What's New in Amsterdam

Truth Heals’ - Healing Event in Berlin, Germany

(May)
Organised by the Global Awareness Association (www.globalawareness.info) over 900 attendees gathered for this event. Sixty-five years after the Second World War with approximately 55 million people dead and in addition 6 million murdered Jews. The Second World War has left innumerable scars in the people and also in the collective subconscious. Spiritual teacher Thomas Hübl is convinced that large groups can amplify the process of becoming more conscious with an unimagined effect of integration. Joining him in this event were Andrew Cohen, Ken Wilber and Tom Steininger from Enlightenext Germany and Ruth Golan from Enlightenext Israel.

Both Todd and I were deeply pulled to go and represent the SHE Centre as participants at this event of evolutionary value and perspective. Not knowing what we were walking into, upon arrival there was a palpable thrill in the atmosphere at such a focused gathering of individuals. Individuals who were willing to explore this deeply hidden trauma; it was truly stirring.

Taking our seats in the auditorium we were introduced to a live link-up to a parallel event taking place at Enlightenext in Tel Aviv, Israel, and the days schedule began.

The first speaker was Andrew Cohen. Andrew simply and beautifully delivered the evolutionary model from his teaching, in terms of culture. He mixed his own experiences of being raised in Jewish culture and the inherent belief and conditioning that Germans are evil. Even the very sound of the German language was the epitome of evil, not just for the Jewish culture in the USA, but across other countries and cultures too. He was totally challenging, to the sense of identity of being German. He spoke of his discoveries over the last 19 years with his German students. The collective blank response of not knowing anything when he questioned them about what they knew had taken place in the Second World War. Also how there was a lack of understanding on how the rest of the world viewed them as a culture. He shared his discovery of how only 45 to 50 years after the war, these next generations were living from a cultural shield that overlaid the horror of what had taken place. At the time there just wasn’t the developmental capacity in individuals to face the truth.

He spoke also of the enormous potential that the Germans have in terms of the collective shadow, to make a leap on an evolutionary level that other cultures and nations such as Scandinavia and the Netherlands just don’t have, due to the sleepiness in these cultures. That the German culture was in a unique place to serve the evolutionary process on the level of a collective – by facing these past horrors and bringing them to an enlightened perspective and relationship to the human condition. It was an extremely direct and powerful engagement that certainly shook this packed auditorium.

The impact of Andrew’s delivery certainly came up to the surface with the next guest speaker. A former Nazi soldier, who had been attracted to Hitler as a young man, he eagerly joined the Hitler Youth and had later, during battle, lost his eyesight. He subsequently, went on to become a psychoanalyst and had come to a sense of understanding on his past.
During his presentation he invited participants onto the stage to share and engage in what they were experiencing. A lot of people accepted the invitation, some shouted out from the audience and a lot of pain and anger came up in individuals. A few got particularly aggressive with Andrew Cohen - shouting out at the victimisation of being German. He had held nothing back in his engagement and it was obviously working.
It took a Romanian woman’s courage to stand up and ask the question of all those on the stage and to the audience, “Are we not here to engage and bring this to a higher level of understanding and integration?“ Rapturous applause and acknowledgement of the truth followed.
Then through the technological miracle of Skype we had a live hook up with Israel. A softly spoken woman who holds the Enlightenext Centre in Tel Aviv shared the ‘work’ they had been unfolding that morning – from radically engaging the beliefs and concepts of being Jewish to sharing their group seeing that the perpetrator is inside.

She expressed how they had expected at least 100 to 200 people to come to the event and yet there were only 30 attendees. It was a touching insight of how deep the wounds go and the willingness and courage needed to go beyond them. An Israeli teacher who Thomas Hübl was working with was next online. He was told he only had 5 minutes due to the tight schedule of the day; the organisers were consciously keeping the whole event flowing. He looked calmly at us all - his whole face so beautifully open on the huge cinema size screen. Looking deeply he said “ I was going to tell you my personal story, but I will let that go. I was going to tell you my mentalised understanding but I will let that go. I was going to talk to you of the spiritual aspect but I will let that go. Can I ask you all to stand – I will sing to you the Jewish prayer of Unity.” Everyone stood. His prayer penetrated so deeply, his soulful calling, the acknowledgement of unity first. Our humanity strongly arose in me and our tender, fragile loving humanity together beyond anything else. Tears welled and fell.

The hour lunch break that followed allowed us time to sit and exchange with people. A couple of Thomas’s students wanted to know more about The Form. Todd took command and we went into the auditorium and shared The Form with them. There was plenty of curiosity from attendees, mesmerised by the frequency. Both recipients had powerful experiences and were deeply touched. Then back into the next sessions.

The opening of the afternoon was with Tom from the German Enlightenext Centre and Ruth Golan, a psychoanalyst from Israel. She is a student of Andrews that has created a new model in this field called Psycho-Evolution, psychoanalysis and the evolution of consciousness. A poignant cross culture sharing between Tom and Ruth opened the scene for us all to participate in the World Café – gathering in clusters of small groups, some facilitated and some not, we were directed to speak of what is revealing and unfolding inside. Cards were left on our tables with three rules of engagement: No Story; No talking over someone who is sharing,; Active listening.

Tenderly the field was engaged, insights shared, emerging realisations revealed in the groups through tender, loving honesty. There was a climax to the unfolding discoveries when we gathered in a mass group sharing. One woman stood, and said “What we realised in our group was that we the Germans are victims too”. Ruth Golan responded so eloquently and gently, “It is exactly that type of attitude that is why the Israelis and the Palestinians are at war – over who is the worst victim”.

It is so clear that to unravel deeply held beliefs, to face any distortion, pattern or pain takes conscious loving commitment and initially ‘effort’. It takes willingness to look deeper than our personalised sense of self, deeper than our cultural conditioning - to stop seeking the light and to let the shadow pierce the light. This is what is required for any authentic change to take place and for us to create a new era for humanity

The whole event held by the students of Thomas and Andrew was striking. They organised, served, dialogued and directed the whole event in a beautiful collaboration of co-creation. Empowered individuals coming together and creating something extraordinary with everyone playing their part, gifting their gift.

I see this is the potential for a place like the SHE Centre here in Amsterdam. It is a platform to love from, explore from, to create from. Something that is new, of true heart nourishing value to you, to life and to all beings.

Isn’t that your hearts deepest longing?

Something different.....from SHE Amsterdam

(April/May)

A volcano in Iceland erupts and most of Europe’s airlines come to a standstill, and the chaos of the unknown. Some are enjoying the quietness of the lack of air traffic; some are eager to make it home; some running out of money to support themselves, businesses, colleges, universities affected as workers, teachers and students cannot return home. Hotels are packed; ferries, boats and trains are booked out – emergency ops taking place via governmental input to get people back home.

The disruption is immense; the perishable foods waiting in countries like Ghana, the farmers fearful they will lose their incomes in all ready impoverished circumstances. The ripples go out wide and deep, not just few holidaymakers or business commuters who are affected.

In the midst of this unfolding I was hit by a car on a zebra crossing ...

in that moment there was nowhere else to go but in. I could see it all happening in the body/mind identity and yet there was a far more tangible place emerging too. It is funny because the driver of the car stopped and came over - I was dipping on the edge of unconsciousness and back into consciousness and heard myself saying “it's okay, it's all okay”. I kept repeating it, reassuring him and everyone helping around me. After I had been moved off the road (as a tram was coming) a man said to me – “Look, he wants to know what you are going to do about his wing mirror – you broke it.” I couldn’t take it in - wing mirror, what’s one of those? The driver of the car learned over to me and said “I’m not rich you know!” All I could feebly reply was my mantra of the moment “It's okay, it's all okay”

During the last few days I've been reflecting on what is revealing, also with being asked to write a piece on the SHE Centre here for this newsletter. So many known structures are tumbling down; we are entering an unknown place and right now I do not know what that means or what it is going to look like. So how do I write a newsletter piece? Not in the way that I have written before; that’s all I can say.

I can write to you on the insight with the reflection of the Volcano.

SHE is moving things; SHE is opening up potential to give a different response in life, to go beyond the known and self concern. Like the driver of the car, like me being hit by the car – it has certainly catapulted me into unknown territory. Both Todd and I are holding the SHE Centre here in Amsterdam as an unfolding part of the vision of the teaching on Spiritual Human Evolution and we are having to look deeper than we ever have before. We can see the emerging new it is tangible, yet it is not here yet and in the moment to moment of this unfolding we are having to see through the self concern, discern through beliefs and concepts about what this place is, and who we are.

So the question is – What is it you place value on?

For the car driver in that pristine moment of potential, when something totally unplanned and dramatic occurs in life, it was his wing mirror. Or more precisely the accumulated self-concern coming to a point in that moment, with the face of a wing mirror. What potential has SHE unleashed when her volcanic fire soars through the ice and all our known’s are suddenly not there, routines are disrupted and circumstances are out of our control? Is our response one of self -concern or is there a deeper place that can emerge?

The car driver phoned me the next day, his heart open and full of tenderness as he expressed how much he had seen from the accident. Where it took him inside and what he saw from his response. It was a beautiful moment of recognition of our humanity together.

April update

(3 April 2010)
Welcome to our newsletter for April 2010 from the Spiritual Human Evolution Centre Amsterdam.

With spring budding in Europe - our hearts feel ignited in the same way as the next steps reveal for the Centre. We have been through our first winter and new life is now springing everywhere. For those who have participated on courses here, visited here and supported us financially to be here – our whole-hearted thank you. We simply could have not done it without you.

NEXT STEP

The new is emerging and starting to take shape here at the SHE Centre, we are clearly moving forward to become a ‘Foundation’ here in the Netherlands. Our vision and direction is clear that this Centre IS at the radical edge of evolving consciousness and culture and IS a living demonstration of an emerging new way of being and becoming in manifest form.

We are taking that leap – are you inspired to be an active part of the unfolding? If you are – let us know!

EVENTS

We have various events taking place throughout the coming months and would love to see you participate with us. See the event page for April with some tasty new flavors!

Dive deeply into Form Intensives and discover the fineness of the new, refresh and open understanding or learn on our Form Courses, BE at the edge of woman’s evolutionary potential with our Feminine Empowerment Intensive.

3rd to 7th March City Evolutionary Discovery Week with Bernie Prior

(20 February 2010)
It is amazing how only a month will have unfolded since Bernie was sharing his wisdom and seeing on Enlightened Relationship and Spiritual Human Evolution here at the SHE Centre - Amsterdam.

How we were all wowed with what revealed itself over those few days.

Since then Bernie has visited Copenhagen and Stockholm, (and is currently in Cologne) where it became obvious that this tour was going to be like no other. As a result, itineraries have been revised, titles for meetings revamped and the whole experience is one that we are seeing as a week of ‘Ongoing, Developing Discovery.’

January update

(1 February 2010)
It’s hard to believe that one month of 2010 is behind us now, however so much has unfolded in one month that it shows that 2010 is already a year of transformation and also the call to actively get involved and participate in not only one’s own development but commit to a collective unfolding. Together with the New Zealand office, the last month has seen the forming of a plan to actively encourage conscious participation of everyone; and over the coming months we will be not only running events from the Centre but visiting all the countries that Bernie travels to talk with anyone interested in supporting a growing community of people committed to evolving consciousness; with The Form – Reality Practice being the tool to help deepen this.

Over the last week Bernie has been at the Centre with growing numbers coming every evening, culminating in an amazing day retreat, which outlined succinctly and beautifully the dance of the masculine and feminine appearing as Man and Woman’s journey together on the earth. Both inspiring and thrilling to not only be a part of such a day, but to know deeply that that is what is actually happening at this time.

Bernie will be with us again the first week of March for a series of 5 satsangs during the week, with a weekend retreat to finish this winter European tour. Before then we are running a number of weekends teaching Parts 1 and 2 of The Form, holding teacher training and then a Form intensive; whilst at the same time one of us supporting Bernie on this European tour. So February is going to be a very full month!

March is going to offer little respite, as after Bernie is at the Centre more courses are scheduled to be held, with one key event for this month being the The Form – Part 1 to 3 retreat being held at the Centre from the 26th to 29th March. This will be the first in the Northern Hemisphere and we already have a number of bookings. Book now and join us in the discovery and deepening into The Form. Some accommodation for this course is still available for those wishing to come from outside of Amsterdam.

Thank you to everyone who has visited and supported the Centre in the last 6 months, and we hope that more of you will continue to come and find out what so many people are now talking about – that Europe has not only a Centre dedicated to The Form, but a year round retreat space for self discovery and inspiring the actioning of your deepest hearts calling. See you soon!