I’ve just returned from a 10-day training run by the Institute for the Study of Peak States (ISPS). I’ve been studying their ideas for some time, and this was an opportunity not only to clarify my understanding of their approach, but also to experience their healing methods first hand.

So how did it go? It was an intense and amazing experience. At times, I had to suspend my critical mind and immerse myself in processes that would appear weird and wacky to an outsider – at one point another participant dissolved into helpless laughter at the thought of a hidden camera! But the bottom line for me is ‘does it work?’ And my conclusion has to be ‘yes’. I shifted a lot of ‘stuff’, including some of my deepest fears, patterns and blocks. I had some beautiful mystical experiences unlike any I’ve had before. I came away with a kit of tools for tuning into and healing my own traumas as well as for helping others. And I watched in awe at the deep transformations taking place in those around me who were mostly experienced therapists with many years of work on their personal issues behind them.

Background

I want to share more about my experience, but first I need to back up and summarise key points of ISPS theory and practice. Central is the effect of trauma on our development. According to standard medical definitions, trauma is an emotionally painful, distressing or shocking experience that has lasting mental and physical effects. Well-known examples include post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and the effects of accidents and child abuse. (more information on trauma) Between late June and early September, I wrote a series of blog entries arguing that trauma is a root cause of the planetary crisis. This perception is complemented by the core purpose of ISPS, which is to find ways to improve the quality of life of all humanity through its work in healing trauma.

ISPS believe that what we regard as normal consciousness is actually well below par. If we weren’t blocked by traumas, we would all be in permanent peak states of consciousness – of which ISPS has identified many different types. For most of us, however, we get no more than brief glimpses of what is possible that last from a few seconds to several hours during meditation, in nature, or on other occasions. The most important blocking traumas happen before birth. They include injuries at well-known developmental events such as conception and implantation, but, according to ISPS, extend right back to the time when the egg and sperm that eventually become us first start to form. This is inside our grandmothers, soon after our parents are conceived!

According to ISPS we all have hundreds of thousands of traumas, and it would take lifetimes to clear them one by one. Fortunately, this is not necessary. When we first experience a particular type of trauma, the way we respond becomes stored in the body. This ‘memory’ is then re-enacted every time an event evokes similar sensations – the well-known ‘button’ or ‘trigger’ effect. In other words, we develop an unconscious, automatic response which is activated every time something happens that our bodies identify as similar to the original trauma. In this way, we acquire ‘strings’ of connected traumas over time. If we can find and heal the original injury, or root trauma, then the whole associated string is also healed at the same time. However, even this shortcut doesn’t guarantee rapid healing of all traumas as most of us apparently have thousands of strings!

Most trauma therapies are based on reliving the traumatic event in some way, usually through talking or emotional release. However, ISPS believe that all traumas that occur before birth (and hence almost all root traumas) involve physical injury of some kind due to bumps, squashing, loud noises, toxins from smoking or food, and so on. It is only after birth that traumas can be caused by emotions. This is a vital point because it means that healing of root traumas must be physical/biological rather than mental or emotional.

From this perspective, the stories and emotional feelings on which most therapies focus are irrelevant! Rather, we should concentrate on the physical sensations we felt at the moment the trauma occurred. This is the basis for the “Whole-Hearted Healing” (WHH) approach developed by ISPS, which is described on their website and in a publicly available manual. This method is based on regression from a current trauma or issue, back to the earliest moment at which a similar sensation was experienced. Once this moment has been located, healing is achieved by focusing awareness on the sensations until they dissipate and we feel calm, peaceful, and physically light, bright and large. Other ‘power therapies’, particularly EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), are often used to support and speed up the healing process.

WHH is relatively slow, and ISPS researchers are continuing the search for faster, more reliable, and safer methods. Details of many of these are still confidential because they have not yet been tested on enough clients to be sure that they work and are safe for general release. They include rapid WHH, taught to us in the training workshop, and more advanced techniques that rely on the therapist being in particular peak states of consciousness (more information). We experienced one of these, the “Gaia Command Process”, which combines regression to specific developmental events with repeated phrases (like mantra) accompanied by a recurring short piece of evocative music.

My experience

With this background, I can now return to my workshop experience. In the first four days, theory and methods of WHH were presented in the mornings and evenings, with practice in pairs in the afternoons. Fundamental was the rapid creation of a sense of loving support, trust and security that enabled us to go deep into our fears, patterns and blocks. This sense of safety was produced not only by the methods, but also by the two instructors who were advanced practitioners, the 3 assistants who were recently certified therapists, and the 16 participants who were mostly experienced therapists in other modalities.

At first, I had difficulty with the regression process as I do not get visual images of past events, only body sensations. However, in time I learned to relax and trust that when I felt a sinking sensation I was in fact regressing to a similar earlier trauma. I chose to work on several life-long fears that I realised were all related to a dominant core belief that “I’ll die if I don’t get this right.” As I think about those issues now, the emotional ‘charge’ has gone from most of them, and I’m working on another.

After this introduction, the workshop changed gears to focus on enhancing our states of consciousness using the “Gaia Command Process” in various ways. For me, the most powerful was the Brain Light Process, which was run over several sessions. The music was incredibly powerful. I never tired of the constant repetition, and felt I could have stayed there forever! The first two sessions seemed to be about clearing shit. I spent most of the first one twitching, choking and sobbing. In the second session came repeated, violent physical ejection of what felt like a stone from the centre of my solar plexus, followed by deep relaxation and a sense of emptiness in that part of my body.

Having cleared the way, I ‘saw’ a beautiful golden being who was me rising up out of a grey mist in the third session. This being began to emerge again in the next session, and my hands involuntarily rose from my lap very, very slowly to a ‘blessing’ position from which they seemed to release a golden ball that was me. I sobbed for a long time at what felt like separation from God, but at the same time had a deep sense of knowing that I and the Being releasing me were One. It was very beautiful. In the final session, I felt like a large balloon slowly being filled and released into the deep waters of a gently undulating ocean. I was moving effortlessly towards freedom and independence as my healing continued, and yet I was still One with the Source. Later, I had a similar deep sense of Unity with the other ‘balloons’ around me that were my fellow participants in the workshop. Again, it was very beautiful, and I didn’t want to leave.

I’m not given to such mystical visions. This is one of the most beautiful and significant experiences of my life. And the imagery was not ‘seeded’ by introductory descriptions.

Evaluation

ISPS research is currently undertaken by a small core group of dedicated people who risk exploring new territory and trying potentially dangerous new processes. As with any research into the inner realms of consciousness, the methods are subjective. They rely on the inner vision of trained and gifted people with particular peak states of consciousness. And the theories depend on interpretation of experiences which may be totally different to the world of normal sensation and perception.

Having said that, ISPS apply these tools as rigorously as possible by carefully comparing their experiences with each other and with those of other investigators, and by seeking valid biological interpretations of them. Some of their theories have a solid basis in modern molecular and cellular biology, but others represent a new paradigm which may or may not prove biologically correct. Once a method is well-enough developed, it is tried on a wider group of volunteers, and eventually tested on clients under carefully supervised conditions. Only when its effectiveness and safety are well-established is it released for use by certified therapists, and, eventually, made widely available in publications and on the website.

My critical, rational, intellectual self is challenged in at least three ways by the ISPS approach. First, I find some aspects of their biological theory hard to swallow from my perspective, particularly the primary cell theory. I am not alone in this questioning, and am looking for alternative interpretations that don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Second, as I commented earlier, some of the processes appear weird and wacky from a mainstream perspective, with no obvious reason why they should work. However, in my experience they do work, although I need to reserve final judgement until I see how their effects survive return to the ‘normal’ world – both for myself and other participants. Third, in principle I am open to the existence of special powers of consciousness such as those of some psychics and healers. In practice, I find it a little ‘spooky’ to see such powers being used. The instructors in this workshop jokingly referred to themselves as the ‘Harry Potter Committee’ when they used special ‘sight’ to assess participants on issues such as inner peace and good-evil.

If the claims of ISPS are correct, the advanced methods they are developing constitute a very powerful ‘technology’ for changing consciousness, even without the permission of the client. In order to avoid misuse of this power, ISPS require advanced trainees to achieve a high score for ‘good’ in the Brain Light process. However, this does not eliminate the risk, only reduce its probability. This leaves me with serious ethical concerns, similar to those I have about the application of many advanced technologies. The potential for harm is great, and history suggests that all technologies are used in harmful as well as beneficial ways.

Having said that, the potential for good is immense. Not only do ISPS have powerful methods for healing ‘normal’ people, but also they are developing ways to heal many specific conditions. Already, they have begun training practitioners in specific techniques for curing addictions of all kinds. Early trials indicate that they will soon be able to cure schizophrenia, and a few trials on autism have been successful. They are also targeting other conditions, including multiple sclerosis and diabetes.

A final point. ISPS is committed to introducing a ‘pay for results’ system – a revolutionary first in therapeutic work. This shifts the incentive for therapists from hanging onto regular clients, to getting them healed as quickly as possible. And it provides a financially viable basis for applying advanced techniques which, it is claimed, can often cure traumas in less than 5 minutes. Above all, this approach signals strongly the confidence of ISPS in the power of its techniques.

Conclusions

It is very early days yet. ISPS is only just beginning to emerge from the research phase into practical application, and their theories and methods are evolving rapidly as fresh results come in. In the last couple of years they have established an international training programme for therapists, although there are still very few certified practitioners. As noted above, they have just instituted a specialist training in addiction therapy, and are aiming to set up clinics in several locations as human and financial resources become available.

If you feel drawn to this work, I strongly recommend that you explore the ISPS website and publications, and sign up for a training if possible.

Often personal trauma haunts us until we find a place of healing and forgiveness. And often the trauma of war reaches down the generations and centuries, only to explode again when the time is ripe. The only way out is collective healing. South Africa could so easily have descended into a blood-bath with the end of apartheid, but instead it became an example to the world with its Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Several years ago, in 1999, the Findhorn Foundation hosted an unforgettable conference on Forgiveness. Today, I’d like to share a few of the stories that emerged to illustrate the power of this approach.

Abagayle’s story

Abagayle was an ordinary woman; a mother and grandmother. Her story began on the day her daughter Catherine was brutally murdered. From that moment she began her ‘journey of darkness’. She had no religious faith, her mother was too sick to help, her other two children had just left home, and her husband was unable to share the grieving with her. At work, her colleagues and friends were in denial, and many could not bring themselves to talk with Abagayle about her trauma. She believed that finding and executing Catherine’s murderer would make everything ok, and so began eight years of rage, hatred and a lust for revenge.

Abagayle’s ‘journey into life’ was sparked by a meditation class where she learnt to be still and listen within. She began a spiritual quest, joined the Unity Church, and ‘fell in love with God’. She became interested in A Course in Miracles, and was given a video tape introduction in which a Jewish man described how he had forgiven the German soldiers who murdered his whole family. Driving home one day, Abagayle received guidance that she must forgive Douglas, Catharine’s murderer, who by then was on death row.

At 4 am the following morning, unable to sleep, she began to write him a letter, excerpts from which follow:

I know that Catherine is in a better place than we can ever know here on Earth. I did not know that when Catherine died. All I knew is that I had been robbed of my precious child and that she had been robbed of growing into womanhood and achieving all her potential. The violent way that she left this Earth was impossible for me to understand. I was saddened beyond belief and felt that I could never be happy again...

I was very angry with you and wanted to see you punished to the limit of the law... In the midst of studying ‘A Course in Miracles’ I could find, to my surprise, that I could forgive you. This does not mean that I think you are innocent or that you are blameless for what happened. What I learned was this: You are a divine child of God. You carry the Christ Consciousness within you. You are surrounded by God’s love even as you sit in your cell. The Christ in me sends blessings to the Christ in you.

The sound of the letter hitting the bottom of the mailbox changed Abagayle’s life. True forgiveness finally gave her the healing she needed.

All the anger, all the rage, all the ugliness that I was carrying in my body for all those years - it was instantly gone. It just left. And in it’s place I was just filled with a sense of joy and peace and I was truly in a state of grace.

Abagayle’s forgiveness did not require anything more. However, she received a reply from Douglas in which he shared his ‘tears of joy and sorrow’ at having the opportunity to communicate with her. Their contact eventually led to her visiting San Quentin State Prison in California where Douglas was on death row. On that first courageous visit to the prison she saw “the face of God, wherever she looked”. Developing a relationship with Douglas enabled her to understand that we are all one, that we are all inter-connected beings.

Abagayle became an active campaigner for the abolition of the death penalty. She also established a ministry for prisoners on death row and travelled internationally to share her story of forgiveness in the hope that it would inspire others to heal themselves. She established the Worldwide Forgiveness Alliance which aims to make the first Sunday in every August ‘International Forgiveness Day’.

 “Remember...” says Abagayle, “ forgiveness is a gift you give to yourself.”
If you wish, you can read her story in her own words.

The Pastor and the Imam

Today, this is a well-known story that has been made into a documentary film that I really must watch one day. But at the time of the Findhorn Conference it was relatively fresh, and it made a deep and lasting impression on me as the two men shared the platform and told their stories with humour and deep brotherly love.

Nigeria has been torn by strife between Christians and Muslims. In 1992, Imam Ashafa and Pastor James Wuye both led gangs which fought each other ferociously with machetes and other weapons. In one battle, Ashafa’s teacher and two sons were killed; and Pastor James lost an arm and he saw his bodyguard’s head severed. I well-remember, all these years later, how Pastor James described his astonishment and fear when Ashafa visited him in hospital – he thought he’d come to kill him. But by reaching out in this way, Ashafa began a process of reconciliation and forgiveness that continues today.

Following is an extract from the daily conference report:

Pastor James’s story is powerful, yet told with a joy and humour that leaves you wondering how it could be possible to hate such a man. But perhaps within this questioning there lies the pathology of hatred that belies conflict not only in Nigeria but throughout nations. Pastor James’s humanity is not ‘seen’ by those less privileged than us to really meet him, and by those who oppose him for what he stands for rather than for who he really is.

The story is an extraordinary demonstration of the power of inter-faith reconciliation and forgiveness. Pastor James and Imam Muhammad Ashafa represent new hope for Nigeria and for the conflict between Islamic and Christian peoples in their country and for all places where religious bigotry and intolerance of the ‘other’ has created a culture of bloodshed. ...

At the core of Pastor James’s model for reconciliation is the need for an understanding of one another’s world view. To really see through the eyes of the other involves ‘living with’ that person. Pastor James is certainly walking his talk here. He and Ashafa have been travelling together, rooming together and experiencing what it is really like to develop an intimate friendship between two men who were once at war with one another. Their story is delightful. Pastor James is irritated by Ashafa’s prayers which begin at 5am. Ashafa cannot understand why his companion worships Jesus as if he were the Divine, rather than ‘merely’ a messenger for the Divine. But the banter is loving and central to the whole message which they carry around the world. “I look at him (Ashafa) and I don’t see faults, I just feel love for him... after all, he is my brother”.

Forgiveness for Pastor James is something which we need to practise many times each day. We should not waste time waiting for our aggressor to say sorry. He does however advocate a time of mediation and a time for the offender to reflect upon their actions before being given an opportunity to make amends. Ultimately though, it is God who will determine whether a man can be graced with peace.

Forgiveness requires willingness. “Close your ears to the shadows and you begin to appreciate your friend, you begin to see yourself in him.” Choosing to focus upon this commonality requires huge courage to break with the cultural conditioning perpetuated by charismatic and fanatical religious zealots on both sides.

(According to Ashafa) Islam has at its very heart the concept of forgiveness. This is the message which Ashafa wishes to put straight, to counter the predominant Western view that Muslims are all extremist terrorists. By citing the Koran, Ashafa spoke passionately about the practise of ‘total submission’ to a system of higher power, of ultimate truth. When one’s path is complete surrender to such a system, peace comes as if you were learning a language. The philosophical basis of Islam is to present the individual with a choice or free will to either adopt negative or positive thinking, and to act accordingly. Courageous free will is to forgive even when one is angry. But forgiveness requires corrective action to compensate the victim. The perpetrator is given the opportunity to show remorse for his actions and to take steps to ‘do penance’ and restore the victim’s losses. Only when there is no repentance does the state intervene. Justice in Islam seeks to correct rather than to punish.

The spirit of Forgiveness or Ego

Ashafa wrote this poem for the Conference:



Reconciliation in Northern Ireland

The final story I want to share from the Conference is about Northern Ireland.

In a divided country the Corrymeela community is an experiment in creating a space for people where ‘no side can claim it as their own’. At the time of the Conference, Colin Craig was the director of the project and his deep understanding of the Catholic / Protestant divide was delivered with a humility befitting a man working for peace in a country synonymous with violence and bloodshed, bigotry and sectarianism.

Corrymeela is a place where members from all walks of life, from both sides of the sectarian divide can be encouraged to reveal their humanity to each other. The challenge is to facilitate ways in which people can see beyond the messages and the ‘story’ that play automatically as soon as the ‘other’ is labelled as Catholic or Protestant. Experience showed that it is better in the early stages for each group to meet separately, helping to create a sense of safety and freeing up in which they could explore issues about ‘the other’.

Experience also revealed that sitting down and sharing stories in an attempt to achieve empathy is naive in a country which has experienced so much bloodshed and partisanship. Moving out of dialogue and into direct experience of each other is more effective.

In our culture, Colin Craig pointed out, we seek individual freedom which produces rivalry, and a fear that if the other becomes free then ‘I’ cannot. So we seek to eradicate the ‘other’, to stamp out diversity. To escape this way of thinking we have to engage with our fears. We have to learn how to embrace the enemy. “After all”, he pointed out, “it is the gunmen who are leading the peace-process now”.

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I invite you to share your stories of the power of reconciliation and forgiveness in “On the Wisdom Trail”. First one in, start a new thread please!

Experts analyse data spilling from the innards of their computers like priestly diviners poring over the entrails of hapless chickens for portents of things to come. With 20:20 hindsight they tell us endlessly where we have been in recent years and months, but little of significance about the future. A glance at the headlines says it all:

Inflation 0.3% last month as downward trend continues
Share market falls 3%, ending bull run 
GDP up 0.5 last quarter as growth slows
Retail sales down 2% last quarter as consumer confidence weakens
Unemployment hits its highest level for 5 years 
Burglaries up ...   
Car theft jumps ... 
Prime Minister's popularity slips ...
Air quality improves ...
Divorce ...  
House prices ... 
Grey Eminence wins three of last four starts ...

Government plans and policies are little better. They start with detailed analyses of where we have been, and end with calls for more information, more monitoring, more research to document each step along the way. ‘Experts' measure and calculate the trend in every subtle nuance of our economy and society. And not content with trends, they create complex computer 'models' of the past in order to predict the future. They know without a shadow of a doubt where we have been, and where we were heading recently. But know nothing of where we are going, unless it’s to hell in a hand basket! (What a wonderful expression that is!)

Our leaders have been seduced by these faceless grey people. They have become technicians, fine-tuning the dials which keep us on track. But on track to where? They tell us endlessly about policy settings to bring about growth, low inflation, employment ... They exhort us to be more productive, to save more, to spend more, to be smarter ...  For what? So we won't fall off the escalator. But we search in vain for anyone to tell us where the escalator is going. Beating inflation, stimulating growth, creating more jobs, protecting the environment - doesn't anyone realise that these are not goals, but simply means to other ends. But what ends?

Humanity thirsts for a vision of a different and a better world that acts, as Elise Boulding put it, as a powerful historical magnet drawing us towards the envisioned future. We thirst for a vision of a possible world that is abundant, joyful, loving and worthy of our commitment, body and soul. But where are our visionaries today? We wait in vain.


In the meanwhile, let me tell you a story ...


Once upon a time, an explorer set out to see what lay beyond the mountains. Shouldering his pack, he set out one fine morning, boldly striding backwards into the dawn. Day after day he stumbled on, keeping careful watch on the way he had come so he didn’t get lost. And from time to time he glanced in the battered old mirror strapped to his shoulder to see what was in store behind him. But the view in the mirror was dim and distorted, and every now and then he bumped into a tree, or tumbled into a hole. Once in a while, too, with despair in his heart he found himself following his own tracks, having walked in a circle.

One day, as he staggered on his way through the early morning mist, he passed a wizened old man sitting under a tree. With a puzzled frown on his face, the old man watched his painful progress for a while. Then he called out:

"Friend, why are you walking backwards?"

"Oh," was the reply, "by walking backwards I can see where I have been and which direction I should head now."

"But where are you going?"

"I don't know. No-one has ever been there, but I want to make sure I get there safely."

"Safely?” exclaimed the old man, “How can you travel safely when you don't know where you're going and can't see the path ahead? Why, I've sat here watching you for the last half-hour and you keep tripping over and bumping into things. Do you call that getting there safely?"

"Well, maybe I do get a few scratches and bruises, but what else can I do?” responded the explorer, ”If I don't watch where I've been I'll lose my way.”

"But what good is it to know what you’ve left behind? Surely you know that travellers on this road never return? You can only go onwards from here, never go back."

"What? Are you sure?" exclaimed the explorer. 

"Why yes, I’m sure. Now why don't you turn around and look where you are going?  You would get on much better that way."

The explorer hesitated for a long moment. He looked longingly back down the path he’d trodden, and felt the security of familiarity. At least he knew what lay in that direction even if it wasn’t very enticing. Then he turned his head just a little and glanced in the other direction. True, he could see more clearly than in his mirror, but it was scary. Why, he couldn’t even tell for sure what lay behind that next boulder.

At long last, the explorer heaved a big sigh, unstrapped his mirror and tossed it away. With a shrug of his shoulders, he turned his full face to the road ahead, and took his first hesitant steps into the distance. And, oh, it was so easy and joyful! His past struggles and difficulties and despairs were hidden behind him, and there before him was the most wonderful vision of green, rolling wooded hills. True, they were still a long way off, and he still couldn't see quite how to get there through the intervening swamps and deserts. But at least now he had a goal. He could see that it was possible. He could see that it would be worthwhile. Life didn’t have to be painful stumbling in circles. He could set a clear direction, even if the path was rough and twisted.


As we head into the terra incognita of our future, we need a vision of El Dorado lying beyond the mountains of despair and the deserts of angst. We need a vision, not of survival and adaptation to straightened circumstances, but of a golden future of joy and love, of abundance and peace.

Do you dream of such a future? Let’s share our dreams and create a vision of utopia – not as a place we will ever inhabit, but as a beckoning direction to head. What do you dream about when you pause in the mad scramble of modern life? What pieces would you contribute to the jig-saw of utopia? Let’s hear your vision “On the Wisdom Trail.”