I have appreciation for all the years of effort and skill it takes to end up with letters after a name. PHD or MD show that someone has been through many years of disciplined and supervised study. How do those of us that don’t have letters and work outside those structures but have been through equivalent or even more rigorous training in our field show that to others?
For most of my life, word of mouth has been the way. People who have worked with me directly share about that work with close family and friends and that's how the thread of trust is woven. However I am in a moment where I’m looking to expand my work so that I can reach others beyond these immediate circles of connection who might benefit from what I have to offer. On the one hand I have found myself uncomfortable to say “check out my credentials” and yet I also recognize that it's not about me, it’s about service to my highest offerings and I'm simply hanging a sign on the door so that people can see where my confidence to support people in deep initiatory journeys comes from.
*I spent my early years in Southeast Asia and was sent to a British Boarding School at age 7. With my boarding school located in a rural area I bonded deeply with nature in the absence of intimate human holding. I’m grateful for many parts of my early conditioning, including the trauma which placed me on a healing path and helped me develop compassion.
*Age 18-20 I worked as a counselor at a special needs boarding school that tended to children from emotionally and physically abusive backgrounds
*At 19 years old I had a series of experiences of unity consciousness that set me on fire to understand what happened and integrate it - a journey of what has now been more than 30 years of periods of training with teachers from Zen, Theravada Buddhist, Advaita Vedanta, Indigenous, mystical christian, and western therapeutic traditions. These experiences at 19 also opened up some healing channels and I began to be invited to share in this way.
*At 20-22 I lived a monk-type existence in India, on the streets, in the mountains, in a jungle cave, walking barefoot on solo pilgrimages, drinking from rivers and with the majority of my time in meditation. I spent close time with a handful of well-known and less-known spiritual masters there, and eventually returned to England where I moved into a Buddhist community, which was part organic farm and part monastery.
*Age 22-28 I continued sitting in Vipassana and then Zen retreats, initiated in Zen under the Sanbo Kyodan. I studied shiatsu for three years, together with principles of healing nutrition and herbs, and two years of counseling and psychotherapy training that included a foundation in Rogerian counseling, Gestalt, parts work, Eugene Gendlin’s Focusing, and Hakomi. I have been grateful for the presence of psychotherapy in my life, and have deeply needed it, receiving by now over 20 years of personal therapy myself.
*Beginning in the mid 90’s I was a neighbor to the Schumacher college in England and became increasingly focused on environmental activism, after meeting inspiring activists and pioneering educators who visited Schumacher from all over the world. I ended up writing a best-selling book in 1997 that was translated into French and Spanish and which had editions published in Central and South America, across Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand. Then followed 5 years of intensive travel, lecturing in universities and organizing as an activist all over the world, writing for Greenpeace, supporting grassroots groups with campaigns, advocacy and direct action strategy, speaking to various parliaments, and appearing regularly on radio, tv, and in print media.
*From 2000-2003 I was a direct action organizer for large international demonstrations against the World Trade Organization and World Bank. Toward the end of those years I became focused on combining direct action tactics with magical ritual.
*In 2003 I began my training with my medicine teacher, and now have been with him for 20 years. After 11 years with him he gave me his blessing to lead work in his lineage.
*From 2004-2011 I studied intensively with Adyashanti, as I found him to be especially skilled in his teaching of how to integrate experiences of deep awakening.
*From 2004-2013 I was co-director of the Satori Healing Center offering spiritual counseling to individuals and couples, and leading men’s work and initiatory journeys with groups of men from ages 17 - 70.
*In 2007 my son was born and I continue to be a devoted father, one of the most humbling and fulfilling gifts of my life.
*I have been a lover of the musical arts ever since I started playing trombone in a jazz band at the age of 10. By the age of 15 I was writing songs on the guitar and in 2022 at the age of 50, after 40 years playing music, I started releasing my own songs for the first time under the artist name Solwater.
*Since 2009 I have held space for hundreds of people going through initiatory journeys. I feel able to do so because I have experienced myself in those death and rebirth passages over and over and over again during the last 30 years. I know myself as the no-thing that is the essence of everything. I know myself as the trembling and afraid earth creature seeking warmth, connection and belonging. I know myself as the fool who will be no doubt forever humbled and stretched out of the illusions of egoic identification. I know myself as the infinite consciousness ever-present and aware. I know myself as the unique collection of stories, strengths and traumas inherited from my ancestors. Most importantly, I know myself as love.
*I am a committed lifelong learner. I don’t view spiritual progress or growth as a human being as something we get to put in our pocket like a possession. To me the test is how we are showing up in this living present moment: are we love now?...and then now?…and now?…and now?….
We’re always growing, and the bleeding edge of our growth is still the bleeding edge.
We’re in a profoundly important moment for the future direction of life on this earth. I believe that we all have a unique way to bring our love through, and a part to play in weaving a good dream for this planet.
I am passionate about supporting leaders and creatives who care deeply about the challenges being faced by humanity to bring their gifts through for the well-being of the whole. If you are committed to cultivating even more alignment, resilience, and grounded inspiration in the sharing of your offerings, I would be happy to schedule an exploratory session to see if working together could be a fit.
For most of my life, word of mouth has been the way. People who have worked with me directly share about that work with close family and friends and that's how the thread of trust is woven. However I am in a moment where I’m looking to expand my work so that I can reach others beyond these immediate circles of connection who might benefit from what I have to offer. On the one hand I have found myself uncomfortable to say “check out my credentials” and yet I also recognize that it's not about me, it’s about service to my highest offerings and I'm simply hanging a sign on the door so that people can see where my confidence to support people in deep initiatory journeys comes from.
*I spent my early years in Southeast Asia and was sent to a British Boarding School at age 7. With my boarding school located in a rural area I bonded deeply with nature in the absence of intimate human holding. I’m grateful for many parts of my early conditioning, including the trauma which placed me on a healing path and helped me develop compassion.
*Age 18-20 I worked as a counselor at a special needs boarding school that tended to children from emotionally and physically abusive backgrounds
*At 19 years old I had a series of experiences of unity consciousness that set me on fire to understand what happened and integrate it - a journey of what has now been more than 30 years of periods of training with teachers from Zen, Theravada Buddhist, Advaita Vedanta, Indigenous, mystical christian, and western therapeutic traditions. These experiences at 19 also opened up some healing channels and I began to be invited to share in this way.
*At 20-22 I lived a monk-type existence in India, on the streets, in the mountains, in a jungle cave, walking barefoot on solo pilgrimages, drinking from rivers and with the majority of my time in meditation. I spent close time with a handful of well-known and less-known spiritual masters there, and eventually returned to England where I moved into a Buddhist community, which was part organic farm and part monastery.
*Age 22-28 I continued sitting in Vipassana and then Zen retreats, initiated in Zen under the Sanbo Kyodan. I studied shiatsu for three years, together with principles of healing nutrition and herbs, and two years of counseling and psychotherapy training that included a foundation in Rogerian counseling, Gestalt, parts work, Eugene Gendlin’s Focusing, and Hakomi. I have been grateful for the presence of psychotherapy in my life, and have deeply needed it, receiving by now over 20 years of personal therapy myself.
*Beginning in the mid 90’s I was a neighbor to the Schumacher college in England and became increasingly focused on environmental activism, after meeting inspiring activists and pioneering educators who visited Schumacher from all over the world. I ended up writing a best-selling book in 1997 that was translated into French and Spanish and which had editions published in Central and South America, across Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand. Then followed 5 years of intensive travel, lecturing in universities and organizing as an activist all over the world, writing for Greenpeace, supporting grassroots groups with campaigns, advocacy and direct action strategy, speaking to various parliaments, and appearing regularly on radio, tv, and in print media.
*From 2000-2003 I was a direct action organizer for large international demonstrations against the World Trade Organization and World Bank. Toward the end of those years I became focused on combining direct action tactics with magical ritual.
*In 2003 I began my training with my medicine teacher, and now have been with him for 20 years. After 11 years with him he gave me his blessing to lead work in his lineage.
*From 2004-2011 I studied intensively with Adyashanti, as I found him to be especially skilled in his teaching of how to integrate experiences of deep awakening.
*From 2004-2013 I was co-director of the Satori Healing Center offering spiritual counseling to individuals and couples, and leading men’s work and initiatory journeys with groups of men from ages 17 - 70.
*In 2007 my son was born and I continue to be a devoted father, one of the most humbling and fulfilling gifts of my life.
*I have been a lover of the musical arts ever since I started playing trombone in a jazz band at the age of 10. By the age of 15 I was writing songs on the guitar and in 2022 at the age of 50, after 40 years playing music, I started releasing my own songs for the first time under the artist name Solwater.
*Since 2009 I have held space for hundreds of people going through initiatory journeys. I feel able to do so because I have experienced myself in those death and rebirth passages over and over and over again during the last 30 years. I know myself as the no-thing that is the essence of everything. I know myself as the trembling and afraid earth creature seeking warmth, connection and belonging. I know myself as the fool who will be no doubt forever humbled and stretched out of the illusions of egoic identification. I know myself as the infinite consciousness ever-present and aware. I know myself as the unique collection of stories, strengths and traumas inherited from my ancestors. Most importantly, I know myself as love.
*I am a committed lifelong learner. I don’t view spiritual progress or growth as a human being as something we get to put in our pocket like a possession. To me the test is how we are showing up in this living present moment: are we love now?...and then now?…and now?…and now?….
We’re always growing, and the bleeding edge of our growth is still the bleeding edge.
We’re in a profoundly important moment for the future direction of life on this earth. I believe that we all have a unique way to bring our love through, and a part to play in weaving a good dream for this planet.
I am passionate about supporting leaders and creatives who care deeply about the challenges being faced by humanity to bring their gifts through for the well-being of the whole. If you are committed to cultivating even more alignment, resilience, and grounded inspiration in the sharing of your offerings, I would be happy to schedule an exploratory session to see if working together could be a fit.