Dear Friend,
It has been a pretty busy month or so. First off, end your story. Begin your life... has been picked up by Hampton Roads, the publishers of the best-selling Conversations with God series. It will come out in soft cover in fall of 2011. The book is also currently being distributed to bookstores, so you can go to your local bookstore and ask for it. If they don’t have it in stock, they will order it. It is also available from www.amazon.com for about $18.
I am doing more workshops, including a private retreat on “Being your Authentic Self” for a group of 60 chiropractors at the Enota mountain retreat center in Georgia in October, followed by a workshop at Plum Tree Yoga 20 minutes north of Atlanta.
Where I continue to learn the most though is in the private sessions I do with individuals. Working one-on-one is extraordinarily intimate. It requires me to be very, very present without any story or agenda whatsoever. That part is actually easy. Once you have found the inner freedom that does not depend on circumstances—“the natural state,” as it is sometimes called—you are always, essentially, present. You honor the past, the stories you tell, and you keep an eye on the future, setting goals and making plans, but you live right here, right now, in this very moment.
Where the learning comes in for me is with my humanity. Although I currently wear a sacred thread on my wrist which has been blessed by the Dalai Lama, I do not possess the Dalai Lama’s “purity of heart and mind,” as someone once put it. The Dalai Lama is celibate. I am not. The Dalai Lama’s spends hours each day in meditation and his ego is very much in the background, with his humility being evident. I choose to live in the very busy marketplace of Los Angeles, where you need your ego and your competitive spirit just to survive, let alone succeed.
So, I continue to dance with my ego. As I write in end your story., when we awaken to freedom we still have an ego, but now we know we are not our ego, just as we know we are not our mind, body, or personality. What we are, or course, is the ever-present, unchanging awareness or consciousness behind our ever-changing experience of these phenomena. But so long as we continue the ego’s dance, we will always be subject to its traps, flaws, and foibles.
And this is what I continue to learn. How easy it is, for example, to get seduced back into the duality that is the very nature of ego. In my case, I had the egoic thought, “All’s fair in love and war,” and used it to justify my pursuit of a potential romantic relationship. But then another man, feeling threatened by me, went to war with me (see how duality works?), and proceeded to judge and attack me. While I did not take his attacks personally, he nevertheless made my life difficult for awhile.
So I have learned yet deeper lessons about trust, betrayal, and integrity... and the ego’s cunning ways, such that it can kick back in and re-assert itself even years after we have awakened to the truth. As someone reminded me recently, the price of freedom is indeed eternal vigilance.
Love and blessings,
Jim
Next Esalen Workshop November 14 - 19, 2010
Plan now to join Jim (and Lee Chiacos, who will be leading us in meditation and chi gong) next fall. Esalen is situated on Big Sur's wild and beautiful coast, and the retreat here, which Jim has been leading for the past five years, is always a profoundly life-transforming event. Register at www.esalen.org after June 1st.
After the Esalen Workshop, July 5 - 10, 2009
Feedback and pictures from our wonderful Esalen workshop can be seen by going to the Teaching Schedule page and scrolling to bottom.
New Blog
My new blog, Reflections on Freedom, can be viewed at: http://jimdreaver.blogspot.com/
Private Sessions
A private session with me is one of the most powerful and effective ways to uncover the stories that still keep you bound, preventing you from experiencing the love and richness possible in your relationships, work, and life. Sessions last about an hour and are done in person or, just as potent, over the phone, or via Skype with/without a webcam.
“Three years ago, I asked Jim to be my teacher. Now, I am awake and free. I cannot say enough about Jim’s mastery at facilitating the experience of awakening in others.” -Juliana Dahl, Ph.D., Boulder, CO
“I got hit by a meatball thrown through the telephone by Jim. It blew my mind. It was the best money I ever spent!” -Jim O’Neil, St. Louis, MO, www.surveyroom.com
Books
 | The teaching and the practice making up the heart of End Your Story come directly out of my own experience as a seeker of truth. For more information, including how to order, click on the book cover to go to the Books page. |
 | Falling into Light is a magical, heart-warming tale about the meaning of love, death, and reincarnation. For more information, click on the book cover to go to the Books page. |
Audio/Video
An audio interview Jim did in July, 2008 with Jeff McFarland and Brad Swift is at: http://www.exceptionalwisdomradio.com/bio/bio_jim_dreaver.htmlThere are five streaming audios, 50 - 90 mins, on different subjects to do with awakening on my site, under Audio on the main menu.
Several video clips of Jim are at www.youtube.com. Type ‘jim dreaver’ into the search feature.
Wisdom Mailing
Sign up for the free, monthly Wisdom Mailing, which contains a short excerpt from my current writing, plus other news, go to Contact Us on the menu. Type "Wisdom" for the Message Subject. To read past writings sent in the Wisdom mailing, simply click Wisdom Letter under the Archives menu.
