My First

Our May 1-4 Enlightenment Intensive was awesome with 10 participants and 5 staff. Our chief/senior monitor arrived in Chico the night before. I picked him up at the bus station and we all went out for Thai Food. Later that night we visited and talked about our plans for the Intensive while I baked the last of the chocolate chip cookies I was bringing for the Saturday afternoon snack. Getting out of town on Thursday to head up to the awesome Rambln Rose Ranch that sits on 165 acres at the bottom of a beautiful canyon on Big Chico Creek was a chore. I thought we were organized and that all the last minute packing and pick-ups would be simple but we worked and ran around town from 7:00 am until almost 3:00 pm. Jerry had already run up and down the hill a couple of times, meeting the guy who delivered the porta potty, putting up signs to help guide participants to the Intensive, dropping off loads of supplies, putting up tents etc.

We finally arrived around 3:30 and got straight to the business of getting everything set up for the participants who were arriving between 6:00 and 7:00. That was a lot of work! We were far from completing that task but the space was lovely, it was what it was, and I was happy in my exhaustion. Patrick didn't arrive until 6:30 pulling his travel trailer which was full of the second half of our supplies. He had been running around all day packing and getting things together for the Intensive also. Jerry arrived around 7:00 with our cook and more last minute supplies we had forgotten.

We had moved most of the furniture out of the room we had picked as our dyad space and I was struggling trying to arrange the chairs and cushions for the dyads. I tried every which way and was feeling pretty stuck. I loved the room but it had all these pillars spread out in the middle of it that were interfering with the dyad rows. Finally I got Patrick in there to help me and within a minute he found the angle that made it all work perfectly. No wonder the man is an architect. Those skills come in handy.

By 8:00 we had tea and a snack out with everyone pretty much settled in with their sleeping arrangements and by 8:30 we all gathered for the opening talk. What a nice group with seven newcomers! We were thrilled to have so many fresh folks who didn't have to work for their beginners mind and also thankful and comforted by the veterans. By 10:00 pm we sent everyone off into their silent retreat contemplating their questions, to get a good night's sleep (some headed off for the hot tub). By the time my mind and body hit the air mattress in my tent sometime after midnight I was ready for rest...I thought. But I was too cold to fall asleep. Then I noticed I was dehydrated and needed water but had none close to the bed and I was too cold to get up and get it. Then I had to pee but again, I was too cold to get up from under the covers. Finally I braved the cold to pee and find water but after returning to bed I still couldn't sleep...all night I lay awake until the light and birds chirping at 5:30 am pulled me out of my bed. Incredibly enough, I felt rested and soon Rick was ringing the bell to wake the participants with Good morning, this is the first day of the Enlightenment Intensive. You have 15 minutes until the morning talk.

What a day. What can I say? The technique is powerful and I loved watching everyone's process unfold. I felt like a mother hen with all her little chicks. By afternoon rest time I still couldn't sleep so we laid and read poetry.

It took our cook awhile to get settled into the kitchen, organizing everything and getting the menu down but she accomplished that task with an open heart and incredible artistic ability with her culinary skills. She's a very gentle person and her presence at the Intensive added a shining sweetness. Although the timing of the meals wasn't perfect, we never had too much of a wait and all in all, we were extremely well fed and cared for in that department. I feel very blessed and gifted with her hard work and enthusiastic attitude. She offered us a lot of love. It had meant a lot to us, to offer exceptional food at this Intensive and that task was accomplished.

Walking contemplations were awesome with the creek and wildlife, surrounded by all of nature and the magnificent canyon walls. We couldn't have asked for more perfect weather--warm and sunny days, clear starry nights--and then a mini thunderstorm rolled in Sunday evening during a dyad, the skies darkened, the wind rose, a few raindrops were shed and then it cleared again to sunny skies for our dinner eating contemplation.

We had the sweet joyful puppy, Molly, who loved all the activity going on and would raid our tents, eating toothbrushes, soap and various other items. Molly is so smart that she could actually unzip the tents. We also contended with her cohort the cat, who loved being in the dyad room with us. She would push the latched door open and then prance through the middle of the dyads distracting the participants. She loved being loved on and was pretty sweet throughout until she scratched one of the participants on the leg, breaking the skin. Bad kitty. All in all I think the dog and cat proved to be only minor distractions and just added to all the love.

Rick was an incredible chief/senior monitor and his ability to jump in wherever needed and hold things together amazes me. He does his job exceptionally well, it's truly a service of his heart. Jerry was our de-odder/silent monitor, and all around go-fer, (a de-odder is an extra person who sits in on the dyads whenever he may be needed to make it an even number) and he helped us an incredible amount too. Patrick and I worked well together and it all seemed to flow very smoothly with us sharing the role of Enlightenment Intensive Master.

We read lots of poems and inspiring stories. We did what's done at Enlightenment Intensives, the basic foundation being Dyad Communication, using the tried and true technique that Charles Berner (aka Yogeswar Muni) taught us. The participants contemplated their questions, Who Am I?, What Am I?, What Is Love?, What Is Life?, What Is Another?, intending to directly experience the truth and communicating whatever arises as a result of that contemplation. We did our best to help refine the technique as the dyads and days went by. Some of the new participants seemed extremely attached to personalizing the communication, continuing to say you in their communication, rather than using the term Another. One strange little kink was the Thank You, at the end of the dyad which morphed into Thank you for sharing, for several of the new participants, to the chagrin of the old-timers. We tried to guide them in the best way possible to facilitate their process and the process of others. What to be strict about and what to let slide was tricky at times. People make their choices and we wanted to respect that, while at the same time, maintaining the integrity of the technique which works if you work it. We had 32 dyads total over the course of the 3 days. We had the full spectrum of pleasure and pain, stuckness, tears, laughter, phenomena, and Enlightenment Experiences. Patrick and I shared the last dyad of the Intensive together, gazing into one another's eyes and crying while one woman's angelic voice serenaded us into bliss as she narrated her breakthrough simultaneously as it occurred.

I am so blessed and feel so honored to have been graced with the presence of all our wonderful participants and staff and especially two of my Enlightenment Master's Training buddies who came and supported me in my first endeavor to master an Intensive. And to Another who flew all the way from Georgia! I feel so much gratitude to my fellow seeker of truth, who first introduced me to the Enlightenment Intensives, my good friend and playmate, my anam cara, and co-master Patrick. Thank you sweetheart. And to Jerry, my sweetheart, husband, lover, and best friend who supports me in all I do, be, have. And to Rick of course, the chief of all chief monitors, you are the best! I could go on and on...

I will go on and on...

In truth and love.