Tuesday, August 12, 2008

San Francisco Gets Awakened

Hello Friends!
What a weekend. The latest offering of Awakened Wisdom’s, Claim Your Awakened Life Now! just happened in San Francisco, and all of the people in attendance have been reporting that they were deeply impacted by the event. I am pleased about that, because having an impact is why I do this work.

I was particularly moved by this group of dynamic people, and the way in which they showed up fully, to play and explore their personal genius, (whatever that might have been) as of August, 2008. As is the case with these events, this one attracted people from many regions, and phases of life. Each had something different to bring, and take away from, the workshop. You see, we humans are amazing beings. We keep learning and growing as the world around us moves itself forward, so it is important that we look into the mirror with fresh eyes and heart, over and over again, and continue to ask, Who am I now?!!

It is from this place, of diversity and personal ingenuity, that we all dreamed and designed together this weekend. Many people reported old dreams stirring again, that renewed vital energy around them. Others discovered freedom from old ideas and are moving now in new, more vibrant directions, that resonate more strongly with their hearts, bodies and minds.

Thank you to all who came, and to those who brought friends, even without fully understanding what it was, that might happen in these three days.
The nature of this work is beyond words, and I am still learning how to talk about it myself. All I do know, is that magic happens and lives are shifted.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Presence in London

I am in London today, after delivering a three-day workshop that by all accounts went quite well. I found myself with some time that wasn’t otherwise booked, so I decided to take a walk. I enjoy walking around London and am always fascinated by the people and old English style shops, pubs, museums and bridges.
As I walked I noticed how enjoyable the time was, and I found myself thinking about presence. I was thinking about how important it is to be present, about how much we miss when we are not present, and how challenging it is to stay present. And, as I thought more about this, I tripped on a curb. Of course I recovered, and brought my attention back to thinking about presence, as I continued my walk.
As I passed a shop, someone said something to me, though I wasn't sure what it was, as I was so busy thinking about presence. This person turned away, and so I carried on my walk, thinking about presence.
I had to cross a street, which is always tricky for me in London, as the traffic is moving opposite to what I am used to. I choose to trust, that while I am busy thinking about presence, those cars will surely see me. A car honks. Is it really necessary to honk the horn like that just because a pedestrian is on the street? This car had plenty of room to get by. Now I've lost track of my thought on presence.
Ah yes, I was contemplating how challenging it is, to do just one thing at a time in this busy culture we have created. I decided to note this down on a pad of paper as I walked along, thinking about presence. I write and wonder why is my writing so messy whenever I write as I walk along?
Soon I was lost, and had to stop thinking about presence so that I could reorient myself to my hotel's location. But I realized I didn’t want to return to it anyway, and had forgotten for a moment that I had plenty of time to just walk along and think about presence.
As I continued walking I saw an interesting looking person with wonderfully wild clothes and an unusual gait. As I walked along watching him, I bumped into someone else, remembering again, I'd lost my thought about presence.
So I had to start over with a new one. What does it mean to be present anyway?
I wondered. Aren’t we always present to something? And isn’t that enough?
Good thing I brought my cell phone, as I forgot I'd meant to call someone. Now if only I could remember where I put his number. Oh yeah, I forgot it in the hotel room.
Where am I anyway?

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Living an Awakened Life

To live an Awakened Life, is to live life through connection to Divine Self, that is the pure essence of who we are. This requires us to be willing to open and connect fully, to everything that is present in the moment. That means really opening to the full emotional experience of the moment, the full body experience and the full mind experience. This sounds like a good idea, and yet in order to do this, we risk imagined consequences such as the possibility of connecting to unpleasant sensations. Many people move through life creating their experience through fears though most of those fears are imagined. Creating a life in this way will most assuredly result in living in overly cautious way, building a smaller life.
Breath deep. What emotion are you in at this time? What part of your body is speaking the loudest? What thoughts are occupying your mind? Are those thoughts real or imagined?

Examine each thought, especially your concerns. Ask yourself, "Is this a real danger or am I imagining it? A real danger is literal, not imagined. So get clear about the difference. For each concern ask yourself, "What is truly needed with regards to this concern?" and then choose your actions accordingly.
You will discover that most of the concerns you hold are imagined; they are not good reasons to hold back, from making the choices, and living the life you really want.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Being Present

We often rush through our days, checking off to-do's, phoning and driving. We think about what is next, or worry about - what if?
It's as though the systems of today’s world are designed, precisely to test our willingness and ability to be present.
What is it to be present?
Being present, simply put, means being in the moment, and aware of what is being experienced at that time. It's being aware of your emotional, physical, and mental states. You need not DO anything to be in the moment. You just need to BE. And, to be aware.
One simple way I do this, is to use my breathing to connect to the moment and then to myself, in that moment.
I put my attention on my breath. I let go of distracting thoughts, and check in with my body. Where am I tense? And what is the emotion I am experiencing at this moment?
From this connected state, I am much more resourceful. It allows me to have an overall better experience that day.
Perhaps you have your own tips, for being present?

Monday, February 4, 2008

Awakened Wisdom in Japan

Awakened Wisdom in Japan,

The workshop, Claim Your Awakened Life Now!, was just offered in Japan. I am very grateful to J., Mika, Kyoko, and to all the others who helped to organize and to promote the event.
It was an exciting experience to be a part of the offering and receiving of the Awakened Wisdom program. I am especially grateful to Mika and Kyoko for their beautiful translation.
Many people who attended told me that they felt that this marked the beginning of a new time, a new era, in Japan. I feel it at a global level that a beautiful awakening is unfolding and everyone who attended came in service to this.
I am very pleased to see how the message of Awakened Wisdom crosses over cultural lines and touches people heart to heart.
I learned much from this event and I return home, to rest and to assimilate the experience into my being.
Thank you as well to others who shared meals, conversations, hopes and dreams, while guiding me through my first time in Japan, at least in this life.
I hope to return for a more advanced offering and so for those who asked me to consider that, stay tuned for future announcements.

Go in Happiness,
Patrick Ryan
www.AwakenedWisdom.com

Awakened Wisdom in Israel

Awakened Wisdom in Israel,
The Claim Your Awakened Life Now! workshop was recently offered in Israel. I want to thank the partners that organized it and all the beautiful people that attended.
In order to tell this story and keep personal identities confidential I will refer to the good people involved according to their gender and their cultural background. To the extent that adds to the illusion of separateness, I apologize. I don’t know how else to tell the story.
It was set in an amazing retreat center in the Negev Desert. The setting was very simple and that allowed us to really blend in with the sacred land and to drop more deeply into the experience of what it is to be human.
As much the intention of the gathering was to offer and receive the Awakened Wisdom work the Universe through its Divine wisdom had an additional plan for us all. In order to unfold that plan the Universe inspired some Palestinian people to join us as well. This added such a rich fabric to an already beautiful plan.
The Jewish culture and the Arab culture are taught not to trust each other and that is the message that members of each group receive at a very young age. At the level of soul to soul such agreements do not exist.
Without exception the humans that attended this event wanted to move past the illusion of barriers that separated them. Blessings to you all for that!
The first challenge that showed up was when we received a message that the Israeli border guards in the interest of performing their duty had delayed the Arab participants from entering Israel. The gift of that is that it inspired the Jewish people to send love and prayers for the Palestinians to get through. It also, I believe, created the journey for everyone in this event to be more at the level of a vision quest. Through that the journey of our souls in this event was opened up to a much deeper level.
Thankfully the prayers and the wisdom of the border guards shone brightly and they allowed our Arab friends to pass through and to arrive safely.
We all came together on the land and the weaving of intentions, hopes, and Oneness began in earnest.
I have seldom felt so blessed as I was to be able to witness and to hold the space for these amazing and open people to do their work.
Two moments touched me deeply, both moments happened at about the same time at two different places in the desert.
In one moment, I looked over and saw a Palestinian woman and a Jewish woman standing face to face, heart to heart, with each other in conversation and the light that was exchanging between them was so bright that I knew that great healing was taking place.
I then turned and looked into a different direction and saw an Arab man and a Jewish man sitting on the edge of a small rock rise in deep conversation with each other. Again the light of love was opening and I knew that the work these people were engaged in was on behalf of all of us on the planet that feel separated from any other.
I watched as their minds, full of teachings and stories about why they should not trust each other struggled to move forward. I watched as their hearts, filled with desire to connect and know the full experience of each other, had them lean in as they learned to trust each other a bit at a time. Thankfully the wisdom of their hearts prevailed over the concerns of their minds and in the end the people left the event hugging and casting wishes for more of this in the world.
Blessings to you all for your desire to move forward as one people, for the courage it takes to set aside the cultural conditioning, and for the willingness to heal the memories of times past that are painful.
I am in gratitude to the Universe for using us all in this way, to forward the dream that all humans will reclaim their Oness with the divine.
Thank you to you for reading this.
Patrick Ryan
www.AwakenedWisdom.com

Friday, December 7, 2007

Adventure in Barcelona

Today I am writing from Barcelona,

Yesterday was my first day in Barcelona. I have three days to relax between leading two different workshops. It was a very surprising start to my visit here to get robbed before I even had breakfast.

That event really gave me the opportunity to experience the application of Awakened Living.

At first I was in denial, I couldn't believe it had happened. I was trying to convince myself that maybe I had misunderstood what had happened but alas I could not deny the fact, I had been robbed. I knew I had to look at this face on.

Then I got angry. I got angry at myself for allowing this to happen. I got angry at the crooks who take advantage of kind people. In this case the crooks impersonated being kind to get closer to me, to take advantage. I allowed myself to experience the anger.

I then went through a stage of asking the Universe what I could do to lessen the damage here. I cancelled my credit cards, I filed a police report, and got philosophical about it all. Making the best of a bad situation.

I wandered around for a day with barely enough money for a meal, it brought back memories of when that was a fact in my life, a time long ago. Then I observed myself falling into a depression. I had a hotel room and I didn't want to leave. I felt like sleeping all the next day. I was falling. A time to recover, to choose, to stay resourceful.

I kicked myself out of bed and asked the Universe to give me a good day. I asked to meet someone nice, I asked for a different experience than I had been having. I noticed I was nervous but I headed out for a day of tourism anyway.
I had arranged for some money to be wired to me, thank you American Express for coming through as advertised, where one of my other banks said I had better be able to prove i got robbed or I could be in trouble.

Thanks to the wonderful waiter at a nearby restaurant who as I sat down, warned me to watch my bag, and when i told him my story, he really listened and then was just nice and made such a difference.

Please be kind to a stranger today.

I finally found myself to a place where I could do a loving kindness meditation for the robbers, for the police, for myself, and with that I felt all the negative energy of this event wash away.

I am grateful for this event for revealing to me where I still have work to do and I could have done without it.
This is a small thing in the world today, it just happens to be the day I had.

All of this happened in roughly twenty four hours.
What a day.

Journey well and be safe,
Patrick