Natural meditation: the fruition of all practice
(an interview with Peter Fenner)
Interviewer: Many people who meditate want to achieve what you sometimes describe as the "arrival point".
Peter: In natural meditation there’s really no arriving; we could say there is just being. The very idea of "arriving" also means we can
become unstuck. That’s what continually happens in a traditional
meditation practice. We start at a point where we feel that something is wrong, something is missing, something needs to be done, and we look to meditation as a method for arriving at a place of completion.
With meditation, an internal change happens in people’s experience: thinking slows down, a feeling of tranquility emerges, and our heart can open up. If we like what is happening, we might feel that, ah, we’ve arrived. We feel good. This is where we wanted our practice to take us.
But we still haven’t entered the space of natural meditation. We are still in time. Even when we’ve arrived, we’re still in time. We encounter a state within our meditation that lets us stop. We let go of all ambition and endeavor and finally come to rest, satisfied with what is. But because this is a conditioned state, it will invariably change. We will lose it. Things will change in the external
environment. New sensations will arise in our body. New thoughts, images, and memories will come up. We’ll start to think about the future and how we will handle different situations. At some point
we’ll see that we are no longer resting. We’ll figure that we’ve lost it.
“Wow that was great! What happened? What do I need to do now?” We are thrown back into the project of recreating a goal and going after it. This is meditation as a project, and this is the way a lot of
people engage in meditation. There’s a meditation, a meditator, and
then the project, a particular way of practicing that’s meant to produce a particular outcome. This is different from natural meditation.
In natural meditation there’s nothing to do, whatsoever. There’s no
notion of being on the path, nor any experience of having arrived, because there’s no point of reference. This is often called meditation without a point of reference, or meditation that is no longer meditation.
Interviewer: Within this idea of waking up without a reference point,
but still living in this world, what about suffering and fear and
anger? Waking up and being in this place of non-referential awareness,
do we still experience suffering - personal suffering and the suffering in the world? Are we the same person, but with awareness?
Peter: Nothing changes. What we’re talking about is just our natural
way of being. We’re not talking about an event. This is not something that happens. We’re talking about natural meditation as the presencing of nondual awareness. Because it’s non-referential, because it is contentless, we can’t really think about it. There’s nothing to think
about!
In relationship to suffering, it’s quite intriguing because something happens in the state of nondual awareness that is totally unique.
When we ask the question; "Am I suffering? Is any suffering occurring in this moment?" the answer is clearly, "No. I’m not suffering. "
There’s nothing that we can pinpoint, nothing we can identify within
the field of awareness that we could say is an example, an instance of suffering. At this point people can easily conclude that this is a
state that’s free of suffering.
But equally we can’t find the absence of suffering either. We can’t say, "Ah, now I’m no longer suffering,” because nothing has dropped out of my experience. It’s totally unconditioned, totally transcendental.
When I say it’s transcendental, it’s not somewhere else. It’s this
state right now. If it were somewhere else, then it would be a
conditioned experience. It would only arise, for example, when we are
disconnected from our sense of embodiment, with who we are as a finite discrete individual.
The aim of all meditation practice, in fact of everything we do, is to arrive at the space of pure effortless being. Once we’re in the space of pure being, there’s nothing more we need to do. However, this isn’t where we begin. We begin with the experience that something is missing and we seek to "close the gap" between what is and how we want
things to be. If we think that the goal of meditation is to "become
someone" or to "be somewhere" we stay inside the cycle of
practicing: making some progress, feeling thwarted and sometimes briefly "arriving." At some point within our practice, though, we see that there’s no gap.
We see that nondual awareness isn’t different from anything. It’s not a thing. It doesn’t have a structure. It’s completely consistent with
everything. It’s consistent with doing nothing. It’s consistent with a formal meditation practice. If what looks like a formal meditation practice is happening within the space of nondual awareness, there’s no internal experience of a meditator trying to be somewhere else,
even though it could look that way from the outside.
The trick is to use a practice that shows us with maximum efficiency that there is only "this" - and we don’t need to be anyone, or do anything, to be here.
Interviewer: Does this space of pure being impact suffering in the world?
Peter: In the space of pure being, there’s a simultaneous
identification and disidentification with everything that’s happening.
So in relationship to the suffering in the world and the suffering of
humanity, there’s a complete identification with everything that’s happening, because there’s no separation. There’s no one inside, and
so everything is included. There’s no difference between awareness and what’s happening in the field. In a sense there is just a state of pure, unbounded receptivity that takes everything in, just as it is.
But also, there’s no center to this state. No one is receiving, and it’s this "no one" that has the power to transform the world. When consciousness is resting in nondual awareness, there’s no boundary,
nothing to defend, nothing to protect. Awareness fully and comprehensively penetrates each and every reality it encounters. It fully receives these realities without any distortion, dilution, or interpretation. There’s no judgment of right and wrong. There’s a complete entry into these experiences. Contentless awareness engages reality in a way that liberates people from ideas of freedom and entrapment, because this awareness isn’t bound by judgments of right or wrong. Nondual awareness isn’t a state, an experience, it isn’t a "thing" so it can’t be impeded by anything!
Radiant Mind Global
2009 Radiant Mind in Germany
The 2009 German Radiant Mind is again being taught at ZIST (An Institute for Psycho-social Development) about hour south of Munich. The course is taught in English so is open to English speakers. If you are in Europe, you can access this course because there are still seats available. This year we are creating a mentor stream in the same way that we did for last year’s Boulder course. Mentors
support the participation of new students and receive supervision in the process (as Shayla describes in this Newsletter).
Last year’s German course created its own regular Skype conference which now continues very actively. The plan is to invite new students into the continuing Skype conferences. This is a great addition to the conferences calls and individual calls. Also, the Radiant Mind book was translated into German last year so this provides and extra resource for German-speaking students.
For further information in english click here or visit the ZIST website (www.zist.de).
2009 Radiant Mind in Switzerland
This year the French language Radiant Mind Course is being taught in Geneva in Switzerland. Peter will teach in English and it will be translated into French. There is a waiting list for this course and all places have been filled. The Radiant Mind book has been translated into French. We have an offer from one publisher to publish it, but are exploring other publishing options at the moment. The Guided Meditations CDs will soon be available in French as well.
Radiant Mind,
Boulder, Colorado
Please Note:
Adjusted RM-09 workshop dates
I. Saturday, 09:30, February 21 – 15:00, Monday, February 23
(half day for
mentors 14:00-17:00 on Friday, 20th)
II. Friday, June
19-Sunday, June 21
(half day for
mentors 14:00-17:00 on Thursday, 18th)
III. Saturday,
November 7-Monday, November 9
(half day for
mentors 14:00-17:00 on Friday, 6th)
Boulder Logistics:
- Shana Parker is in charge of local
arrangements [shanaparker@comcast.net].
She will be getting in touch with all participants.
-
Our venue is The StarHouse (www.thestarhouse.org), a trans-denominational community of people dedicated
to honoring the earth and all beings through ceremony, theatre, music and dance; and a beautiful facility and setting just 4 miles outside of Boulder.
Boulder Radiant Mind Group, at the StarHouse.
Course News
- The Nondual Teacher Training in Boulder is now fully subscribed and we are moving to a wait-list. Peter is holding the number of participants at 32.
- The Radiant Mind course for Geneva is also full; The Radiant Mind course at ZIST Penzberg in Munich is rapidly filling.
- There are a few seats still available in RM-09. Go to the website www.radiantmind.net and make application with the deposit to secure your place. If you have lingering doubts, we recommend Joel’s article (below) and Channah Grace’s letter, then contact Jonathan at the office (jetnelson2009@gmail.com; 1-877-723-6463) to discuss any questions you may have.
Scholarships
The scholarship program is nearly settled and soon we will be contacting those of you who have applied for financial help.
The Radiant Mind Mentor Stream
Boulder, 2009
As the facilitator for this year’s mentor stream in the Radiant Mind course, I’d like to say something about what we are offering. In the Radiant Mind course, participants learn to recognize non-dual awareness, and then access it directly in the midst of their day to day lives.
Training as a mentor offers you the opportunity to recognize this awareness in the people you are working with, and help them to access it themselves. Part of this training involves gaining skill in working with the so-called obstacles to unconditioned awareness, although ultimately we see that there are no obstacles, because nothing really obstructs awareness itself.
What we saw unfold in last year’s mentor stream in Boulder was quite inspiring. Each mentor had one or two students to work with, and supervision calls in which a small group of mentors gathered on the phone to explore and share what was going on, with each other and a facilitator.
It became apparent that when I put myself in the position of mentor, a lot of deep, transformative learning is available, based on my direct experience. When I am working with another person, attitudes, fixations, and beliefs in the stream of my conditioning become apparent that were not visible when I was working with myself. The marvelous thing is that in the non-dual understanding, I am only ever working with myself. And nothing needs to change, in myself or in my students. In the light of this awareness, and non-dual inquiry, all of these conditions gradually lose their power to create suffering.
In the coaching work I do, more and more people are speaking to me about a deep longing to make a contribution to humanity. It seems to be something that is emerging in response to the global chaos that surrounds us. Learning how to introduce people to unconditioned awareness seems to me like a potent and beautiful way to participate in life. When we gain confidence in
the natural wisdom and compassion that emerge from timeless awareness, when we know that it is here now, in all its fullness, we are available to others in way that our conditioned mind cannot imagine.
Shayla Wright
Nondual Coach and Mentor
Recent Publications
After a long search, a path of homecoming.
Joel Agee,
Tricycle, Winter 2008. pp58-63.
Joel Agee, a student of Peter and
Radiant Mind coach has just published a vivid account of his engagement
with Radiant Mind. Like many of us of a particular age, he got his
start in what was then a culture of altered states of consciousness –
reading, travel, ashrams, drugs, political action, teachers, poetry, massive gatherings
and music – these were our gateways that became the never-ending
quest, the “Journey to the East.”
“Call off the search! The idea is
that we already are where we want to be, and that we need only to
stop searching. Its a tricky proposition: enlightenment by
declaration. Maybe works for some. It didn’t work for me."
“I traveled the long road of
seeking. Lots of suffering, lots of confusion. Then, one day it came
to an end.”
Seven years ago, Joel “stumbled”
upon Peter’s web site – Peter who was a university professor in
that early incarnation. Joel was reminded of an earlier article by
Peter he had read 2 years prior, about the practice of observing
steadily and without interference, the perpetual motion of attraction
and aversion that prompts most of our actions and fuels directly the
enterprise of practice itself. Exposed to the simple lucidity of
awareness itself, practice dissolves into the practice of no
practice. “Something about this made me intensely curious.” When
he emailed Peter, Joel was deeply intrigued by Peter’s
assertion, “I can show you this over the phone.”
And so Joel concludes today, from his
on-going work with Peter and Radiant Mind, “Nothing needs to be
done. Witness without judgment, the spasms of defense and aggression,
the hint of a child’s tears behind the eyes; relax and dissolve.”
Joel’s writing is delightful, human in the best sense, and a parable
for the journey we many of us have made to the threshing floor of
Radiant Mind. Get the magazine and read for yourself, and begin to be
curious about the years you may have spent…polishing the
mirror. As Dudjom Rimpoche has said, “Rest in natural great peace,
this exhausted mind.”
Letter to Prospective
Students
From Channah Grace
Dear
friends,
As many of you know, I participated in an extended
instructional and experiential Buddhist course called Radiant Mind.
It was a wonderful and transformative, and I am looking forward to
taking the course again, beginning in February.
I am sending
you this email because I think you might also enjoy and benefit from
the course, as well as the ongoing community of support and friends.
If you already have a spiritual practice or community, you may
discover as I have, that Radiant Mind enhances your path. So, I am
inviting you to learn more about Radiant Mind and if you are moved,
to become a participant in one of the courses. If you choose the 2009
Boulder program in which I am a participant, I would be delighted. Go
to www.radiantmind.net
to register and learn more.
My
Perspective on Radiant Mind:
At
last, a course that brings eastern teachings into western life
without having to leave "your country." It is accessible,
effortless to understand, and easy to stay with the practice because
it not structured. There is no right way or wrong way, so you cannot
succeed or fail.
I find Radiant Mind is a natural healing for
the mind, emotions, and the body in some ways. By learning and
practicing awareness, I am healing the effects of my conditioning
through awareness and integration with my unconditioned mind,
non-duality, infinite nothingness, and what some people call G-d.
In
Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical tradition, one of G-d’s names is Ein
Sof, which means infinite nothingness, so I like how the teachings
fit with my own religion, Judaism. Radiant Mind is not a belief or a
structure, and no one and nothing in life is replaced or left out.
The teachings are all inclusive and I just love that.
Radiant
Mind Website: A very good place to learn more. It gives you the
Radiant Mind philosophy from the inside. There are video interviews
with Peter, his bio, course curriculum and schedules, as well as
FAQs. There is also information and a link to the Radiant Mind book
and CDs which you receive in the course and are available through
Sounds True in Boulder.
Peter Fenner, the founder of Radiant
Mind, has 30+ years of training and application. Peter is both a
highly qualified academic and a spiritual teacher. He was an ordained
Buddhist monk for nine years and completed a Ph.D. in philosophical
psychology. Peter is Australian, living in France with his wife,
Marie.
The Nine-Month Course: Feb. 20 through Nov. 9. It
includes three 3-day workshops with a comfortable and casual
atmosphere in a beautiful setting close to nature, plus regular
conference calls with Peter that are a continuation of the workshops,
plus private sessions with your coach. There are reading and writing
assignments, and experiential exercises—individual, with partners,
in small groups, and for developing your own contemplative practice.
Please go to the Radiant Mind website for more specifics,
www.radiantmind.net.
In
the 2008 course there were 50 participants, three who have been good
friends for more than 20 years. I was invited to participate by my
dear friend, Judith Orloff. She is a psychotherapist, a seminar
creator and trainer of trainers, an executive business and
relationship coach. The course participants, instructors and coaches
include many notable teachers, therapists, professionals, and in
general quality people who are good to know, from the Boulder area
and around the world.
Thanks for taking the time to read this
and check out Radiant Mind. Please email me if you have questions, or
I would be glad to put you in touch with one of the coaches who can
talk with you further.
All the best in the New Year,
Channah
Grace
gracedesign@comcast.net
This 5-day retreat takes you to the end of the path, to a place that is free of all pressure and obligation. There, you can finally be who you really are without pride, embarrassment, or artificiality, and discover the experience that is known in Buddhism as the “ultimate medicine.” In this state, you’re totally complete and fulfilled with everything just as it is.
The
Science and Nonduality Conference is part seminar, part festival, part
conference. 
Nondual Awareness and Therapy, an interview with Peter Fenner
Dear friends,
The Conference (running from Oct 21-25) will feature top scientists, philosophers, psychologists and
researchers from around the world. This is a unique
opportunity to experience the insights of some exceptional minds in such fields as neuroscience, quantum physics,
art, Buddhism and cosmology.
Awaken
your heart and infuse your wisdom mind with joy, spaciousness and
clarity. Discover the richness and joyful play of unconditioned
existence. 
On February 21, Rik and I arrived at the Starhouse, a retreat center in the foothills of Boulder, for the first workshop of the 9 month Radiant Mind Course. We stepped into a sunlit room, warmed even more by the smiling faces of the people inside—first-time students and mentors of the course, Peter and Marie, and a few auditors from the upcoming NDTT course. The building, a large circular room, was supported by grand wooden pillars and had windows that framed the forest and hills of the property. After saying a few hellos and helping with the sound system, I took a seat, and settled into the space.
This year in our Radiant Mind course in Boulder, we have 11 people, from all over North America, who are training to be mentors. Each one engages with one or two mentees at a time, who are participants in the Radiant Mind course. Someone asked me recently, “Why do you call it the mentor stream?” I told them that in the Radiant Mind work, we often relate to each other as streams of consciousness, instead of solid, separate individuals. In traditional Buddhist teachings, one who decides to follow the Noble Eightfold Path has “entered the stream” of enlightenment, and is often described as a “stream-enterer.” So our mentors-in-training are people who have entered the stream together, where they are offering themselves to this possibility of sharing unconditioned awareness with another human being.
RM Mentor, Jeff Munn shares his experience of creating a "Friends of Radiant Mind Group" in Washington DC:
