Episode 37

Aaron Kleinerman:
Love, Sex and Leadership Podcast
In this episode, I sit down with James Stevenson, the creator of Awaken as Love retreats. We delve into transformational work through Tantra, Biodanza, and transformational retreats. Stevenson's unique approach blends ancient wisdom with integral theory to help individuals embody their true power. We explore leadership, conscious living, and spiritual growth, emphasizing the importance of systems that enable empowerment beyond individual involvement. Stevenson shares the value of simplicity and removing ego-driven ambitions to understand one's inherent nature. Using integral theory, we discuss leadership on a global scale, wishing for leaders with wisdom and inclusivity. In conclusion, we look forward to new Awaken as Love projects, aiming for personal and collective evolution.
January 1

Episode 37

Aaron Kleinerman:
Love, Sex and Leadership Podcast
In this episode, I sit down with James Stevenson, the creator of Awaken as Love retreats. We delve into transformational work through Tantra, Biodanza, and transformational retreats. Stevenson's unique approach blends ancient wisdom with integral theory to help individuals embody their true power. We explore leadership, conscious living, and spiritual growth, emphasizing the importance of systems that enable empowerment beyond individual involvement. Stevenson shares the value of simplicity and removing ego-driven ambitions to understand one's inherent nature. Using integral theory, we discuss leadership on a global scale, wishing for leaders with wisdom and inclusivity. In conclusion, we look forward to new Awaken as Love projects, aiming for personal and collective evolution.
January 1
Episode 37
Episode Summary

I had the pleasure of sitting down with James Stevenson, the visionary behind Awaken as Love retreats, to delve into the transformative realms of Tantra, Biodanza, and spiritual retreats. James has spent over 20 years weaving ancient wisdom with integral theory, creating a unique approach that empowers individuals to embody their true power. As a leading organizer of Tantra festivals, with more than 30 under his belt, James shared his evolving mission to empower other teachers and help individuals unlock their potential. We explored the intersection of leadership, conscious living, and spiritual development, emphasizing the challenges of delegation and the necessity of systems that foster growth beyond individual involvement. Integral theory, described as a "theory of everything," offers a comprehensive framework that integrates with spiritual practices like Tantra, encouraging a balance between intellectual understanding and embodiment.


James and I also discussed the concept of awakening as love, focusing on the importance of simplicity and removing ego-driven obstacles to access one's inherent nature. We explored love beyond romantic notions, emphasizing awakening to one's true self and the simplicity of being. Our conversation touched on the application of integral theory in understanding global leadership dynamics, referencing figures like Zelinsky and Trump, and how developmental stages influence political landscapes. We expressed a desire for leaders who embody deeper wisdom and inclusivity. The episode wrapped up with excitement for upcoming Awaken as Love projects, including retreats in Bali, highlighting the importance of integrating practices and theories for both personal and collective development.

Key Takeaways:
Transformational Work and Ancient Wisdom 🌟: James Stevenson combines ancient wisdom traditions with integral theory to help individuals embody their true power through practices like Tantra and Biodanza. Empowering Leadership and Conscious Living 🌱: The conversation explores the intersection of leadership and spiritual development, emphasizing the importance of empowering others and discovering personal potential. Integral Theory as a Holistic Framework 🌐: Integral theory is described as a "theory of everything," integrating spiritual practices to ground peak experiences in a holistic understanding, balancing intellectual and embodied wisdom. Awakening to Simplicity and Love 💖: Stevenson highlights the importance of simplicity and removing ego-driven obstacles to awaken to one's inherent nature, focusing on love beyond romantic notions. Global Leadership and Developmental Stages 🌍: The discussion touches on global leadership dynamics, mentioning figures like Zelinsky and Trump, and the need for leaders who embody deeper wisdom and inclusivity.

 
 Notable Quotes:

"Awakening to one's inherent nature involves simplicity and removing obstacles, allowing us to tap into a state beyond ego-driven ambitions."

Key Takeaways:
Transformational Work and Ancient Wisdom 🌟: James Stevenson combines ancient wisdom traditions with integral theory to help individuals embody their true power through practices like Tantra and Biodanza. Empowering Leadership and Conscious Living 🌱: The conversation explores the intersection of leadership and spiritual development, emphasizing the importance of empowering others and discovering personal potential. Integral Theory as a Holistic Framework 🌐: Integral theory is described as a "theory of everything," integrating spiritual practices to ground peak experiences in a holistic understanding, balancing intellectual and embodied wisdom. Awakening to Simplicity and Love 💖: Stevenson highlights the importance of simplicity and removing ego-driven obstacles to awaken to one's inherent nature, focusing on love beyond romantic notions. Global Leadership and Developmental Stages 🌍: The discussion touches on global leadership dynamics, mentioning figures like Zelinsky and Trump, and the need for leaders who embody deeper wisdom and inclusivity.

 
 Notable Quotes:

"Awakening to one's inherent nature involves simplicity and removing obstacles, allowing us to tap into a state beyond ego-driven ambitions."

arrow_drop_down_circle
Divider Text
Episode Resources

The Embodied Man Book: Discover insights into embodying true masculinity and personal power through this transformative book. The Embodied Man: Enroll in this online course to deepen your understanding and practice of embodied masculinity and leadership. The Initiation: Join this retreat to experience a profound journey of self-discovery and transformation. My Events: Stay updated on upcoming events and retreats designed to enhance personal and collective growth. Awaken as Love Retreats: Participate in these retreats to explore transformational practices like Tantra and Biodanza, aimed at awakening your inherent nature and potential.

arrow_drop_down_circle
Divider Text
Recommended Resources

Awaken as Love Retreats: Explore transformational retreats that integrate ancient wisdom traditions and integral theory to help individuals embody their true power. Join in Bali

Integral Theory by Ken Wilber: A comprehensive framework that offers a big-picture orientation, integrating spiritual practices like Tantra for a holistic understanding.

The Art of Tantra: A guide to understanding and practicing Tantra, focusing on balancing intellectual understanding with embodiment.

Conscious Leadership by John Mackey: A book that delves into the principles of conscious leadership, emphasizing wisdom and inclusivity in leadership roles.

Biodanza: The Dance of Life: A practice that combines music, movement, and emotion to promote self-awareness and personal growth.

Questions for the Audience
What are your thoughts on the intersection of leadership, conscious living, and spiritual development? 🌟 How do you think integral theory can help in understanding global leadership dynamics? 🌍 Have you ever participated in a transformational retreat? If so, what was your experience like? 🧘‍♀️ What does the concept of love beyond romantic notions mean to you? ❤️ How do you balance intellectual understanding and embodiment in your personal growth journey? 🤔
Episode Transcript
Show Transcript

Welcome to the Love, Sex, and Leadership podcast, where you can discover simple tantric teachings to embody your true power, awaken your soul's wisdom, and live an inspired life as a natural, intuitive, and heart-centered leader. Welcome everyone to another episode of Love, Sex, and Leadership. I am very excited today to have my friend and Uh, creator of Awaken as love, uh, retreats, James Stevenson here with us to have a conversation around really whatever arises, but really into Tantra and to biodanza and to transformational retreats and to uh festivals and really To me, the essence of this work out in the world and to hear some of his perspective. So I, I, I value, I appreciate how you show up in the world. I appreciate you as a brother, and there's always a, even though you hold and do a lot, I always feel an air of lightness on you, which I really value and, and recognize as a man who does a lot as well. So thank you for being here, James. Thanks for that. That might be a projection from your side, but yes, I love that. Well, well, I'd say at least your, your outward showcasing of everything that you hold is, is quite useful and graceful, which I appreciate. It's like one of those ducks with the legs are kind of going crazy under the water. So, so for those that, that, that don't know you, maybe just share, you know, a little bit about who you are and, and really what your, um, creation and what you're doing in the world and some of the, the why behind it, if you want to share a little intro on that side. Yeah, so, um, as you mentioned, I'm, I'm the founder of Awakenner's Love, uh, it's a mystery school, and that kind of takes different pillars of wisdom traditions, uh, that I found really important in my own life, um. Tantra, Banza, as you mentioned, shamanism, and it adds in the spice of integral theory, which I'm sure we're going to speak a little bit more about today. Um, and so I've got backgrounds and all those. I'm a vision quest guide, I've been teaching Tantra for over 20 years. Um, I think I've, I think I've won the medal for the most prolific Tantra Festival organizer on the planet. I've probably done. More than 30 or so at this point. So I'm persistent if nothing else. Amazing. And in everything that you're doing, the festivals, the, the work you've been doing for over 20 years, like for you, what's, what's really the, the why in, in your life and the level because you're a leader, I can feel you as a leader. And this is one of the things that I love to find this intersection of in this, in this podcast is where our conscious choice of leadership meets the place of, of sexuality, of love, of, of really showing up in this way. So what is your why, James? Like why, why do you, you, you drive yourself in this way to, to support and, and, and do the things you do in the world? I have no idea. I'm questioning that myself. I think it's, uh, I think it's a continually evolving way. I think there were reasons, um, that I got really excited about this stuff. When I first, when it was first introduced to me, you know, it set me on fire, uh, and it was really important for my life. And I can see that as I moved through various stages of my life, that's developed, um, at the moment, my why is really supporting other people. So, Uh, I'm really trying to empower other teachers and other faculty members and awaken this love, uh, to step up and find their gifts. And that's probably more exciting for me right now, uh, than just teaching participants, which I still do. But that kind of, um, helping other people's potential flower, um, has always been interesting for me. And the dynamics around that as well, it's always kind of fascinated me. Mm, yeah, I love that and I can also, you know, relate to a lot of the practitioner and leadership courses I do, and now also stepping into leadership and and awaking as love and beginning to teach and show up and Yeah, I, I'm appreciating your uh capacity to hold a lot and also the strong intention to, to the sharing of power and the sharing of support and recognizing the necessity of that because, you know, you are only one human that can only do so much in a given day and the, the need to actually support others to, to, to, to stand up and to flower and to grow. Um, and what would you say in that Like intentionality, and, and I have some thoughts on this as well, but I'm curious from you, like, where is the biggest challenge that you've come across with the, the delegation and the sharing of power to help something like awaken as love grow and flourish more without Needing James Stephenson there, like, what, what would you say is some of your biggest challenges you're coming across to whether it's this or other things you've done in the past to help something take its roots and legs and begin to flourish more. I, I mean, I think that is the challenge. I think it is. I, I, it doesn't come naturally to me to delegate. I think some people have that kind of from the start, and they're very good at that. Um, so I've had to learn that capacity, uh, as, as Awakened Love has expanded and exploded and probably quicker than I imagined it would. Um, and so it's the setting up of systems. It's me taking myself out. Um, from doing the things like the kind of jump to apprentice that wants to try and manage and solve every problem, and just having that trust to see that things will get figured out and people will figure it out in their own way, and probably in ways that I wouldn't imagine and better than that. So there's, there's definitely a humbling there. Um, and there's a realization of one of the things in Integral is called, uh, Hoons. Which is really powerful, so. Um, the driving piece for me within Holos is boredom. Because it, like, within postmodernism, which I think we'll speak about, there's a kind of like collapsing of this idea of like the hierarchy, the kind of old pyramid system with fat cats at the top and, you know, like workers at the bottom, enslaved by that. And so what postmodernism did was it flattened out everything. And I probably had quite a few postmodern shadows around that fairness, that idea that everything needs to be equal and fair. Well, Yeah, there's there's some benefit in that, and not everyone is equally talented or skilled or trained or has the experience. And so, Um, within Integral, we start recognizing that, although, yeah, we want to have equality and fairness, there's also different degrees of depth. And so for me to remain teaching at a certain level, I, I get bored of that after a while. I need to kind of move up to the next holonographic level and help the people who are coming up to step and fill into my shoes. And that's a continuing process, I would say. Um, so that's been. Fascinating for me and it's quite different from what we'd find in new age circles and ideas about spirituality, where we might sit in a circle, we all have our share about how we think she should be, but we're lacking that penetration and that leadership. So the driving force for me is novelty. Uh, I get excited by that. And so if I stay kind of too long in one thing, just doing the same thing over and over again. It loses its juice, and it's then it becomes important for me to go, OK, what's the next thing? Uh, where is that cutting edge of the universe right now? What is consciousness looking at and how can I listen into that and help that to come through me and through the work that I'm doing? So I, I, I hear in what you're sharing a really deep uh balance between that capacity to penetrate with knowledge, with wisdom, with awareness, and to deeply listen to where you're naturally being called towards and not getting too long stuck in the same rut that kind of, you know, uh inhibits the growth of life force. Yeah. Yeah. And I think it's probably a movement from the personal to the transpersonal in some way. Um, during the pandemic, I, I really let go of a lot of things. I let go of relationship, I let go of awakeness, love. I let go of the idea of it being anything. And when that kind of personal ambition was allowed to die and have a kind of nicely buried, it seemed to just grow back by itself. It's like, they say the grass grows by itself. And since then, I feel more pulled into it. Um, kind of more in service rather than with my limited ideas of an individual of what needs to be done. So that's where the listening comes in, and to realize that it's not really me doing it, it's, there's something else bigger. And the more I can tap into that and allow that without getting in the way, um, the more I can trust it and the more trustworthy I feel it is for other people as well. So really getting out of your own way to allow love and spirit to naturally move through you. Yeah, as best I can. I'm very human. I'll say that right up front. Yeah. As, as, as we all are. I mean, that's often a, a prayer I, I have, even with, you know, this project I'm working on here in Portugal and other teaching and things, it's like trying to get myself out of the way so that whatever wants to be moved through me, whether in leadership and form and creation can have its best expression without my You know, ego-driven personality trying to name and claim and grab things. It's like, OK, what's the, what what's actually trying to emerge here? Yeah, and it's natural, you know, we have to accept that there will be a part of us doing that, otherwise it gets. Kind of pushed into shadows, so. Mhm. And, and you mentioned integral theory, and, you know, I haven't, um, I've spoken some about it a little bit on the podcast, but I'd love for those new, you know, people that aren't familiar with that and just to give us some of the general framework of what that is, as well as how it applies to someone who Maybe doesn't really get it. I know it's a lot of pieces to it, but in a general outlook, like what would be the importance for someone to then go and study more integral theory and to understand more of it? What would be the benefits or like what would be their, why to integrate that those principles into their life. Yeah, great. Um, well, it's, it's, it's described as a theory of everything. Uh, so it's very big picture oriented. Um, my passion for it comes in synthesizing integral theory and tantra and embodiment work. So I, I've kind of like bridge a couple of different um groups and camps, and what I noticed within a lot of maybe more new age tantra, um, There's a lot of embodiment, and that's really healthy. But a lot of experiences, um, a lot of peak experiences perhaps, um, which are great to see what is possible, um, but then, They don't always give the map or the understanding or bring back in the mind to get a clarity on what is actually going on. And so, Maybe with less tools and more just those highs, then it becomes an addictive thing that you need to keep going to another training to, to kind of re tap into that again. Um, and then the other camp, uh, people who are very into integral, they can be very heady and understand everything in the maps and things and. argue about it all day long, but they maybe not really bringing it and and embodying it into life. It maybe sits more like a nice cognitive theory that we've got, which can make us feel like we, we understand or get things. But I, I feel that alchemy is in that meeting point between both of those. So integral theory is Making you more whole, um, it's more holistic in a way. It's, it's showing you the places where you might be partial in your thinking. It's helping you to understand, uh, the nature of reality. So it has 5 different elements. Uh, the first one is The 4 dimensions, the four quadrants of reality includes uh your individual and the collective, and also subjective, um, And Uh objective as well. And between those four things is how soon as we come to the world of duality and space and time, they are said to tetrari. So those four fragments of reality, and you can check already inside, you know, are things subjective? Can you look inside and name feelings and emotions that You know, someone from outside just looking at your body might not be able to pick up. Um, and are, is that reality when you open your eyes, like, are there things that we can objects such as cushions or whatever, that do have a reality. Um, and, and that, those four quadrants start to make us more holistic. The tendency in human beings is to be partial, um, in our perception, in our understanding, in, in our behavior. And we miss out fragments of a bigger picture. I noticed a lot of the arguments on Facebook might just be different quadrants arguing like, no, I think this is more true. No, I think this is true. And the reality is there's a little bit of truth in everything, and it's like, how do those things come together? So The kind of beauty to say name the quadrants quickly, it's helping you to realize where you've kind of put yourself in a box and there's more to the picture than you realize. They also have, uh, lines of development, so it focuses very much on how things grow, um, and to see that we have multiple capacities, multiple intelligences. They don't all need to be equal, but, um, if we've been only doing play parties, um, In terms of what we think tantra is, then it might be interesting to go and do a silent meditation retreat for a week. Or if you've only been doing kind of very serious meditation retreats, maybe it's good to go and do some ecstatic dance or some tantra or something that feels a bit more embodied and flesh out those so you don't just have one kind of like javelin throw a big muscle in one arm and the other arm withering at the side. Um. And then there's also stages of development like structures of development. How do we grow? And this is something that's been recognized more over the last 100 years or so. Um, it flashes out traditional waking up enlightenment to see that that journey doesn't really end. There's a kind of inner recognition or inner. Kind of wakefulness to the truth of who you are, but what you experience in life is infinite because the cosmos is infinite. So the way you can understand that and the way that you can behave and perceive reality, um, is actually quite vast. The there's more space in that and much more than we think. And so it starts to recognize the development of individuals, but also the development of the species, which we would call more evolution. And then finally, there's another part which is typologies, um, and typologies are all the things that don't really fit into those first four, but, but the different maps, uh, of reality, such as astrology, human design, archetypes, um, how did things come in certain patterns and how do understanding those patterns, uh, help me understand life and make sense of it and, uh, respond. So. There's a lot more information on theory that you can find on YouTube, and I recommend going to those videos if you don't know it. That's a really quick synopsis, um. But the reason we use that is that I feel that it's It's the next turning of. Things like tantra, things like Buddhism, uh, spiritual development, it's bringing in a much bigger picture of reality, and it helps you to understand things that we might already be very familiar with, like how they kind of hang together, how those things fit. We realize like, um, oh, that's to do with states. I'm sorry, I missed that an element which is states of consciousness, which, um, Yeah, which is one of the main things we're kind of concerned with. But you start to understand like what we're doing with Reiki. OK, that's subtle energy. We start to see that's, that, that's where that fits in that map. And even though that map, uh, describes it all from a kind of bird's eye overview, we also know that the details and the lived experience of it. Um, is not the same as the overview, you know, you have to dive into that as well. And that's where maybe people who are very into integral have that big overview, but then maybe lacking in some of the details of like, well, how does it feel to be within that and how does that show up daily in my life in a way that, uh, isn't just a theory, but it's a lived reality. Yeah, I love that. I love the, um, you know, many of the different pieces, and definitely my um kind of nerdy, brainy self loves to to dive into these pieces, and, and, you know, the thing that I can relate to that I feel like is important in our day and age is to Where these different evolutionary pieces of our conscious awareness can be applied into day to day life. And, you know, I, I think as you're sharing, I'm remembering why I'm, I'm I'm drawn to this work, remembering why I I appreciate it, cause I do feel that without the Conscious intellectual comprehension of of the world in which we're living in, then the subtle energetic realms that we might begin to feel and to taste, and to have a a a a felt sense of can always be personified in a very encapsulated understanding. And so the systems in place for that allow the different Abstract places of reality that actually make sense more so we can live more in the body and not necessarily in the head. And that's to me where the deep studies into the mind have really led me. It's like I actually by understanding more of these things in the mind, I can be more in my body because my mind is something to grab on to. Mhm. I love that. And is that like in in in you, cause I know there's a strong focus in the body, like, have you found that with these deeper pieces of mental comprehension and mental um systems and and formats and all of that, that you felt sense in your day to day life is more than in the body, or do you find yourself like when in relationship. Explaining things or like or or putting out drafts, or do you find yourself a more felt sense in the body in your day to day life or more conceptualized in mind, curious more than anything. I like that. I, I would say it's a felt sense, but I think that felt sense is, is often digested wisdom. So my intuition's quite strong on things. And even, so I can kind of listen into that and feel it and then go back to the mind and understand it, but it's because of concepts or things that I've, I've lived through and I've embodied it. Um, And then I almost feel that like it's in the gut, you know, you kind of, you, you kind of know something's off or you, you kind of can sense something that the spider senses the tingling. And that's because of work that I have done in the past. That's where I have looked deeply within the inquiry to see, like, what is the nature of this thing, uh, and does it make sense to me. So I, I tend to trust people who Who have digested wisdom, I would say it's like that process of wisdom needs to be digested, and then It can come out in whatever form and in their own words and you'll notice the difference between a teacher who just regurgitates what their teacher told them and someone who's actually speaking from their own life experience. So I would say it's a felt sense, but that felt that there's definitely a flow of connection between, uh, the mind and that felt sense. Hm, yeah. And the the concept of the feeling or the astract understanding of love. You know, this is a term, you know, I talked about it on love, sex, and leadership, and we talked about it in life, we talked about it in intimacy, we talked about it. Love is this term that gets so woven around in our, in our day to day world that often gets personified around romance and sexuality. And I, I'd love to hear like for someone who's awakening as to love, who awakening to their inherent sense of love, like what does that what does that mean to you inside when you're, when you see someone actually awakening to love and how does that mean for you, like, to awaken to love on a personal sense, on a universal sense? Like, where, where, where does that live and breathe inside of you? I love that, yeah. Well, I was quite clear when I, I named this, that it's not awakened to love, uh, that it's awakened as love, that it's, it's really The most simple, the most basic, true nature of who we are. And then it's not like. We need to create that. It's not that, in my experience. Um, it's not that we need to do anything or get better in some way. All we need to do is kind of like take the shit out of the way that's standing in the way of that. They kind of like, clean the, the filter, as it were. Um, and that's where all the techniques, all the, the things come in, you know, notice where we have shadows, notice where we have projections, notice where our development kind of went a bit skew with in some way. But it's really simple. And I, I trust that simplicity. When like the head gets out of the way, um, and we can really just do that, then life is really simple. It's not some big complicated thing. There's just a natural acceptance and natural feeling of. Camaraderie, celebration, um, joy. Empathy that we can have to other people. And I'll notice sometimes where I get really busy and I get in my head and I lose connection to that. Um, but when that comes back, there's always this kind of like, almost cosmic giggles, like, whoa, I was, I was getting so serious about this thing. I was so attached or so righteous and The love underneath is is really simple as far as I've, I've found it's just not complex, it's, it's us that make everything else complex and It's kind of slowing down those habits enough to, to recognize that, to recognize where we might have projections and shadows and judgment. They, they get in the way of it. And I, I think that's where, when you look at a newborn baby, um, that innocence. That kind of, um, natural sense of love. I think that's where we recognize it in there. It's very easy to love newborn babies in that way. Um, and yet they've got a whole journey ahead of them. It's like, then, that's not the, that innocence is not the same as enlightenment. The ego still needs to develop. We need to go through all these stages, and then it's a return to that innocence, but in a way that, um, Is awakened and, um, conscious of what's going on, as opposed to just a kind of ego that's fused with the cosmos. There's a difference between one that's differentiated itself, done that whole journey, you know, learned about boundaries and all the things, and then the return to source in a way, um, is an, is an awakened return with awareness and understanding. So the, the returning to source, the returning to innocence, the returning to our inherent undeniable essence as a being is really the, the, the, the essence of what what love is and we're awakening as love, and we're awakening as our inherent nature. Yeah, yeah, that, yeah. And do you feel, and I'm curious this, like when we look at our global Spectrum with politics, with finance, with all these different characters that play in this global dance of both chaos and order, like those, especially when it comes to leadership. Do you feel like there's some beings there when I look at the, say the more grandiose characters who have an essence of Knowing themselves as love, or is that uh a, you know, kind of personified concept that's beyond the the the soul realms of some of these humans, or do you think there's actually a, a grinding towards the level of love that's present in those actions? Well, Actually, I, I watched a documentary on Zelinsky, and, you know, like, who knows around propaganda and he's an actor and all that, but The quality of his care and humanity really touched me, you know, I, I saw, especially when Ukraine was first invaded, there was a moment where everyone thought he was just going to leave the country, and he stayed and his family stayed, and they knew that if they could survive like at least a week, they wouldn't get any help initially, but if they could make it a week, then help would slowly start coming in. And in all his actions that I saw in that documentary, I really recommend it. It was one of the first leaders that I was like, wow, I actually really respect this person. Most of them, I kind of look at as quite childish and Developmentally, we get probably where the center of gravity of our, um, society is, our culture is. Uh, but I, I was quite surprised by that. That was one of the few recent ones where I really actually felt like, well, this person really does care. He does really have a heart, and I, I feel like the level of humanity was, um, was touching in that. And I don't know. Hey, you know. I haven't met him in person. So is, is, is Trump awakened to love? Who knows? Who knows in terms of, in terms of some of the things he says, like if we're looking at spiral dynamics of these developmental models, they tend to fit into very early stages of development, which is not wrong. Like it's like, it's not that the higher or more evolved stages are necessarily better, they're just more unfolded. So it seems. That, and whether there's other people behind him with more intelligence or how much of his stuff is an act as well, but the phrases, uh, and the attitudes and the values you tend to hope, um, hold on to are quite. Um, primitive in some way, I would say, and I would say that with a lot of the leaders that we have as well, um, And there's this. There's a space for that. I think what happened in the US elections was the rejection of walkism or postmodernism, and that's really interesting because it's, it went too extreme. That's the stage that's still in the first tier tier of development, and the first tier there's a lot of culture wars. The different stages are arguing amongst themselves about the values of what they think is right. Once you start to get to the second tier, and I don't think we've seen much of that in our political leaders yet. Then there's more for reintegration. We start to see the necessity of each stage, and how can we help bring those people and include them. So one of the main phrases is transcend and include. And workism, postmodernism, it didn't include a lot of America. It didn't include a lot of workers, middle class people, uh, people with more traditional values. It went too far out on a limb. Um, and it condemned them, and it shamed them, and it did it with a lack of heart. It did it with a lot of looking down upon and demonizing, and so. Quite naturally then people are going to respond to that. And whether Trump is the savior for those people, he was an alternative. Mhm, mhm, mhm. An alternative to have a level of inclusivity to support those voices that sometimes are being oppressed and pushed down. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, beautiful, and, you know, in So for someone who, you know, has the desire or the intentionality, and they've heard something about the work you're doing or with Awaken as love and, and this, and what would be your greatest desire from someone walking away from, let's say a stage one training? Like what's something that you would want like them to really have inside their belly and their body as a as their what they've what they've integrated and what they're integrating into their life. Mm. Well, one of the things I think is the language, um, like, so the stage one is like a foundational piece that we do that gets everyone on the same page. And then from there, we dive deeper into mystery and stage 2 and other kind of offshoots that we're doing. But it's, it's really getting that foundation for They can I think it elevates people. I think Takes people to that big picture that might have been lacking in their lives, and I think that gives us um. A lot of hope and a lot of. Inspiration. Because in my journey, when I'm very focused on my personal, what I'm trying to achieve and where I'm going, um, it's like I've got this myopic vision that I can just see a very small part of reality, and I'm struggling within that. And when I open up to a larger picture, going like, wow. We are here, regardless of what's going on politically, regardless of what's going on, you know, like my finances and my relationships and whatever else, we're sitting here at the cutting edge of the fucking universe into exerting. So a billion years for the universe to be able to see itself, you know, we like that complex eye that we've developed, you know, like imagining in some way, like as a metaphor, the, the patience and the desire to know oneself as God, goddess, whatever you think this thing is. Opening to see that, and the magnificence of it. That's the power of Eros, the power to know spirit, to know who we are on the deeper level. And I think that majesty helps take us out of a lot of suffering. In our lives when we're kind of just trying, you know, it's like one sperm trying to make it to the egg. We're trying to win in some way, and we realized like, wow, it's already been won. Like, this is the play of the universe that we are getting to witness in this incredible thing. And I am part of the species. Don't know where it's going, don't know how it's going to end up, but there's something magical happening here. And it's so easy to lose sight of that when we're so kind of in our own ambitious agenda. So I, I feel, I hope that gives a lot of, um, Sense of relaxation and um inspiration to people to know that you're part of something much bigger that's occurring. Hm hm, yeah, I love that. I, I can. Feel the chords of my own soul that feels like I'm Yeah, here in, in, in supporting both the waking up of wisdom and many and to, to, to be humble. You know, humble servants of this land, of this earth, of this consciousness that's, you know, manifests itself as us and knowing that we're just here in the short blink of an eye, you know, to, to find some level of giving back, or to be in loving service to and to be, uh, you know, find the humility of our day to day life to know that love is inside of that all. So, yeah. Hmm, beautiful, beautiful, brother. Well, I, uh, I appreciate you, appreciate how you're showing up in the world. And yeah, for uh one last question, is there any, I know you're with everything on your plate, is there any new inspiring or exciting projects or things that you're just beginning to put some life force into uh outside of what we've already spoken about? Yeah, well, there's this, I mean, Awakening Love has some amazing People coming and I, I say it stands on the shoulders of giants, so someone was asking me recently, oh, you're the founder of that, and I had to stop and think for a minute. I was like, oh, I guess I am, but. I kind of, I forget that in my day to day life because it's not that I created all of this stuff. I feel a lot of it came through me within Vision Quest, or it, it's standing on the shoulders of these incredible people like Ken Wilbur, Rolando Toro, Osho, fantastic tantra teachers. Um, and it's, it's synthesizing those things. Um, And I watch as it unfolds itself. It's even though I seem to have created these things, the structures. I remember the first few awaken the gloves when I was teaching it, every time I was understanding it as it was, uh, being taught and witnessing that, um. And so I, I'm excited that we have people like Lawrence Lanoff, we have yourself, we have Reed coming in. So like, you know, big personalities, big people doing incredible work, but finding how to kind of offer that within Awakenner Love and within this integral framework. And, uh, there's Awakenner Eros, which is happening in Cabo next year. I can't remember the dates exactly off the top of my head, but I know that's, that's going much deeper into. Sexuality, um, more of that field. We do a little bit in stage one, but it's a deeper dive there. There's a practitioner training that's getting created, um, from Kathleen Sangfugos, uh, which is, um, very exciting. I'm gonna be supporting in that. Uh, there's John Skelton, who many might know from his psychotherapy and trauma work, that will bringing a trauma informed course, um. There's the stage 2, which deepens into medicine wheels and much more shamanic work. But there's also a stage 3 or some deeper dives that are coming, uh, perhaps some also with some plant medicine helpers as well, where we're really investigating states of consciousness, um, and that deep listening into the cosmos to see, OK, what is it that wants to emerge? So those are some of the things on the horizon that I, I can't wait to see and, um. Yeah, and we have so many gifted people in the faculty that more things will be co-created, and I, I think from yourself as well. Absolutely, absolutely. Well, thank you for your time today. Thank you for the, the deep listening that's brought you forth to this moment in time in your life and everything that's moving through you and, and I appreciate your The leadership skills it takes to guide, but also to listen and to support others evolve and grow in their expression as well. And, you know, it's a big part of our conversations here. So appreciate you brother. Thank you so much. If people want to find you, uh, awaken aslove.com, any other thing you want any other website or anything else to share. I think there's Awakeners love on Instagram, um, as well. I think it's just awaken as love. I'm not great in social media, but if you go to the main website, there's also a mighty networks that we have set up now with some of these online courses and other things coming. Um, but the Awakenner Love website is probably the first place to start. And we do, we have one coming up in Bali, we're gonna do a stage one there. We do, we do, very excited about that. That's gonna be the 18th to the 25th in Bali, so those of you that would like to experience both. James and I in person will be up on the North Shore in Bali and uh with Baina and uh excited to to bring this magic to Bali and to awaken many beings to the power and potency inside of them. So if you'd like to find out more, comment below. We can share some links and uh hope to see many of you there. Thank you, brother. Thank you for your time. Appreciate you and look forward to seeing you soon.

arrow_drop_down_circle
Divider Text
James Stevenson
James’s passion is to help call forth our human potential and our soul. His weave brings together more than 20 years experience in techniques, practices and information from the cutting edge of Neuroscience, Tantra, Biodanza, Shamanic & Energy Work, Integral theory and Taoist practices to create a spirituality that is rooted in the body. His evolutionary approach is to work on all lines, levels, states and parts of ourselves in bringing forth our fullest potential.

His work in meditation and tantra work draws on many different traditions and paths he has studied from Kashmir Shaivism, Baul mysticism, Advaita Vedanta, Vajrayana Buddhism,  Integral systems and Neo-tantra. He was very much influenced by the enlightened master Osho and enjoyed spending time in Pune and the Humaniversity where he became an AUM meditation leader.

He is the founder of the Awaken as Love Mystery School
arrow_drop_down_circle
Divider Text
Favorite Episodes
[Block//Episode + Number]
[Block//Title]
[Block//Publish Date %n/j/Y%+0d0h0m]
settings
PREVIOUS
settings
NEXT
arrow_drop_down_circle
Divider Text
Subscribe and get notified about new episodes
settings
settings
settings
Subscribe
Subscribe and get notified about new episodes
settings
settings
[bot_catcher]