Director’s Message — September, 2015

September, 2015

Greetings Sacred Path Community,

The theme of our upcoming retreat is Healing the Father Wound:  Accessing Authentic Power.  In my message last month I spoke about the father wound and my thoughts regarding what I refer to as “The Father Gap.”  In this message I want to share some thoughts about “authentic power instead of false or forced masculinity.”  I have been reading some of Gary Zukav’s (author of his seminal work “The Seat of the Soul” published 25 years ago) concepts concerning the difference between external power and authentic power.

Zukav believes that authentic power is reflected in one’s ability to create harmony, cooperation, sharing and reverence for life.  We have delved into spiritual activism during the past two Sacred Path retreats.  Zukav states in a Science of Mind interview with Christopher Briscoe, “When you become a spiritual activist, you can be an environmental activist without hating the timber industry.  You can be a civil rights activist without hating people who are still controlled by fear, prejudice and bigotry.  You can become a women’s rights activist without making men into a villain.  You can become an activist without making anyone into a villain or looking at anyone as a victim, including yourself.  You can move through the world with an empowered heart without attachment to the outcome.”

He goes on to say, “Martin Luther King Jr. did that.  Mohandas Gandhi did that.  Jesus of Nazareth did that.  Now each of us must do that.  Creating authentic power is our new evolutionary path, and each of us is on the path . . . our consciousness is becoming the consciousness of love.  That is what happens when you create authentic power.”  Zukav believes humans are evolving to greater spiritual awareness beyond the five senses; what he terms multisensory perception.

In spite of what we hear or see broadcast on the daily news and through other media, Zukav believes that, “Hundreds of millions of us are becoming multisensory,” he says, “We are feeling the pull of new potential, the potential of authentic power, a life and a world based on the values of the soul.  We long to give the gifts we were born to give . . . the characteristics of an authentically powerful personality are humbleness, clarity, forgiveness and love.”

Ask yourself this question:  “What would the world look like to you if you were using every circumstance and emotion you encounter to create harmony, cooperation, sharing and reverence for life instead of discord, competition, hoarding and exploitation?”

Zukav echoes the theme of the October Sacred Path Retreat as he expresses, ” . . . Creating authentic power is now the path of human evolution. We must create authentic power in order to evolve individually and to evolve as a species.  The pursuit of external power, the ability to manipulate and control, now produces only violence and destruction.  It can no longer take us where we want to go.  It cannot create a world of wisdom and compassion.  Only you can create a world of wisdom and compassion.  You can begin creating it now.  If you want the world to be more loving, become more loving yourself.  If you want the world to be less angry, become less angry yourself.  Make changes in the only place you can.  Make them in the only place you have traction – in yourself.”

So, join your brothers on the Sacred Path as we continue to evolve our transformative pursuit of what it means to be a Mindful Man embracing the qualities of authentic power.  Registration is progressing for our Healing the Father Wound: Accessing Authentic Power 28th Annual Sacred Path Fall Retreat.  Take note that the full fee for the retreat is $495; however, we are offering some discounted rates to inspire early enrollment as well as an expanded enrollment.  When you sign up early, prior to Thursday, September 10th, your fee is $445.  Another advantage is when you invite someone who hasn’t been to one of our retreats before, he’ll be able to come for only $350, our welcome-to-newcomers fee.  So, if you bring someone new and you sign up early, your total fee for the two of you is $795.  If you decided to just split it down the middle, each of you is attending for less than $400.  Anyway you choose to cut it, you’ve got some nice incentives to be up on “the hill” with us in October. And, we’re putting together an outstanding program that we’ll tell you more about as it comes together.

SACRED PATH FATHERS & SONS: For those of you that are sons and still have your father in your life (or fathers with sons) and have a desire to heal past or current wounds, our October retreat will also be a terrific opportunity for the two of you to experience healing and transformation together.

Give thought to who in your life you’d like to give the gift of a lifetime.  As you undoubtedly know, if you’ve been on retreat one or more times, it’s a life changer.  Many men have discovered a fuller sense of self and purpose through their having stepped onto the Sacred Path.  Our vision is to have a community of 75 men on retreat comprised of 60 participants and a staff of 15.  Please help us to achieve this goal.  A community is only as strong as its members and it takes each individual member to do his part in contributing to the whole.  Thank you for doing your part in supporting this event.

In the spirit of brotherhood,

Stephen

Stephen J. Johnson Ph.D., LMFT
Executive Director