Arriving at the Sheraton Hotel on Friday morning, I was greeted by five hundred people, meeting, hugging, chatting excitedly, and gathering in droves outside the Ballroom. Unfortunately, I had begun my morning feeling decidedly unwell, and felt initially overwhelmed, but once I started seeing people I knew, I could feel my energy lifting.
In fact, by the time Rachael Jayne strode onto the stage to begin the workshop, we were already high as kites, and calling in the Light did us good. After the usual announcements and guidelines, Rachael introduced our facilitators: Pauli Sanderson and John Morton, who were greeted rapturously. Pauli had even planned her outfit to match the Tahitian backdrop.
The workshop is on the theme of the Spiritual Warrior, but is part of The Conference of the Rest of Your Life. At first these two themes seemed highly contrasting. I appreciated the way Pauli brought the themes together by explaining that by moving into the qualities of the Spiritual Warrior, we can find deep peace and rest inside. We were asked to keep the workshop processes confidential, but I can say that we focused on the Spiritual Warrior qualities of intention, impeccability, and ruthlessness, and that this was a lot more uplifting and fun than it sounds! Pauli and John interspersed spiritual exercises, video excerpts, meditative moments, and one-to-one processes in a wonderfully organic and rest-filled way.
I felt that I gained a deeper experience of those qualities, and of myself as a Spiritual Warrior, in all my ordinariness. This quote particularly spoke to me: “When we choose to love rather than judge, we are exercising our divinity. When we withhold the blow rather than needlessly strike out, we are exercising our divinity. Our divinity, therefore, is demonstrated in our ordinary, moment-to-moment choices.” (John-Roger with Paul Kaye, The Rest of Your Life: Finding Repose in the Beloved).
There were some wonderful impromptu moments during the day. Penelope Bright took the stage to say that Rita Mary Leon, a beloved member of the community who recently transitioned, had given her hat to auction to raise money for the Heartfelt Foundation. John ebulliently took on the job of auctioneer, and within minutes the hat had been sold for over $1,000 to an extremely generous donor. Suddenly, it seemed everyone in the room wanted to participate in the spirit of generosity, and the ever-spritely assisting team sprang into action, taking checks, promissory notes, and cash from a multitude of waving hands. It was a magical moment, and John later informed us that the total donated reached $13,000.
As the afternoon session continued, there was an anticipatory excitement. Would J-R come to do sharing? Sure enough, there he was, looking dapper in a golden jacket that matched John’s. Two hours of profound sharing followed, with Michael Hayes adding his particular expertise. John asked for sharing only from people who had never shared with J-R before, and it was touching to hear from people from places far and near, some of whom were here at Conference for the first time. All too soon, the day was over. It wasn’t until friends and strangers alike kept commenting on how well I looked that I realized how well I felt by the end of the day. As always, Conference is working its magic.
Read more articles from MSIA’s Conference of the Rest of Your Life, 2008
- Prana West Open House
- Rest and Rejuvenate in the Beloved Within Workshop with John Morton
- Representatives Meeting
- PTS Masters and Doctorate Graduation
- IIWP Gathering of Peacemakers
- Day 1 of the Spiritual Warrior Workshop
- Day 2 of the Spiritual Warrior Workshop
- MSIA Ministers Meeting
- MSIA Initiates Meeting
- BlessingsFest
