You Don’t Have to Get It Right

In most places in our society, we are taught to approach things in a specific way.

Whether in school, sports, or careers, we are insidiously trained to enter into our endeavors with a linear aim and competitive effort. These energies act like motors, propelling us straight and upwards. Encouraging a hasty climb to the top of the mountain only to quickly seek out the next peak.

Creating a culture, a society, a world — of imbalance.

These ways of existing are so ingrained in us that we often unconsciously bring them to places where they have the opposite intended effect.

The unseen worlds are riddled and rife with paradox. Call these worlds whatever you like – healing, transformation, spirituality, mysticism, Mystery. 

If we approach them the way we've been taught to approach most things, we miss them. All too easily unknowingly becoming like hungry ghosts, getting taken advantage of, or making karmic messes in the forests of masters. 

Healing happens when we learn how to release resistance. Transformation occurs by curiously engaging what is, not what we think should be. Gnosis arises from emptiness.

For many years, I approached my healing path with fervor and fierceness that all too quickly became force. 

Whenever force entered the picture, so too would forgetfulness. These were the times I would engage in something that, rather than having the intended healing effect, I would push beyond my capacity and re-fester the wounding I sought to heal.

In school, I figured out that doing well was simply a matter of memorizing.

This never-ending memorization only furthered my disconnect from my body. It was as if my conscious mind could dutifully memorize while the rest of me floated along, enjoying the wider planes of imaginative refuge.

Yet, when I began myriad healing and spiritual studies as a teenager, I saw how skillfulness directly correlates to one's presence, which is wholly contingent on one's capacity and congruence.

To put it simply, those with spiritual weight are integrated and integrating. Their auras creating worlds of harmony, humanness, and here-ness. 

The paradox is, the very states we all yearn are accessed in sometimes the exact opposite way we've been taught to move through Life.

How does one enter the Mystery?

Moving in a straight line is certainly helpful. Don't try to eradicate that.

But if you aren't comfortable swiftly releasing into spirals, you will suffer. 

There will be moments when your intellect aids you. But without access to a creative intellect and approach to existence, your efforts will yield hollow outcomes.

Force can be a good thing. You need force to bear and lift weight. But without knowing how to relax into what is –– force will become a poison. 

The Mystery does not require that you relinquish outward expression but instead knows that natural, generative movement arises from space first. 

If you're in the habit of always filling, rushing, and adding –– you will be asked to unwind from these addictions. But when you encounter what lives on the other side of them, you will forever be indebted to wisdom. 

When we 'get' all of this beyond concept—we soften. Only to discover Life has arms perfectly designed to hold us. 

The boundless rivers of healing re-emerge. Force is no longer an option as we remember what it's like to allow ourselves to be moved.

The light of awareness dawns at a perfect tempo. We no longer seek to capture it but enjoy the dance of known and unknown. 

Skill becomes something we gain through emptying and training. Creating space and transforming. Our previous definitions of success, accomplishment, and hierarchy burn in the fires of transformation.

We find that as we ‘progress,’ we become more human—more humble, generous, and kind.

EDEN is devoted to this, all of this, without haste, expectation, or judgment.

You do not need to enter into EDEN in any particular way.

Bring your bounties of force, resistance, and competition—and simply let the space work on you.

Secrete all the societal programs that sit on top of your ability to be with what is until you begin to feel the pristine spaciousness singing through your cells.

Try and get it like you did in school until your mind grows tired. In the non-resistance of frustration that you aren't getting it right, notice the whispers of your knowing.

Run to the tops of mountains until you grow weary. Then, look around and notice the wildflowers that only exist at this elevation. Feel the warmth of tears filling your eyes as you feel yourself not just on but a part of the Earth. 

Don't force flow.
Don't try to be good.
Don't dupe yourself into thinking that who you are and where you are isn't exactly right. 

You will find, in your own perfect timing, that how you begin is a seed. And Life is supremely generous, always offering you opportunities to begin anew.

Welcome to EDEN

"When you are no longer strongly driven by survival, stress, or overwhelm… you begin to feel very clearly what's worth investing in. Some people enter EDEN and figure this out through what's available inside.

Others know before and land as if they've been there the whole time. Some quickly join and leave and miss it entirely.

Try asking yourself: Where would I want to put my time, money, and energy if I were 10% more at ease, safer, and more trusting?"