USM - More Initial Thoughts

So, my first USM weekend in done! Yea! For those of you who don't know, I just started a master's program (yes, another one) at the University of Santa Monica in Spiritual Psychology. Its the same program that my wife, Laura, completed a couple of years ago. What is spiritual psychology you may ask. Well, the USM website describes spiritual psychology as the following:

Spiritual Psychology is the study and practice of the art and science of human evolution in consciousness. In order to fulfill this quest, we must begin by distinguishing the essence of human evolution—what does it mean to evolve? In short, it means surrendering anything in consciousness that disturbs one’s peace. It also means sacrificing our illusions of separation. Essentially, this “surrendering” and “sacrificing” is work that can and has been called “healing,” which includes healing on the physical, mental, and emotional levels in service to the deeper revelation of who we truly are as Loving, Peaceful, Compassionate and Joyful beings. We refer to this level of awareness as the Authentic Self.
There are concepts underlying this approach that many members of the family would find challenging: existence of a soul, illusion of separation, illusion of duality, etc. Still, it works for me and I think it will help me achieve my goals.

After seeing the impact that the program has had on Laura's life and our family, I decided to enter into this program because I too want to heal from negative experiences of the past, learn tools and techniques to better deal with challenges issues as they come before me, and (most importantly) be a better person to all those whose lives I come in contact with. My email interaction with Ben recently, shows just how far I have to go.

I also have a professional reason for attending USM. I think it will make me a better executive in my current role, and it will open up opportunities in the future. I think there is a place for soul-centered communication in the corporate world. While there are many 'life coaches' attempting to bring stability and balance at the individual level, I want to address the issue at the higher organizational level. I've been to a few seminars that try to get at this but I think there is an opportunity to do better. I don't think I can be effective in this area without first working through my own issues and developing a deep understanding of the tools/techniques available.

The class is held one weekend a month for 9 months with a 5 day summer session. Its a two year program. So, this last weekend, I went to my first weekend. Laura was really supportive and watched the girls as I went. I really owe alot to Laura for her support and providing me with the space to do this. There is no way I could do this without her backing.

The weekend was really good but I was really nervous at the beginning, so much so, that I thought I was going to vomit before class started. The schedule is Friday from 7-11pm, Saturday 10-9:30pm, and Sunday 9-7:30pm. Its really long but thankfully the moderators don't talk the entire time. This is not to say that the instructors aren't good. They are amazing (see note below). The format is basically large group instruction lead by three instructors at the front, large group sharing, and practice of the concepts in three-person breakout groups. The time goes by surprisingly fast.

A quick note about the two main discussion leaders: Drs. Ron and Mary Hulnick. The best way to describe them is to say they are gifted in what they do. They brilliently combine humor, compassion, and deep insight into the material being taught. The best place to see their brillience in action is in the large group sharing. Questions, and comments loaded with deeply personal stuff come out of the blue. Sometimes, I wonder how in the world they are going to make this work but sure enough they manage it. Its quite amazing. I think they are able to do it partly because of their commitment to the students and their unwavering belief of the material being taught. They are not just teaching words from books but helping people to heal some very deep wounds and raise their consciousness. I've already seen a number of things that have just blown me away.

In the next few days, I will write about some of what I learned in this past weekend. This is plenty long for now...