The Secret Aqueduct: Reflections on The Process of Individuation

By Brian Heaton-Ross

The Secret Aqueduct: Brian Heaton-Ross

 

During the eighteenth century, JJ Rousseau, the French philosopher, asked a soul-searching question: 'Why, if we are born free, are we everywhere in chains?' Over 2000 years before Rousseau was born, Plato, the Greek philosopher,

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brian Heaton-Ross
• Release date: Jan 1, 2024
• ISBN: 9781805412656

Book preview

The Lotus

‘Originating in darkness and mud and blossoming towards the sunlight,

the lotus spans heaven and earth.

For Hindu philosophers, the lotus is the ultimate symbol of spiritual fulfilment,

retracing the journey of self from darkness to light.

For Buddhists it is the symbol of Buddha nature that lies at the heart of every human being.

The lotus represents the purity and excellence that are the essence of the human enterprise,

the origin of all manifestation that lies coiled within the human being.

In some early Taoist secret societies it symbolised an ‘inward alchemy’,

the path to inner transformation.

It represents the Tao of Mankind sitting between the Tao of Heaven and the Tao of Earth.’

Danah Zohar: Spiritual Intelligence [123.2].

The TAO

‘The ecstasy of true beauty, perfection and virtue

can only be realised through the TAO.

TAO is an endless source of generative energy;

elusive, immanent and self-fulfilling.

Formless and spiritual it may be;

yet within is found the blueprint for all life forms,

every seed, petal, insect’s wing, and song.

Intangible and invisible it may be;

yet within is found inspiration and transformation,

freely realisable in thought, word and deed.

In beauty, in nature and in every great truth,

we know TAO as the parent of everything.

From the origins of time, until now and forever,

this essence of energy has been sung.

How do we come to know this?

Only in stillness, openness and honesty

humility and compassion,

Grace.

Only this way.’

Tao Teh Ching: Chapter 21. [Translation by Louisa Milne]

Copyright © 2023 by Brian Heaton-Ross

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced

or used in any manner without written permission

of the copyright owner other than ‘fair use’

of quotations in articles and reviews.

First paperback edition: 2023

Cover Design: Keith Nuena

978-1-80541-264-9 (paperback)

978-1-80541-265-6 (eBook)

About the Author

After working for several years in Student Welfare and Personnel Management Brian trained in Counselling, Human Relations & Personal Growth; during this training he met his wife Shiela with whom he established their Counselling and Training Consultancy, working with various agencies including the NHS, the Probation Service and British Airways, among others. Their Business flourished for over thirty years.

In addition to his professional work Brian’s other special interests include walking in nature, close-up flower photography, renovating homes, landscape gardening, climbing and rambling roses, cooking, listening to soothing classical music and reading inspirational books.

He feels passionate about the ways in which so many people’s lives have been programmed into conformity, limitation and materialism, and it is this passion which has been the catalyst for the creation of The Secret Aqueduct.

Brian is now ‘retired’ and lives with his wife Shiela in a village in North Yorkshire, England.

‘There are only two ways to live our lives.

One is as though nothing is a miracle.

The other is as though everything is a miracle.’

Albert Einstein.

Dedications

This book is dedicated to two women who have been

life-changing and inspirational companions to me on my Journey.

Shiela Heaton-Ross

For her commitment, love, patience, resilience,

sense of humour, intuition and wisdom.

Without Shiela I would never have embarked on my life’s

pilgrimage, let alone discovered my true life’s purpose,

and this book would simply not exist.

Claire Leader

Please see ‘Prelude, Phoenix & Dedication’ opposite.

Prelude, Phoenix & Dedication

This book has had a long gestation, and periodically my process of writing has seemed extremely daunting, to the extent that at times I have felt like throwing all my papers away. This nearly happened in December 2017 when, having written twelve chapters of a book which was exclusively about my own Journey, including details of many therapeutic experiences as a client, I abandoned the project because I felt that it was too personal a record of my life during the 1980’s. The process of writing and organising my thoughts had, however, been an enjoyable and invaluable learning experience in itself.

In view of the fact that I had invested so much energy in my writing I was moved to honour this in some way, and one day I took my manuscript to the Fountains Abbey Estate in Yorkshire. I located a suitable space within a quiet piece of woodland, placed my manuscript on the earth, and set fire to it! Then, emotionally and ceremoniously, I buried the ashes. When I returned home I went to my lap-top and, believing there was no point in going about this process half-heartedly, pressed the ‘Delete’ key.

I am so grateful to my Higher Self and to Source for the way in which this chapter of my life eventually unfolded. Sometime later I discovered that, in spite of having been so impetuous, I was able to rescue some of my work. I had the majority of my dreams, most of my experiences of synchronicities, and some of my therapeutic work duplicated on separate files. I also had two of my handwritten notebooks of quotations, which I had recorded over a period of about thirty years. All of the quotations related, in one way or another, to the deeper aspects of the Human Journey which we all share.

One day, ‘out of the blue’, it occurred to me that I would like to have a record of my notebooks on a more accessible and permanent basis, and I began to type again. To cut a long story short, many of the quotations became the essence of my first book, ‘Whispers of Wisdom’ – An Anthology of Quotations – which I self-published in the spring of 2019. I only had fifty copies printed, at my own expense, and have gradually given copies out as gifts to people with whom I believed the quotations would resonate.

In the early summer of 2019 I re-connected with a close friend who I hadn’t seen for years and in early autumn, once again seemingly ‘out of the blue’, she mentioned that she thought I should write. A few months later she made the same remark and when, early in 2020, she encouraged me for the third time it felt like a Whisper from the Universe. I returned to my laptop, filled with gratitude for all the documents I had been able to salvage, thanks to the miracles of computer technology. To cut a long story short the result is this book, which has greatly benefited from the passage of time, has a significantly different purpose and energy from my original one, and now feels like a Phoenix which has been birthed out of its own ashes!

The Secret Aqueduct is therefore dedicated to this jewel of a friend, Claire Leader, who has also worked with clarity, insight, patience and wisdom on the manuscript to provide me with invaluable observations and suggestions. Without her initial encouragement, and subsequent support, this book would never have manifested; any words are therefore inadequate to express the depth of my appreciation and gratitude to Claire for her involvement, commitment and companionship throughout this Chapter of my Life’s Journey.

Appreciation & Gratitude

‘When we are truly grateful for all that we are and all that

we have, our hearts and souls guide us in the direction

of our most loving wishes and our most inspired purpose;

actions with gratitude dissolve fear

as light permeates darkness.’

John Demartini: Count Your Blessings [48.1].

First and foremost I wish to thank my wife Shiela, with whom I have shared my life and my Journey for over forty years; without her love, support, strength, spiritual insight and wisdom, including many direct challenges to raise the level of my previously wounded, unaware and sleepy consciousness, and numerous deep and illuminating conversations, meditations and tranquil reflective times together, I would never have embarked on my Journey.

[On September 1st 2022, as if in affirmation of what I had just written above, I glanced at the digital clock on my laptop; the time: 14.44.].

There are numerous people who have brought me to this stage of my Journey so in a sense it is difficult to know where to begin. However, in view of their direct contribution to my life and to this book, it feels appropriate to start with authors.

Authors: Books have been an indispensible part of my Journey. The Secret Aqueduct is, in part, a celebration of all the authors who, unknown to them, have been deeply instrumental in re-orientating the direction and landscape of my life; I have shared the perceptions and inspirational words of over one hundred of these creative people in the following pages. Although I have never had the opportunity to meet any of them, apart from Werner Peltz, many have become so familiar to me over the past forty years that they have felt like companions on my Journey. None of them will have any idea of how vital a role they have played in adjusting the compass of my life and in the unfolding of my Life’s Journey, apart from a significant number who have now passed over. Words are inadequate to express the depth of my appreciation to all these inspirational people who have entered my life, with perfectly choreographed timing, through the Grace of the Secret Aqueduct.

Healers & Teachers: Once I became aware of the promptings and whispers to embark on my own Journey towards living more consciously, it gradually dawned on me that I would need some help and support in this process; none of this came from established and so-called ‘professional’ sources. I worked with a wide variety of unconventional therapists and teachers over the years, and the majority of them awakened me to deep new insights and levels of awareness. I am filled with gratitude to all of these people who, like the authors, have shifted the compass of my life.

Students & Clients: For over thirty years I was involved with mentoring, therapeutic and training work, all of which related broadly to the landscape of human growth and development. Early in this chapter of my life’s work I recognised that the people I worked with could also be my ‘teachers’, in the sense that they were all capable of expanding my perceptions and horizons of experience and therefore making an invaluable contribution to my own Journey. Thank you, one and all.

Cafés: Forty years ago I started a pattern of taking a book or one of my journals with me when I went out, to enable me to have some stimulating ideas to read, or write about, or reflect over, while I relaxed with a coffee whenever I visited a café; many of these books feature in my Index of Authors. Therefore I wish to express my gratitude to the numerous café staff who have provided a nurturing environment for me over the years [not to mention the coffee blenders] enabling me to switch off from the ‘madding crowd’ and enter another world of consciousness!

Music and Especially The U.K.’s Classic FM Team: For many years listening to music has provided a healing sanctuary for me, frequently channelling an inspirational muse and facilitating my journey inwards. There have been numerous occasions when the lovely team at Classic FM have brought calm and tranquillity to my life. Even the disruptive advertisements have played their role, reminding me of some of the junk people are showered with every day, and challenging me to transmute any irritation I may feel and to stay centred!

Technology Wizards: Although I have significant reservations about the ways in which technology has seduced and mesmerised the world and invaded the lives of so many people, I do of course recognise the benefits, not least because the process of creating this book has been made infinitely easier as a result of all the creative people who have imagined computer technology into being.

The Natural World: I have always loved spending time in Nature, and not infrequently she has been an inspirational muse to my creative processes, by no means least through the wake-up call of the exquisite wren! And then there is Gaia:

Planet Earth:

‘Imagine if the Earth were only a few feet in diameter, floating gently in a field somewhere. People would flock from all directions to view this miracle, to marvel at its big pools of water, the brilliance of its colouring, the bumps and the holes in it, the very thin gas surrounding it, and the water suspended in the gas. They would be amazed at all the creatures walking and prancing around the surface of the ball, and at those swimming in its waters.

They would declare it to be a miracle, sacred because it was the only one of its kind, and they would vow to protect it from harm. The sphere would be the greatest wonder known, and people would come to pray to it, to be healed, to gain knowledge, to know beauty and to wonder how it could exist. They would love it and defend it with their lives, for they would somehow know that their lives, their own roundness and sense of personal fulfilment, could be nothing without it.

All this, if only the Earth were a few feet in diameter ....’

Michael Lindfield: ‘The Dance of Change’ [1986].

The Tao, The Collective Unconscious & Source: The words ’thank you’ are of course completely inadequate, because without these Vibrational Energies and the Miracle of our Consciousness we simply would not exist.

Publishing Push: I wish to thank Patrick Walsh for his vision in creating Publishing Push and for the way his team have worked together in the publication of The Secret Aqueduct. My special thanks to Keith Nuena for creating such an inspirational cover design.

Contents

Preface

A Parable: Hidden Truth

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1. Aspects of the Process of Individuation

Chapter 2. The Wasteland

Chapter 3. Innocent & Orphan Consciousness

Chapter 4. Unveiling Our Authentic Path: Wanderer Consciousness

Chapter 5. Living Compassionately & Empathically: Altruist Consciousness

Chapter 6. Embracing Our Power: Warrior Consciousness

Chapter 7. Living in The Flow: Magician Consciousness

Chapter 8. Synthesis: Change, Integration & Individuation

Epilogue

A Parable: Whispers of Wisdom

Index 1: Dreams

Index 2: Synchronicities

Index 3: Quotations

Bibliography

Detailed Contents

Preface

A Parable: Hidden Truth

Foreword

Introduction

1. The Divine Anvil

2. Background To The Start Of My Journey

3. Three Journey Dreams

Subsequent Reflections.

4. Spiritual Consciousness and Mystery.

5. Paradigms: Some Reflections.

6. Adversity – A Catalyst For Inner Work, Change & Growth

7. The Secret Aqueduct.

8. Reflections

Chapter 1. Aspects of the Process of Individuation

1. A Parable

2. The Power of Belief Systems

3. Tribal Consciousness: Conformity, Approval & Fear

3.1. Introduction

3.2. Dream [4]: Seed Thoughts & The Quadrinity

3.3. Safety & Security

4. The Fall & Betrayal

5. Wake-Up Calls

5.1. Sleepwalking, Thresholds, Risks & Courage

5.2. Denial, Our Shadow & Self-Betrayal

6. Acceptance, Authenticity & Risk

7. Responding Proactively to our Shadow – A Prelude to Freedom

8. Wake-Up Calls & Quantum Moments

9. Reflections on The Process of Awakening

Authentic Purposes, Resistances & Contaminated Perceptions

Chapter 2. The Wasteland

1. Introduction

2. A Personal Vision of The Wasteland Dream [5]: The Blazing Heathland

3. Five Facets of The Dream

3.1. Fear.

3.2. Religion, ‘God’ Consciousness & Relative ‘Realities’

3.3. Medicine & Health

3.4. ‘Tribalism’: Conformity, Limitation & Manipulation.

3.5. Shadow.

4. Shadow Consciousness: The Drama Triangle

4.1. Introduction

4.2. The Drama Triangle Positions – Key Indicators

4.3. The Drama Triangle Positions – Key Principles

4.4. Disengaging From The Drama Triangle:

Chapter 3. Innocent & Orphan Consciousness

Part 1. Overview of Orphan Consciousness & Energy

1. The Fall into Orphan Consciousness

2. Symptoms of Orphan Consciousness

2.1. Disillusionment:

2.2. Feeling Powerless:

3. Strategies of Avoidance: Blame & Denial

4. Recognising Our Orphan’s Inner Divisions

4.1. Identifying & Accepting Our Woundings:

4.2. Intensity of Feelings:

4.3. Owning Our Pain – & Surrender

5. Processing Orphan Energies

5.1. Support & Guidance

5.2. ‘Conscious Medicine’:

5.3. Self-Nurturing:

6. Authenticity, Freedom, Empathy & Compassion

Part 2. Personal Experiences of Processing Orphan Consciousness

1. Healing Ancestral Shadow: Quantum Moment [1]

2. Soul-Directed Therapy [1]: October 22nd 1983

3. Soul-Directed Therapy [2]:

3.1. Life-Scan. Journal: January 16th 1984

3.2. Life Purpose

3.3. Past Pain

3.4. Two Past-Life Regressions

3.5. Spiritual Awakening

4. Reflections [1]

4.1. A Film & Synchronicity [2]: Journal: January 22nd 1984

4.2. Dream [6]: Concealing & Denying Pain. January 22/23

4.3. Dream [7]: Internal & External Realities.

5. Reflections [2]

5.1. Guidance: Whirlpools: Journal: March 5th 1985

5.2. Synchronicity [3]: Whirlpools

6. Reflections [3]: Three Warning Dreams

6.1. Dream [8]: Plane Crash. November 19th 1986

6.2. Dream [9]: Death of the Titanic. December 1st 1986

6.3. Dream [10]: The Dilapidated Ancient Building.

7. Reflections [4]: Dream [11]: Harry Edwards’s Funeral.

8. Reflections [5]: The Blank Rune: January 10th 1987

9. Reflections [6]: Leeds General Infirmary & Synchronicity [4]: January 12th – 24th 1987

10. Reflections [7]: Violet & Synchronicity [5]

• ‘Releasing’ Violet: Journal: February 28th 1987

• Message from Violet: Journal: March 1st 1987

• Further Meditations on Violet. Journal: March 6th 1987

• Synchronicity [5]: Journal: March 8th 1987

Chapter 4. Unveiling Our Authentic Path: Wanderer Consciousness

Part 1. Overview of Wanderer Consciousness & Energy

1. Indications of Awakening Wanderer Energies

2. Wanderer Consciousness & The Wake-Up Call

2.1. Becoming Aware of The Call

2.2. Recognising Our Fears

2.3. Divergent Thinking & Plato’s Allegory

2.4. Spiritual Questioning

3. Inner Conflicts Which Inhibit the Potential Wanderer

4. Engagement with Wanderer Energy: Common Growth Experiences

5. A Temptation: Pseudo-Wandering & External Distractions

6. Authentic Engagement with Wanderer Consciousness & Inner Validation

7. Ripple Effects in The Collective

8. Authenticity, The Spiritual Path & The Journey

Part 2. Personal Experiences of Engaging with Wanderer Consciousness

1. Unconscious ‘Wandering’

1.1. Early Years: Multiple Homes, Schools & Transitions

1.2. Two Boarding Schools: [1]: Ages 10-13; [2]: Ages 13-17.

2. Conscious Wandering & Transitions

2.1. From Boarding School to Cattle Ranch

2.2. From London Office to Sun & Freedom in Austria and Greece

2.3. A Wake-Up Call: From Personnel Officer to Lecturer.

2.4. Dream [13]: Fear and the Bumble Bee: May 15th 1983

2.5. From Lecturer to Freelance Trainer, Mentor & Therapist

2.6. New Year’s Day 1984: A Prediction of Three Omens Channelling & the Number 3; Synchronicity [6]

2.7. Omen 1 manifests: Pre-cognitive Dream [14]: An Interview January 5th 1984.

2.8. Three Wake-Up Call Dreams

Dream [15]: Flying & Strange Calligraphy: February 10th 1986

Dreams [16 & 17]: Pruning. March 25th & 28th 1986

2.9. Synchronicity [8]: Pruning. March 28th.

2.10. Postscript to Strange Calligraphy Dream

Chapter 5. Living Compassionately & Empathically: Altruist Consciousness

Part 1.

1. Giving & Receiving

2. The Parable of ‘The Good Samaritan’

3. Altruism & Conscious Choice

4. Avoiding Rescuer & Pseudo-Altruist Traps

4.1. The Parable of Sleeping Beauty

4.2. Change: Part of The Fabric Of Life

4.3. Loving With an Open Hand

5. Living Altruist Energy Consciously & Sympathy vs. Compassion

Part 2. Personal Experiences of Integrating Altruist Consciousness

1. Another Parable: A Serious Injury

2. Dream [18] Flying In A Greenhouse [17.01.1983]

3. Wake-Up Call: Dream [19]: Fear in the Crow’s Nest

4. Cove in Crete

5. ‘Civilisation’, Open-Mindedness & Altruism For Gaia

6. Looking Towards The Future

7. A Medicine Woman’s Prayer: Synchronicity [11]

Chapter 6. Embracing Our Power: Warrior Consciousness

Part 1.

1. Learning Processes Associated with Warrior Energy

2. Paradigms & Other Aspects of Warrior Consciousness

3. Shadow Warrior Energy & Consciousness

4. Claiming Our Power: Discrimination, Separation & Courage

Part 2. Personal Experiences of Integrating Warrior Consciousness

1. The Runes

2. Dream [20]: The Open-Air Temple [August 11th 1986]

3. Sub-Personality Work & Synchronicity [12] [Edinburgh: August 13th 1986]

4. Surrender

5. Three Prophetic Dreams.

6. Dream [24]: Flecked Grey and White Stallion.

7. Dream [25]: Watershed.

8. The Three Prophetic Dreams Manifest.

9. Two White Horses & Synchronicity [13].

Chapter 7. Living in The Flow: Magician Consciousness

Part 1. Reflections on Magician Consciousness & Energy

1. The Journey & Duality

2. Indications of Archetypal Imbalance

3. Temptations to Sabotage Our Awakening Magician Energy

3.1. Conformity

3.2. Resistance

4. Magician Consciousness: The Shadow

5. Living Authentically & Owning Our Vulnerability

6. Indications of Awakening Magician Energy

7. Magician Consciousness: Change, Creativity & Intention

8. Intuition: Some Fundamental Principles

9. The World as Mirror

Part 2. Personal Experiences of Integrating Magician Consciousness

1. Dream [26]: The Bat, The White Owl & The Mirror

2. Dream [27]: The Golden Pendants & Synchronicity [14].

3. Visualisation: Progress on My Journey

3.1. Bat – & Synchronicity [15]

3.2. Bat & Synchronicity [16]

4. The Consciousness of Children & Synchronicity [17]

5. Meditation: Re-Integration

6. Developing Intuition

7. Armadillo! & Synchronicity [19]

Part 3. Magician Consciousness & the Process of Awakening

1. A ‘Circular’ & Circling Back Process

2. Even Eagles Need A Push

3. Connecting With Our Inner Strengths and Deeper Truths

Chapter 8. Synthesis: Change, Integration & Individuation

Part 1. The Tapestry of Life

1. Introduction

2. Dream [28]: The Play of Life [June 7th 1989]:

3. Programming, Complacency & Tunnel-Vision

4. Imagination

5. Words & Language: Their Effect on Our Energy & State of Consciousness

6. Words & Language Which Energise & Empower The Process of Change

7. Limitation: An Invitation to Growth & Freedom

Part 2. The Laika Culture & The Four Insights

1. Introduction.

2. Perceptual Levels, Human Developmental Stages & Archetypal Energies

Part 3. The Four Perceptual Levels

3.1. Identification – Serpent

1. Introduction

2. Indications of Identification Consciousness

3. Examples of Over-Identification & ‘Illusions’

4. Identification to Differentiation Consciousness: A Threshold

3.2. Differentiation – Jaguar

1. Introduction

2. Exploring the Shift from Identification to Differentiation

3.3. Integration – Hummingbird

1. Change & Transformation

2. Developing our Discernment & Re-Integration: Some Principles

3.4. Transcendence – Eagle

1. Surrender, Silence & Solitude

2. Who Are We And Why Are We Here?

3. The Illusion of ‘Getting There.’

4. Rainbow Light & Synchronicity [20]

5. World/World’s Soul

Part 4. Some Personal Reflections on Synthesis & The Four Insights

4.1. Indications of Processing Identification Consciousness – Serpent

4.2. Indications of Awakening Differentiation Consciousness – Jaguar

1. Early wake-up Calls

2. Thresholds & Transitions

New Foundations: ‘Get To The Bottom Of It.’ [Dream 29]

Sacred Gift in A Box: [Dream 30] [January 6th 1991]

The Giant Snowball & The Harlequin [Summer 2005]

4.3. Indications of Awakening Integration Consciousness – Hummingbird

4.4. Indications of Awakening

1. Visions & Symbols

• The Anvil. The Forge: Synchronicity [29]

• Turning Over A New Leaf.

• The Great Teacher.

2. Five Dreams & Four Synchronicities

Two White Horses [Dream 35]

[September 1st 1989].

The Lion and The Feather Duster [Dream 36]

[November 14th 1989]

Flying Into The Mists Of Time [Dream 37]

[October 17th 1990].

April Cottage – The Beautiful Garden [Dream 38]

[November 26th 1990].

The Phoenix: Synchronicity [30] [March 12th 1991].

‘Infinitely Precious Teachings’ [Dream 39]

[March 26th 1991]

Visitation: Synchronicity [31]

Synthesis: Synchronicity [32] [February 4th 2023]

‘Weave The Future Golden’

Kuan Yin Oracle [44] & Synchronicity [33] [April 26th 2023]

Epilogue

A Parable: Whispers of Wisdom

Appendix

Quantum Moments

Life Changes after Quantum-Moment Experiences

The Balanced & Integrated Triangle

In contrast to the Drama Triangle [See Chapter 2, Section 4]

Living Consciously

Strong & Assertive Masculine [M]:

Warm & Nurturing Feminine [F]:

Magical Child [C]:

Human Qualities & The Person of Tomorrow

Carl Rogers

The Qualities

The Opposition.

Tomorrow’s World

Index 1: Dreams

Index 2: Synchronicities

Index 3: Quotations

Bibliography & Acknowledgements

Preface

‘It is one of the unnoticed achievements of daily life to

keep the wild complexity of our real identity so well hidden

that most people never suspect the worlds that collide in our hearts.’

John O’Donohue: Eternal Echoes [146.1].

During a three day retreat in the English Lake District in September 2018 I watched Wayne Dyer’s film ‘The Shift’, in which he explores the spiritual journey from ‘ambition’ to meaning. In the closing minutes of the film, Wayne Dyer gives a thought-provoking anecdote. He describes how, many years earlier, he was about to embark on a twenty-nine day voyage across the Pacific when, seemingly out of the blue, his uncle gifted him a book.

The book contained a number of short stories by Leo Tolstoy, the Russian author who, during the 1870s, experienced a wake-up call the catalyst for which was a profound personal crisis; this led eventually to a deep spiritual awakening.

The first story in the collection was ‘The Death of Ivan Ilyich’. Ivan was living an apparently ‘carefree’ life as a high court judge in Moscow, with all the status and worldly accolade which this role carried. He was, however, living enslaved by other people’s expectations of who he was and who he should be according to their values. This included his ambitious and unsympathetic wife; Ivan felt she had manipulated him into his work and the associated lifestyle because she desired the prestige, status and income involved; as this realization took root his resentment about the situation intensified.

When he developed a serious and painful illness he became introspective and emotional as he sought the cause of his suffering. Eventually he recognized that for years he had not been true to himself and had been marginalising his own deeper longings; in other words he had been trapped in a role, he had been living inauthentically and he had been living a lie.

In the last chapter of the book Ivan is lying on his death-bed, his wife at his bedside holding his hand. As his life force ebbed away he looked up into his wife’s eyes and said:

‘What if my whole life has been wrong?’

Wayne Dyer describes how he was deeply shaken by the way in which the book ended. After reflection he took out a pad of paper and wrote a note to himself:

‘Dear Wayne, don’t die with the music still in you.’

In the final moments of ‘The Shift’ he gifts us with an invaluable seed-thought:

‘You are only a thought away from changing your life.’

Over the last forty years I have had a growing realisation that many people live their whole lives under the shadow of other people’s agendas, and thought processes and belief systems which have been contaminated by deeply flawed and impoverished paradigms. One of the deepest flaws has been the marginalisation, if not dismissal, ridicule or censorship, of concepts embracing the reality of anything beyond materialism and what people normally experience through their physical senses. This highly reductionist, fabricated and false paradigm has programmed most people’s lives into limitation, severely reducing the possibility of living expansive, free and fulfilling lives.

One of my fundamental intentions in birthing this book is to encourage us to release the shackles of conformity and restriction with which most of us have been programmed, and to re-connect with the free flow of our Inner Wisdom and our own personal and unique Life Journeys. The whispers of our souls and the conscious awareness of our authentic voices challenge us to change the compass of our lives and to have the courage to enter and explore expansive new horizons.

Inspired by Mark Nepo [see Title Page], I have decided to close this Preface with a seed-thought in the form of a question:

Is my heart’s desire to live my life as a nomad,

a chameleon or a pilgrim?

A Parable

Hidden Truth

‘One day, according to an Eastern story, the gods decided to create the Universe. They created, the stars, the sun, the moon. They created the seas, the mountains, the clouds, the animals and the flowers. Then they created human beings. Eventually they created Truth.

At this point, however, a problem arose: Where should they hide Truth so that human beings wouldn’t find it right away? They wanted to prolong the adventure of the search. One by one they made their suggestions:

‘On the farthest star.’

‘On top of the highest mountain.’

‘In the darkest and deepest abyss.’

‘On the secret side of the moon.’

After hearing these imaginative suggestions the wisest and most ancient god said:

‘No. We will hide truth inside the very heart of human beings.

In this way they will look for it all over the Universe,

without being aware

of having it inside themselves all the time.’

Source: Piero Ferrucci: ‘What We May Be’ [143].

Foreword

‘I will not live an unlived life.

I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire.

I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me,

to make me less afraid, more accessible,

to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise.

I choose to risk my significance,

to live so that which came to me as seed goes to the next as blossom,

and that which came to me as blossom goes on as fruit.’

Dawna Markova: I Will Not Die An Unlived Life.

In this book I have set out to explore some of the revelations which become available to us when we begin to ask ourselves some penetrating questions about how we inhabit our days, and about the experiences that make us feel really alive, rather than merely existing. For example, questions about the real meaning, purpose and significance of living a life as a human being within the beauties, blessings, pains, predicaments, miracles and mysteries of Planet Earth, or questions about what it means to be true to the Authenticity and Integrity of our Inner Being, rather than someone else’s agenda for us. If we never ask such questions, in a space of tranquillity, calm deep reflection, and receptivity, then we are highly unlikely to receive any deep ‘answers’, because the nature and depth of the answers we receive are always birthed through the nature and depth of our questions. The consequence of ignoring the deeper questions about why we are here and the underlying purpose of our lives is to feed the probability that we will end up sleepwalking our way through life and ‘passing ourselves by’; it is a form of Self-starvation.

Augustine of Hippo, theologian and philosopher of Berber origin, wrote the following words in the 4th Century [with an update in parenthesis!].

‘People travel to wonder at the heights of the mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long compass of the rivers, at the

vast compass of the oceans, at the circular motion of the stars,

[at the latest pop idol, football star, fashion fad,

mobile phone, or electronic ‘marvel’]

and they pass by themselves without wondering.’

This passage begs the question: Has anything of deep significance really changed in nearly twenty centuries?

There have, of course, been great benefits arising from the developments of civilisation and increasing globalisation, but one paradox of these developments is that although we may assume that we have advanced a long way from so-called tribal consciousness, many of us find ourselves being seduced into a new kind of conformist tribalism. There are a myriad of well-disguised and relentless memes and injunctions which influence and invade our consciousness under our radar. For example: ‘Don’t think for yourself.’ ‘Don’t challenge cultural assumptions.’ ‘Behave like other members of the organisation or group or family or you won’t be one of us, you won’t be ‘loved’’ and so on. This renders the asking of deep and profound questions more challenging, since tribal thinking encourages conformity and sleepwalking, and sleepwalking can therefore create the illusion of being more companionable!

Although we may have marginalised some of the old religious heresies, which manipulated people into becoming fearful of thinking and acting outside the church’s controlling, distorted, misleading and tight paradigms, long-prevailing and secretive ‘cultural’ taboos remain and continue to spawn seed thoughts that foster conformity and limitation. For example: It is erroneous, misguided, risky – even ‘sinful’ – to think for ourselves, to be different, to dare to dream our own unique lives into being and to enter whole-heartedly and consciously into ‘the beauty of our own divinity’.

In his inspirational book ‘Eternal Echoes’ John O’Donohue said this:

‘It is one of the unnoticed achievements of daily life to keep the wild complexity of our real identity so well hidden that most people never suspect the worlds that collide in our hearts. Friendship and love should be the safe places where our unknown selves can come out to play. Instead of holding our