The Divine Human – Andrew Harvey

Drawn from his own experience with major mystical traditions as well as the work of evolutionary mystics such as Sri Aurobindo and Bede Griffiths, Andrew Harvey will present his vision of our world crisis as the birthing ground of a new kind of human being – the Divine Human. He will show that this birth springs from both an unflinching look at the extremes of the crisis and a celebration of our essential divine identity.

He will lay out an overview of the four essential streams of divine wisdom that now have to be fused to make this birth possible – the shamanic, the transcendent, the tantric and sacred activism.

In this module, you will receive:

• A deeper understanding of the Divine Evolutionary plan.
• A vision of the dance of opposites, through which this plan works.
• An overview of the evolutionary worldview of the major mystical traditions.
• The essence of the living experience of divine transformation of Sri Aurobindo and Bede Griffiths, and what you can learn from them.
• An initiatory understanding of the 4 essential streams of evolutionary wisdom, and how they work together in your transfiguration.

Featured Practice: The “I Am” practice of divine identity from Ramana Maharshi that leads to realization of Self.

Drawing on his own experiences of shamanic initiation – in Ecuador with an Amazonian shaman, with the white Lions of Timbatati in South Africa, and with aboriginal elders in Australia – Andrew will unfold his vision of the necessity of honoring the shamanic vision and its wisdom as the grounds of divine evolution. Special stress will be placed on four laws of this wisdom; the law of interdependence with the creation; the law honoring the rhythms of creation; the law of celebration of creation and of life as sacred, and the law of taking responsibility for honoring these laws. He will go into detail about the Aboriginal vision of Kanyini, and he will also show the shadow of shamanic wisdom – it’s overly strong fusion with nature and lack of complete knowledge of transient origin.

In this module, you will:

• Experience a deep awareness of the necessity of shamanic wisdom for our survival.
• Develop a clear understanding of the 4 laws that this shamanic wisdom reveals.
• Receive insights into the sacred equality of the creation of life.
• Gain an expansive vision of the splendor and sanity of aboriginal knowledge.
• Receive a profound understanding of the shadow of shamanic wisdom.

Featured Practice: An Australian aboriginal practice to experience directly the sacred life in all things, realizing that all the world is “looking back” at you with eyes of divine compassion.

Andrew Harvey will celebrate the revolution of the Axial Age; its breakthrough to living knowledge of divine origin. Drawing on the great Axial pioneers – the sages of the Upanishads, the Buddha and Lao Tzu – he will show how this knowledge of transcendent origin gives human beings a radical new level of divine truth and power. He will also explore the shadow of transcendental revelation – a dedication to transience, a devaluation of the creation, body, sexuality and relationship, and an over emphasis on human uniqueness.

In this module, you will:

• Receive a deep understanding of the radical breakthrough of the Axial Age.
• Open to a vision of how this breakthrough enlightens the shadow of shamanic wisdom.
• Deepen your awareness of how the vision of transcendental identity opens up new powers for humanity.
• Gain deeper knowledge of the interconnection of Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism, and its evolutionary meaning.
• Become aware of the cost of the shadow of the Axial Age.

Featured Practice: A sacred practice from the Hindu saint Rabia, involving the practice of saying the name of GOD to enter into ecstatic, divine union.

In this module, Andrew will transmit his vision of how the Tantric Revelation of later Hinduism, Mahayana Buddhism and Christianity corrected the addiction to transcendence inherent in the Axial Age. Special emphasis will be given to Jesus and the revolutionary fusion in his work and life of the shamanic, transient and tantric knowledge of the Divine, and how this fusion opens up a path of transfiguration for all human beings.

In this module, you will:

• Learn how the Tantric Revelation depends on a dynamic vision of the motherhood of GOD and reveals the five great passions that must be combined to integrate this completely:
  • The passion of GOD as mother
  • The passion of creation as the embodied mother
  • The passion of compassion for all sentient beings
  • The passion of tantric relationships
  • The passion for radical action to honor the mother’s laws
• Gain clarity about the true main shadow of Tantra – license in the name liberation.
• Receive a deeper understanding about the temptation to use the powers that Tantra gives for personal glory, and not the service of humanity.

Featured Practice: The Gazing Practice of Rumi and Shams of Tabriz, which you can practice with your beloved, your companions, or even a cherished pet.

In this module, we really bring together the streams and plunge deep into the transformation of the body by unifying the masculine and feminine sides of our nature. Many of the great spiritual teachers embodied both masculine and feminine characteristics, and it is in the full embrace that we are born into a new kind of wholeness and open the pathway to a divinized body and divinized sexual relationships.

In this module, you’ll:

• Develop an expanded range of understanding of the sacred masculine from Sufism, Mahayana Buddhism, the Cult of Dionysus in Greek Mysticism, and the complex vision of Shiva and Shaivism.
• Experience deeper mystical practices to connect with the Divine Mother.
• Wake up your divine centers, the chakras in the depths of your body, to open to an archetypal transfiguration and experience the blessing of that transfiguration process.
• Develop an expanded capacity for forgiveness of oneself and others for the damage of the past.
• Create an alchemical container internally to work with the wounds that need to be resolved.
• Develop practices to heal the imbalance in the individual and collective psyche.
• See how the 5 crucial shadows of our global crisis (disbelief, denial, dread, disillusion and death wish) and 5 personal shadows (narcissism, love of comfort, woundology, fear of witnessing the truth and the golden shadow) align, dovetail and collude to keep our world crisis going.

Featured Sacred Practice: The Golden Light Embodiment Practice in which you visualize golden light pouring from the Mother’s outstretched hands to wake up the energy centers known as the chakras, helping the body go through an archetypal transfiguration and blessing. Andrew says this is the most powerful practice he knows!

As you fuse the four sacred streams into one and begin to birth the Divine Human in you, it becomes more apparent and imperative to engage in right actions to help our world evolve, heal, and manifest its glory. The Sacred Activist marries the mystic’s passion for God with the activist’s passion for justice and out of the two, a holy “third fire” is born in which you become a living flame of love in action.

In this module, you will:

• Learn the art and discipline of sacred activism – awakened love and service in action.
• Experience the power of tonglen meditation in which you transmute the darkness of the world in the alchemical vessel of your heart.
• Learn to build a Buddha heart filled with deathless love so that you are not afraid to take on the pain and chaos of reality.
• Know this innate Buddha heart in all its holy power as an inner form of sacred activism that you can access when dealing with difficult people and explosive energies.
• Understand the evolutionary re-engagement necessary to complete the birth of your divine humanity.
• Learn how Heaven and Earth reunite through us and our bodies.
• Go beyond the pursuit of personal enlightenment to discover how you can co-create an awakened culture and society.
• Experience powerful practices to awaken and embody more of your innate divinity through focused prayer and action that flows from your heart.

Featured Sacred Practice: Tonglen Practice for you to face and transform pain, suffering, horror, chaos and even madness by visualizing all the dark pain of a situation as a black smoke that dissolves and transforms in your Christ/Buddha heart, expressing again as love.

In the seventh module, Andrew will offer the way forward by integrating the four streams of tantric, transcendent, shamanic and sacred activist transmission. He will address the way forward through whatever may now unfold as the potential birth of the Divine Human in you.

In this module, you will:

• Understand more deeply how you can walk a pragmatic path of love in action.
• Learn how to effectively organize networks of grace and circles of support for those doing this birthing work.
• Discover ways to more fully integrate your core practices into your daily life, and embody the Divine Human moment-to-moment.
• Recognize and avoid the pitfalls, perils and temptations on the path of illumination.
• Experience union by passing through the Dark Night into the New Dawn.
• Become a midwife for the birth of divine consciousness into the world.

Featured Sacred Practice : A profound shadow practice that includes a Taoist Laughing Dance – exploding you with laughter and playfulness even as you work with deep shadows.