Chuc Mung Nam Moi - Happy New Year 2023. We completed our annual cross-country jaunt to the Southwest, happy to be working at renewing our practice at my Teacher Shinzen’s Annual Year-End/Beginning Meditation Retreat. “The mysticism isn’t watered down and the science is still rigorous,” to quote Shin. “Four walls, a ceiling and a floor and not needing anything more. Take those away and you’re left with pure nature.” There’s a brief excerpt from my notes on Shinzen’s latest riffs on effortless spreading and collapsing, powerful unifications and deepening our understanding and sense of fulfillment in the space/time continuum, with more good news to come.
I’ve answered several queries right at the close of 2022 on who the teachers are at The Higher Haven. Drawing from Shinzen’s ample arsenal of meditative techniques, we combine his Unified Mindfulness approach with the way of Ceremonial purification, passed on by my Native American Teacher Phil. But there’s a very thin chance of crossing paths with Shinzen on our retreat grounds, unless you pursue his teachings and retreats directly —a move I always encourage our students to make. And although Phil’s influence is still strong and enduring, he departed for the World of the Spirit almost 20 years ago now. John Ashbrook’s guidance, however, is a different story.
To tell you a bit more about John, we’re inspired to double back to Detroit in December, where and when we attended his Holiday Spiritual Development Class 1269. A quarterly gathering that offers an insightful peak at the road ahead, 1269 touched on topics like A Simple Path to Maturity, The Price of Utopia, and Biblical Brilliance, John’s citing of the bright, spiritual poetry of Psalm 19, in which “The skies proclaim the work of God’s hands… in the heavens, he has pitched a tent for the sun, like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course… his commands are radiant, giving light to the eyes.”
Drawing from his Mastery of Numerology, class attendees looked forward as we do every year to JA’s take on 2023, Will we choose to let go and heal? Will our freedom expand or be constricted by fear of the future? The numbers reveal that truth, spiritual guidance, and putting our full faith in the process of life on planet earth will be major themes. On Day Three of 2023, making way for a successful new year might call for attending our Winter Noble Silence Meditation Retreat in early March, or coming out and meeting John in May at our Spring Comprehensive Spiritual Development Retreat. With the hope of a fresh, clean slate and having our best year yet, we look forward to seeing you and practicing with you soon.