Working with the somatic templates of open space and neutral precision
• Working with the somatic templates of connecting and of multiple perspectives
• Distinguishing between guidance and childhood strategies

Dates: Mar 6 & 20, Apr 3 & 17 (Wednesday evenings 5-8 pm UK time / 18-21 CET)

As our familiarity with Essence increases, we come to recognise how all we search for is always already present and that what we seek to avoid is nothing but what we search for in disguise. From this recognition arises in us a friendly and unconditional contactfulness.This is the personal aspect of Being. It brings a sense of personal contact, personal meaning, and personal engagement to our work and inquiry. It makes it easy to connect with our-selves, others, and Essence. It replaces lack-motivation where we act from a sense of inner scarcity with abundance-motivation where our inner sense of fullness spills over into action. What was fragmented becomes connected. We transcend dichotomies of mind and body, spiritual and material, good and evil, activity and stillness, journey and destination. This is the meaning of maturity.

“Stillness is what creates love. Movement is what creates life.
To be still and still moving—this is everything”
– Do Hyun Choe

Learning objectives

• Exploring the somatic experience of connection between autonomous individuals
• Identifying disconnecting strategies for seeking connection
• Working with attachment styles
• Working with conflicts between connection and emptiness
• Working with conflicts between separation/autonomy and unity
• Distinguishing between separation through distancing and separation through autonomy

Dates: May 1, 15 & 29, Jun 12 (Wednesday evenings 5-8 pm UK time / 18-21 CET)

As we grow more familiar with Essence, our self-perception shifts. Rather than seeing ourselves as collections of thoughts and emotions, we come to recognise that Essence is who we are. When we no longer identify with our personality’s thoughts and emotions, we can inhabit our personality without becoming entangled. We can play the roles of our personality without losing ourselves in them and forgetting that it is play. Identifying with essence brings a sense of companionship and alleviates loneliness. It restores a relaxed self-pride and self-love, which is no different from our love for others. It heals past wounds from unkindness and enables us to see others in a positive light. When you recognise your essential self, there’s no need to prove your worth. Instead, you will be at ease and free to live the journey of your spirit.

Learning objectives

• Exploring the somatic experience of selfhood
• Distinguishing between conditioned self and essential self
• Distinguishing the essential self from stable patterns of thought, emotions and sensations
• Distinguishing the essential self from inner identities
• Working with habits of relating between parts of self
• Recognising the essential self as somatic states of homeostasis
• Recognising the essential self as abundance

Dates: Jun 26, Jul 24, Aug 7 & 21 (Wednesday evenings 5-8 pm UK time / 18-21 CET)

In this module, we will draw on the concept of narcissism, not as a tool to diagnose a mental health condition, but as a tool to clarify confusions around self. We are all narcissistic to some degree, in the sense that narcissism is the (obsessive) preoccupation with self. This preoccupation is, at its core, a longing for the essential self which we have lost awareness of when we lost awareness of Being in general. From this perspective, narcissism has its roots in the memory of the essential self and can, therefore, be used as a guide to rediscover the essential self. In this first part on narcissism, we look at self-aggrandisement, entitlement, hurt, and envy as means to rediscover the true essential self. Rediscovering the essential self is the only thing that can quench our thirst for self and bring peace to the narcissistic part of our personality structure.

Learning objectives

• Understanding ego-ideals and their origin in childhood
• Understanding narcissistic preoccupations
• Working with self-aggrandisement
• Working with narcissistic rage/ange/entitlement
• Working with narcissistic hurt
• Working with narcissistic envy
• Distinguishing between the two faces of narcissism (grandiosity-exhibitionism vs. vulnerability-sensitivity)
• Recognising the positive intentions behind narcissism

Dates: Sep 4 & 18, Oct 2, 16 & 30, Nov 13 & 27, Dec 11 (Wednesday evenings 5-8 pm UK time / 18-21 CET)