Death Valley and the Deletion of ego's control over Spirit
Photo by Michael Author.
This past weekend, October 7-9, 2016, I led a group of men into the desert.
The goal was to guide this group of men through difficult emotional processes both physically and emotionally to push their edges (and mine) while integrating the ego in a loving way, revealing the true Inner Guidance system we all share as one.
This two day intensive provided a tangible experience of facing the unknown, as I did during my seventeen day journey at sea alone which was a life-changing transformation of self identity and ego.
This is not deletion of the ego...
This is a congruence of all aspects of self into One and a dissolution of separation by choice, as the body walks hand in hand with Mind and Spirit along a path designed by the Internal Compass we share.
We were there to evolve the human creation of fear based systems...Those walls of separation we created become simple illusions and vanish.
The details of what happened out in the desert will remain a mystery to those who were not there with us. We set a container of confidentiality which shall forever be honored. Only the individual men can speak about their own personal experiences. Perhaps some will...perhaps not...this is the respect we give each other as Brothers.
For me as the creator of the path we took and the man who led them to places unknown until we got there both mentally and physically, I can speak of the challenges from my perspective. I was gifted with meanings I am still processing.
“I had the opportunity to adventure 3 days into the unknown with Greg.
He is a man who has traveled the world, faced his own fears and tapped into his gut instinct aka his internal compass again and again and he shows others just how to do that.
Greg is quite the adventurer and leader. With days of hiking into rough territory, he knew exactly how to push us past our emotional and physical comfort zones and yet keep us safe.
He is a master storyteller and entertainer. He would regale the group of his epic sea adventures and each time he would hit home with powerful lessons and morals.
Guided by Greg and his not-so-typical transformative process, what happened in those 3 days was an amazing experience and a period of growth. I highly recommend anyone to spend time with this adventurous soul. Oh, and he brews a mean cup of joe!”
"Do you mind if I tell you a story?"
As with all of our lives, we have a beginning destination and a perceived ending destination along our paths of life. What the end looks like in reality will always be different than the illusion of what we saw before we departed.
I had an agenda for the weekend, but I did not publish it to anyone. The details were mere guidelines which morphed organically as we moved through the desert. No one knew what I was going to do from moment to moment...nor did I in totality.
As the sun rose over the eastern mountains, this is how we began a seven hour trek across the desert along a path we blazed ourselves. I told the men we were headed to the base of a mountain across the desert floor to the west using a compass heading of 300 degrees.
We didn't quite get there, which was the point.
We all arrived someplace different in our souls which was both new, wonderful and far superior to a mere physical illusion.
Ego desired the mountain. Spirit desired the meaning of the mountain.
A beautiful takeaway from one of the men, Gustavo de la Torre, was this: "Physical affects of the body weakens the ego, for the ego takes so much energy."
We exercised the mind, body and soul all at the same time each day in many different ways.
We meditated. We walked in silence. We journaled. We walked, stood still or sat in group discussion. We performed group exercises and ones alone. None of us held back in the end. All of us saw each other in acceptance and love.
It has been said by another that the most profound questions are the simple ones...I asked them many to think about. The ones which were discussed over and over were these:
- Who am I?
- What do I want?
- What is my purpose?
- What am I grateful for?
- What is my legacy?
I meditate on these questions every day. Yet, while out in the desert walking in the hot sun, the answers took on an essence unlike before...and the men who were there sang a similar song.
If a boundary was found (and I pushed them while pushing myself), then good...this is the process of exploration and discovery...with Growth as the result even after we departed Death Valley.
Attachments to human created systems of control become meaningless as we walked. When you are tired, hungry and thirsty, what becomes most important? Loving yourself. Once self is loved...loving others becomes much easier.
Once we arrived back a base camp at the end of the second and final day, I gifted each man with a copy of "Path of Three Hundred: Volume I." I signed them each with a message: "Open this book to whatever page calls to you."
Later, as we discussed the weekend as a group, one of the men had his copy with him. When Tarek spoke, he stated that he did as I asked. He sat with the book for quite some time before he opened it. This was the first thing he read...and he read it out loud to all of us:
“We sense the impending growth of what we see...
We feel the intensity of a pounding in our hearts
We feel the destruction or birth of change...and...
a way of being or non-being follows...”
Tarek smiled as we all did. The men understood the guidance of his Internal Compass which led him to that page. Tarek dropped away from his ego into his heart and allowed Spirit to guide him.
As the Leader of this small group of humble men, the same thing happened to me in the desert as it did upon the sea alone so many years ago. On day one, we built a wall of many stones. Each stone had a private meaning for each man. We walked for miles across the desert following an invisible path. Meaning there was no path to be seen with the physical eyes. Almost seven hours later, in a landscape where everything seems to be the same, we walked directly back to the same wall...a wall which could not be seen from 50 yards in any direction. My Heart led me there...not my ego.
"The wall" with the initial destination in the background on the right. Pic by destin gerek.
This was an Adventure. A simple one during a short span of time if looked at from one perspective. Yet while on a walk with my mentor, Destin Gerek, a couple of days after we got back, he spoke from his heart...
"Those two days in Death Valley seemed longer, Greg. Was it the same for you?"
Yes it was. In a good way. So much happened out there that even as the Leader, I am having difficulty putting it all into language written or spoken. And this is the way it is with our souls. We just Know the answers to those simple questions. We go from there and arrive where we are supposed to arrive. Love.
I will do this Intensive again soon. November 11-13, 2016, I will lead another group of humans into the desert as part of my own "Path of Three Hundred" Programs. I am in Gratitude to my mentor, Destin Gerek for allowing me to use my design as part of his Evolved Masculine Path. The November Intensive will be a separate event from the Evolved Masculine Path.
I am opening this two day intensive to both males and females in order to create both a couples experience and an individual experience. I do not believe there is separation on a spiritual level, so why limit this experience to one gender? Who do you know? Or perhaps it's you?
This will be a drug free/alcohol free environment. I possess no judgement to either, yet I firmly believe, given my personal experiences alone at sea and in Death Valley, that mind altering substances of any kind are not needed during this intensive. Bring camping gear, food, water and a journal. For detailed logistical questions and exact location, contact me.
How you grow will be of your choosing. Just know that I will lovingly push you as you discover your line...your boundaries.
WHAT IS THE EVOLVED MASCULINE PATH?
The Evolved Masculine Path (EMP) is a community of men dedicated to discovering and expressing their highest visions for themselves. It is a brotherhood, but more than that, it is a way of approaching life.
To learn more about Destin Gerek's The Evolved Masculine Path, go to evolvedmasculine.com.
A parting thought...
As Destin and I drove back to San Diego from Death Valley, we surfed through the radio in order to find some music. The Presidential Debates were in progress. We listened, yet we did not listen to the commentary...we had had enough and chose to change the channel to some empowering music.
This was my takeaway from the babble...
As humans swim in a pool of negativity...
the cesspool which is judgement created out of fear...
this is what you wear...the dark clothing you war against.
You have a choice to keep this attachment upon your skin...
or...
to shed it forever and become free to swim in a river of Love to the sea.
I am choosing to swim in Love and shed all attachments to fear...
I choose freedom...
So be it...so it is.
“I Am in my Knowing.
I Am in my Freedom.
I Am in my Love.
I Am choosing now to respond fully to that which comes to me in my Divine Knowing.”
By bypassing the intellect...the aspect of self that would tell [me] no, or would decide for [me] that this cannot be so, is the aspect of the self that has to go for a nice little walk in silence.”